"Ron, mind telling me what exactly happened?"
Zade gently patted the boy's head as he asked, coaxing a small smile from Ron even as his eyes welled with tears.
"I think I was a burden in her life," Ron whispered. "Recently, she changed. She became so cold to me. And one day... she came home drunk. She never drank before. It was the first time I'd ever seen her like that. Honestly, it was the first time I'd ever seen any woman drunk. Seeing it be Mom was a little shocking."
Zade frowned, but quickly masked his expression. He didn't want the boy carrying the weight of his reactions, too.
So, about what the boy said.
Here, it wasn't rare for men to get drunk, but it was unheard of for the women. Especially here, in the countryside.
'Did she change that much since starting this new job? Is she perhaps being forced into-'
"That day, she told me she felt really happy," Ron continued, cutting into Zade's thoughts.
But then Zade remembered something.
