Lock You In My Heart
Chapter 16

Gabrielle stared at Wendy's face for a while. Although her instincts told her that Wendy was hiding something from her, Gabrielle decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Mom, you have to replace Bryce and Nellie as soon as possible. As you can see, Westley can be very short-tempered. I'm afraid that if he gets angry at me again, it will be over for both me and the Jones family." Gabrielle frowned.

She had every reason to be afraid of Westley. After all, who in their right mind would want to get into his bad books?

"Gabrielle, you know that your father and I are doing our best to replace them. The Jones just doesn't have the same resources as the Morris. Besides, I don't think Westley wants to get Nellie back. If he did, he would have been able to track her down even without the help of the Jones." Wendy already had a plan in her mind.

However, it all depended on whether Gabrielle would be willing to cooperate or not.

Fortunately, since they had managed to get Gabrielle married to Westley, refusal was not an option that was available to her anymore.

Someone as powerful and well-connected as Westley would have easily been able to trace Nellie's whereabouts, but he deliberately dropped that difficult responsibility over to the Jones.

That alone gave Wendy enough reason to believe that he never really wanted to marry Nellie in the first place. Otherwise, he could have easily called off the wedding instead of picking Gabrielle to be his substitute bride.

Wasn't it a tad bit dubious?

Wendy had no way of replaceing out what was on Westley's mind, but she hoped that everything would go as she had expected.

With Gabrielle as his wife, the bond between the Jones and the Morris was now stronger than ever. Their union could prove to be immensely beneficial for the Jones.

"Mom, if Westley looks for them himself..." 'Bryce is only going to come back to us as a corpse,' she kept her thoughts to herself, fearing that it would only aggravate Wendy and Tobias.

"By doing nothing, he is giving the Jones a chance to make reparation. You and father should send more people to look for my brother. I remember he travelled to several countries when he was in college. Perhaps, if you look for him in those places, you might be able to replace him. Have father check his departure records. That should give us a hint, right?" Gabrielle tried to come up with new ideas, hoping that Tobias would replace Bryce back as soon as possible.

An affectionate smile softened Wendy's face as she took Gabrielle's hand into hers and said, "Gabrielle, I know how you feel. I'm just as anxious as you are. I want to replace your brother as soon as possible too, but you heard what Westley said to us. How can we replace your brother when we clearly don't have the ability to do so in just a few days? I'm afraid that Westley is going to ruin our family name before we can even replace your brother."

"Mom, then what do you want to do?" Gabrielle knew that Wendy always had a lot of ideas.

Tobias may have gained some fame in the business world in all these years, but he wouldn't have achieved any of that without Wendy's advice.

"Gabrielle, you know I have always loved you a lot. Although you are an adopted daughter, your father and I have always regarded you as the daughter of the Jones."

"Mom, I know that! What do you need me to do? Just tell me." Gabrielle could sense that Wendy was up to something.

"Gabrielle, you are a smart girl. Now that you're Westley's wife, it would be a pity if you didn't take advantage of your beautiful face to win Westley over to your side..."

"Mom, are you saying that you want

me to seduce Westley?" Gabrielle interrupted Wendy. Her eyes were wide with shock and she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

Just as she had expected, Wendy already had a plan for her, it just wasn't a plan she could accept.

How could she ask such a thing of her own daughter? How could she even utter those words?

"Gabrielle, you silly girl! Seduce him? Why would you think of it like that? Besides, you and Westley are a couple now. Isn't it normal for a couple to be intimate? I was just hoping that you could help us stall for some more time. I'm not saying that you have to seduce him. Did you really think I'm the kind of person who would push my own daughter into a desperate situation? Did I not raise you with my own hands? Don't you trust me at all?" Wendy immediately activated her talents in acting and looked at Gabrielle with an aggrieved expression on her face.

Gabrielle's heart softened at once, but she couldn't seduce Westley even if she wanted to. Knowing his temper, she knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill her if he found out that she even conceived such an idea in her mind.

Besides, she couldn't bring herself to seduce another man, especially with Bryce in her heart.

"Mom, I'll go and check on Westley. I think he just got off the phone." Gabrielle raised her head and looked out the window to replace Westley. His tall and lean figure was almost impossible to resist as he stood with his back to her, with one hand inside the pocket of his trousers and the other holding a phone to his ear.

How could a man look so attractive even from the back?

If he didn't have such a volatile temper, he would have easily been regarded as the perfect prince charming.

When Gabrielle came out, Westley took a puff from a cigarette he had just lit up.

"I thought you wouldn't dare to come out and see me," said Westley coldly.

Gabrielle knew he was hinting something, but she didn't want to push his buttons.

"Can I have my phone back?" Gabrielle reached for the phone.

"Gabrielle, I've underestimated you. No wonder the Jones was so anxious to give your hand to me in marriage." Westley tossed the phone over to her, smirking meaningfully.

Gabrielle immediately understood what he was referring to. Westley must have seen Bryce's photo on her phone which was meant to be her secret alone.

But she didn't want to argue with him.

"If you don't want to have lunch here, I can come up with some excuse for Grandma." Gabrielle held onto her phone tightly between her two hands as if she were holding onto Bryce.

Unfortunately, she could never feel the same way for this man.

"Really? Gabrielle, you don't have to be so hypocritical. Since Grandma wants me to stay for lunch, I won't disappoint her. As for you, don't play nice with me. It only makes me hate you even more." Westley took two more puffs before he dropped the cigarette on the floor and stomped on it.

"Westley, do you think I asked Grandma to call you?" Gabrielle was disappointed to hear him speak to her like that.

"Am I wrong to believe so? The moment I said I was leaving, Grandma called me right at that moment. What a coincidence!" Westley's bitter frown transformed itself into a sneer.

Obviously, he didn't believe a single word she said.

"I had nothing to do with it. Whether you believe it or not, is up to you." Gabrielle did not appreciate being constantly degraded by him. After all, she was only human.

"Gabrielle, you better hope that I never replace out what you are doing behind by back, because if I do, you and your family will never set foot in Antawood again," Westley warned her coldly.