Chương 4
Now he understood it had been losing years he could never recover.
“What rumors?”
“That you were unaware.”
“That part is true.”
“That’s not the part people are discussing.”
Gabriel looked at the city lights.
“What are they saying?”
“That Serena knew.”
The silence between them lasted several seconds.
Gabriel already knew.
But hearing someone else say it made it real.
“Find out everything,” he said.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“Before you do anything, think.”
A humorless smile crossed his face.
“Everyone keeps telling me that.”
“Because when you’re angry, you move fast.”
“I’m not angry.”
His attorney did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Gabriel looked at his hands.
They were steady now.
That scared him more than shaking.
“I’m trying to understand how everyone knew something about my life except me.”
The line went quiet.
Then his attorney said, “I’ll call you when I have something.”
After the call ended, Gabriel remained there.
He did not pour a drink.
He did not work.
He did not do the things he usually did when something hurt.
He simply sat.
And for the first time in years, he allowed himself to remember.
Not the good memories.
Those were easy.
The difficult ones.
The morning he signed the divorce papers.
The night Claire stopped arguing with him.
The moment she looked at him like she had already accepted that he was gone.
That memory had always bothered him.
He had mistaken her silence for indifference.
Now he wondered if it had been exhaustion.
Across town, Claire sat on the edge of her bed while the boys slept.
The gala dress was still hanging over the chair.
She had not changed.
She had not even removed her earrings.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Five years ago, she would have cried.
Tonight, she felt something worse.
Uncertainty.
She had spent so long preparing for the possibility that Gabriel would never know.
She had imagined anger.
She had imagined accusations.
She had imagined him blaming her.
She had not imagined him looking at the boys like they were something precious.
That was the part she hated.
Because anger would have been easier.
A cruel man was easier to leave behind.
A broken man was harder.
Her phone lit up.
A message.
Gabriel.
She stared at his name.
She almost ignored it.
Almost.
Then another message appeared.
I need to know what happened after the divorce.
Claire looked away.
Her first instinct was to answer.
Her second was to protect herself.
The second one usually won.
She placed the phone face down.
A few minutes later, Noah appeared in the doorway.
She looked up quickly.
“Why are you awake?”
He shrugged.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
He walked over and climbed onto the bed beside her.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then he asked, “Was he nice?”
Claire looked at him.
“Who?”
“Dad.”
The word still sounded strange coming from him.
“He was trying.”
Noah looked down.
“That’s not the same.”
The honesty of children was brutal.
Claire touched his hair.
“No.”
“Did he know about us?”
She hesitated.
That was enough.
Noah understood.
“No.”
She hated that he could read her so easily.
“Your dad didn’t know.”
“Why?”
There were a thousand answers.
None of them belonged to a five-year-old.
“Because things between adults get complicated.”
Noah frowned.
“That sounds like something adults say when they don’t want to explain.”
Claire almost laughed.
Almost.
“You’re right.”
He smiled slightly.
Then the smile disappeared.
“Are you mad at him?”
Claire looked toward the window.
“I was.”
“Are you now?”
She thought about it.
That was the problem.
She was.
And she wasn’t.
“I don’t know.”
Noah accepted that.
He was old enough to know adults did not always have answers.
Young enough to still believe they should.
“Lucas likes him.”
“I noticed.”
“Eli does too.”
Claire nodded.
“And you?”
Noah was quiet.
Finally, he said, “I don’t know him.”
That hurt.
Not because it was unfair.
Because it was true.
The next morning, Gabriel arrived at the private school where the boys attended.
He did not bring security.
He did not bring assistants.
He did not bring anyone who could make the moment feel like a business meeting.
He came alone.
Claire was waiting outside the entrance.
Her expression immediately told him she was not happy.
“You can’t just show up here.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised her.
She had expected an argument.
“I wanted to see them.”
“You need permission.”
“I know.”
Again.
She studied him.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I do.”
A group of parents walked past them.
One woman recognized Gabriel.
Her expression changed.
Then she looked at Claire.
Then at the three boys entering the building.
The questions started before anyone said them aloud.
Claire noticed.
So did Gabriel.
“This is what happens now,” she said quietly.
“What?”
“People talk.”
He looked at the school doors.
“I’m used to people talking.”
“Not about your business.”
Her voice softened slightly.
“About your family.”
That landed differently.
Gabriel looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire looked away.
The apology was not what she expected.
“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
“I mean it.”
“You don’t even know what you’re apologizing for.”
He nodded.
“That’s true.”
A small silence formed.
Then Gabriel said, “I missed five years.”
Claire’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But he saw it.
“I can’t fix that.”
“No.”
“I know.”
“But I want to be there now.”
She crossed her arms.
“Wanting something doesn’t make it happen.”
“I know.”
The repetition almost annoyed her.
But she saw something underneath it.
A man who had spent his whole life believing money and power could solve anything.
A man discovering there were things neither could touch.
“The boys have a routine,” she said.
Gabriel listened.
No interruption.
No argument.
That was new.
“They have soccer Tuesdays.”
He nodded.
“Homework after dinner.”
Another nod.
“They don’t like loud voices.”
His expression tightened.
“I don’t raise my voice with them.”
May you like
“I’m not talking about them.”
The sentence stopped him.
