"I'm an adult," I continued as I walked on, my voice even. "I'm responsible for the things I've done."
"Responsible?"
"Don't you think the price was too high?"
"All because of one moment of impulse—you broke Cooper's leg!"
"And the result was seven years in prison, and losing your... fiancée."
"You've gone from being the heir of the Ramirez family to... this state."
Sheena didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear enough.
I remained silent, saying nothing.
The alley was quiet, filled only with the sound of rain and our footsteps.
My silence seemed to soften her.
She reached into her exquisite handbag and pulled out the bank card again, shoving it into my hand without asking.
"Take it."
"Stop being stubborn. I'm begging you, alright?"
I didn't take it.
The card slipped across my fingers and fell onto the damp ground.
She froze, bent down to pick it up, and pressed it into my hand again—this time with force.
"Charles, just look at yourself!"
"You eat at street stalls, wear faded old clothes, live in a tiny, leaky attic, and drive for over ten hours a day just to make a few coins!"
"How long are you going to keep pretending, keeping up that pathetic sense of pride?"
Her breath was slightly ragged, her chest rising and falling as her eyes bore into mine.
It was as if she wanted to burn a hole right through me.
"Do you know? With your current situation, it'll be hard to even find a decent girlfriend!"
"Who would want to spend their life with a broke guy like you?"
I looked at her flushed cheeks, the thin sheen of moisture in her eyes.
Once, such a gaze would have softened me, made my heart flutter.
Now, it stirred nothing—only calm. Not a ripple.
I was about to respond when my phone vibrated in my pocket.
I pulled it out. The screen lit up, displaying a message.
[Honey, our baby is almost done with school. Don't forget to pick her up from kindergarten.]
The sender was saved as "Wife."
My thumb paused over the screen. Before I could put the phone away, Sheena's eyes fell on the message.
Time seemed to stop.
The agitation, anger, and that condescending pity on her face drained away like the tide receding.
All that remained was shock and disbelief.
Rain dripped from her hair, unnoticed.
"You..."
"You're married? And... have a child?!"
