Chapter 203


    She took his briefcase and the two of them walked out of the arrival hall side by side. Gabriel Smith


    answered yfully, "I''m busy all day, how do I have the time to go ces? I owe itpletely to


    missing you."


    She chuckled, "What do you want to eat? My treat?" "Are you sure, cheapskate?"


    "Who''s a cheapskate?"


    "You are. When we met for the first time, you agreed to treat me to a meal after the interview, but I


    still had to pay for it after we were done."


    "You paid it on your free will. I didn''t ask you to pay."


    "That''s because I knew you were short of money. Being the gentleman I am, I found a way to give


    you an out. But after that, your sry kept rising, still, you haven''t invited me to dinner. If you''re not


    a cheapskate, what are you then? But it doesn''t matter. I am a generous person, so I won''t fuss


    over this with a little girl like you."


    "Ah, there''s a horn over there."


    Yasmine pretended to be surprised and pointed to the sky.


    "A horn?" Gabriel was shocked. "Where''s the horn?" "Can''t you hear someone blowing their own


    horn?"


    Gabriel rolled his eyes, conveying hisck of words for her dry humor.


    After lunch, Yasmine apanied Gabriel across the streets and alleys of B City. She exined


    the name and origin of every alley for him thoughtfully. Gabriel asked in surprise, "Why do you know


    so much about this ce?"


    "I''ve been working here for a couple of months. How could I not know?"


    Gabriel was still puzzled. "Didn''t you say you were busy with your work? You told me that you were


    too busy to even eat when I asked you toe back to F City. How could you have time to


    familiarize yourself with this city?"


    Yasmine gulped and replied with a flicker in her eyes, "I have an extremely good memory. It only


    took me a day to be familiar with these ces."


    In the evening, the two of them had dinner together again. After dinner, they went to a karaoke bar


    and sang their hearts out all night long. Gabriel wanted to send Yasmine back home to rest.


    However, in order to avoid any misunderstandings, Yasmine had him send her to the guest


    apartment instead.


    Just as she was about to get off the car, Gabriel grabbed her hand. She asked with confusion,


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Did you forget something?"


    He was signaling for a farewell kiss. Yasmine was in a sticky situation. Just then, her phone rang.


    She retracted her hand immediately and muttered, "Who on the earth''s calling me in the middle of


    the night..." She answered the phone as she opened the car door and said, "Hello?"


    "Why did you take the day off again today?"


    The phone call was from Sebastian Simons. Yasmine was not required to report to the President.


    She only needed to inform her team leader regarding her leave, hence Sebastian only knew that


    she didn''t go to workter in the afternoon.


    "Oh, Director Smith is here."


    Yasmine smiled and waved to Gabriel, then spun around and dashed into the apartment.


    "Are you noting back tonight?"


    "Yeah."


    As soon as she said that, she thought that Sebastian would definitely misinterpret the meaning of


    her words, so she immediately exined, "It''ste now, so I''m sleeping in the apartment."


    "Only you?"


    "Yeah."


    Toot, toot. Sebastian hung up the phone. Yasmine snorted at the phone, "What? That''s it?"


    The next day was a weekend, hence Yasmine did not have to go for work. Gabriel came to the


    apartment early in the morning to pick her up. When she got in the car, she asked, "Where do you


    wanna go today?"


    "Out to the sea."


    "Out to the sea?" Her eyes widened in horror, "What do you mean out to the sea?" "I rented a yacht.


    I''ll take you to enjoy the sea breeze."


    "Are you kidding me? The weather is freezing. I''ll freeze to death out there even without the wind


    and you''re still thinking of enjoying the sea breeze. Do you want to go out to get frozen?"


    Yasmine sneezed as she spoke.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll be responsible if you freeze to death."


    He smiled mischievously and added, "If you aren''t frozen to death, I''ll be even more responsible for


    you."


    Hmph. Yasmine huffed. Although she was not too thrilled with the idea, it seemed like she could not


    do anything about it.


    Meanwhile, Sebastian sat in the study at home. He held a famous psychological novel in his hand


    but he couldn''t seem to read a single page for he was terribly troubled. He had been anxious from


    the night before until now, especially after he knew that Yasmine took the day off to apany


    Gabriel.


    With a thump, he threw the book aside, leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes.


    Did she not say that she would stay by his side starting from that moment? Why must he move


    away and stand aside when Gabriel came to the city then?


    Could it be that she stayed with him merely out of sympathy?


    What would the two of them do once they were together? A man and a woman could do anything


    when they were alone...


    The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He did not want to think about it


    anymore. He got up and took the car keys, ready to go out. If he continued to think about it, he


    would have had the urge to kill someone.


    Gabriel sailed the yacht to the middle of the sea. Suddenly, he took a bunch of red roses out of


    nowhere and handed them to Yasmine. "Will you marry me, Miss Lorris?"


    Yasmine was stunned. She was visibly surprised by his gesture and she did not know what to do at


    that moment. She wanted to refuse Gabriel but it was not the right time.


    "Well... I''m still thinking about it."


    Gabriel pouted, "You''ve been thinking about it for too long. Those who are married might already be


    divorced within that span of time. Are you still not sure about it?"


    "Is marriage meant for divorce? In that case, I''d rather not ept it."


    Gabriel grinned yfully and exined, "Of course not. It''s just that you''ve been considering it for


    quite some time. I haven''t even touched that slender hand of yours until now. This rtionship really


    needs a little development."


    "Have you not touched my hand before?"


    Yasmine red at him grumpily.


    "Aren''t you embarrassed to say that there''s still a couple who are as conservative as we are? Even


    the couples in the 50s'' were more open-minded than we "Developing a rtionship needs time.


    Even if I ept your proposal, it doesn''t mean our rtionship would progress by leaps and


    bounds. Could you be less blunt about your wild ambitions?"


    Gabriel rolled his eyes and was once again speechless...


    After staying in B City for two days, it was time for Gabriel to return to F City. When Yasmine was


    sending him to the airport, Gabriel said with infinite regret, "Ah, my trip this time is once again in


    vain."


    "Why is it so?"


    Yasmine was puzzled.


    "I wanted to take this opportunity to finalize my marriage proposal but you refused me ruthlessly


    once again."


    "I didn''t refuse you. I only asked you for more time."


    "How long more do you need? Don''t you know I''ve been waiting for you for ages?"


    Yasmine was silent.


    After sending Gabriel off, Yasmine returned to the Mansion House. Only her mother- in-w was at


    home. She asked in surprise, "Is Sebastian not here?"


    "He went out in the afternoon and hasn''te back yet," Madam Simons said.


    "Oh."


    She didn''t take it to heart. She hooked her mother-inw''s arm and suggested, "Let''s go out for


    dinner tonight. I know there''s a new restaurant North of the city. The dishes are very delicious."


    "Ah, sounds great."


    Her mother- in-w agreed without hesitation, but she was still concerned about her son. "What if


    Sebastianes back when we''re eating out?"


    "Leave him be. He hasn''te back yet. I''m sure he wouldn''t be back for dinner tonight."


    They held each other''s hands and went out of the house. They only got home at about 9 p.m. When


    they got out of the car, Yasmine saw Sebastian''s car parked from a distance, and she knew that he


    was back.


    She went straight upstairs and saw Sebastian in the bedroom. She walked in and asked casually,


    "Have you had dinner?"


    Sebastian cast her a nd look and said sourly, "You''ve worked so hard."


    Yasmine was dumbfounded and she could notprehend his words. She raised her eyebrows,


    "What did I work hard for?"


    "Dealing with two men at the same time. You had to juggle between taking care of one man and


    another, isn''t that tiring?"


    Yasmine suddenly understood. It finally dawned upon her that Sebastian wasining that she


    had been with Gabriel for the past two days and neglected him.


    "It''s a rare asion for Director Smith toe here," Yasmine said. "It''s my job as his personal


    assistant to apany him around the city."


    "Are you just his personal assistant? Why do I recall that you''ve epted his love in front of me?"


    "At that time, I was mad at you."


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    Yasmine lowered her head and murmured.


    "What about now? Why are you still doing this now? You made a righteous vow to be by my side but


    you''re still entangled with Gabriel. I''ve never seen a fickle woman like you."


    Yasmine''s eyes widened and she asked incredulously, "Are you saying that I''m fickle? You''ve


    known me for so long. Don''t you know what kind of person I am?"


    "Then, tell me why are you entangling yourself with two men?"


    She rubbed her chest and tried to contain her anger. "Don''t you know the reason? Don''t you know


    how crucial it is when our new product enters the final stage of development? It could be up for sale


    in a week. If I tell Gabriel right now that you''re my ex-husband and that I couldn''t possibly ept his


    feelings, what would he do?"


    Both Yasmine and Sebastian knew the pros and cons. If Gabriel terminated their coboration, all


    their efforts for the past two months would go down the drain.


    "I don''t need a woman to sacrifice herself to help my career. I do not care even if it would cause


    severe financial losses to me. You can either tell him the truth or move out of my house. There''s no


    third option."


    Sebastian was actually jealous. He was madly envious of Yasmine and Gabriel''s rtionship.


    Yasmine shot back, "You don''t care about the financial loss but you should at least respect the fruits


    of everyone''sbor. This is the oue of everyone''s hard work from staying upte and working


    overtime. You can''t let everyone''s efforts go to waste just because of this!"


    Seeing that she refused to tell Gabriel the truth, Sebastian became even more furious. He said


    sarcastically, "Don''t pretend as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and that you''re the


    savior of the world. I don''t care about such a result, so why should you? In my opinion, you don''t


    care about everyone''s efforts at all. You just want to give yourself an alternate path. If we can''t end


    up together, at least Gabriel''s your backup."


    "You bas*ard!"


    She pushed him furiously. "I poured my heart and soul to you, only for you to still misunderstand me


    like this. I''ll leave you the instant you recover and I will note back even if you offer me the best


    things in life!"


    "Hmph, you really take yourself seriously. If I ask you toe back after you''re gone, I''ll change my


    name and be your servant for the rest of my life!"


    "You better remember your words!"


    "You don''t need to remind me, I won''t forget it!"


    Yasmine was so furious that her lungs were about to explode. He could be jealous and arrogant for


    all he wanted, but one day, she would make him pay for what he said.