Catherine's POV
I stood outside the gala hall, hugging Julian's suit jacket around my shoulders, the same one he'd handed me like some kind of gentleman, before he opened his mouth and ruined the entire illusion.
Muffled music and laughter echoed faintly from the ballroom, making me feel smaller, with the sting of humiliation still clinging to my skin.
I just wanted to go home.
"Catherine?"
The voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned and saw Gabriel walking toward me, worry written all over his face. His tie was loose, hair slightly messed up, like he'd been looking for me for a while.
"There you are," he said, slightly out of breath. "I've been searching everywhere. Are you okay? I heard what Sasha did."
I forced a shaky laugh. "Define okay. What the hell is wrong with that girl!"
His face softened. "I'm sorry. I should've stayed with you. If I hadn't, she wouldn't have had the opportunity to…"
"Stop." I cut him off, shaking my head. "You're not my babysitter, Gabe. It's not your fault."
He frowned, still feeling guilty about it, but I could tell he was relieved I wasn't crying.
"I should've trusted my instincts," I muttered, pulling the jacket tighter around me. "I knew coming here was a bad idea. Should've just stayed home eating donuts and watching Netflix."
Gabriel smiled slightly. "Don't say that. You'd have missed the glamorous college welcome party. Sasha shouldn't be the reason why you can't have fun."
"Right," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Who can have fun after being publicly humiliated and—" I gestured to myself, "—being offered a suit with insult."
That made Gabriel pause. "Wait," he said slowly, eyes narrowing with amusement. "This is Julian's, right?"
"Yeah," I said flatly, shrugging my head. "He played knight in shining armor for like ten seconds before going back to being the devil reincarnated."
Gabriel blinked, clearly caught between laughter and disbelief. "Hold on. Julian gave you his suit?"
"Yep, the ever-grumpy king of cold shoulders was kind enough to lend it to me. Any problem?"
He shook his head slowly, the smile fading. "Julian doesn't give that suit to anyone. Like, ever."
I squinted at him, half amused. "What, is it blessed by the Pope or something?"
Gabriel didn't laugh this time. He just stared at the jacket for a moment, his expression tightening, fingers rubbing at his jaw. "It was… our mom's last gift to him. Before she disappeared."
My breath hitched. "Your mom?"
He nodded. "She bought it for him two years ago, on his twenty-second birthday. Before she… left."
His last three words made me remember Julian's voice from that night, the one conversation I wasn't supposed to hear of him telling Richard how he hated him for sending their mom away. It suddenly made sense, Julian must love his mom more than anything else.
Gabriel looked away, his jaw tightening. "He never lets anyone touch it. Hell, even I'm not allowed near it."
I glanced down at the jacket.
"I didn't know," I murmured.
"Of course you didn't," he said, his voice softening again. "He probably didn't think before doing it. That's Julian for you, he acts on impulse, especially when he's emotional."
"Or angry or trying to make someone else angry," I added my two cents.
Gabriel gave a small laugh. "Yeah… that too."
For a moment, silence stretched between us, then I asked quietly, "Can I ask you something? About your mom?"
He stiffened. I almost regretted it, but it was too late to take it back.
"What about her?" he asked.
"You said she left. What happened?"
He looked past me, toward the glowing windows of the gala hall. His expression was distant, not completely cold though.
"She walked out," he said simply. "On all of us. No goodbye. No note. She just vanished."
This was different from what Julian said that night but like Richard said that same night, he was drunk and said a lot of nonsense.
"That's awful."
He gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah. That's one word for it."
There was something in his eyes, anger, and deep, festering hurt. "She cheated on our father," he said finally. "With some guy and when Dad found out, everything exploded. She didn't even deny it. She just left like we were disposable."
"Gabriel…" I whispered, not sure what to say.
"She didn't even look back," he continued, his voice growing tight. "Julian waited weeks, thinking she'd come home. He used to sit by the front door after school, waiting. You should've seen him, Catherine. He was obsessed with the idea that she'd come back and apologize but she never showed up. She picked that guy over us," he exhaled shakily, "she never considered us."
My chest ached. Hearing him talk about it, the cracks in his voice and the way he swallowed his anger like poison, broke something in me.
"She's selfish," he muttered. "People like her shouldn't be allowed to have kids."
I stayed silent. There was nothing I could say that would fix the years of pain tangled in those words.
After a while, he took a breath, forcing a small smile. "Anyway," he said, tone soft but tired, "you didn't come here to listen to my family drama."
"Trust me, I can listen to you all day, if you want. Everything kinda makes sense now," I said honestly. "Now I understand why Julian is the way he is."
"Yeah, he has gone through so much," Gabriel said quickly. "Aside from the temper and pride he inherited from her, he's a good person."
I said nothing, just stood there processing it all in my mind.
He finally sighed, forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Can't believe I am really having an emotional meltdown in front of you."
I shook my head. "It's nothing. I am glad that-"
He cut me off gently. "Come on. We should head back home."
The wind brushed past us, cold and quiet. I nodded, too drained to want to remain here. Gabriel didn't speak again until the Uber pulled up.