Gabriel's patience finally snapped. He grabbed Song Yaya's arm, pulling her a few steps back from the murmuring crowd that was already impatient with her and checking her out with disgust. "Don't talk about fairness, you left that man when he was drowning. Whatever he does with his money is none of your business! You don't know how he created his wealth and who is supposed to have it. If he chose that woman, then no one is gonna change, what you need to do is find ways we can infiltrate into the company and little by little win them over before striking."
Song Yaya tried to jerk her arm away, but Gabriel's grip only tightened slightly, dragging her to his chest but still not enough to hurt, but enough to silence her tantrums. She was already embarrassed and she was embarrassing him, but how could she swallow this bitter pill? She exhaled and inhaled severally trying to calm herself down.
"You made your choice, Yaya," he said in a low, clipped voice. "Zhi Hao didn't push you away. You packed your bags the moment the stocks crashed, you even left the kids behind, and walked out of his life like he was dirt under your heels. You don't have to tell him what he's supposed to do with his money! You need to lay low and be strategic! You need to understand your position in their lives, you need to think before you react!"
"I had to survive!" she snapped feeling wronged and didn't think it was her fault in any way. "He was weak, bankrupt, and disgraced. What future could he have given me then? Do you think I should have stayed and suffered with him? Do you know what people were saying about us? His parents, the kids, and my family had expenses to cover; where could I take the kids? They would only burden me and drag me down."
Gabriel's expression was unreadable. "You didn't leave for any other reasons, you left because the Lu name wasn't enough anymore. You were chasing titles, wealth, and status. You were never going to settle for someone rebuilding from ashes and with a man who lost everything. It's not like I don't know you, Yaya... That man right here isn't bothered with your existence. You can only try to mend your relationship with the boys, other than that, I don't think you would succeed somewhere else." He coldly warned her.
She turned away, her jaw clenched so hard that her teeth were hurting. Her gaze flicked to Lu Wan Ruyi—calm, radiant, confident even in the chaos, she looked ethereal, and then to Lu Zi Zhen, towering beside her, commanding attention and respect.
She could taste the bitterness in her mouth. That position could have been hers. She could have been the sole shareholder.
"He was nothing," she said trying to comfort herself even though she knew she was regretting everything. "A woman out of nowhere, now stands above me. What right does she have to?"
Gabriel looked at her with something like pity. "Because she stayed when you ran away. Whatever they have, they built it together, the boys haven't complained, what do you think you can do?"
Song Yaya's eyes blazed. "She must have seduced and bewitched him like a siren! That's not Lu Zhi Hao. He can't act like that!"
"No," Gabriel cut in sharply. "She loved him when he had nothing. And Zhi Hao gave everything to the one person who stood beside him when it mattered. That includes her son." As a man, he knew how men could get sentimental and appreciative of their women. They could do anything for them.