Chapter 4

Gabrielle Thompson trembled as her father's angry voice boomed through the opulent living room, the sound waves crashing against the crystal chandelier and sending shards of light dancing across the walls. "Gabrielle, tell me what you were doing right now!" he thundered, his face red with rage, his eyes bulging with fury.

Gabrielle's eyes widened in terror as her mother, holding a delicate glass of water, let out a startled scream. The glass slipped from her fingers and shattered on the polished marble floor, the sound echoing through the room like a death knell. Gabrielle was speechless, unable to utter a word. She couldn't tell her dad the truth - that she had slept with an unknown person. The thought of revealing such a secret made her stomach twist with anxiety, like a snake writhing in her belly.

She was trapped, unsure of what to say or do next. The air in the room seemed to vibrate with tension, the silence hanging like a challenge. Just as the silence was becoming unbearable, a loud voice pierced the air, shattering the stillness like a rock thrown into a tranquil lake. "Excuse me, Mister Thompson! Your daughter is cheating on me!" Gabrielle's eyes widened in horror as she saw Mathew, her boyfriend, standing in the doorway, his face twisted with anger, his eyes blazing with accusation.

"What are you talking about?" Gabrielle's dad demanded, his voice incredulous, his tone dripping with disdain. Mathew held up his cellphone, a triumphant smile spreading across his face like a crack in a mirror. "I have proof," he sneered, playing a video that showed Gabrielle dancing in a club, surrounded by numerous guys. The video ended with a shot of Gabrielle kissing one of the men, the image burning into her father's brain like a branding iron.

Gabrielle's father was apoplectic with rage, his face turning purple, his eyes bulging with fury. "How could you, Gabrielle?" he thundered, his voice echoing through the room, shaking the foundations of the house. "You're the daughter of a respected family! How could you behave like this?" Gabrielle felt her world crumbling around her, the walls of her life cracking and crumbling like a house of cards in a hurricane. She knew she was in trouble, and she didn't know how to escape the consequences of her actions.

She had seen her father happy and proud of her before, but only when she brought home good results, excelled in her studies, or mastered a new skill. But once she made a mistake, her father's demeanor changed in an instant. It was as if he had done a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, transforming from a loving father to a menacing figure.

The guards were called in, and they brought in a young man - Kyan Ambers, the same guy who had left her in front of her house that morning. "Who is he?" Gabrielle's father thundered, his voice echoing through the room. Kyan Anderson looked down at the floor, unable to meet Gabrielle's gaze.

Her father's anger was palpable.

Mathew, her ex-boyfriend, burst into the room, laughing loudly. "An Ambers?" he repeated, "You mean to tell me you slept with Kyan Ambers? Mr Thompson this guy is everything but not an Ambers, when I discovered she was cheating on me, I made some research his real name is Kyan Anderson son of a poor family," Gabrielle's face burned with shame as Kyan looked on, his eyes downcast.

The guards pushed Kyan to the floor, and Mathew sneered at him. "So this is how you stoop so low?" he taunted. "You cheat on me with this guy, and now I find out he's a poor boy from a poor family?" Mathew's laughter echoed through the room, and Gabrielle felt a surge of anger and sadness.

She turned to Mathew, her eyes blazing with fury. "How could you talk so much?" she demanded. "You broke up with me without explaining anything. What happened with Kyan was an accident. I didn't know him." Gabrielle's voice cracked with emotion as she realized the extent of Kyan's deception. Why had he lied to her?

"Enough of this!" Gabrielle's father thundered, his voice echoing through the room. "For this, you will be punished. You will be severely punished." His eyes blazed with fury as he glared at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle felt a chill run down her spine as her father's words hung in the air. She knew she was in trouble, but she had no idea what her punishment would be. Her father's anger was a force to be reckoned with, and she knew she had to face the consequences of her actions.

Kyan, still on the floor, looked up at Gabrielle with a mixture of guilt and regret. Mathew, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the drama, a smug smile spreading across his face.

Gabrielle's mother, who had been quiet until now, spoke up, her voice trembling. "Honey, please...don't be too hard on her." But Gabrielle's father was unmoved, his expression unyielding.

"You will learn to obey the rules, Gabrielle," he growled. "You will learn to respect this family's name. And you will do it the hard way." With that, he turned to the guards and barked an order. "Take her away."