Semua Bab The Torn Vows : Bab 11 - Bab 20

The words hung between them like a curse.I stared at Gabriel, throat tight, every muscle rigid. I wanted to scream, to throw the phone across the room, to shake him until the doubt rattled out of him. Instead, my voice came out quiet. Dangerous.“You don’t get to say that.”Gabriel winced, dragging a hand down his face. “Eve, I’m trying to make sense of this. She talks like—like there was something real. And the way she—” He cut himself off, fists pressing into the table as though to steady himself. “What if I really betrayed you?”“You did.” My answer was sharp, immediate, a blade slicing the air. His head snapped toward me. “You don’t remember, but I do. You slept with her. You promised her things. You destroyed us.”The words tasted like acid on my tongue, but I forced them out, because he needed to hear them. Because someone had to tell the truth.Gabriel staggered back a step, like my confession was a blow to the chest. His eyes were wide, haunted. “Eve… if that’s true—if I real

For a long, jagged moment, neither of them spoke.The silence in the room pressed heavy against my chest, suffocating.Gabriel’s stare didn’t waver. It was locked on me, unrelenting, sharp in a way I hadn’t seen since before the crash. The old Gabriel, the one who could slice through boardrooms with a single look, was standing in front of me now—only this time, his blade wasn’t aimed at an opponent across the table.It was aimed at me.Finally, he turned away. Just slightly. Enough to let out a slow breath that rattled with something between restraint and anger.“I need air.”And then he was gone—out the door, down the hall, his footsteps echoing until the sound faded entirely.The silence he left behind was worse than his suspicion.I sank into the chair, my hands trembling as I pressed them hard into my face. He didn’t believe me. Not really. Every word I had said had bounced off the wall he’d thrown up in those sharp, watchful eyes.I thought I could handle this. I thought I could

I stayed rooted to the spot, my breath shallow, my body betraying me with a tremor I couldn’t control.Gabriel didn’t break eye contact. “You’re hiding something.”My lips parted, but no words came out.He stepped closer, slow and deliberate. The air between us tightened with every measured movement, like he was shrinking the room on purpose. “What is it, Eve? What could possibly be so important you’d have to dig around behind my back?”I swallowed, forcing my voice steady. “I’m not hiding anything. I’m… trying to protect us.”His laugh was soft, humourless. “Protect us? Or protect yourself?”The words landed like a slap. My chest tightened. “You think I’m lying to you?”“I think,” he said, his voice dropping lower, “that you’re afraid of what I might find out.”I felt my nails bite into my palm. He doesn’t remember. He can’t remember. But something in him… It’s waking up.“Emily is dangerous,” I said, my voice firmer now. “And you don’t see it because you’re too—” I cut myself off be

The café was too bright, too loud. I had chosen the corner table, my back against the wall, but even that couldn’t shield me from the eyes.The women at the counter — wives of Gabriel’s colleagues, women I had once smiled at during charity galas — turned their heads together, whispering behind manicured hands. Their laughter wasn’t cruel on the surface, but the way their eyes flicked to me, then away, made my skin crawl.I stirred my coffee though I hadn’t tasted a sip. My phone lay face-down on the table, buzzing every few minutes with notifications. I didn’t have to look. I already knew what they were: the posts. The comments.Emily had made sure the world knew.#Blessed, one caption had read, beneath a sonogram picture. The kind of post designed to look innocent. Except the tag — #FamilyFirst #BabyGrayson — made my stomach twist.My friends had texted, cautious, pitying.Is it true? Do you need anything?Even my mother had called, voice tight with concern.“Eve?”I looked up, start

I sat in the dim light of my kitchen; the only sound was the steady hum of the refrigerator.The folder Emily’s lawyer had left behind weeks ago lay on the table like a loaded weapon. It had sat there, unopened, daring me.I reached for it with trembling fingers. The embossed logo of the law firm glared up at me.My phone sat beside it, Sebastian’s name glowing on the screen.I pressed the call.It rang once. Twice. Then—“Eve?” His voice came low, alert, as if he’d been expecting this moment.“I need you,” I said, my throat tight.A pause, then the faint scrape of a chair on his end. I pictured him standing, straightening his tie, already moving. “What happened?”“She brought a lawyer to our door weeks ago.” My voice cracked under the memory. “She had papers—medical records, sonograms. Gabriel asked me to prove she’s lying.”Another pause. Sebastian’s inhale was sharp and deliberate. “Good.”“Good?”“That means he hasn’t chosen her,” Sebastian said evenly. “If he had, you’d already b