CHAPTER 52: KID...ARE YOU LOST?

Third Person POV

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"H-How could you say that... right in front of Gabriel?"

Ingrid’s voice cracked with disbelief as she dropped to her knees and clutched Gabriel’s small shoulders, breaking into loud sobs.

Rome’s brows furrowed, his patience wearing thin. He watched silently as Gabriel looked up at his mother, confusion and sadness swirling in his young eyes. The boy clung to the hem of Ingrid’s dress.

"G-Gabriel... your dad is abandoning us," Ingrid whispered between soft hiccups, pulling her son into a tight embrace. "He’s planning to leave us... soon."

Rome’s jaw tightened at her words, grinding his teeth as rage surged in his chest. He could see exactly what she was doing—playing the victim, feeding lies to Gabriel to gain sympathy, and hoping to manipulate the child who had come to love him like a real father.

It made his blood boil.

Gabriel looked up at Rome, tears brimming at the corners of his eyes.

"D-Daddy... is it true? Are you really going to abandon us?"

Rome’s hands curled into fists at his sides. He exhaled slowly through his nose, fighting to stay calm.

"Tsk. Don’t believe everything your mom says."

"But... I heard it..."

Gabriel sniffled, trying to hold back his tears.

"I-I heard you’re leaving us b-because you met another woman... Are you going to replace us with her?"

Rome’s eyes immediately snapped to Ingrid, his gaze sharp and filled with fury. He didn’t need to ask—he knew exactly who planted those words in the child’s head.

Ingrid held her son tighter but didn’t look away.

"See, Rome? Do you hear what our son is being forced to wonder about his own father?" she spat bitterly.

"He looked up to you. He trusted you! And now even he can’t believe that the man he respected would ever just walk away. What kind of father are you?"

Rome stood frozen, jaw clenched, fists trembling, as he stared down the woman who dared to turn their child against him.

How dare Ingrid say that, as if he were some worthless father.

Rome had always treated Gabriel as his own, even when he knew the boy wasn’t biologically his. He’d never once made Gabriel feel different.

He didn’t want to shock the child with the truth—not at that age, not when Gabriel was still too young to understand.

And now Ingrid was using that very truth as a weapon, twisting it to manipulate the boy and paint him as the villain.

His fists clenched tighter.

He couldn’t lash out—not now. Not with Gabriel standing there, watching, listening to his every word.

"Tsk... Can you get out, Ingrid?" Rome said through gritted teeth, struggling to keep his voice calm. "Just this once—leave me and Gabriel alone."

"For what?!" Ingrid shot back sharply. "So you can lie to him again? Tell him more sweet promises that you’ll never leave? Feed him more hope just so you can crush it later?"

Rome noticed Gabriel clutching more tightly onto the hem of Ingrid’s dress.

He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to stay composed.

"You know better than anyone what’s really happening to this family, Ingrid," he said coldly. "So don’t try to twist things now and make it seem like I’m the one who destroyed it. Between the two of us, you were the one who started all of this."

Ingrid’s eyes flashed.

"So now it’s my fault?" she snapped. "Is that it? You’re going to stand there and make our son believe I’m the heartless one? Can’t you just forget everything—for his sake, Rome? Gabriel is still so young. He needs a complete family!"

Rome closed his eyes for a brief moment and pressed his fingers to his temple, trying to suppress the pounding in his head.

"Don’t start with me again, Ingrid," he said, his voice low and threatening. "You know damn well your old tricks don’t work on me anymore. So don’t you dare use Gabriel like this."

"And why not?!" Ingrid snapped, her voice rising. "You know how much Gabriel has been crying since the day he overheard you were planning to abandon him! He keeps asking me about you—why you haven’t been coming home! So what am I supposed to tell him, huh? That his father doesn’t love us anymore?!"

"Shut up, Ingrid. I don’t want to deal with your tantrums right now," Rome said coldly. "You’re just creating drama again."

"Huh! So that’s all this is to you? Just tantrums?" Ingrid’s voice cracked with anger. "Is that how little you think of my feelings, Rome? Almost everyone in my own family has turned against me—even the Monteverdes—and you still think I’m just being dramatic? You’re so heartless, Rome. I hate you!"

Gabriel looked down and slowly let go of Ingrid’s dress.

He just wanted to run away.

He hated hearing them fight—his mom’s voice rising in rage, and his dad speaking like he didn’t care at all.

He hated how loud they were. He hated how cold his dad sounded. And worst of all, he hated how helpless it made him feel.

His eyes flicked toward the slightly open door.

Without a word, he tiptoed toward it, slipping through as quietly as he could.

There were no bodyguards outside—maybe they’d been told to leave—so it was easy for him to walk away unnoticed.

His small feet carried him through the hallway until he reached the elevator doors.

As he stepped inside, a few employees glanced his way. Their stares made him uncomfortable.

He hated that, too—when people stared at him. His mom always scolded him whenever he locked eyes with someone. She always made him feel like he shouldn’t exist.

Only his father ever made him feel like he mattered—but his father was always busy. And now that he was planning to leave his mom, Gabriel was terrified he’d be left completely alone.

"How did a child even get in here? Is he lost?" he heard one employee whisper.

"It looks like he is. But what kind of irresponsible parents would let him wander around alone like this?" another female employee muttered before glancing directly at him.

He instinctively stepped back.

"Baby boy, are you lost—"

Ting!...

Before the woman could touch him, he quickly backed away.

He hated being touched by other people. It suffocated him.

Without another word, he bolted—his small legs moving as fast as they could—until he finally made it out through the same entrance they had used earlier. He caught a glimpse of a few employees starting to come after him, but he was faster.

Thankfully, none of the bodyguards who had come with his mom were nearby to stop him this time.

He just wanted to get far away from that place.

And just in time, a taxi pulled up in front of the building as an employee was stepping out. Gabriel jumped into the back seat without hesitation.

The driver blinked in surprise when he saw him.

"Kid... how come you’re alone? Where are your parents—"

"Just drive." Gabriel cut him off before he could finish.

He raised the black card he’d been clutching in his small hand and held it up for the driver to see.

The man’s eyes widened in shock.

"W-wait... kid, is that... is that yours?"

"Yes," Gabriel replied firmly. "So just drive and don’t ask me anything."

He then turned to gaze out the window.

The driver fell silent.

Finally, it was quiet.

But that silence only lasted a moment, as the driver kept glancing at him from the driver’s seat.

"Uhmm... kid, we’ve been going around in circles for a while now. But where are you really planning to go? Do your parents even know where—"

"Quiet. Just stop over there if you’re going to keep talking.." Gabriel cut him off coldly.

That made the driver uneasy, but he still pulled over as instructed, scratching the back of his head.

"Kid, what’s your name? Your parents—"

Before the man could finish his sentence, Gabriel threw a thick wad of cash from his pocket onto the front seat, making the driver’s eyes go wide. It was far more than what the ride should’ve cost.

"Keep your mouth shut and don’t tell anyone where you dropped me off." Gabriel said sharply before slamming the door shut and walking away without looking back.

He just kept walking and walking, not knowing where he was going.

Eventually, when his legs began to ache and exhaustion set in, Gabriel finally stopped. That’s when the tears started falling.

He didn’t know where he was.

He had no idea what part of the city he had ended up in—and worse, people were looking at him like he was lost.

All he wanted was to get away from his parents.

But now that he had, he didn’t know what to do next.

His phone had been left in his mom’s bag back at the building. All he had with him now was the black card in his hand and a few bills in his pocket.

He looked around at his surroundings.

The area where the taxi had dropped him off didn’t look like part of the city anymore. It was more like the outskirts—no tall buildings, just rows of tiny houses, many of them worn down and barely standing.

The place looked like it was home to the city’s poorest—many of them looked like beggars.

And for the first time, Gabriel felt scared.

He suddenly remembered his mom’s warnings—that places like this were full of thieves and kidnappers.

"Kid... are you lost?"