Chapter 573: Lifeless

"I—I never thought that someone would interpret the painting like that. In fact, a lot of people think that the painting is very dark. "The woman smiled. "However, this is why I paint. I wanted to create masterpieces that would give people various emotions. My name is Gela. I am the owner of the director of this gallery. How about you?"

"My name is Gabrielle Sutton. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Sutton? Sounds familiar. Ah! Are you the late prime minister's daughter? I remember seeing you in the prime minister's wake." The prime minister's wake was covered by the media. There were instances that the camera would focus on Gabi's face. However, Gabi wore dark, huge shades that cover most of her face. Her lips were pale and her hair was black back then.

That woman was too different back then. "Yes, I am indeed the late prime minister's daughter."

"Ah… sorry. I blurted it out. I didn't mean to say that. I was just too surprised that you would visit a simple gallery, like mine."

Gabi's lips twitched. Of course, she came here because she was scheming something. Gela Merced is the illegitimate daughter of a judge. However, her adopted father is one minister.

When Gela's mother married the senator, Gela was already two years old. And because the minister already had 2 sons who were 4 and 6 years old, Gela automatically gained two older brothers that spoiled the cute little girl.

Despite this, Gela was very low key about her background. She studied hard and worked hard to become the director of this gallery. She is very hardworking and smart.

"It's fine." Gabi smiled at the beautiful woman. Isn't she pretty? Alfons and her are a perfect match!

"This is really surprising…"

"Miss Gela is really humble. The paintings here are great. They looked heavenly. It was really a coincidence that I stumbled into your gallery."

"Stumbled?"

"Do you have some time for tea?" Gabi went straight to the point. There was no need for empty flatteries as she knew that this woman was really confident and capable.

"Of course. Please follow me to my office."

….

"Kasper please confirm the schedule with Miss Merced's secretary." It took Gabi a few minutes to convince Miss Merced to join the charity event. She knew that the woman wanted to build her own legacy, her own name in the industry. So, there is no way that Miss Gela wouldn't agree to her proposal.

"Understood," Kasper said.

Gela Merced was not only a woman full of pride, she was also someone who wouldn't do anything that would not benefit her career. To put it simply, she is a strong, independent woman who would never allow herself to stand behind a man.

So… why did Gabi choose her to become Alfon's wife?

It was because of something that would happen in the future. The thing about Gela is the fact that she is just another girl boss that would do everything for profit to prove that she is superior to most men in the industry.

She wanted to be the best at everything. The highest sales, the biggest and brightest clients, the best husband, the best children. It was something that she needed to do to prove that being adopted doesn't separate her from her politician brothers.

And this would backfire once people discover how mean she was behind the scenes. Gela would mistreat her servants, slapped them, and accused them of thievery. Her workers are overworked, her staff didn't even have overtime pay.

However, this isn't enough to ruin the woman on top of the food chain. The mistreatment would be akin to a small sparked that would soon cause an explosion once someone would reveal that Gela had multiple abortions when she was still in college.

In this conservative country, abortion is legal, but it's frowned upon. There were movements against it. There were people to stage protests just to try and convince the ministers to change the laws.

So… what would happen if the wife of a politician, who is a known pro-life, would be revealed as someone who actually advocates abortion?

Of course, the scandal wouldn't stop there. Gabi only smiled as she thought of the upcoming Gala. Making the two meet would surely benefit her in the long run. Right now, she is laying traps ahead of time because she would be gone for the next six months.

"Ah… take me to grandfather's office."

"Yes, Miss."

Since she was scheduled to start her treatment after the gala, she needed to take care of things that concerns her grandfather in advance. She wouldn't want them to suffer from other people's schemes while she was gone.

"Train your body? What kind of training? Who would train you? Where? When are you going to leave? Who will take care of you if— "

"Earl… calm down."

"But grandfather? Sister Gabi was born with a weak body constitution. She couldn't really run that far or she would faint. What would happen if something dangerous would happen to her?"

"Listen to yourself, young man. Do you think my granddaughter is a weakling?"

"That—She is just— "

"Sit down and drink your tea."

"Yes, grandfather."

Seeing that Earl already went back to his seat, the old man looked at Gabi. "Have you decided?"

Gabi nodded. Actually, her grandfather isn't aware of the assassination attempt. She didn't want him to worry too much. So, she wanted to keep it a secret.

"Gabi… I am not going to stop you. I know your stubborn nature. However, I want you to assure me that you would be safe." The old man gave her an intense gaze before he added, "Promise me that the next time I see you, you won't be inside a box, lifeless. In fact, I won't stop you from doing anything that you want as long as you promise me that you would stay alive." The old man turned his gaze away. "I don't want to send off another one from the younger generation." Despite his cold tone, Gabi didn't miss the tears pooling in her grandfather's eyes.