Gabriel and Gyan were college sweethearts, and they thought they had found the love of their lives. Then Gabriel got an opportunity in Australia, and he left behind a heartbroken Gyan.
It's been more than five years, and Gabriel finds hims...
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"Have they found him yet?" I asked Nila on the phone during my lunch break.
"They're on it," she said. "As soon as he has it, I'll tell you."
I couldn't help my impatience. Not only did that fucker take advantage of Gabriel, but he was traumatizing him even more by sending that video. I reached out to Nila to have some of her connections find the location the email was sent from. Gabriel had been to Steven's apartment before, but he didn't know the address, and he didn't know how to get there.
"The sooner I can beat the shit out of that son of a bitch, the better," I said.
"Gyan," she said, "I know this is awful but keep your cool."
How could I?
I still couldn't believe this happened to Gabriel. Especially when I was here. I failed him. How could Steven get past me to hurt him?
"It's not your fault," Nila said, as if reading my mind. "It's not Gabriel's either. It's all on that Steven guy. He's the one in the wrong. He'll get his comeuppance. Is Gabriel going to the police?"
"He should," I said. "He doesn't want to. I don't think he wants to face this. Going to the authorities requires him to think about it."
I just wanted him to talk to me. He said we should talk more, but he didn't want to discuss this. Like he said, pretending something didn't exist didn't get rid of it.
"He's going to have to face it eventually."
"I get it," I said. "Some things are just really hard to face."
"Yeah," she said, "like accepting the fact that your marriage is doomed."
I paused for a second. "Ishaan."
"I'm getting a divorce."
"What?" I must have heard wrong.
"I filed for a divorce," she clarified. "I can't do this anymore."
"What changed?"
"It's one thing to cheat on me," she said. "It's another thing to hurt my family. He confessed to having his friends jump you. That's the last straw. No one hurts my brother. Especially not a man who's supposed to love me."
"I punched him first."
"Doesn't matter," she said. "I can't put up with his bullshit anymore. I'm not going to put up with him hurting the people I love. Plus, staying in this marriage isn't going to benefit my children. What's the point of their parents staying in a loveless marriage?"
"You love him." I hated to admit it, but she did. "Maybe a fucked-up part of him loves you, too."
"The problem isn't him being with someone else," she said. "The problem is him being with someone else when we had agreed to be exclusive. It's him breaking that agreement and trust."
