The Kindness I Don't Need

I had just come out of the operating room, and it had been nearly twenty-four hours since I last slept. I looked utterly drained, like someone whose soul had slipped away.

I was wearing the most comfortable thing I owned, a plain tracksuit I'd picked up from a small shop on the street. No brand, no label. Next to him, I looked like I didn't even belong in the same world.

"No, thank you. I don't need anything right now," I replied simply, sitting down to eat. After such intense surgeries, I hadn't had a single meal all day.

As I sat there, quietly tasting my food, Sophie suddenly walked up to me. She set a check for one hundred thousand on the table in front of me.

"This is for old times' sake," she said gently. "Use it to do something nice for yourself. Find a better job, buy some new clothes. Learn to love yourself again. Lucas, what's in the past should stay there. Don't get trapped in it. If it weren't for you…

"Forget it. That doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that you don't let my leaving destroy you. Promise me you won't give up on your life, okay?"

I looked up at Sophie, puzzled.

Her unfinished sentence lingered in my mind. What had I done in my past life that made her turn away from me after being reborn?

In that last life, we'd gone from school uniforms to wedding vows.

She had her own dream of making music, and I wanted to study medicine. Both paths demanded time, money, and relentless effort. Naturally, one of us had to make a sacrifice.

Because I loved her, I gave up my chance to stay in medical school for graduate studies and a doctorate. I started working early, using one person's income to support both of our dreams.

She failed again and again. Each time, she grew more frustrated, more lost, more defeated.

I was like her power bank that never ran out. No matter how exhausted I was when I got home, I always found the patience to comfort her and steady her emotions.

I thought she would see that as love.

But when she asked for another new guitar, and I told her we couldn't afford it, she snapped. In a fit of anger, she smashed the guitar into pieces.

"You know what?" she shouted. "If I'd listened to Vincent and gone with him to study in Valleria, I wouldn't be living like this! I regret ever being with you, Lucas. I really do."

After that, she stopped playing the guitar. Her dream died with it.

And because of what she'd said, that she regretted ever being with me, I often found myself crying quietly in the middle of the night.

Still, I made one last attempt to hold on. I pulled her close and whispered, "Sophie, let's have a baby, okay?"

She shoved me away so hard I nearly stumbled, her eyes filled with disgust. "With our finances? You think now is the time to have a kid? And I've told you before that I hate children! I don't want to have a baby with you!"

Those words shattered the last bit of hope I had left.

That New Year's Eve, the truck that came barreling toward us ended both our lives.

In that instant, I felt no fear, only release.

Now that we had both been reborn, we had also made our choices to stay away from each other. There was no reason to cling to the past.

I pushed the check back toward her. "No need. I don't take things from strangers."

She frowned, confused and a little offended. "Lucas, what do you mean? You think I'm a stranger?"

I met her gaze. "I can buy my own clothes. Whatever my job is, I think it's decent, and there's nothing shameful about it. I'm not giving up on myself, Sophie. Keep the money for someone who actually needs it."

She stood there, holding the check tightly, lips pressed together, saying nothing.

Then, Vincent walked over and stopped beside her. His eyes flicked to the check in her hand, and he seemed to understand instantly.

There was fire burning behind his eyes, but he forced a smile, pretending to be calm and gentle.

"Lucas, you're really turning down our kindness?" Vincent said with a faint smile. "Then, let's offer you something more practical. I just opened a nail salon on Regency Avenue. You can start there as an apprentice. The pay isn't great, about six thousand a month, but you'll learn a trade. Even if things get tough later, you could open your own nail studio someday. What do you think? Interested? It's definitely a more respectable job than whatever you're doing now."

I kept eating calmly, unfazed by his tone, and turned down their offer. "Thank you, but I'm satisfied with my job. I have no plans to change it."

A few classmates nearby called out to me, half-teasing, half scolding.

"Lucas, what's wrong with you? They're being so nice! Sophie and Vincent are offering you money and a job. Just take it already!"

All That We Used To Be

"Seriously? Look at you. You've hit rock bottom and still have the nerve to show your face here? Coming to a reunion like this, what else could you be after besides connections? Who are you trying to fool?"

Vincent chimed in with fake concern. "Hey, don't be so harsh. Maybe Lucas actually likes what he's doing now."

Then, he turned to me with a practiced smile. "Lucas, we're only trying to help. Out of old friendship, we even found a job for you. Don't let your pride get in the way of a good opportunity."

I honestly couldn't figure out what they were getting at, forcing money and jobs on me like charity.

If we were talking about assets, everyone in that room combined still couldn't match what I owned.

"I really don't need it," I said calmly. "But thank you."

Vincent kept that gentle smile, but his eyes were full of mockery and disdain.

Sophie clutched the check in her hand, her tone icy. "Pathetic. You're beyond help. I tried to give you a hand, but you'd rather rot where you are. Fine. Stay poor for the rest of your life."

Right after her jab, a group of our former classmates, mostly women, surged forward, eager to join in.

One heavier woman even tried to force a drink on me.

"Lucas, I've got money." She sneered. "You look so pitiful now. Drink this, and I'll send you a thousand. If you're really that desperate, maybe I'll even throw in a little extra."

Her eyes were shamelessly suggestive, and the others burst out laughing, no one stepping in to stop her.

I frowned. This reunion was nothing like what I'd imagined. If I weren't waiting for someone, I would've walked out long ago.

Just as I was about to call security, Sophie suddenly grabbed the woman's arm. Her eyes turned sharp and cold, anger flaring in her voice. "Keep your hands to yourself."

The woman yelped in pain, struggling against Sophie's grip.

Vincent grabbed Sophie's wrist. "Sophie, what are you doing?"

Her face stayed cold, her tone even colder. "Doing the right thing. This is a reunion, not your circus."

With that, she shoved the woman away. The woman didn't dare talk back to Sophie, but she shot me a venomous glare before slinking off.

I couldn't help glancing at Sophie, surprised she'd stepped in to defend me at all.

Vincent's jaw tightened, but he still forced a smile. "I heard the young heir and the CEO of Crestwell Group are having a meeting upstairs. If we're lucky, we might catch a glimpse of Aston's richest person."

The mention of that sent a ripple of excitement through the crowd.

Aston's richest person was said to be stunning and immensely wealthy. At just thirty, she already had a five-year-old child. Yet, despite her fame and success, her husband had never once appeared in public.

"Do you think we'll see her husband today?" someone asked. "They say he's a world-class surgeon. People wait months just to get an appointment with him! Even the rich and powerful have to pull strings for consultation. I swear, if I get a photo, I'm posting it on TikTok."

"Yeah, that would be exclusive content!" another squealed.

Before long, a small entourage of bodyguards entered the hall, escorting a young boy. The crowd erupted in whispers.

"Look at that entrance. He must be the son of Aston's richest woman! He's such a handsome kid."

The same woman who'd been harassing me earlier, still smarting from Sophie's grip, didn't dare make another scene, but she turned her bitterness on me instead.

"Lucas, if it weren't for Vincent, a wage slave like you would never get to breathe the same air as the son of Aston's richest person. If I were you, I'd drop to my knees right now and thank him properly. Who knows? Maybe you'll get a decent job out of it and even land someone like me, a rich woman with a six-thousand-a-month paycheck!"

I thought she was pathetic.

Ignoring her, I kept my eyes fixed calmly on the boy walking in.

Everyone rushed forward with eager, flattering smiles, phones held high as they scrambled to snap photos and record videos of the boy.

Even Vincent, usually so self-assured and aloof, put on a warm, almost obsequious grin as he stepped toward the child.

"Hey, buddy," he said with forced cheer. "Is there anything you'd like to eat? It's on me."

As he spoke, he reached out, clearly intending to pinch the boy's cheek.

But then, to everyone's shock, the boy, surrounded by bodyguards, completely ignored the adults fawning over him. Instead, he walked straight toward me.

With a bright, innocent smile, he threw himself into my arms.

"Daddy, you're finally here!" he said, his voice full of pure joy.