Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN GABRIEL CHOSE
Serena disappeared.
Not dramatically.
Her apartment was empty.
Phone off.
Accounts untouched.
Gabriel found out through Michael.
I expected rage.
Instead he said:
“Matteo.”
Probably.
Serena was now the most dangerous witness against him.
Gabriel’s old instincts surfaced.
“I’ll find her.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“Police.”
“Claire.”
“She is a witness.”
“She is also the woman who hid my children.”
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened.
“That does not give you jurisdiction.”
He almost laughed.
“Jurisdiction.”
“Learn it.”
Gabriel turned toward Michael.
His attorney nodded.
“She’s right.”
“Everyone enjoys saying that lately.”
“Yes,” Michael said.
Law enforcement became involved because of the trust fraud and suspected coercion.
Two days later, Serena walked into a police station in Stamford.
Voluntarily.
Matteo had contacted her.
Told her to leave the country.
She realized that if she followed his instructions, she would spend the rest of her life depending on him.
She finally chose herself.
Her testimony was devastating.
Matteo had known about my pregnancy within six weeks of the divorce.
He had paid an investigator to monitor whether I gave birth.
When he learned there were three boys, he began preparing to challenge their paternity if they ever surfaced.
He had even obtained photographs of the boys over the years.
That turned my blood cold.
Gabriel looked like he might kill someone.
Then Caleb’s question from the museum returned in my head.
Did you know we were babies?
Someone had.
Matteo.
He watched from a distance while Gabriel remained ignorant.
Why not eliminate the boys?
Because Matteo was ambitious, not suicidal.
Hurting Gabriel Cross’s children would create risks even if Gabriel did not know they were his.
So Matteo chose silence.
Control through absence.
He convinced Serena that telling Gabriel would destroy their relationship.
He also promised Serena that once Matteo became permanent successor, Gabriel would finally be “free” of family pressure and could marry her without worrying about inheritance structures.
Serena wanted to believe him.
Again.
People believe the stories that reward them.
Serena met me once more after giving her statement.
Neutral office.
No Gabriel.
Her request.
She looked exhausted.
“I’m sorry.”
“You said that.”
“I know.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
That was new.
She sat across from me.
“I used to hate you.”
I almost laughed.
“You barely knew me.”
“I knew what you represented.”
“What?”
“The part of Gabriel I could never have.”
“His wife?”
“His trust.”
That surprised me.
Serena looked down.
“He loved me.”
I stiffened.
She continued quickly.
“Maybe not enough. Maybe badly. But he did.”
I knew.
That was the ugly part.
Affairs are easier to understand when everything is fake.
Gabriel’s relationship with Serena had been real enough to destroy ours.
“I kept thinking if you disappeared completely, eventually he would stop comparing everything to you.”
My throat tightened.
“He compared us?”
“All the time.”
“That isn’t flattering.”
“I know.”
She laughed bitterly.
“He liked how ambitious I was. Then criticized me for not being gentle.”
Of course.
“He liked that you were warm. Then complained you didn't understand his world.”
I looked away.
Gabriel had wanted different women to perform different pieces of comfort.
Until neither could satisfy him.
Serena continued.
“I thought hiding the pregnancy would make you disappear from his life permanently.”
“It didn't.”
“No.”
“Because even before he knew about the boys, you still felt second?”
Her eyes filled.
“Yes.”
I did not enjoy that.
No victory.
Only two women harmed differently by the same man and their own decisions.
“Why did he divorce me?”
I finally asked.
Serena looked surprised.
“You know.”
“I know he chose you.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He chose himself.”
I went still.
“He said you were becoming afraid of him.”
I remembered the final year.
Men outside our house.
Late-night calls.
Blood on a shirt once.
Gabriel telling me it was nothing.
“He knew you wanted him to leave parts of the organization.”
“Yes.”
“He didn’t want to.”
“So he found someone who didn’t ask.”
Serena nodded.
At first.
Then she started asking too.
By then he was already trapped inside his pride.
“He told me once that you made him feel judged.”
I laughed sadly.
“I wanted him safe.”
“He heard controlled.”
There it was.
Gabriel Cross hated control unless it was his.
Serena whispered:
“He divorced you because staying with you would have required him to become someone different.”
“And you?”
“I let him remain exactly who he was.”
For a while.
Until that man became unbearable to her too.
I left the meeting with less hatred.
Not forgiveness.
Understanding.
May you like
Dangerous, useful understanding.
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