Chapter 11 - THE MARRIAGE THAT NEVER ENDED
I laughed so hard I nearly cried.
Gabriel did not.
“This isn't funny.”
“It is a little funny.”
“We've been divorced for five years.”
“Apparently not.”
“I bought an apartment as a single woman.”
“You were married.”
“I filed taxes as single.”
His eyebrow rose.
“We should probably not discuss that with my accountant.”
I laughed again.
Maybe exhaustion had destroyed my sanity.
Then the meaning landed.
We were married.
Legally.
Still.
Gabriel watched my face.
“I'll fix it.”
The laughter stopped.
“What?”
“If you want the divorce finalized, I'll sign anything.”
There was no manipulation in his voice.
No assumption.
No order.
Just choice.
“Immediately?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
Five years ago, he'd handed me papers and made the decision for both of us.
Now he was giving it back.
I looked toward the boys.
“What do you want?”
Gabriel was silent.
Then,
“You.”
My heart stopped.
He continued before I could speak.
“Not because of the boys.”
“Gabriel—”
“Let me finish.”
I closed my mouth.
“I want mornings where Lucas complains about breakfast.”
A smile pulled at my lips.
“I want Eli playing the piano badly.”
“He's actually good.”
“He's five.”
“Still good.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“I want Noah asking questions I don't know how to answer.”
His voice softened.
“I want soccer games and school pickups and flu season and arguments about bedtime.”
My throat tightened.
“And you?”
He looked directly at me.
“I want you when you're angry.”
“That seems unwise.”
“I want you when you don't trust me yet.”
My eyes burned.
“I want the opportunity to become someone you can trust again.”
He stepped closer.
“But I won't use a technical marriage to trap you.”
That did it.
I cried.
Quietly.
Annoyingly.
Gabriel immediately looked panicked.
“Claire?”
“I'm fine.”
“You're crying.”
“I know.”
“Should I—”
“Don't fix it.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
He stood there while I cried.
That might have been one of the most romantic things he'd ever done.
The next morning, Victor's arrest was everywhere.
Federal racketeering charges.
Kidnapping.
Extortion.
Conspiracy.
Financial crimes.
The Cross empire became the story of the year.
Gabriel voluntarily turned over records.
Daniel agreed to testify.
Serena did too.
Miriam provided years of documentation.
Adrian accepted responsibility for his role and cooperated fully.
His daughter received treatment through an independent medical program funded anonymously.
I knew who paid.
Gabriel denied it.
Badly.
Then Elena asked to speak to me alone.
My biological mother and I sat in the safe-house garden.
“I don't know what to call you,” I admitted.
“Elena is fine.”
“Mom feels strange.”
“It should.”
That helped.
She didn't demand anything.
“Why did you give me up?”
Her eyes filled.
“Because Victor threatened every person near me.”
“Did Margaret Bennett know?”
“Yes.”
My heart softened.
“She was your friend?”
“My closest.”
So the woman who raised me wasn't part of the lie.
She was part of the protection.
Elena reached into her bag.
“I have something for you.”
A letter.
Margaret's handwriting.
My breath caught.
“She wrote this before she died?”
“Yes.”
I opened it.
Claire,
One day you may learn that I did not give birth to you.
Please never let that make you doubt that I was your mother.
My vision blurred.
I kept reading.
Elena loved you enough to lose you. I loved you enough to promise I would never let you feel lost.
I pressed the paper to my chest.
Elena looked away while I cried.
Then I noticed another envelope inside.
Gabriel's name.
“What is this?”
Elena frowned.
“I don't know.”
I opened it.
Margaret had written only three lines.
Gabriel Cross came to see me six months after you left him.
He asked where you were.
Serena told me never to answer.
My heart stopped.
I looked at Elena.
Gabriel had looked for me.
Six months after our separation.
Before the boys' first birthday.
May you like
He had tried to find us.
And Serena had stopped him again.
