After dinner, Gabriel handed Alie a docunt.
She glanced at it without reading. "What’s this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Asset transfer papers," he replied calmly, tapping a spot at the bottom right. "I just need your signature here."
Alie’s expression shifted. "Asset transfer? What assets are we talking about?"
Gabriel offered a small smile. "Everything I own. You’re my mate, Alie. It’s only right that half of it belongs to you."
She shook her head gently and pushed the docunt back toward him. "I don’t need any of this, Gabriel. Whether you hold everything or we split it equally, it makes no difference to . It’s all the sa in the end."
"It’s not the sa to ," he replied, turning more serious now. "It’s important."
"Why?" she asked, searching his face.
He hesitated. "I don’t really have a reason. I just wanted you to have your rightful share. It would’ve made happy to see your signature on it."
Alie looked at him with a lovable gaze. "I’m not going to sign it, Gabriel. Don’t bring things like this to again. My place in your life doesn’t need paperwork to be real."
She turned away and looked at the bed. "Are we going to sleep now?"
Gabriel remained still for a mont, then said, "You should go to sleep. I have to et Karn for so work. I might be back late, so don’t wait up."
"Oh. Is it about finding Ophelia?" Alie asked.
Gabriel nodded slightly. "Sort of. Karn has a lead, and Carlos is coming with us, so you don’t need to worry."
He placed the docunt gently on the bedside table, then turned back to her. Taking her hand in his, he guided her to the bed with care. Once she lay down, Gabriel tucked the duvet around her with a tenderness that ca naturally to him.
"Sleep well," he murmured, brushing a gentle kiss on the center of her forehead. His hand moved to rest lightly on her rounded belly. "We can’t wait for you to co out and sleep beside your mother," he whispered to the baby.
"You think he can hear you?" Alie asked with a faint smile.
"Of course," Gabriel said, his tone warm with conviction. "My boy hears everything. He feels it all."
She reached up to touch his cheek. "Just co back early. That’s what Noa and I, and his mother, want."
"I will," he promised.
This ti, he leaned down and kissed her lips softly, lingering for a mont as if to carry her warmth with him. Then, without another word, he turned off the main lights, leaving only a soft bedside lamp glowing beside her.
Gabriel quietly stepped out of the room and closed the door softly.
As he descended the staircase, the low murmur of voices caught his attention. At the bottom, he saw Carlos and Karn deep in conversation.
"Gabriel’s here!" Carlos announced with a bright smile as he spotted him approaching.
"Let’s head out, then," Gabriel said briskly.
Just as they were about to move, Carlos suddenly paused, his expression shifting from cheerful to serious.
"Before we leave, there’s sothing I need to tell you," he said.
Gabriel turned to him, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What is it?"
Carlos took a deep breath before finally speaking.
"The High Priestess... she was Ophelia Labrinth. The sa witch who cursed both you and Alie in your past lives."
Gabriel froze, the words hitting him like a stone.
He stared at Carlos. "You’re telling ... my mother trusted a woman, a witch, who turned out to be the source of everything I’ve suffered?"
Carlos nodded solemnly. "Yes. It’s unfortunate, but true."
Karn watched Gabriel carefully. He wasn’t shouting, but his silence was loud. He saw the storm rising behind Gabriel’s calm exterior.
"Does it bother you?" Carlos asked gently. "I thought you’d long stopped caring about anything related to her."
Gabriel looked away as anger occupied his features.
"She never trusted ," he murmured, letting out a bitter laugh. "She placed her faith in strangers... and never in her own son. I kept telling her to at least see if I was truly that person, but no, she chose to trust Ophelia."
He then turned silent for a mont, still processing the truth.
"Did you tell my mother she was wrong? That she was being played?"
"I did," Carlos said firmly. "I confronted her about it. And... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wasn’t sure how you’d react. But I realized you deserve the truth, no matter how difficult it is."
"Thank you for sharing the truth with ," Gabriel said. "Let’s go before it gets too late," he suggested.
~~~~~
Mabel looked for the old diary, where she had kept the contact information of Ophelia. Finally, after searching for hours, she was able to find it in the old trunk. The diary had worn out completely, and so of the pages were sared with ink, clearing the important contacts she had saved.
Still, she looked for Ophelia’s, hoping the number was in use. She found the number, a smile forming on her lips. But at the sa ti, it was filled with worry.
"I’m going to save both Gabriel and Alie," Mabel murmured to herself, rushing to her resting chamber for the phone.
Dialing the number, she finally hoped the call would be answered.
"The number you have dialed does not exist."
A telephonic sound ca from the other side, which shattered her hopes to et Ophelia and confront her.
"I need to find a way to approach Ophelia. She did bad to my child," Mabel mumbled. She lowered the phone to the table and slumped on the bed’s edge. "It was my fault for never giving love to my child. I did so wrong with Gabriel. He keeps telling not to do it, yet I ignore his pleas. I’m such a bad mother to him," she murmured as tears started pouring down her cheeks. She felt helpless for the first ti in her life.
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