Naomi could not move.
Her hand remained frozen against the doorknob while her heartbeat pounded violently inside her chest.
Outside the door…
Gabriel waited silently.
And suddenly, the tiny apartment felt too small to hold all the pain between them.
“…Naomi.”
His voice broke slightly this time.
And that alone nearly shattered her.
Because she recognized it now.
Not confusion.
Not politeness.
Love.
Regret.
Desperation.
Naomi closed her eyes painfully.
For one weak moment…
she considered pretending she wasn’t home.
Pretending none of this was happening.
Because if she opened that door—
everything she spent months trying to survive would come rushing back.
But fate had already decided for her.
Behind her, Leon stirred awake from the noise.
“Mother?”
Naomi turned quickly.
The little boy sat up sleepily rubbing his eyes.
Then—
he heard the voice outside too.
And froze.
“…Father?”
The word was barely a whisper.
But Gabriel heard it immediately from outside.
A broken sound escaped him softly.
“Leon…”
Naomi finally opened the door.
Slowly.
Carefully.
And there he was.
Gabriel stood in the dim hallway beneath weak apartment lights, rainwater still clinging to his coat.
He looked exhausted.
Destroyed.
Not like a billionaire heir.
Not like the powerful Gabriel Baker the world admired.
Just…
a man who realized too late what he lost.
The moment his eyes landed on Naomi—
he broke.
Because memory had not been kind to him.
It forced him to relive everything:
her sacrifices
her tears
her loneliness
the moment she walked away silently
And...