Chapter 8 All the soft spots; All the connecting dots

For a rich man like him, rejection is not an option. He always gets what he wants, and Gabrielle won't be an exemption. She may resist for a while, but he knew every soft spot and every weak spot that he could use to make her beg on her knees for mercy.

"But I thought you'd sell your soul for money?" He laughed in a gut-wrenching way, allowing Gabrielle to remember what she needed.

"Are you really going to reject me, huh?" He repeated his question, hoping to get a different response that would satisfy his need.

"Yes. I believe you do not have any more say as this is my decision." She said, She got out of bed and grabbed her bag. Gabrielle was definitely moved with Randall's questions.

"Thank you for initiating help, I wish I could repay this kindness someday," Gabrielle whispered.

She was about to leave the room when suddenly, Randall spoke. He put out the burning part of the cigar and cleared his throat.

"I need you, Gabrielle."

She stopped moving. How can someone that wealthy need her? Out of all the people who could have been his playtime, why her?

"I don't know about being selfish and rude, but I do know you're just bored." Gabrielle laughed, impolitely. "Don't make me one of your toys in this stupid game. I'll take my leave now."

She was about to move again when he stood up. There, she saw a clear depiction of how tall he was. Of how he can throw her on the bed anytime and cause her to be paralyzed. She is nowhere near him, she cannot do anything that might just trigger his anger.

She stays still, not knowing what the next step should be.

"Well, my inheritance won't be transferred to my name if I don't marry someone. I could have married people in my social class and bit something about you... makes me feel the need to move or I'll regret it." Randall said.

He sounded like he was pleading in Gabrielle's ear. Like, For he would choose to kneel and beg the woman to take him than to save some dignity for himself.

He is dead serious talking about what he wanted to do, what he wanted to happen. He wants her to be his wife and he is willing to do anything, to whatever lengths it might need, to seal the fate.

"There are so many women that could have been your wife. Those who would look great standing beside you and would not get dirty stares. To be precise, I get what you feel. Greed? We both want the money." Gabrielle somehow found a way to console what Randall felt.

"But the difference is that I would not sell myself to you in exchange for fortune." She stared at him blankly. "I may have been poor, but that doesn't mean that I am willing to throw my life away."

Randall's gaze softened. Like a puppy wanting to be a pet. He seemed like he knew how to get her. He acted all tough and bold a while ago and immediately changed into such a submissive man that he never planned to be like.

"I cannot ask someone as wealthy as me to help me with my problem," he murmured to himself. Gabrielle was being eaten by curiosity and was about to get fooled by the words being uttered by the man.

"We simply cannot work. You see, two people who are on the same social status are bound to fall apart. We'll see each other as rivals, there is no way we can simply love one another."

"And how about us? Can we love each other?" Seriousness took over Gabrielle's heart. "Are you certain we are to work? That this supposed contracted marriage will not fall apart because of our differences?"

"I am not smart when it comes to affection, nor was I emotionally intelligent enough to distinguish which relationship will have the highest chance of working out. But this? It is as clear as the sky today that we will never find comfort nor seek each other's presence when the times get rough." Her shoulder dropped as she took lengthy words to utter what she wanted him to know.

"You cannot ruin your image by marrying nobody. You live in this building, you're on the surface while I am drowning at the bottom of the sea. I don't know how rich you might be or how wealthy your ancestors are but I do not want to be the subject of all your dangers simply because you told me you needed me."

Randall's gaze turned into something unexplainable. His emotions were wrecked and a mess the moment Gabrielle talked.

She is offered a nice life, and she is promised the lifestyle that no one can give her but him. So when she told him she needed someone she could confide with, that it was not money that could make her happy, he felt ridiculous and the sin of being greedy caught up with it.

"Stop getting too ahead of the situation, Gabrielle," Randall said. It made the woman stare at him with this rage in those beautiful pupils as her brows raised, waiting for the continuation of his sentence.

"We are to be wed because it is convenient for the both of us. Not because we are to love." He whispered.

"You should be practical. No one can give you as much money as I can." He couldn't fathom just how smart the woman was that she could not be fooled.

"You should think this through. Your love? It is a stranger to me."

Gabrielle could not believe what she had heard. A Loveless marriage? It is those situations she can only read on the papers.

"Yeah... you do that." A frail look on her face says it all. Says all the disappointment and all the hatred because he's become just another bastard she'll never talk to.

She was about to dash through the door when she heard her phone ring. She thought it'd be in her bag, but Randall was holding it.

Her eyes widened, "When will this shit end?"