Chapter 32
1/1
Enter couldn’t stand Gabriel’s gaze, so she forced herself to focus on the card game.
Frank had taken ber to gatherings before, but he never had the patience to teach her. Instead, he warned her not to pick up bad habits.
Back then, she had been obedient and would stay by his side until the late hours of the night. Then, she would show up to work the next day with dark circles under her eyes.
Later, she realized he hadn’t been worried about her learning bad habits–he simply hadn’t wanted to teach her.
When Lea came back, she quickly posted a photo of a card game on social media, with a man’s hand partially visible in the frame.
Emma would never mistake that hand. It was Frank’s.
The caption read, “Finally learned how to play cards today. He kept saying I was so clumsy, but he still taught me patiently for three whole hours.”
Erama was so lost in thought that she played her cards carelessly as her hands moved without focus.
One round after another, Gabriel’s friends kept winning, and their excitement grew.
Someone finally laughed and said, “Gabriel, did you bring her here just to let us win? We’re starting to feel bad about it.”
Emma snapped back to reality and glanced down at the terrible hand she had played. She gave a faint, bitter smile before looking up at Gabriel apologetically. “Sorry, I’m really not…
Before she could finish, something flickered in his gaze. Not only did he show no anger, but he leaned in close instead. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and gently guided her hands.
She tensed, and the sudden touch made her heart race. A jolt ran through her, spreading through her entire body. The hand he held burned as if set on fire.
Gabriel said calmly, “Let me teach you.”
The moment he took over, the tide shifted almost instantly. What had been a charged atmosphere quickly soured as his friends‘ expressions darkened one by one.
Oscar tossed his cards onto the table with an exasperated sigh. “Come on, Gabriel We were just messing around with your woman. Crushing us like this takes all the fun out of it.” Gabriel nodded. “That’s your problem to figure out. Maybe think about why your skills never improve.”
Oscar’s eyes twitched. Why had he even provoked Gabriel in the first place?
Just then, the private room’s door was pushed open from the outside.
A woman, dressed in a revealing outfit that left little to the imagination, strode in. Her gaze immediately locked on Gabriel and Emma.
When she saw Emma nestled in his embrace, her teeth clenched slightly. Biting her lip, she failed to hide the flash of jealousy in her eyes.
Oscar glanced over and frowned. “Samantha Swanson? What are you doing here?”
Samantha was Gabriel’s junior in university. She chased him relentlessly from freshman year through graduation, and even now, she still hadn’t given up.
Most men would have caved under that kind of determination, but Gabriel wasn’t like most men. From the moment he set foot on campus as a freshman, he had never once spared her a second glance.
Holding her breath, Samantha walked forward and sat down–right next to Emma.
Emma could feel Samantha intentionally pressing against her leg. She lifted her gaze and met Samantha’s sharp, hostile stare.
Samantha’s tone was laced with mockery. “Miss, how about a game? If you’re up for it, let’s raise the stakes.”
The moment the words left her mouth, the tension in the air spiked.
Oscar instinctively shot her a warning “Samantha.”
“What’s the problem, Oscar? If you can’t play, why even come to a gathering like this?” Samantha’s smile wasn’t genuine. “I just want to have a match with her. That’s all.” Emma wasn’t naïve. She knew exactly where Samantha’s hostility came from.
Yet Gabriel still hadn’t moved his arm from around Emma. She looked at him, but his focus remained entirely on the cards in her hands, and he hadn’t spared Samantha a single Dance.
