Kael’s face lit up instantly.
"Of course," he said with a small grin. "I’ve morized all of them."
Martha paused. Then she looked at him again, her gaze sharpening.
"You told your story," she said slowly. "About how you fell in love with ... and everything you did behind my back."
Her fingers curled slightly on the table. "But I don’t understand one thing."
Her voice dropped, colder now. "If you loved so much... why did you look for a substitute?"
The question hit like a blade. Kael fell silent.
Martha let out a bitter chuckle, her eyes filled with quiet disdain.
"It’s easy for n, isn’t it?" she said. "When their love isn’t reciprocated, they just find a substitute."
Her gaze locked onto his. "Do you even realize that’s a kind of ntal cheating?"
Her words grew sharper.
"At so point, that substitute starts taking over... and in the end, you beco cheaper in the eyes of your first love."
Kael looked at her sincerely, his expression firm.
"I know," he said quietly. "What I did... was wrong."
He stepped forward and sat down in front of her.
"What I’m about to say might sound like an excuse," he admitted, his voice steady but heavy. "But I still want to explain it to you."
Martha narrowed her eyes slightly, annoyance flickering across her face.
"Go on," she said flatly.
Kael took a deep breath. "When you left the city completely ..."
His voice faltered for a brief mont before he continued.
"I want to feel ease."
In fact, there had been a ti when he would return to their old college again and again, wandering through its quiet corridors with nothing but a fragile hope clinging to his chest.
’I just need to see her once... even a glimpse... even her shadow would be enough ...’
He would stand near the gates, his eyes scanning every passing face as if she might suddenly appear.
"I even went to the board mbers," he continued, his voice low but steady. "I asked them to call you... to check on you... just to make sure you weren’t suffering out there."
Martha’s fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the table.
’So... it was him...’
She rembered those calls.
Back then, whenever she had failed an interview or walked out of a rejection with trembling hands and a hollow chest, the university board mbers would call her.
They would encourage her, their voices warm and reassuring, telling her that she was capable, that she would succeed, that she was worth it.
Those calls had felt like lifelines. She had never known they ca from him.
Kael continued, his gaze lowering slightly.
"I held on like that for a long ti... but then one day, your contact just disappeared."
Martha blinked, her thoughts drifting back. ’Right... my SIM card ...’
She had lost it during one of the most chaotic phases of her life.
By the ti she replaced it, she had already been drowning in work, constantly dealing with her overbearing boss, her days blending into nights without rest.
The college... the board mbers... everything had slipped from her mind.
’I was too busy surviving ...’
Kael exhaled softly. "After that, all I could do was look back at the mories we had."
His voice grew quieter, almost fragile. "I wanted to see you... desperately."
He paused, then let out a dry chuckle. "There was even a ti I beca... depressed."
Martha’s fists clenched tightly.
Kael slowly rolled up his sleeves.
The mont her eyes landed on his arm, a cold unease crept up her spine.
Faint lines ran across his skin, barely visible unless one looked closely, but they were there.
Seven... maybe eight of them. Thin, pale scars that told a story words could never fully capture.
Her breath hitched slightly. Kael leaned back, as if exposing sothing he had long stopped hiding.
"As soone born into wealth, people think my life is perfect," he said with a faint smile. "Sothing to envy."
He shook his head slowly. "But it isn’t."
His eyes dimd.
"My parents... they were always searching for my younger sister. They barely had ti for ."
A quiet ache spread through Martha’s chest as she listened.
"I never thought they were wrong," he continued. "I wanted to find her too... but ..."
His voice faltered for a second. "I was alone."
The word lingered heavily in the air.
"I had siblings, but they had their own problems. I couldn’t burden them with mine."
He looked down at his hands. "So I kept everything inside."
The silence that followed felt suffocating.
"When you left..." he murmured, "living started to feel aningless."
His voice turned hollow.
"I had parents who weren’t really there... siblings who were busy with their own lives... and the person I loved was gone."
He let out a shaky breath. "I had no one."
For a brief mont, even the air seed to grow colder.
"And at that point... the idea of continuing to live didn’t make much sense."
Martha’s heart skipped. But then...
"That’s when I t soone ..."
His tone shifted slightly. "Soone who looked... a little like you."
Martha’s gaze sharpened.
"I followed her," he admitted without hesitation. "I gave her gifts... supported her financially ..."
He shook his head. "Not because I loved her."
His eyes t Martha’s. "But because she gave hope."
There was sothing painfully honest in his expression. "Through her... I felt like you were still there."
His voice softened. "As long as I could see you in her... I didn’t feel the pain."
Martha’s chest tightened.
"Living beca easier," he continued. "Because in my mind, my first love hadn’t left ."
He let out a faint laugh.
"I kept working hard... kept improving myself... thinking that one day, I’d be worthy enough to stand next to you again."
He paused.
"I never felt anything for her," he added. "In my dreams... it was always you. You were the one standing there... not her."
A heavy silence settled between them. Then Kael chuckled weakly.
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