Gabriel recalled the last time that he saw Claire in the cemetery. Grief was what he already knew but which she only just learnt about.
If she were crazy, then his kindness would have fed her delusions and she might've wanted to hang onto him more. But in that moment, she needed to be consoled and he felt like he needed to be the one to console her.
Her hand felt small and cold in his. Her words cut through him. And then she promised to leave him for good. That was not what the crazy person obsessed with him would've done.
He recalled that Claire spoke of his shoulder and the wound that no one knew about. She was thankful that it got better. He didn't tell her that the scar hurt every day as if someone was stabbing it.
Claire's hand was on top of his wound, gentle and reassuring. He felt comforted with that single touch. Momentarily, his pain eased off.
Claire knew of his scars. She must've known of his pain. She wanted him to be well.
Gabriel asked himself again, what if she was crazy?
If she were crazy, she wouldn't have removed herself from his life like that.
The day Rosa came was consolidating his mind. He looked at the small key in his hand and an address.
At the end of the workday, he took his very own car and after ensuring that he was alone, he drove towards the storage unit. It wasn't hard to find it or unlock it.
Once inside, Gabriel stopped in his tracks. He wasn't sure what to expect but he definitely didn't expect it to be full. There was furniture, paintings and many boxes. He closed the door behind him and he spent the entire night looking through everything under the dim light.
Everything that Claire and Rosa told him was supported by the many documents. These documents didn't have every detail but they showed that the things he learnt from the two women were true.
Then he picked up a document that he least expected to see. It was the marriage contract. He read through it, shocked with the terms and conditions written in it. He was willing to give Claire so much back then. There must've been a reason as to why and he didn't feel like it was solely because he wished to keep a stellar employee in his company.
Then he found the letters he had written, recognising his own handwriting. They were filled with words of pain, longing, and many declarations of love.
A CD recording of Claire playing piano for him.
And a few photos and a pencil sketch of Claire sitting on his lap and looking into his eyes.
He sat down in the chair and looked at what he held, his heart pounding so loudly that he could feel it in his ears.
What if the crazy person was telling the truth?
Then everything else was a lie. Everything he thought he knew was a lie. But the truth, although painful, seemed also to be beautiful and filled with the emotion that he never thought he could experience.
Gabriel took the CD with him and played it in a car on the way home.
He recognized the first melody although he didn't know the name of the song. It awoke something deep inside of him that he had buried for some time now.
Once he reached his bed that evening, his thoughts shifted and his emotions exploded. Not knowing the root cause, his eyes filled with tears and his chest erupted into violent sobs, as he continued to listed for the echoing sound of piano that played on a stereo from the CD that he brought with him.
He stopped asking himself if Claire was telling the truth. Now, he was thinking that everything he knew was a lie and Claire tried to tell him.
She let him believe these lies after he denied the truth and all for his own sake. She told him that he seemed happy enough in the lie and she left.
He tried to remember anything but there was a hole in his brain. A gaping blankness that he couldn't fill.
But, he knew that Claire belonged there somewhere.
After the hours of sorrow, Gabriel's emotions shifted. He was beyond enraged that he was allowed to believe all of the lies and that he questioned Claire even momentarily.
The next day, he entered the house that he knew so well from his childhood, with his hands in pockets, trying to conceal his shaking hands. His father hasn't mentioned the broken cameras and mics. He wouldn't. It would expose him.
During the dinner Gabriel watched the man who used to be so cruel to him with silent curiosity. Why would his father lie to him?
He didn't dare to ask his father any questions. Not when Claire asked him why he chose his father over her. Not after atrocities that Rosa told him about.
He suspected that his father didn't have any good intentions towards him or Claire. He couldn't trust him. He needed to work out the truth himself and then he'd work out how to make things right. But also, he wanted to work out his father's game.
He wasn't certain what was right. He needed to work that out too.
On the outside, he acted as if everything was peachy perfect.