Three days later Gabriel and his new bride returned to Los Angeles, unaware that their future had already changed.
Through the security cameras I still controlled, I watched them arrive at the mansion gates.
They stepped out of a taxi confidently, likely expecting the house lights glowing and everything exactly as they left it.
Gabriel inserted his key into the gate panel.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Daniela stood beside him adjusting her white jacket, glancing around as if imagining how she would redecorate the living room I had designed.
Then a security guard approached.
A new one.
He informed them calmly that the property had been sold by its legal owner and that neither of them was authorized to enter.
Daniela dropped her suitcase.
Gabriel stood frozen, demanding explanations from someone who owed him none.
The guard repeated the facts: the property had new ownership, and any attempt to enter would count as trespassing.
From my hotel suite, watching the cameras through my phone, I smiled for the first time since seeing that wedding photo.
Selling the house was only the beginning of what I privately considered my wedding gift to the newlyweds.