And now it turned out her scar had already been healed by another man.

The moment Sabina saw me, she froze. Then, instinctively, guilt made her tug at the apron she was wearing.

"Stephen, what are you doing here..."

Eustace's face appeared behind her, eyes darting nervously toward me.

"...Stephen, man, what brings you here?"

He stepped in front of Sabina, jaw set, staring me down with a look of stubborn defiance.

"Mr. Fox, if you need to take your anger out on someone, just beat me to death. Professor Delgado only did this to help me..."

Sabina looked at him with aching tenderness, then turned on me with fury:

"Stephen, how can you be so heartless? Eustace was assaulted. His own family turned their backs on him. They were going to force him to drop out and go back to his village to marry some widow with kids. I was just shielding him from that. Can't you show a little compassion?"

"No!"

My voice trembled with rage:

"If he's pitiful, that's between his parents and the people who hurt him! He could've said no! He could've gone to the police! Why does MY marriage and MY happiness have to be the sacrifice?"

"Or maybe..."

My voice cracked, thick with tears:

"Maybe nothing ever happened to him at all. Maybe you two were just—"

The slap landed before I could finish the sentence.

Sabina stood with her hand still raised, her face twisted with anger:

"Don't you DARE talk about him like that! I already told you, Eustace and I only got married on paper! Why do you insist on assuming the worst about people?"

Our shouting drew neighbors from the floors above and below, crowding the hallway to watch.

Someone called out to Eustace and Sabina:

"Eustace, who is this guy? What's his deal with your wife?"

Eustace stammered, eyes darting:

"He's... he..."

The wounded, suggestive look on his face said everything his mouth didn't.

The neighbors' expressions shifted instantly. Disgust settled over their faces as they turned on me. One of them shoved me hard in the chest:

"They're about to get married and you're still harassing the man's wife? You look decent enough on the outside. Have some shame!"

"Yeah! Someone get a picture of him! Post it online!"

I laughed in disbelief. I grabbed my suitcase and slammed it down in front of them:

"Sabina, why don't you tell them who's REALLY chasing someone else's spouse!"

The suitcase bounced open on impact. Eustace let out a shriek and crouched down.