Chapter 6

My mother’s eyes locked onto Gabriel, tears streaming down her face unchecked. 'Gabriel, how could you speak of Tiana that way? Do you even realize how shattered she’d be if she ever found out?' Her voice trembled with raw emotion, but Gabriel’s expression remained blank, unreadable. He didn’t falter, didn’t glance back—just kept walking, arm in arm with the woman beside him, as if my mother’s words were nothing more than a faint breeze.

Left alone, my mom sank to her knees, her hands trembling as she reached for the dress crumpled on the ground. She brushed the dirt from its fabric with painstaking care, as though it were some priceless relic. That dress wasn’t just a piece of clothing—it was the one I’d poured my heart and soul into crafting for Gabriel, even as I lay dying from late-stage bone cancer. My fingers had been pricked and bloodied, every stitch a battle against the pain that wracked my body. I’d pushed through it all, determined to finish it for him. It was my final gift, my last act of love, woven with hope for his future. Every thread, every seam, carried my thoughts, my longing, my unwavering affection.

But Gabriel? He didn’t see it. Or maybe he did, and he just chose to turn away.

I stared at the dress he’d tossed aside so carelessly, now lying abandoned on the ground. A bitter laugh escaped me, hollow and aching. All this time, I’d been fooling myself, clinging to the belief that my love meant something to him. But it didn’t. Not anymore.

My mother, still on her knees, tried to stand but faltered, collapsing hard onto the ground. Blood pooled around her head, stark and terrifying. Panic surged through me, and I desperately wanted to scream for help, to do *something*. But I couldn’t. I was powerless, a ghost trapped in a world where I no longer belonged. In that moment, I hated my helplessness more than ever. And I hated myself for loving Gabriel, for believing in him when he’d clearly moved on without a second thought.

My spirit screamed in silence, a soundless cry that no one could hear.