The folder weighed almost nothing, yet in Gabriel’s hands, it felt heavier than paper had any right to feel.
He stood motionless in the middle of the bedroom he shared with Candice, staring down at its contents as though the pages might rearrange themselves into something he could understand. The drawer remained open beside him, its contents disturbed by his search. In one hand, he held the small silver cup. In the other, the folder that had somehow turned an ordinary morning into something he could no longer explain away.
Weak morning light filtered through the curtains, spilling across the floor and catching the dust suspended in the air. For a moment, the tiny particles looked like floating ash, drifting silently through the stillness of the room. Gabriel barely noticed them. His attention was fixed on the folder, and with every passing second, the uneasy feeling in his chest grew harder to ignore.
