Chapter 89 - Gabriella (3)

I feel a hand on my shoulder and when I look up, my mother gazes at me with smiling eyes, looking like she's about to cry. She rarely does that—always the proper lady that she is.

"That's because you are. You're finally spreading your wings." She tilts her head, a warm smile on her lips. "Chicago did something to you, tesoro. You're more yourself here than you ever were."

It's as if something has reached inside my chest cavity and squeezed my heart. I don't know how to respond to that. I love New York. I love Brooklyn. I love being with my family there whom I miss every day since I arrived in this city with a broken heart and a grieving soul. And for her to tell me that I'm more myself here than I ever was with them, I couldn't understand that fully. My first instinct is to resist it; insist that it's not true. I'm still myself. I'm still Gabby. I just…