Chapter 223
“As I was saying,” Gabriel continued.
He leaned back in his chair stowly and folded his arms across his chest. His posture looked relaxed, but everyone in the room could feel the sharp danger behind his calm face.
“Yesterday, during our meeting here,” he said evenly, “I received a very disgusting message from an unknown number.”
The room went quiet.
“Someone threatened my family.”
A low wave of shock moved through the conference room.
Some people gasped softly. Others straightened in their seats. A few exchanged quick glances, clearly uneasy.
Gabriel watched them carefully. Every face, every small reaction. He noticed.
“That message,” he continued, “was the reason I cancelled the meeting yesterday.”
He paused again, letting his words sink in.
Even after all he had explained, confusion still filled the room. No one could point out who the guilty person was.
No one dared to speak.”So,” Gabriel said calmly, “l apologize if I seem strange today.”
He leaned forward slightly now, resting his elbows on the table.
“If you will agree with me, my family has been through a lot lately. We faced threats. We faced danger. And we finally thought we had closed that chapter.”
His voice grew firmer.
“But now, another insect has decided to crawl out and threaten my family again.”
A heavy silence followed. And it caused uneasiness among the people.
Gabriel did not rush his words. He kept speaking, explaining everything in detail. He talked about trust, Loyalty, and how important it was for the company to stay clean.
“If I am going to continue working with you,” he said, “then I must be sure I can trust every single person in this room.”
His eyes moved slowly across them.
“So I need your cooperation.”
And immediately Gabriel finished talking, Stone stepped forward toward the table where the bowl of devices sat.
His presence alone made the tension thicker.”I apologize for the inconvenience,” Stone said firmly, “but we need your cooperation.”
He turned slightly.
“Mrs. Landon Mia,” he called, “please step forward. Kindly pick up your devices and open them. This is only a quick check.”
Mia smiled calmly.
She stood up without hesitation and walked forward. She picked up her devices and unlocked them one by one.
Stone and the men checked carefully.
When they were done, Stone nodded.
“You’re clear.”
Gabriel spoke immediately. “You may leave, Mia,” Mia was surprised, but she nodded respectfully and walked out of the conference room without looking back.
Stone continued calling names.
One by one, everyone stepped forward. One by one, their devices were checked. No alarms. No discoveries.
But unlike Mia, they were asked to return to their seats.
Minutes passed. Still nothing. And that made Gabriel frown slightly.
Confusion filled his mind.If they found nothing… Then who was playing games with him?
His jaw tightened.
Whoever it was, they were still in hiding. And Gabriel hated that.
Stone turned to face the men and women still seated in the conference room. His voice was calm, but there was something sharp under it.
“I would like to say that I am impressed with what we have found so far,” he said slowly. “But something is very wrong somewhere.”
The people in the room shifted in their seats. Some frowned. Some looked confused. On the other hand, others looked nervous. No one understood what Stone meant, but no one interrupted him.
Stone stepped closer to the long table where the bowl was placed. He reached inside the bowl and pulled out a phone.
He raised it up so everyone could see it clearly.
Gasps filled the room.
A wave of shock moved through the hall. Chairs creaked as people straightened. Eyes widened, and breaths hitched.
Gabriel’s face hardened instantly.His nose flared. The muscles on his jaw tightened. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as his grip on the table became tighter and tighter. His knuckles slowly turned white.
His mind was no longer in the room.
All he could think about was how he was going to handle the person responsible.
Gabriel had been a gentle man all his life. He was always calm. Patient, and thoughtful. But life had taught him hard lessons.
Ugly lessons even.
Life had taught him cruel lessons.
When his grandfather died, Gabriel had suspected Wyatt immediately. Every instinct in him had screamed that something was wrong. But his father had talked him out of it. He had trusted his father’s judgment at that time.
That trust had cost them everything.
Wyatt later turned out to be the one who injected his grandfather with a poisonous substance.
That pain never truly left Gabriel. From the day he learnt the truth, he learned not to trust easily again.
From that day, he took it upon himself to protect his family at all costs.And from that day, he promised himself that any insect that dared raise its ugly head against his family would be crushed without mercy.
Now, someone had left a phone behind on purpose. And Gabriel understood the meaning clearly.
To Gabriel, this was not a mistake. This was a challenge.
But in reality. The person only displayed his or her stupidity.
“Whose phone is this?” Stone asked sharply.
His voice snapped Gabriel out of his thoughts.
“i am very sure this bowl was empty when we brought it in.”
The men and women in the room looked at one another.
Fear slowly crept into their faces. Their shock was real.
After all, only one person among them was guilty.
“It is better you show yourself now,” Stone continued, his voice firm, “before my men begin to move around and find out by themselves.”
Then silence followed now.
Suddenly, a chair scraped loudly against the floor. The chief accountant stood up.
“I think… I think that is mine,” he said nervously. “Can I have it, please?”Stone walked toward him slowly. His face was unreadable. He handed the phone to the man and said orty one word.
“Unlock it.”
He did not ask questions. He didn’t even raise his voice.
The bald man began to sweat instantly.
His hands shook badly. Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed hard. His breathing became uneven.
“Chief Accountant Mathias,” Stone said coldly, “you are wasting everyone’s time. Please, be quick.”
The man nodded quickly.
Still shaking, he tried to unlock the phone. But his hands trembled too much.
Then the phone slipped out of his hands. It fell to the marble floor.
The screen shattered.
“Oh-oh, I’m sorry,” he stammered.
“What have you done?” someone whispered.
Gabriel stood up immediately. The chair behind him crashed loudly.
He walked away from his side of the table and strode toward Stone and the chief accountant with long, angrysteps.
Before anyone could react, Gabriel’s fist flew forward and it collided hard with the bald man’s jaw.
A loud gasp filled the room, followed by shocked murmurs.
The man stumbled backward. Stone quickly held him by the arm to stop him from falling.
But Gabriel was not done with him.
Another punch landed on the man’s face. Blood/splattered everywhere.
“Argh!” the man screamed.
“You fucking bastard!” Gabriel roared. “You dared threaten my children?”
His voice shook the room.
“You? You… my family trusted you”
Before anyone could stop him, Gabriel punched the man again.
And again.
And again.
The man collapsed to the floor, bleeding and crying in pain.Stone grabbed Gabriel tightly, pulling him back with force.
“Enough!” Stone ordered.
The room fell into complete silence.
Shock, fear, and disappointment filled their faces.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
“Take him away,” Stone instructed his men firmly, still holding Gabriel back.
The men immediately lifted the chief accountant and dragged him out.
Gabriel’s green eyes were blood red now.
Stone stared at him in disbelief. Never in his life had he seen this side of Gabriel. Never before.
And then it hit him.
Why does Gabriel suddenly look like Alfred Wyndham?
Especially now that he was angry.
That fire. That rage. Stone finally understood.
The blood of Alfred Wyndham was truly alive in Gabriel.