Sarah finally noticed the presence of another human beside her. She stared at the hand holding out the cash in front of her with a puzzled look that she forgot to cry for a few seconds. The hand holding the money had slender fingers, neatly trimmed nails, and a diamond ring on his pinkie finger. There was a faded burn scar about three fingers thick on his wrist just above the expensive watch.

Henry misinterpreted her silence as being discontented with the amount of money he offered. He had seen many greedy people and all of them acted this way when they wanted more money. His lips curled into a smirk. "Not enough?"

Without waiting for her to respond, he took out a few more bank notes from his wallet and gave them to her. He did not have a habit of carrying a lot of cash, so his wallet only had about $1000. Even so, this amount was more than enough for her to patch up her wounds.

Sarah: "...?" Can somebody explain what the hell is going on? What is this guy doing? Do people walk around shoving money to others nowadays? Did she miss an update?

Henry raised his brows. "Tsk tsk, what a greedy woman," he sighed and shook his head slightly. He looked at her in contempt as his lips curved into a smug smile. He took out all the money in his wallet and tossed it to her without caring whether he wanted more or not. He no longer wanted to waste his precious time with her.

Sarah tilted her head to the side and stared at the human beside her through the gaps of her hair. She couldn't see his face clearly, but she could feel the contempt in his voice. Suddenly, all the bottled-up frustrations and anger in her heart broke out. What right did he have to look at her like that? What right did he have to judge her? She resumed crying, escalating it to even louder sobs.

His lips twitched at her sobs. He took out a pen from his front pocket and left a string of numbers on her arm. "If that is not enough, call this number."

His rude actions stunned her. "Hey dude, what is the meaning of this? Is this because you are filthy rich, huh?" her eyes burned with rage, but her naturally gentle voice minimized the impact of her words. "You almost turned me into a cripple and the first thing you thought of was to shove some cash on my face. Did I ask you for money? The first thing you do in such situations is to apologize and ask me if I'm okay. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"What if I don't have a mother?" he asked in a soft voice, almost as if talking to himself.

"I don't know, maybe, figure it out." She glared at him as she slowly got up, wincing at the pain in her injured knee. She wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hands. "Mister whoever you are, I know it is my fault for not looking at where I'm going, but you don't have to act so condescending and 'pity' me. I don't need it." She bent over and started gathering her scattered documents with shaky hands.

"If you don't need my pity, why are you crying so much over a scrape?" he scoffed.

Hearing his ridicule, Sarah pursed her lips and clenched her fists. She's had it with this rude idiot. Time to give him a piece of her mind. She turned around and looked him straight in the face, standing on her toes in an attempt to match his height. Tears blurred her eyes, clouding her vision, but she was determined not to let a single tear fall. "Listen, dude, how I cry, where I cry, and when I cry is none of your business. I have every right to cry however I want."

He didn't move. His smirk persisted and this infuriated her further. She jabbed his chest with her finger as she spoke while still looking him in the eye. "Nobody tells me what to do, okay? Last time I checked, this is a public road not your family's backyard!"

She raked her hair out of her face, exposing her entire face. Henry's mocking smile froze in place. Her face stunned his entire being and his mind was momentarily blown away. To think he mistook her for a swindler!

Sarah took a deep breath and calmed down. It was unlike her to confront a stranger, but there was something about him that brought out that part of her. She had to admit that it did feel good to air out her grievances. A bigger portion of the baggage in her heart had flowed out of her along with the tears. Why didn't she ever realize one would feel great after having a good cry? No wonder Emily liked to cry so much.

She ignored the existence of the random stranger and bent down to pick up her stuff. She threw all of them into her bag and turned around, ready to leave. But something didn't feel right. Was she forgetting something? Ah, yes, the cash!  She had placed on the floor when he shoved them into her hands. The pettiness in her decided she needed to be a little more... dramatic.

"As for your money..." she picked up the money from the ground and turned to face him. She fanned her face with the money while taking slow, deliberate steps towards him. She looked at him one more time before throwing the money on his face. "...You can have it back."

Then she turned around and walked away, forgetting to take the bus.

Henry did not react.

His mind was still fixated on her face. He remembered that face. Her presence had stirred ripples of unknown feelings in his heart. He had thought that he would never feel again after that heartbreak.

His heart had shattered once and he had formed an impenetrable barrier around his heart since then. After that time, he decided that all the women that came into his life could have his body but not his heart. In his defense, it was a lot easier when feelings were not involved. He could satisfy his biological needs without getting hurt. But this girl had the ability to trigger the desire suppressed deep within him.

Henry gazed at the departing back. He was somewhat in a daze, unable to retract his sight from her for a long time. Those eyes, that look, and her stance, took his mind back in time at this particular moment.

He smiled as a distant memory floated into his mind. He could vividly remember the night he had carried a drunken girl back to the hostels. She had been stupid enough to believe 'Long Island Iced Tea' was a different flavour of tea. That girl had downed two glasses and still couldn't find anything amiss with it.

He was drowning his sorrows at that time and that girl had pulled him out of a dark moment in his life without knowing. He could still remember how she had leaned on his chest, clinging to him like a haven. She was a delicate girl, who could move people and evoke their urge to protect. Therefore, as tough a man as he might be, the little tenderness left in him at that time was evoked.

After that day, he forced himself not to look for that girl again as he could intuitively tell that she was a dangerous existence to him. He did not wish to be out of control because of a woman ever again. He would have forgotten about her if he hadn't bumped into her at the pool about a week ago. And today, she crossed paths with him again. He couldn't help but grin. His foul mood had lightened a lot and he even felt grateful for the accident a while ago.

He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked back towards his car. He caught sight of an item on the ground. He halted his steps, leaned forward, and picked it up. Her ID card had rolled away after the fall and she had left it behind by accident.

Henry could not help but grin sheepishly again. He took out his phone and made a call.

"Andy, help me check on someone."

"Yes, boss. The name is..."

He gazed at the girl's bashful and smiling face on the identification card. Her clear eyes shimmered as if they contained a bucket full of sunlight, and the radiance in her eyes seemed capable of stunning people of all eras.

He dragged out his words. "Sarah Suarez."

***

Sarah finally got to a busy street after walking for an unknown time. She stood on the sidewalk waiting for the traffic lights to turn green this time before crossing the road. Her stomach complained about missing today's share of food, and dizziness decided it was time to make a grand entrance. All she wanted was to get home and lie down on a soft mattress.

As she waited for the traffic lights to turn green, she spotted a familiar black car on the other end of the street. A few minutes later, Brandon and Clara walked out of a high-end jewelry store. They held hands as they walked towards the car and Clara seemed to be saying something funny to him because they both laughed.

He opened the passenger door for her and walked to the other side before getting in. That privilege that used to be hers had now been transferred to another woman. How fragile was their so-called love?

Her grip tightened around the bag strap as she watched Brandon drive off. She couldn't understand. What was her mistake? Why did she have to be the loser of this love affair?

"Wow, what a wonderful couple," someone said behind her. That stung. No one had ever said that about her, and even Emily, her best friend, looked like she could tear Brandon into pieces whenever they hung out together.

More and more people had gathered around her without her knowledge. They too were waiting to cross the road, and judging from the number of people in the street, it should be rush hour now. Most of them were either from work or heading to work for their evening shifts. The peaceful atmosphere was filled with happy chatter, angry phone calls, laughter, and all kinds of regular conversations—nothing unusual.

Her dizziness worsened as laughter echoed through the air. It sounded like the whole world was laughing at her. She supported her head with her hand and blinked a few times to restore her vision. Her legs wobbled, hardly supporting her weight.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw the sidewalk getting closer and closer to her face. A sharp pain shot through her bruised knee before her head made contact with the hard floor. Then she saw black as darkness engulfed her.