Chapter 18

Wesley gave a short, frosty laugh. "Focus on your job.And keep your eyes off every other man in the room."

Gabriela seethed silently. He really did have a short fuse-and the jealousy to match.

She masked her annoyance behind a dazzling,innocent smile. "You're way too handsome, Mr. Moss.If I get to see your face every day, how could I even notice anyone else?"

Wesley gave another dry snort. "Do you really mean that, or is this just flattery?"

She kept laying on the compliments until his mood finally thawed.

Just then, one of Wesley's business associates appeared.

He turned to Gabriela and said, "Find somewhere out of the way and stay there. I'll come get you when I'm finished."

Gabriela promised she'd behave, then wandered off,eager to escape and finally snag a plate of food.

She barely had time to settle in before a sneering voice cut through the air. "So, you're Mr. Moss's date for tonight? You've got charm and beauty; it's no wonder he's into you."

Gabriela turned around and found herself face-to-face with an attractive woman whose eyes were blazing with irritation.

It took a moment before she realized the woman was none other than the A-list celebority Claire Houghton.

Gabriela knew she was captivating, but hearing such praise from someone who treated herself as the gold standard of beauty? That was a rare treat.

She couldn't help but smile, her tone warm but not overly sweet. "That's a big compliment. Thanks."

Claire clearly hadn't expected such an easygoing response. For a split second, her poise slipped, and surprise flickered across her face.

The truth was, she had been in a bad mood all evening.Her entire styling squad had been whisked away at the last minute-supposedly to handle Gabriela's transformation.

And to top it off, Wesley, notorious for his cold distance from women, had shown up with Gabriela on his arm. Worse yet, he'd snatched Claire's prized stylist team just for her. The slight was impossible to ignore. Over the years, Claire had exhausted every trick she could think of to capture Wesley's attention. She'd put on a show of dizziness, staged dramatic tumbles,and even once sprained her ankle in a desperate bid for sympathy-yet Wesley had never so much as spared her a second glance. Each failed attempt only fueled her frustration.

Now, as she watched Wesley parade around the room with a nobody like Gabriela, Claire's resentment burned hotter than ever.

All evening, she'd been seething, just waiting for a chance to put Gabriela in her place. At last, she cornered Gabriela by herself, every line prepared-only to be thrown by how calmly Gabriela met her gaze. It appeared that Wesley's support boosted her confidence.The audacity was staggering.

Brushing back her hair with disdain, Claire sneered, "Do you know who l am?"

Gabriela's smile stayed flawless as she replied, "Of course I do. That show you starred in was huge.Actually,one of my coworkers is obsessed."

"So you know exactly who I am,and you still have the guts to act like this?" Claire arched her neck,radiating smugness, as if she was bestowing Gabriela with the honor of an apology. Gabriela was unfazed, her tone remaining sincere "You paid me a compliment, and I thanked you.That's just good manners, isn't it?"

Rage spread across Claire's face, coloring it deep red.

Was Gabriela mocking her-implying she didn't know the first thing about manners?

How could Gabriela act so superior? Was Wesley so smitten with her that she felt she could throw her weight around?

For a split second, Claire hesitated, thrown off by the possibility that Gabriela meant more to Wesley than she'd realized. Irritated, she spat on the floor, fixed Gabriela with a piercing glare, and spun on her heel.

Pulling out her phone, Claire scrolled to a WhatsApp contact, transferred a sum of money,and typed,"Find out everything there is to know about Gabriela Haynes."

The reply came almost instantly. "Consider it done."

Gabriela couldn't be bothered by Claire's sour glare.All she could think was that Claire's so-called otherworldly beauty seemed ordinary now that she had seen it up close.

She couldn't wait to share that little detail with Aubrey later. Then Gabriela turned her attention to the food.

One bite was perfectly savory, the next sweet, the following one crisp and golden-she sampled everything with reckless abandon.

Eventually,she realized she'd overdone it.

Now she was stuffed to the point of discomfort, her stomach tight and bloated. Rubbing her middle, she glanced across the room and caught sight of Wesley.

He was surrounded by a cluster of well-dressed guests, but he seemed to stand apart from the crowd,drawing every eye in the room with that magnetic presence.

Even from a distance, he radiated authority,his profile sharper and more striking than anyone else's-even Vincent, the movie star, couldn't hold a candle to him.

Gabriela secretly wondered who would be deserving enough to stand beside him as his wife in the future.

Still a little dazed from her brief fangirl high, she gave her rounded belly a gentle pat and slipped quietly into the garden for a stroll.

The hotel's garden sprawled before her,dominated by a glimmering pool and cascading artificial waterfalls.Despite the chill of winter in the air, flowers bloomed everywhere,lush and impossibly vibrant.

The extravagance here was on a whole different level -being rich really did rewrite the laws of nature.

She wandered between beds of color, admiring petals sparkling with frost. "How do you manage to bloom like this in the dead of winter?" she murmured, half-talking to the pampered flowers, half marveling at the absurdity of it all.

Just then, her phone vibrated sharply in her hand.

Anew message flashed on her screen. "Where are you?"

It was from "NotASaunders."

She textedback immediately, "In the garden."

The reply shot back almost at once, the tone clipped and unmistakably irked. "I brought you as my date, and here you are,sneaking off?"

Gabriela blinked, puzzled. Brenden didn't attend the banquet at all. How could he be so well-informed about her every move?

She rushed through her explanation. "I ate too much.Just needed a walk to settle my stomach."

After a few quiet moments, an unexpected message popped up. "So, what do you think of Mr. Moss?"

Gabriela instantly straightened, her curiosity piqued.

Wasn't this almost the exact question Wesley had tossed her way about Brenden earlier, back in the car?

Now it felt like she'd stumbled into some secret game where they were sizing up her loyalty.

Determined not to let anyone trip her up, Gabriela's fingers danced across her phone as she fired back."Mr. Moss is outrageously handsome! You should see it for yourself-every woman here is staring at him.Even Claire, who's supposedly the top beauty in the business, can't keep her eyes off him."

Worried her praise still wasn't enough, she immediately added, "Honestly, I think he's the most attractive man in the event. Even the movie star Vincent doesn't come close."