Three months.
That was how long it took for me to walk out of Gabriel Cross’s life.
Not physically.
Not yet.
My body was still recovering.
My ribs still hurt every morning.
My hands still trembled when I tried to hold a cup.
But something inside me had already healed.
Something that was much more important.
My hope.
During those three months, Gabriel visited exactly seven times.
Not because he missed me.
Not because he was worried.
Every visit had the same purpose.
Natalie.
“Have you apologized yet?”
That was always his first question.
Never:
“Are you in pain?”
Never:
“How are your hands?”
Never:
“Why did you say she attacked you?”
Only Natalie.
Always Natalie.
At first, I still hoped.
I thought maybe once he saw how serious my injuries were, he would regret it.
Maybe he would remember that I was his wife.
Maybe he would realize he had made a terrible mistake.
But each time he entered my hospital room, that hope disappeared a little more.
One afternoon, Gabriel came in holding a document.
I looked at him.
My voice was stronger now, though still weak.
“What is that?”
He placed it on the table.
“A statement.”
I frowned.
“For what?”
“Natalie has agreed not to pursue legal action if you admit your fault.”
I stared at him.
For a few seconds, I couldn’t understand.
Then I laughed.
A quiet laugh.
A painful laugh.
“You want me to admit I hurt her?”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“You already know what happened.”
“No.”
I looked directly at him.
“You know what she told you.”
Silence.
“She told you a story.”
His eyes became colder.
“And you expect me to believe you?”
I looked down at my bandaged hands.
Then back at him.
“No.”
A pause.
“I expect nothing from you anymore.”
That was the first time Gabriel looked surprised.
Because for three years, I had always fought.
I argued.
I explained.
I cried.
I tried to make him understand me.
But now…
I didn’t.
And somehow, that frightened him more.
A week later, my lawyer arrived.
My father had arranged everything before his death.
A trust.
A private account.
A property under my name.
Things Gabriel never knew existed.
Because when we married, I never cared about money.
I cared about him.
How foolish I had been.
I signed the documents.
The divorce papers.
The separation of assets.
The transfer of my design company shares.
Everything.
My lawyer looked at me carefully.
“Are you sure?”
I looked at the signature line.
“Yes.”
“Even if he regrets it later?”
I smiled.
“Especially if he regrets it later.”
The same day, Gabriel received the notification.
And for the first time in months…
he came running.
Not walking.
Running.
I was sitting by the window when he entered.
His expression was completely different.
Confused.
Angry.
Afraid.
“You filed for divorce?”
I didn’t turn around.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I almost smiled.
Why?
After everything.
That was his question.
I looked at him.
“Because I finally understood.”
“What?”
“That staying married to you was more painful than leaving you.”
His face changed.
“Clara.”
“No.”
My voice was calm.
“You don’t get to call me that like nothing happened.”
He froze.
Because my tone was different.
The woman who once looked at him like he was her entire world was gone.
“I made a mistake.”
Those words.
Finally.
After three months.
A mistake.
Not an apology.
Not responsibility.
A mistake.
I looked at him.
“You didn’t make a mistake, Gabriel.”
His eyes moved.
“You made a decision.”
Silence.
“You decided that Natalie was innocent before you even heard me.”
“You decided I was guilty before you investigated.”
“You decided my pain was acceptable punishment.”
My voice shook slightly.
“But the worst decision…”
I looked at him.
“Was believing I would still be here afterward.”
Gabriel lowered his head.
For the first time, I saw guilt.
Real guilt.
But guilt was too late.
Then the truth about Natalie finally appeared.
Not because I exposed her.
Because she exposed herself.
A hospital security recording was discovered.
The footage showed the private chapel.
The argument.
Natalie locking the door.
Natalie scratching herself.
Natalie falling intentionally when she heard people approaching.
The entire story collapsed.
When Gabriel saw the video, he didn’t speak for several minutes.
Then he went to find Natalie.
She was no longer the fragile widow everyone protected.
She was a woman caught in her own lie.
“Why?”
Gabriel’s voice was broken.
“Why did you do this?”
Natalie cried.
“I loved you.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You wanted what my brother left behind.”
His name.
His family.
His protection.
But most importantly…
“You wanted my wife gone.”
When Gabriel returned, it was raining.
The same kind of rain from three months earlier.
The night he destroyed everything.
He stood outside my apartment.
But this time…
he didn’t enter.
He waited.
Like I had waited.
For hours.
When I finally opened the door, he looked exhausted.
“Clara.”
I said nothing.
“I know the truth.”
I nodded.
“Good.”
His eyes became red.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“I hurt you.”
“Yes.”
“I almost destroyed your life.”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
Every answer was simple.
Because the truth did not need decoration.
“I want to fix this.”
I was silent.
“Please.”
I looked at him.
“Do you know what the hardest part was?”
He didn’t answer.
“It wasn’t the pain.”
“It wasn’t the hospital.”
“It wasn’t losing my hands.”
His face broke.
“It was opening my eyes and realizing that the person I trusted most was the person I needed protection from.”
Gabriel cried.
The powerful Gabriel Cross.
The man everyone feared.
The man who could control an entire company.
Was standing in front of me unable to change the one thing that mattered.
The past.
“I love you.”
The words came quietly.
Once, those words would have saved me.
Now they only hurt.
I looked at him.
“I loved you too.”
His eyes lifted.
Hope appeared.
Then I continued:
“But love is not enough.”
Silence.
“A person who loves you should not be the reason you need saving.”
Three months later, I disappeared from Gabriel Cross’s life completely.
I moved to another city.
I rebuilt my career slowly.
My hands recovered.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
I designed again.
I created again.
I lived again.
Years later, people still asked what happened between Gabriel Cross and his wife.
Some said he lost her because of a misunderstanding.
Others said he was unlucky.
They were wrong.
It was not a misunderstanding.
It was a choice.
His choice.
Gabriel once believed he had punished a cruel woman.
He never realized he was destroying the only person who had always stood beside him.
He waited for me to apologize.
He waited for me to beg.
He waited for me to return.
But when he finally understood the truth…
I was already gone.
Because the day Gabriel Cross left me almost dead…
was the day I stopped being his wife.
And three months later…
when he finally wanted to save our marriage…
there was no one left to save.
