I stared at my bruised body and thought back to the day we met.
We were in college then—he was a student council leader under me.
By chance, we grew close. My family was poor, and I lived on the cheapest food.
He never handed me cash, afraid to hurt my pride. Instead, he brought an extra bowl of food every day and shared it with me.
Whenever Carmen sent people to bully me, Walter would stand up for me—even at the cost of cutting ties with her family.
Half the trouble I faced in college was solved by him.
After graduation, I started working. Each month, after sending money home, the rest was just enough to cover our shared expenses.
When Walter Shaw’s family found out we were together, they were furious and immediately froze his credit card.
Walter, stubborn as ever, refused to back down and moved out with me into a cheap rented apartment.
We barely had two thousand dollars a month, and after rent and utilities, we were left with almost nothing.
Walter was born into privilege, and after a while he couldn’t stand living like that. One day, he grabbed my hand and took me back to the Shaw Family Mansion.
When I saw his mother, I wanted to speak, but Walter stopped me.