CHAPTER 9: The Reunited Thread
The door to Room 304 clicked open with a soft, mechanical hiss. The room was bathed in the pale glow of afternoon sunlight filtering through barred windows. Sitting on a simple armchair near the window was a slender woman wearing a loose cream sweater, her long auburn hair falling over her shoulders in delicate waves.
She turned slowly at the sound of the door. Her face was pale and hollowed by years of confinement, but her hazel eyes—identical to Lily’s—were as sharp and fierce as the day Gabriel first fell in love with her.
"Gabriel?" Eleanor’s voice was barely louder than a whisper, fragile with disbelief.
Gabriel froze in the doorway, the fury that had fueled his drive evaporating into pure, raw heartbreak. The scars of three years of isolation were etched across her features, but the essence of the woman he loved remained untouched.
"Eleanor..." Gabriel dropped to his knees beside her chair, taking her cold, trembling hands into his own. "I didn't know. God forgive me, I didn't know."
Tears streamed down Eleanor's cheeks as she reached up, her frail fingers tracing the tattoos on his neck and jaw. "Thomas told me you agreed to it. He brought forged papers saying you had remarried... that you told Lily I was dead."
"Never," Gabriel swore, his voice breaking as he pressed his face against her hands. "I searched for you everywhere until he fabricated the flight logs. I never stopped loving you, Eleanor."
"Where is she?" Eleanor gasped, clutching his shoulders with sudden, desperate strength. "Where is our baby?"
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"She's downstairs," Gabriel whispered, smiling through his tears. "She's waiting for you."
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