Chapter 4

The restaurant was all dark wood and soft lighting. I walked in with Alex a few steps behind me. He was dressed in a sharp suit and looked less like a bodyguard and more like a high-powered associate.

They were all there. My parents, Brian, Sabrina, and two other people I assumed were her parents. They were seated at a large round table in a semi-private alcove. The moment they saw me, their faces lit up with triumphant smiles. It was an ambush.

"Gabrielle, darling! You came!" my mother chirped, standing to hug me. I sidestepped her.

I took the empty seat, and Alex stood discreetly against the wall nearby.

The small talk was excruciating. They talked about the wedding, about Sabrina' s dress, about their honeymoon plans. I said nothing, just sipped my water and waited.

Finally, after the appetizers were cleared, Sabrina' s mother cleared her throat. "Gabrielle," she said, her voice syrupy. "We are all so happy to finally be one big family. And as family, we help each other."

Here it comes.

Sabrina placed her hand on Brian' s. "Brian and I were talking. And, well, we just love your new condo. The energy there is so... positive." She smiled. "I even saw a psychic, and she said it has wonderful energy for conceiving a son."

My blood ran cold. A son. The son she had made sure I would never have.

My mother jumped in. "It' s the perfect wedding gift! You have so much money, you can buy another one. They' re just starting out. They need a nice place to live, to start a family."

Brian nodded eagerly. "Yeah, Gab. It' s the least you can do after getting me arrested and humiliating me."

They all looked at me, their faces a mixture of greed and expectation. They genuinely believed this would work. That they could corner me, shame me, and manipulate me into handing over a multi-million dollar asset.

The anger that had been simmering inside me since I woke up in this new timeline finally boiled over. It wasn't a hot, screaming rage. It was a cold, silent fury.

I looked at each of them, my gaze lingering for a moment on their stunned faces. Then, I placed my hands on the edge of the heavy wooden table.

And I flipped it.

The sound was explosive. Dishes, glasses, and silverware crashed to the floor. A bottle of red wine shattered, splattering across my mother' s beige dress and Sabrina' s white one. People at other tables gasped and stared.

In the stunned silence, I stood up.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear," I said, my voice dangerously low. "You will never see a single cent from me. You will never get my condo. You will never be a part of my life. If you ever try to contact me again, I will use every resource I have to make you regret it."

I turned to Alex. "We' re leaving."

He was by my side in an instant, creating a path through the gawking staff and patrons. As we walked out, I could hear Sabrina start to sob, a high-pitched, theatrical wail. I didn' t look back. The war had begun.