'How can he look so obedient… so calm,' she thought, 'when he's standing there like this?'
Taking a shaky breath, she spoke again.
"You were always cold to me," she said, her voice wavering. "You looked at me like I didn't matter. Sometimes you even degraded me."
Her eyes brimmed with tears.
The moment Kael saw them, panic surged through him.
He immediately stepped back, lowering his posture, creating distance. He gently took her hand, his voice losing its composure.
"Why are you crying?"
He looked utterly flustered, like a child who had made a terrible mistake without realizing it.
That only made Martha feel worse.
"You even got together with other women," she said in a choked voice. "I could only watch you from afar. Do you know how much that hurt? Every time you ignored me… every time you pretended I didn't exist…"
Kael held her hand tightly, anxiety knotting in his chest. Yet beneath it all, a small spark of joy flickered.
