Chaos swallowed the ballroom.
People screamed.
Glass shattered across the marble floor.
Security rushed everywhere while guests pushed toward exits in panic.
But Gabriel stood completely still.
Because none of it compared to the storm exploding inside him.
The memories would not stop now.
Every second.
Every year.
Every moment with Naomi crashed back into him violently.
The village.
The mountains.
The tiny wooden house.
Naomi laughing while struggling to bake bread.
Naomi crying beside his unconscious body.
Naomi carrying him through rain while starving herself.
And Leon.
His son.
Gabriel staggered backward, breathing unevenly.
His chest physically hurt now.
Not metaphorically.
Actually hurt.
Because memory did not return alone.
It brought guilt with it.
A terrifying amount of guilt.
“Gabriel!”
Vanessa grabbed his arm desperately.
“You’re bleeding!”
Only then did Gabriel realize shattered glass had cut his hand.
But he barely looked at it.
His eyes were distant.
Destroyed.
“…Naomi.”
Vanessa froze.
“What?”
Gabriel looked at her finally.
And for the first time—
she understood something devastating.
He was not looking at her like a man about to marry her.
He was looking at her like someone who had just realized he belonged somewhere else entirely.
“I remember,” he whispered weakly.
The words made Vanessa’s face slowly lose color.
“What do you mean you remember?”
Gabriel stepped away from her.
Another memory crashing through him violently.
Naomi whispering beside his unconscious body:
“I’ll...