A low voice came through the other end.
"What is it?"
"Um... are you free this afternoon? I was wondering if you'd like to... marry me."
In my previous life, when the mob had surrounded our home, Owen had already fled to the basement like a coward. Inside the apartment, it was just my dad and Herbert fighting alongside us, desperately trying to hold them off. But outside, Clay had been the one keeping us alive.
At first, I'd assumed it was just neighborly goodwill.
But the day Owen abandoned me in the desert—left me to bake alive under that merciless sun—Clay went out alone. He searched for an entire day and night until he found my body. He buried me with his own hands.
I heard him weeping at my grave, and that was when I finally understood.
He'd been in love with me for years.
He'd never said a word because I'd been so wrapped up in Owen that there was never any room for anyone else. After I died, he took care of my parents as if they were his own. And in the end, he used every ounce of his influence in Capital City to drive Owen's company into bankruptcy.