18
When I was little, there was always this scruffy boy who would sneak into our house and scavenge whatever
leftover food we had.
I caught him once.
He was tall and thin, almost fragile, with no real muscle to speak of.
His face, dirty and scarred, was so caked in grime it was hard to tell if it was bruises or just dirt. But when it came to grabbing the stale, almost rotten food, he was surprisingly quick
I knew who he was; the other kids called him the wild child.
They said he was some illegitimate kid, abandoned without a family
To them, he was nothing more than a stray, a mad dog in human form
I remember being scared, the kind of fear that makes you run without thinking. I didn’t even know if I had caught
his attention.
But after that day, I started asking my parents to prepare a little more food, something extra, every day.
And as the evening settled in, I would quietly leave the food box in the backyard, hidden from sight, hoping he
would come for it.
The food box was always filled with soft, fragrant white rice, sometimes accompanied by a tender chicken drumstick and sometimes a few pieces of braised pork.
I was afraid of the boy, yet every time, I would sneak behind a pillar, watching him in secret
I watched until he finished every last bite.
His bright eyes would glance toward me, and I swore I saw a smile, a quiet acknowledgment.
But the moment that smile appeared, it tugged at the wound on his lips, making him wince in pain.
For a long time, the two of us simply exchanged glances from a distance, neither of us saying a word. Eventually, my father’s job transferred us, and we had to move away.
Before we left,
Still left the food box in the backyard.
But this time, it wasn’t filled with food. Instead, I emptied my piggy bank and filled it with coins.
As we drove away, I thought I saw a shadow in the distance lurking behind the car.
But the car sped off too fast. No one could keep up
Norman didn’t deny it, but the weight in his gaze deepened
“It’s my fault.”
“I should’ve come back sooner. If I had found you earlier, you wouldn’t have been hurt by that bastard, Mathias.”
Rejected and Abandoned, tinti the Right Man Found Me
He paused, his voice quiet but filled with a depth of emotion.
“I was too slow. I wasn’t there when you needed me the most ”
I’d never imagined Norman, known for his cold ruthlessness, could show such raw emotion.
He seemed fragile in that moment, like a man who might shatter with a single touch
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I couldn’t stop the question from slipping out.
His eyes lowered, his lips curling slightly as though a bitter taste lingered there.
“I didn’t want you to pity me,” he admitted softly.
“I didn’t want you to marry me out of pity.”
“I wanted you to choose me willingly. Whether it was out of love, for what I could offer, or simply to escape someone. I wanted you to need me.”
So, he had known. From the start, he’d understood that my marriage to him was born out of necessity, not
affection.
He gave me his all without hesitation.
It was as if something inside me cracked open, letting a rush of warmth flood through, filling every inch of my chest
At that moment, I didn’t know where the courage came from, but before I could stop myself, I stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
It wasn’t our first kiss, but this one left my cheeks flushed and my breath caught in my throat
As soon as I realized what I’d done, my instinct was to pull away, but instead, he pulled me closer, his large hands gripping the back of my head as he deepened the kiss.
My body pressed against his, almost against my will, my limbs weak, and even the flutter of my lashes felt like too much to bear.
In the haze, I heard Norman gently nip at my earlobe, his voice sending a shiver through my heart. “Irene,” he whispered, “I love you.”
I was exhausted, barely able to stay awake.
But still, he pushed for more, demanding everything from me, his desperation palpable.
In the end, I had nothing left, not even the strength to breathe
