Because eight years ago, I had been violently kicked down from those very clouds, straight into hell.
And the hands that pushed me belonged to my newlywed wife and to my family.
I lit a cigarette and took a long drag.
Meanwhile, Luis was wiping down the tables. When he glanced up at me, his brows knit together with concern.
“Boss, your coughing’s getting worse,” he said. “You should smoke less.”
My voice came out hoarse. “I can’t quit.”
He let out a quiet sigh and turned back to his work, waving the feather duster around the shop.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“With the New Year coming up, I’m heading back home in a couple of days. Figured I’d clean the place up properly first.”
As he slid the duster under the bed, it struck something solid.
He paused, bent down, and pulled out a small, dust-covered box.
When he opened it, a ring lay inside. Even buried under layers of grime, it still caught the light.
“Boss… this looks expensive,” Luis said carefully as he held it up. “You should keep it safe.”
He handed the box to me. The instant my fingertips brushed the edge, I jerked my hand back, as if I had been burned.
Eight years ago, I had placed that ring on Celeste’s finger myself.
The memories surged forward like a tidal wave.
Back then, she was just a little girl climbing out of the rubble after an earthquake. My father and I were inspecting the site in that village when we found her among the broken walls and ruins.
She had no one.
That was when I began sponsoring her education.
Every month, she wrote me letters.
Year by year, the emotions hidden between the lines grew more unmistakable.
Later, I bought her a phone. She confessed her feelings to me during one of those calls, and I turned her down. She didn’t argue or cling. Instead, she immersed herself even further in her studies and gained admission to a prestigious university overseas.
When she returned, she was immediately parachuted into the company as its youngest department manager ever.
Standing in front of me again, she asked calmly, “Nathan, am I worthy of you now?”
This time, I nodded.
When I told my family I planned to marry her, my father broke his favorite whiskey glass, and my mother cried all night. I knelt in the ancestral hall for three days straight. In the end, though, I didn’t back down.