I watch Ryder crumble, and I feel the satisfaction settle deep in my chest.
But it’s not over.
Movement near the doors draws my eye.
James Thornton stumbles into the room.
He looks ruined. His tie is undone, his face flushed with drink and desperation. He looks like a man who knows the game is over and has decided he’s going to take as many people down with him as possible.
"You thinkhe'sthe fraud? You’re the one who’s been living a lie, you arrogant prick!"
The crowd turns.
"James," Gabriel warns. "Go home."
"Nah, I don’t think I will." James laughs, a manic, unhinged sound. "You want to air dirty laundry? Let’s do it. Let’s tell them everything."
He points a shaking finger at Ryder, then at Gabriel.
"Look at him, Gabriel!" James demands, pointing a shaking finger at Ryder. "Actually look at him for once in your miserable life. Do you see yourself? Do you seeanyof you in him?"
"All I see is a disappointment," Gabriel says.
"You seeme!" James screams. "You see me because I’m his father!" The scream echoes off the vaulted ceiling.
Gabriel freezes.
I freeze.
Ryder stops trying to flee, turning back to look at James with wide, terrified eyes.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Gabriel’s voice is barely a whisper, but the mic catches it.
"He’s not yours," James sneers, staggering forward. "He’s mine. Caroline and I... we were together for years. Right under your nose. While you were building your business, I was in your bed."
He laughs again, pointing at Ryder.
"Did you really think he came from you? Look at him! He never fit in your world. He’s been drowning in your shadow his whole life because he was meant to stand in mine!"
Nobody says a damn thing.
I look at my husband.
I expect devastation. I expect a man broken by the realization that his life was a lie.
But as I watch, his face changes.
The shock flickers and dies. The confusion clears.
And in its place... relief.
His shoulders drop. The tension that’s lived in his frame for as long as I’ve known him evaporates. He looks at Ryder—really looks at him—and sees the truth.
Then he looks at James.
"You're right," Gabriel says. His voice is calm. Conversational. "I spent decades trying to figure out why I couldn't teach him integrity or even just basic fucking decency. Now I know."
He steps back from the podium, taking my hand.
