Chapter 88: I’m All Ears

"You look... pale," Anna murmured as she caught sight of Gabriel’s face for the first time since his arrest. It had only been two days, yet somehow it had taken William that long to pull the strings and arrange a meeting between them in the cramped detention room of the police station.

"Well, of course I do," Gabriel snorted, a flicker of sarcasm lacing his voice. "I haven’t seen sunlight in forty-eight hours! And you know how I am—I’m like a flower. I need the sun to bloom."

"You’re definitely a flower," Anna clicked her tongue, amusement curling her lips despite herself. Her voice, though lightly teasing, was tinged with affection. Then she leaned forward, lowering her voice to a near-whisper. "Let’s switch to French," she added, seamlessly slipping into the language. "I don’t want to risk anyone overhearing us."

"Fine," Gabriel said, nodding as his gaze swept past her shoulder, checking the corners of the room for any signs of listening ears or suspicious glances. "So? What’s the situation?"

"What’s the situation?" Anna’s brows arched high, almost vanishing beneath her fringe. "I should be asking you that! What the hell were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?!"

"But it worked, didn’t it?" Gabriel replied with a grin that was entirely too self-satisfied. "Thanks to that recording on my phone, you’ve got exactly what you need. You can take her down now—for drugging me and falsely accusing me of sexual assault."

Anna let out a heavy sigh. It was almost pitiful how proud he looked, as if the success of his risky little scheme had made it all worthwhile.

"She could’ve killed you, Gab," she said sharply, her eyes narrowing with a warning that bordered on maternal concern. "What if you’d been allergic to something in that drug? Did you even think about that?"

"Then, she would be a murderer. Again. Killing a foreign millionaire heir is definitely something she wouldn’t get out of that easily. Unless you give her a shovel and a pass to get to your vineyard, of course."

"How can you even say something like that!" Anna was already losing it with him––sure, he was childish, but she still hoped that not to such a huge extent. "You were lucky that Daniel took your message seriously. Anyway..."

"I’m sorry, Anna," Gabriel whispered, his eyes beaming with genuine guilt. "I know it was reckless of me, but I was really just trying to be helpful. And it worked, didn’t it? That’s why you still haven’t bailed me out, right?"

"Yeah..." Anna let out a resigned exhale, shaking her head as she locked her eyes back on his.

She felt strange. Even though her current appearance was drastically different from the one she used to have, having blonde hair and blue eyes made her always feel like she was related to Gabriel, like she was his older sister––ever protective and harsh when necessary.

Perhaps that was the reason why she felt so angry about the risky stunt he pulled with Marienne. If something more serious were to happen to him, she would feel as if her own flesh and blood were hurt.

"Amelie Bennett told us that Marienne is threatening to take the case public—to gain sympathy," Anna said quietly.

"After all, the public always rallies behind stories of rich men abusing their power, especially when women are involved. If her claims were true, it would be a necessary battle. But you’re innocent, Gabriel. And no matter how this plays out, your name is still going to be dragged through the mud for a while."

She paused before adding, "It doesn’t seem like the Hydes are aware of what’s happening, though. Her so-called ’lawyer’—who we suspect was hired by Sebastian—contacted William directly and discreetly. He’s already floated a settlement offer."

Gabriel scoffed, his brow furrowing. "A lawyer contacting William instead of me? That reeks of something shady."

"You’re right," Anna nodded. "They seem pretty confident William will settle on your behalf, especially with Marienne threatening to make everything public. The way she’s orchestrating this without even directly getting involved... it’s clear she’s trying to keep me out of it, likely because of Susanne."

Gabriel fell silent for a beat, visibly unsettled by her words. "But even if it goes to court," he said slowly, "if you play the recording, that should clear everything up, right? Or better yet—just threaten her with it. If she knows we have proof of what she did, she’ll drop the whole thing."

Anna sighed, her fingers rising to her brow, rubbing the spot between her eyebrows where a stubborn frown had begun to settle.

"You’re right, it would solve everything—but think about it, Gab. Do we really want to drag this into court when her endgame is clearly just a big, easy payout? And Susanne’s body... if this becomes a public affair, it’s only going to get more complicated. Sebastian could be called in as a witness—he could twist things, turn me into a suspect or worse, just by association."

Gabriel frowned, cutting in with a sharp shake of his head. "I don’t care. Our goal is to destroy her credibility, right? If I take a hit now, I can recover. Once this is over, the truth will come out, and I’ll have my reputation back. And you were planning to disappear anyway, once it’s all said and done."

"I don’t want everyone dragged through that mess," Anna replied, her eyes narrowing with a flicker of something cold and dangerous. "Proving your innocence is one thing. But igniting a scandal of this scale? That’s something else entirely. And no—I can’t vanish just yet. Not until I’ve punished them all. You know that."

She leaned back slightly, her expression hardening. "There’s a way to make her drop the charges and take a serious blow, without putting everyone through hell. And that’s exactly why I came here today."

Gabriel leaned forward, his interest piqued, eyes locked on hers. "Alright," he said, voice low. "I’m all ears."

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