“I got the hospital report this morning,” Vincenzo said calmly. “Gabriel is fine. Alive. Sitting up. Smiling. The doctor even sent proof.”
I froze.
The ashes beneath me blurred further.
Alive?
No.
That couldn’t be right.
I was there. I held him when the monitors stopped. I felt his body go still in my arms. I watched them cover him because there was nothing left to do.
“You’re lying,” Vincenzo said, stepping closer until his shadow covered me completely. “You made this up. You staged it. You drugged him just to get attention. Just to play the victim.”
I lifted my head slowly, shaking.
“He died…” my voice cracked. “He died in my arms…”
“Enough,” he snapped. “Shut up.”
Lena stepped in softly, her voice trembling in a way that felt rehearsed.
“Maybe she did it because of me,” she whispered. “Maybe she hates me so much she wanted me to suffer too…” Her eyes shifted to the ashes. “Maybe she wanted me to imagine that… being me one day. Broken. Gone. Like that.”
She let out a shaky sob and collapsed dramatically onto the couch, trembling like she was made of glass.