Chapter 2: The Envelope She Left Behind
Gabriel didn't look at me anymore.
He looked at Serena the way I had seen him look at men who had betrayed him.
Quiet.
Focused.
Dangerous.
"How long have you known about the boys?"
Serena's grip on his arm loosened.
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Gabriel, this isn't the place—"
"Answer me."
The gala kept moving around us.
Glasses clinking.
Music playing.
No one noticed that the most powerful man in the room was coming apart at the seams.
Serena straightened.
Something shifted behind her eyes.
"I found out three months after Claire left.
I hired someone to check on her."
The air went out of my lungs.
She had known for nearly five years.
And she had said nothing.
Gabriel turned back to me.
His jaw was tight.
"Did you know she knew?"
"No." My voice was steady even though my hands weren't.
"I had no idea."
My son — the boldest of the three — stepped forward and looked up at Gabriel.
"Are you going to be angry at our mom?"
Gabriel stared at him for a long moment.
Then he looked at Serena.
"Get out."
"Gabriel—"
"Now."
Serena opened her mouth.
Then she reached into her clutch and placed something on the table beside her champagne glass.
A folded envelope.
She looked at me — not at Gabriel — and said four words I didn't understand yet.
"Ask her about Rome."
Then she walked away.
Gabriel picked up the envelope.
And the expression on his face told me that whatever was inside it, he already knew what it meant.
---
What was in that envelope — and what happened in Rome?
The truth is darker than anyone in that room expected.
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