Chapter 52

Gabriela froze, startled by the sudden shift in Wesley's expression.

The air between them seemed to tighten.

Wesley let out a low, derisive laugh. "It's work hours.Why aren't you on the twelfth floor where you belong? What business do you have here?"

He couldn't fathom what went through her mind day after day.

Hadn't he been more than generous with her? Or were his signals still too faint for her to grasp? He'd even gifted her a bracelet, yet her reaction fell far short of what he'd anticipated. Nothing. Not a single word of gratitude.

Her lips parted, but no words came. The flat calm on his face did nothing to lessen the suffocating weight pressing down on her.

She dropped her gaze, shoulders curving inward.

With someone like Wesley, she knew, even the most artfully spun lie would be stripped bare in an instant.

Sometimes the wisest move was to surrender before the battle began.

Wesley's gaze lingered on Gabriela's features.

He remembered the feel of her lips beneath his-the way she had melted against him that night, soft and unresisting, giving him everything without holding back.

After a beat, his gaze slipped lower, landing on her neatly clasped hands and the bracelet glinting on her right wrist.

Against the smoothness of her skin, the simple piece stood out all the more, and the sight filled him with an unexpected tenderness. The sharp edge in his expression eased; his voice,

though still clipped, no longer carried the same frost.His brows, however, stayed knitted. "Let's go," he murmured.

Gabriela instantly fell in step beside him, trailing Wesley as they returned to the office.

The rest of the day pressed forward without pause.Wesley was swamped-signing papers in swift,decisive strokes, flipping through reports that demanded his personal approval, his focus unbroken.

By four in the afternoon, the company's think tank had been summoned for another brief meeting, once again dissecting the intricacies of an overseas project.

All in all, Wesley remained too consumed by work to spare a moment for whatever reckoning he might have had in mind for Gabriela.

Gabriela let out a quiet breath of relief and busied herself at the coffee machine, brewing fresh cups for everyone in the room.What caught her attention, though,was how Aaron and the others accepted their cups-each one meeting her eyes, offering a warm smile, and thanking her more than once.

It struck her as almost old-fashioned courtesy, the kind you rarely saw anymore. No wonder they'd risen to the top; these were people polished in both intellect and manners.

That night, when most of the office had long since emptied, Gabriela stayed behind of her own accord,taking on whatever tasks she could to lighten Wesley's load-stacking files into neat piles, sorting through folders, and condensing key points into clean summaries.

As the clock's hands inched toward ten,she quietly slipped away to the kitchenette, returning with a tray bearing a steaming late-night meal.

The aroma curled warmly through the room,softening the stark chill of the hour. Wesley's furrowed brow loosened, and for the first time all evening, the steel in his expression eased. When he finally spoke, his voice had a rough, low timbre, threaded with unexpected gentleness. "It's already late. I will have my driver take you home."

The sudden gentleness caught her off guard. "You're not calling it a night,Mr.Moss?"

"There are still a few documents left to handle," he answered in a calm, measured tone, before calling over Trey Wilcox, the driver, and instructing him to see her home.

Trey had given Gabriela rides a handful of times,enough for their exchanges to feel easy. As the car eased into motion, she glanced his way. "Does Mr.Moss usually stay this late?"

"When he was starting out, pulling all-nighters and crashing at the office was just routine," Trey remarked, his voice casual, almost offhand.

That nonchalant answer hit her harder than she expected,a faint ache tugging at her chest.

Wesley might shine under the spotlight now, commanding the room with his presence, but behind that success lay nights spent grinding through exhaustion, climbing one step at a time.

Maybe she should try to upset him less in the future.

Bad temper, distant manner, unpredictable moods-yes, he had all of those. But he had also handed her a career worth having, and with it, a confidence she'd never thought she could own.

Her thoughts scattered when her phone lit up, the name "NotASaunders" flashing across the screen."Pick out a suit worth at least six figures. I'll be going with you to that wedding."

Gabriela blinked at the words, her brain stalling.

Six figures? How damn much was that supposed to be?

Her fingers twitched as she mentally counted zeroes.Was Brenden out of his mind?

With that kind of money, she could hire ten handsome stand-ins-each one more than happy to play the part of her devoted boyfriend.

She was seconds away from turning him down when another notification flashed across her screen-this time listing his suit measurements.

The first thing she noticed was his height: six foot two of towering presence.

Gabriela knew Wesley's stats by heart, and that number was unmistakably his.

Brenden, on the other hand, was at least half a head shorter. Did he seriously expect her to believe he'd suddenly shot up to six-two?

Ordering a suit was one thing, but padding his height out of sheer ego was just... pathetic.

Scrolling down, she froze.

Oh, for heaven's sake-the waistline, chest,every detail had been lifted wholesale from Wesley's impeccable build.

Had Brenden completely lost his mind? If she actually went through with the order, she might as well toss her money into the nearest drain.

Still, she supposed, renting a stand-in boyfriend wasn't exactly the picture of dependability either.

She opened her banking app and stared at the numbers on the screen.

Two months' salary-hardly a fortune-and the small sum she'd scraped together from part-time jobs back in school barely padded the balance. Even combined, it was nowhere near six figures.

Brenden's request was utterly outrageous.

She typed a cautious reply. "Mr. Saunders, could we aim for something more reasonable? Say, fifty thousand?"

That was practically her whole life savings-barely sixty thousand-and spending fifty on a single suit would gut her account.

The screen stayed blank. No reply. He probably didn't even think she was worth answering.

By the time she stepped through her front door,Phyllis was sprawled on the couch, phone pressed to her ear, her tone dripping with mockery. Gabriela caught snatches of conversation-words like "playboy" and "backup girlfriend" curling through the air.

Seeing Gabriela return, Phyllis ended her call, her gaze sweeping slowly from head to toe. There was something unsettling in her expression-a strange blend of appraisal and smug satisfaction.

Gabriela wondered Phyllis was slipping into sheer madness.

Phyllis's lips curved into a taunting smile. "Only a week until my wedding. So, where's this mysterious boyfriend of yours? Got him all polished up and ready?"

Gabriela met her stare with a cool, measured look."Why don't you focus on your wedding preparations with Dustin? Or is your freeloader already starting to bore you?"

The jab wiped the smirk off Phyllis's face, but only for a heartbeat. She gave a low, mocking laugh."You've got a pretty sharp tongue, don't you? You've guarded that boyfriend of yours like some state secret. Just don't show up with someone so pathetic that my dad ends up regretting inviting you."

Without dignifying that with an answer, Gabriela brushed past Phyllis and disappeared into her room.

The following day brought payday at the office.

Those who had officially cleared probation were also granted year-end bonuses, the amounts scaled by how long they'd been with the company.

The upbeat mood was infectious, sweeping through every corner of the office.

Gabriela felt buoyant herself-she'd been counting on a paycheck of twenty-eight thousand.

But when the salary notification landed, the number blinking back at her was more than twice what she'd expected.

She knew she worked hard and met her responsibilities, but no amount of diligence could explain a bonus that generous.

Gabriela adored money-every crisp bill and every growing digit in her account-but this felt almost unearned. The question gnawed at her until she finally sought Billy out.

He met her gaze with a knowing look. "That came straight from Mr. Moss."

Her brows knit in confusion.

Even after turning it over in her mind for ages, she still couldn't fathom why Wesley had chosen to give her so much.

In that instant, a new message from"NotASaunders"lit up her screen. "Got your salary yet? Is it enough for you to buy me a suit now?"

Gabriela froze for a second, momentarily thrown off. Brenden wasn't even in the office, yet it felt as if his eyes were on her every move.

How on earth did he know the instant her paycheck landed?

And now, with her salary added to her modest savings, her total just nudged past six figures.

It meant she no longer had an excuse-she would have to buy the suit.

"I'll pick it up after work," she hurriedly typed back.

His reply came instantly. "Get Drummond & Gallant to make me a first-rate suit, fully tailored."

Drummond & Gallant-the name alonecarried weight in Okburg. An exclusive atelier, famous for tailoring bespoke suits that were as much status symbols as they were clothing.

Gabriela clenched her jaw and tapped out a single reply."Fine."

When the workday finally ended,she made her way straight to the mall, slipping into the polished, glass-fronted Drummond & Gallant boutique.

She didn't risk calling Aubrey, so she went alone.

Armed with the measurements Brenden had sent over on WhatsApp, she placed the order, only for the sales assistant to inform her, with an apologetic smile, that a bespoke suit would take at least a month to complete.

Gabriela blinked, caught off guard. "Isn't there any way to speed it up?"

The sales assistant shook her head gently, her tone patient but firm. If they rushed the process, she explained, the inner canvas of a fully lined suit could warp, compromising both its structure and longevity.

And when the suit was finally ready,the client would still need to come in for a fitting to fine-tune the cut.

Noticing the worry flcker across Gabriela's face, the sales assistant pulled a suit from the rack and offered a reassuring smile. "This one matches the measurements you gave exactly. If you're alright with it, you can take it home today."

The suit's cut was refined-angled slant pockets set just so, a crisp lapel line, three-button cuffs, and a sleek single-breasted front.

As Gabriela's gaze lingered on the garment, an unbidden image rose in her mind: Wesley wearing it,every line of the suit molded to his tall frame,exuding that sharp, commanding presence that turned heads.He would look devastatingly good.

But reality came crashing back the moment she thought of her bank account balance. The heaviness in her chest felt painfully real.

"I'll take this one," she said at last, her tone heavy with reluctant resolve.

The sales assistant reached for the wrapping paper,but before she could begin, a cool, imperious voice cut in from behind Gabriela. "Excuse me-could I take a look at that suit?"