Act One - City of the Damned — Chapter 23

The chapter opens with the discreet afternoon wedding of Pedro Vidal and Cristina Sagnier at the Monastery of Pedralbes. Attendance is minimal, the Vidal patriarch and elite absent, and society pages remain silent. Outside, a cluster of Pedro’s former lovers weep, while Cristina, veiled and holding white roses, advances to the altar.

From the square, David Martín watches, physically weakened and emotionally undone. When Cristina steps from the car, she pauses and meets David’s gaze. Overwhelmed by betrayal and loss, David mutters, “Damn you. Damn you both,” sealing his sense of abandonment and despair.

Two hours later, David sits alone in his study at 30 Flassaders and opens the case containing his late father’s revolver. He loads six bullets, cocks the hammer, and presses the barrel to his temple, resolved to end his life as grief and illness converge.

At the instant of decision, a violent gust lashes the tower; his study windows fly open, slamming against the walls. An icy current brushes his face, carrying what he senses as the “lost breath of great expectations,” interrupting the act and leaving David suspended between suicide and a sudden, inexplicable reprieve.