She said I was paranoid, that I had become no different from the arrogant rich heir who once relied on power and intimidation.
I said she couldn't see through Cooper's motives, that she didn't understand the importance of boundaries.
The cracks between us widened.
Until the night of the engagement party.
Cooper got drunk—and kissed Sheena in front of everyone.
Months of suppressed rage shattered my reason in an instant.
I rushed forward and broke his leg—cleanly and brutally.
My family tried to suppress the incident, but they couldn't bury it completely.
Sheena asked me to apologize to Cooper, to find a way to settle things privately, but I refused.
I even swore I would kill him.
My father was so furious that he publicly declared I was disowned from the Ramirez family—cut off permanently.
Before I went to prison, Sheena didn't come to see me.
She only had someone deliver a letter.
She said she would wait for me. She told me to reform myself properly.
Less than a month later, I received another piece of news.
She and Cooper had registered their marriage.
"We're even..."
I repeated the words slowly, the corner of my mouth lifting into a faint curve that could hardly be called a smile.
"Sheena, that line was drawn seven years ago."
She froze.
"Take the money back," I said calmly. "I don't need it. This life is my own choice, and I'll earn my own living."
"It's hard, yes—but it's clean. And it lets me sleep at night."
"As for the past..." I paused briefly. "That's already behind us. You chose your life. I chose mine."
"We've been even for a long time now."
Sheena stared at me, as if searching my face for even the slightest trace of pretense—resentment, regret, bitterness.
She found none. Her fingers slowly loosened around the bank card.
"You've really changed, Charles."
I smiled faintly. "People always do."
She hesitated for a long time, but in the end, she still let me walk her home.
On the way, the rain began to fall again, soft and steady.
As we passed through the narrow, slippery alleys of the old district, she walked slowly.
The air was filled with the damp, earthy scent of rain-soaked walls, mixed with the aroma of stew drifting from some unseen kitchen.
"Charles."
She suddenly stopped, her voice sounding distant through the rain.
"Do you... regret it?"
I answered slowly, my tone steady. "No."
She turned to look at me, her gaze complicated.