Chapter 20: Allow me to clarify

Tiffany sneered as she watched the scene play out in front of her eyes and then quickly glanced at Eveline.

Gabriel had never before shown up in their classroom, and his sudden appearance startled nearly everyone. Nevertheless, it was too clear who he was waiting for.

"Gabriel, what brings you here?" Intending to start a conversation, she hurried towards him but was met with a chilly glare from Gabriel, who then proceeded to walk in the direction of Eveline.

"Are you finished with your classes?" he inquired, leaving Eveline frozen in place.

There was this gentleness lingering in his eyes and the smile on his face that almost got her fainting.

'What the hell I am seeing? Somebody, please pinch me. This man isn't real; this can't be Gabriel'

Eveline was mentally freaking out as she took in what she was seeing, but soon the chattering around broke her trance and she took a step back.

"Y-yes, I did, but why does that concern you?" The pupils were shocked to see Eveline reverting to her icy attitude towards Gabriel.

Despite being the one to publicly admit her crush on Gabriel, they believed Eveline had been overly brave and callous toward him.

"Isn't she taking advantage of Gabriel's kindness" one student whispered.

"It is surprising that Gabriel tolerates such a nasty girl," the other person remarked.

"Maybe she is taking his words lightly because they have known each other since they were young."

Tiffany grinned at the gossip going on behind her back, but unlike before, she refrained from stepping in to defend Eveline.

"Huh, an ungrateful girl like her would never appreciate anything in life. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, achieved everything she set her sights on, and is now proud to be Jonathan Miller's daughter." This time, Gracey was the one to speak up without holding back and disparaging Eveline in front of everyone.

Gracey saw Eveline's cruel side the other day and concluded that Eveline was nothing more than a spoilt brat who used people for her own convenience, with her outward appearance of kindness being merely a front.

Gabriel arched his brow and glanced at Gracey. The smile on his face vanished and the next second he grabbed onto Eveline's wrist, pulling her to stand next to him.

Gabriel's abrupt action left everyone speechless, but Tiffany was particularly taken aback, as she had not anticipated his boldness. It was his way of letting everyone see that Eveline had his back and whoever spoke ill of her would have to face him.

Eveline looked at their hand and then around the class. She was as shocked as everyone else when Gabriel took hold of her hand. But before she could say anything to get away, he pulled her from the classroom.

Tiffany furrowed watching the two leave and was about to follow them when suddenly Gracey stopped her.

"Where are you going? Aren't you coming with me for lunch?" Gracey asked darting her gaze in the direction where Eveline and Gabriel walked away.

The moment they two disappeared from her sight, Tiffany scowled mentally, cursing Gracey for interrupting her movement.

'Stupid' she muttered mentally before putting on a smile on her face and facing Gracey.

"Yeah, let us go," she said and they both exited the classroom, but her curiosity about where Gabriel had taken Eveline persisted.

Gabriel kept on walking ignoring Eveline's warning until they finally stepped out of the main building.

"Leave me, Gabriel!" She screamed this time, yanking her hand from his hold.

Deflated, Gabriel held up his hand and saw the fire within her ferocious eyes.

'Does she detest me so much that she gets upset when I touch her?' Gabriel raised the question but didn't voice it out loud before he took a step closer to Eveline.

"Do they always make such hurtful remarks about you?" he asked, staring at her with intense anger.

"Why does it concern you?" Eveline asked, her brow furrowed as she continued to brush her wrist, relieving the pain from his grip. "It's not about you but me, so be it. Please do not interfere with my problems; I can handle them myself."

Gabriel was taken aback by Eveline's direct comment, but he managed to hide his shock and respond, "It does concern me since you are connected to me. Any word against you indirectly falls on me. Have you forgotten that you are crushing on me?"

Eveline blinked confusingly before letting out a humorless scoff.

"Then allow me to clarify, Gabriel. I no longer have a crush on you, so keep yourself out of my problems," Eveline declared without an ounce of empathy in her words; however, her every word pricked Gabriel's heart.

It made him realize how foolish he had been to allow Eveline to harbor any kind of sentimentality toward him. Abruptly, he saw her smiling face in his thoughts and he stepped out in front of her, very carefully.

"But I don't accept it, not until you find out who was behind those photos," Gabriel stated, causing Eveline to frown at his remark.

'Did he find Alex was the person who uploaded those photos?' Eveline retorted mentally.

"Did you find the person who posted those photos?" Eveline asked, staring intently into his unclouded grey eyes.

"As if you do not know who it is?" Gabriel tilted his head, finding Eveline's remarks absurd.

Stefan had told him that Eveline knew who was the person behind those leaked photos, then why was she behaving clueless when he disclosed about knowing the culprit too.

Eveline pondered over his word when a memory about her blurting about about the culprit to Stefan crossed her mind causing her pinch her temple in concern.

Gabriel noticed her subtle action and inquired.

"Are you having headaches? Why did you press your temples"

Eveline wanted to yelled out in frustration. This overly concerned Gabriel was wrecking her nerves, raising her blood pressure.

"Gabriel, that's not what I meant to say? Brother Stefan misunderstood my words" Eveline tried to reason but stopped when she realized she just couldn't tell him about her doubts on Tiffany.