Chapter 21

They arrived at the mansion and surprisingly Nicole felt like she was home. She quickly refrained from thinking that way because she was going to be leaving the mansion for good once Gabriel's parents were gone.

When they walked into the mansion, Gabriel went into the kitchen probably to keep to his promise. Nicole decided to go to her bedroom, she had missed it a lot because it was a haven for her. She opened the door to her room and noticed that the room was spotlessly clean. She checked her closet and found her clothes the same way she had left them. Just then she heard a knock,

"Come in," she said, and in came Gabriel.

"I came to let you know that I've ordered the chefs to make your donuts,"

"Thanks." she quietly replied.

"I'm going back to the office. If you need anything, give me a call," he instructed her.

"Okay," she replied.

Gabriel stared at Nicole a little longer than he should before leaving the bedroom. He stood in the hallway contemplating if he should go back inside and apologize so they would start talking like they used to because he didn't like the awkwardness between them and he also didn't like this Nicole, she was of few words. He loved the old Nicole who stayed up with him while he worked in his study, the one who used every chance she got to do something exciting, childish, and funny.

Nicole sat on her bed wondering if her cold behavior towards Gabriel was necessary, this wasn't her true self and it was torturing acting unusual but she was willing to keep the act since Gabriel had made it obvious to her that she was only a stranger to him.

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Nicole woke up pretty late the next morning, she was feeling really tired maybe it was because she had used the past few days to do a lot of thinking, she concluded. She dragged herself out of bed and went into the bathroom to freshen up. She straightened her hair, applied some makeup, and got dressed in an olive v-neck long-sleeve asymmetric midi dress and brown gladiator sandals.

Nicole hoped that Gabriel had already left for work but to her disappointment, she saw him in the dining room having breakfast.

"Good morning." She softly greeted.

"Good morning," He replied still concentrating on his meal

Nicole's eyes suddenly went wide when she saw what she would be having for breakfast. There were pancakes, fried eggs, bacon, muffins, french toast, hot chocolate, coffee, and juice on the table, this was entirely different from what they usually had for breakfast.

Did they make all these for her?

She stared at Gabriel who was wiping his mouth with his napkin indicating that he was done with his breakfast. Nicole wondered if he had asked them to make this breakfast because of her.

Was this his way of apologizing? But she thought he didn't want her gaining weight.

Gabriel stood up from his seat and walked to Nicole, placing a kiss on her forehead before walking out of the dining room. Nicole hadn't realized how much she had missed having even the slightest body contact with Gabriel until she felt his lips on her forehead.

How did this man break down her walls without even realizing it? She decided to stop overthinking and enjoy her breakfast.

Nicole finished her breakfast and decided to go to the living room, on getting there, she found Gabriel already there working on his laptop.

Seriously wasn't he going to the office today? She wondered because she didn't want to be in the same place as him. She decided to go out for a while instead of being indoors with him.

"I'm going out," she announced making Gabriel take his attention away from his laptop and notice her presence.

"Okay, but don't go too far," he replied. His reply made Nicole change her mind and just leave for the garden.

After Nicole left the living room, Gabriel dropped his laptop on the coffee table and started thinking about Nicole. She looked really beautiful in the dress she was wearing, it didn't hug her body tightly like the others but it fit her perfectly. He noticed that she was trying hard to keep her distance which saddens him. How was he going to tell her that he was mad at himself that day and not at her? That he couldn't understand what he was feeling nor did he know how to express it because he was scared of rejection.

He let out a heavy sigh and picked up his laptop trying to get back to work but he couldn't, he then called for a maid asking her if Nicole had gone out like she said she would but to his surprise, he was told that she was in the garden. He dismissed the maid and went to his bedroom, where he would have a better view of the garden.

He was curious to know what she was up to.

But was spying the proper way to find that out? Wouldn't it be better to go out there and join her?

He contemplated but his fears wouldn't let him do it. He was scared of her reaction, if he brought up any conversation about that day, even if it was an apology, he didn't want to feel even more guilty about what he had done. The mental torture he was going through at the moment was more than enough, he didn't want to go through a physical one so he decided against joining her in the garden rather he would watch her from his bedroom window.

Nicole took a magazine out with her while coming to the garden because she wanted to use it as a distraction. After glancing through the magazine pages, she dropped it beside her and began staring into nothing.

"You can't have feelings for him Nicole cos he will never feel anything for you, he only needs your help and you need the money." her subconscious mind kept reminding her as she sat quietly in the garden.

"I just hope I can learn to forget about him," she whispered to herself before picking up the magazine and resuming to look through it again for the nth time.

Gabriel was still staring at Nicole from his bedroom window when he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he ordered turning his attention to the door. It opened revealing his administrator.

"Sorry to disturb you sir but I came to inform you of your parent's arrival"

Gabriel was surprised to hear that his parents had arrived, he didn't expect them so soon.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute," he said.

"If you'll excuse me, sir," his house administrator said about exiting the room.

"Inform my fiancee of their arrival," he instructed.

"Okay, sir," he replied and with that, he left Gabriel's presence.

Gabriel looked at Nicole one last time before leaving his bedroom, he hoped everything goes fine.