My ex-husband left me because I couldn’t have children — 17 years later, I walked into his gala with four faces he never expected…

I gently squeezed Isla’s hand as she turned to me, her lips pressed tight. “Is that him, Mom?”

I nodded, my gaze locked on Gabriel.

“Think he’ll run?” Lucas asked quietly, half-teasing, half-serious.

“He won’t,” I said, more calmly than I expected. “A man like him doesn’t run. He’ll try to face it, because he needs answers more than anyone else in this room.”

Gabriel began walking toward me, his eyes fixed. He struggled to keep a composed look, but I saw his hand tremble around his wine glass. Only I would notice that. When he was just a few steps away, he stopped. His eyes drifted slowly across each face beside me, as if fighting against a wave crashing inside him. Then he spoke, his voice rough, almost unrecognizable. “Rachel?”

I looked at him, not cold, not warm, just the calm of someone who’s survived every kind of heartbreak.

“I thought you couldn’t…”

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