Husband With Benefits
Chapter 369: Arabelle’s Decision

Chapter 369: Arabelle’s Decision

As they continued to talk, Gabe came to a chilling realisation. Even if Arabelle seemed to be driving in a rage, she was not driving aimlessly. She had a destination in her mind. As her ominous words hung in the air, and the passing scenery blurred outside the speeding car, a troubling suspicion began to dawn on Gabe.

Alarmed and concerned, he shifted his gaze towards Nora, who was now fully awake, her eyes wide with trepidation. Swiftly turning back to Arabelle, who remained oblivious to Nora’s alertness, Gabe inquired urgently, "Arabelle, what do you mean by saying Demetri will suffer? What is your plan?"

"Tsk tsk, Gabe. You are sounding like a broken record of questions. You know me well enough to have discerned by now what it is I have planned." Arabelle replied nonchalantly.

Soon, they’d reached the curvaceous mountain road and Gabe could only stare at the road as the car picked up speed again, his heart in his throat.

"Since you seem incapable of deducing my actions, let me spell it out for you, Gabe," Arabelle continued with a sinister smile. "I am ensuring that you and I remain together, bound by an unbreakable bond—both in life and in death. Since living in peace with you is unattainable, I’ve made a decision for both of us: death. We shall share our existence in the realm beyond."

Nora almost gasped at Arabelle’s words as she slowly tried to shift in the seat while Gabe was keeping her distracted. But looking out of the window and the way they were climbing upwards, Nora knew that they had very little time. Suddenly, Arabelle seemed to sense her movement and quickly turned back to look at her.

Thankfully, she was alert and quickly pretended to remain slumped. The car swerved dangerously with Arabelle’s distraction while Gabe worked quickly and brought her attention back to him," Ari. What you are doing is foolish. And a coward’s way out. Haven’t we been living well over the past few months? Then what is the problem? Tell me Ari. Talk to me."

Gabe watched as Arabelle’s expression wavered for a moment. He knew now that Ariw as fighting for control with Arabelle and continued," Ari. Think back to all the wonderful times that we’ve spent together. All those days of bliss with just the two of us. Have I ever done anything to make you doubt my love for you?"

Just as the car started to slow down, and Arabelle turned to look at him, he tried to manouver the car to the side so as to stop at the shoulder but instead sneered," Are you scared to die Gabe? You think that coaxing Ari is going to help you? What happened to your always together promise? Or was that only for living and not for dying? Do you want to run away?"

"I am willing to die with you, Arabelle. But let Nora go. She has done nothing to you."

"She has done nothing? She is the reason my entire life turned upside down! If she’d never come into Demetri’s life, he would have been the one to become engaged with me. I would have been standing in front of the world with my hand in his instead of living in the shadows with you."

"I am going into the darkness that has been threatening me for a long time now. But I will not go alone. I will take you with me to accompany me while I wlll make sure that I leave the same darkness in Demetri’s world. There’s no turning back now, Demetri. You and I both know that."

Nora, still feigning unconsciousness, listened intently, her heart pounding in fear as she heard Gabe try and reason with Arabelle. Even if Gabe continued to try, Nora knew that it was going to be futile. Arabelle was not going to listen.

Slowly, she tried check the door, and calculated the speed at which the car was moving. Jumping out of the moving car was not an option as they would end up with multiple injuries and if Arabelle came back, they would easily be run over. They just needed to find a way to get Arabelle to stop the car.

An inch at a time, she slithered sideways, an idea forming in her mind. If she could incapacitate Arabelle for a moment and distract her, or grab her, then Gabe might be able to wrest control. But she would have to be let Gabe know of this. It was a risky move that they’d learnt in the self defence class. How to deal if they were attacked in a car from behind. She’d never expected to end up being the one to attack instead of defend herself.

Ever so slowly, she extended her leg towards Gabe, brushing his elbow with her toe and watch as he stiffened and slowly gazed at her through the mirror. She made a quick delicate motion towards her neck while pointing at Arabelle and he nodded.

It was a relief to have him agree. For a moment, she’d worried that Gabe might not agree. Now she just had to wait for her to take another blind turn. Nora braced herself to jump as the car hurtled towards the next turn.

What happened next was a whirlwind of motion all happening at the same time. Nora lunged and Arabelle seemed to realize that Gabe had gone quiet suddenly, thus becoming alert to the shift in atmosphere.

In that split second, Arabelle’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, and with a menacing grin, she swerved the car violently towards the edge of the cliff. The tires screeched, and the world outside the window transformed into a terrifying blur of rock and sky.

Panicking, Nora lunged towards Arabelle, desperately trying to pull her back into the seat while Gabe urgently reached over, even as he was thrown against the car’s dashboard, gripping the wheel with all his strength and trying to turn it back towards the road and away from the cliff.

The car teetered on the precipice, the abyss below threatening to consume them.

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