Chapter 278: Shards Of Glass

"I hate seeing you having a hard time. I wish I could take everything that's making you sad," said Gael above her head, stroking her hair gently like she was the most precious thing in the world. And she was the most precious person in his world.

"Am I the only one? Aren't you having a hard time too?" Angela's voice was muffled against his chest. 

"I'm used to it." It was the truth. He'd always had it tough, but it was even more difficult now that she was involved.

"You could have saved yourself all of this mess with me if you had just moved on and forgotten about me months ago. You could've had it easier without me. You wouldn't have had to—"

He lifted her chin up so he could look into her eyes, and her voice trailed off as he shook his head at her. With easy breaths and a gleam in his gaze, he told her, "I don't regret my choices, Angel. I don't do things because it's easier; I do it because it's what I want. You're who I want."

As if his words burned her, Angela pulled away from his arms. Her brows drew together as she looked down and refused to look at him. It took her a few beats before she managed to speak again. "You still haven't answered my other question. Why did you really come back? You said before that you're here for me, but now I'm not sure you're telling the whole truth. You knew about the video…" she said the last words, answering her own question. She tightly clenched her dress. "How? Did you have me investigated?"

Gael had been part of the family business for many years, and digging up someone's past was never an issue. It was like a normal thing to do to keep their enemies away from them. They'd check people who worked for them, and sometimes, they'd get burned. That was just how it was. But having Angela investigated felt wrong. He'd felt that way since at Hillberry when he got so curious about her past. Several times he'd catch himself nearly giving in to what he's used to—calling in one of his trusted sources to check out a person.

"Believe me. I didn't want to. I had to think it through for a long time before I did. It felt wrong…" He hung his head, feeling defeated. "While recovering from the surgery, you were all that I could think about. Many times I've wanted to call you. I've drafted messages to send you, all of which contain 'I'm sorrys', but I didn't know what else to say beyond that. I couldn't tell you the whole truth... But because of what happened to my family and me, I thought it was best to keep you out of the danger that comes with being with me." Heaviness settled on his chest, and his hand flew to rub it as if it would ease the pain. The thought of leaving Angela made him anxious.

It seemed like she felt what he was feeling too because she squeezed her eyes shut, her bottom lip curling inwardly and her chin wobbling. She didn't say anything, and it prompted him to continue.

"I worried that your ex might give you trouble. If I was going to stay away, I at least wanted to know you'd be safe. So I had to..." His jaw tightened, and darkness loomed in his eyes when he remembered what he found. "It wasn't easy, and it took a while before I came across the video in the dark web." Then his words tumbled fast when she winced. "But I didn't come back because of what you thought. You know I'm not that kind of person," he told her, remembering what she said at the balcony when she found out he knew all along but didn't tell her.

Angela hugged her stomach as if trying to hold herself up and scoffed. She hesitated when she responded. "Yeah, well the people who'd seen it and met me thought it's an honor—like it's a pleasure to meet the woman they watched on the screen in person. I feel dirty every time they smile at me when they tell me where they've known me."

"Angel…" Gael reached out to touch her, but she recoiled and leaned against the backrest of her chair before she got to her feet and started pacing, unable to stay still. He watched her trudge from left to right, shoving her fingers through her hair in frustration. Despite her not responding to his call, he continued, "I came back because I knew he wouldn't stop hounding you.  That happened years ago, and when we were on the island, he was still on to you. I realized he was more than just an annoying past, and I couldn't just leave it alone."

She kept pacing as if she didn't hear him. Standing up, he caught her by the elbow. "Talk to me."

Angela stopped, and she looked wounded when she stared up at him. "I haven't seen it," she mumbled.

"What?" His brows furrowed. What was she talking about?

"The video. I've never seen it."

The crease between his brows disappeared, and she pulled her arm from his grasp. She didn't want to be touched, and he could only guess it was possibly because the memory of that assault was currently haunting her. When she said she hadn't seen it, he understood why. Who would want to relive their hell? "And you don't have to. What he did to you was cruel. You—"

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"I can't remember everything that night! Only bits and pieces," she bit out, her hands clenched into fists. Then she smacked her hand onto her chest. "Do you know how frustrating that is? I can feel it, Gael! I can feel that night as clear as day! How he drugged me, touched me, how he hit me, how he humiliated me while recording it for the whole channel to see! But the images in my head are all but shards of glass, slicing me every time I pick them up and put them together."

She took a deep breath and let it all out in a long exhale, shaking her head as she muttered, "I don't know which is better... Finding out what happened the entire time he assaulted me or keeping myself from knowing how hurtful it was?"

It would break her if she saw the whole thing. Seeing her so pent up like this made him feel useless. Back in New York, Gael turned the Bunk upside down after watching the whole video of Evan laying a hand on her. His blood boiled when clips of it flashed in his head. The urge to murder someone crept through his bones, and he groaned. Now he was the one pacing. "Fûck. I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch. I swear, he'll regret ever touching you."

He planned out several ways on how he'd torture the bastard before actually killing him. "I'm gonna make sure he'll die a slow and painful death. Instead of asking to be let go, he'd beg me to end his life." His chest rose and fell as he continued to mutter under gritted teeth, most of it incoherent for Angela to understand.

At first, she was extremely pissed and frustrated. But when Gael began talking about what he planned for Evan, the pressure in her chest slowly dissipated. Was she actually enjoying this? Was she that evil? But Evan did her wrong. It was only right for her to feel relieved, wasn't it? Gael was angry for her. He's enraged because of what her ex did to her. He's willing to kill for her—not that it was something she'd ever prayed to happen. Her brother and Nina said the same thing. However, she knew they only said that because they were emotional. They wouldn't actually harm people. But Gael saying he'd make Evan pay, she believed him.

"What do you think?" He abruptly paused and faced her. She was in a daze, looking at him but not really paying attention. "Angel." He placed his hands on her shoulders, snapping her out of it. "You okay?"

She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and sighed. "How is violence going to solve it? What happened already happened. It won't change the past."

"It won't, but it would definitely relieve me," he admitted in a heartbeat.

Angela knitted her brows. "Gael… I appreciate that you want to avenge me..." She slid her hands on his waist and clenched his shirt. "But I don't like violence."

"I'm fine with violence."

"I'm not," she punctuated her words with the seriousness in her eyes. "Promise me you won't."

"I can't do that—"

He looked almost pissed until she placed her hand on his cheek. "Promise me."

Gael closed his eyes, his shoulders dropping as he turned his head to press a kiss on the palm of her hand. He leaned towards her and kissed her forehead, her nose, and the corner of her lips before pulling back. 

"I promise I will try," he said in a low voice.

She exhaled a sigh in resignation. That wasn't what she wanted, but Angela could only accept that for now. 

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