The dinner lasted longer than ever before. The table was filled with wine, glass, and food everywhere yet the atmosphere was silent and cold. No one wanted to talk. No one wanted to bring up the topic.
For a minute, the entire room stayed quiet. Nobody spoke.
Eran stood in the corner, speechless, saying nothing, until the silence was broken by Mrs. Mark.
"I see you have changed," she said aloud.
Eran only nodded his head in reply.
Kanji, greedy and stingy as always, didn't even care that his elder brother was back. All he wanted to know was whether Eran's return meant money the company, the property, the inheritance. So he shouted with anger, knocking on the dining table with force.
"Where have you been for so long? You disappeared for seven years without a trace! You didn't call, didn't text, didn't even reply to our messages. What's your problem?" His voice trembled, not with sadness, but with greed. "You even left your wife behind — the woman you married! She said she hasn't seen your face since your wedding day! We didn't want to let her go and cause a scandal in the media, so we accepted her into the Mark family. We've done everything for you! And now you come back like nothing ever happened?"
Eran replied softly, calmly, like a man who had lost all hope in life.
"I'm sorry for disappearing for seven years," he said. "I'm not here for money, neither am I here to take back my property."
His voice was steady but broken and though his words were calm, they felt like a knife pointed at Kanji's greed. He turned to his brother and added quietly, "I'm sorry, Kanji."
Clara, their sister, said nothing. She had always been distant, visiting once a year. She was closer to the family than anyone else, but she had nothing to add. She simply asked one question:
"How have you been?"
And ended it there.
The entire room went silent again. The dining hall was so quiet you could hear a spoon fall to the floor.
Then Mrs. Kin broke the silence.
"So this is what your mother, Mrs. Mark, has been talking about? Everyone's talking about your brother, your sister, your family but what about my daughter?" she said, raising her voice. "You left her for seven years! She waited for you, believed you'd come back! Many men tried to marry her, but she refused, saying she already had a husband. You left her single and broken for seven years!"
Mr. Kin stood beside his wife, pretending to calm her down, but his tone showed nothing but pride and pretense. "Calm down," he said softly. But the more he said it, the more she yelled, the more her anger burned.
Eran walked to the other side of the table. He got down on his knees, bowed his head, and apologized. Everyone was shocked Mrs. Mark, Kanji, Clara, Mr. and Mrs. Kin, and his wife, Talia.
He spoke like a man who had lost his right to live. "I'm sorry for abandoning you," he said to Talia. "Sorry for the way I treated you. Sorry for the pain I caused you."
As he spoke, she saw his pain saw the hollow man he had become. All she saw was loneliness and regret buried in his voice.
Clara, trying to ease the moment, turned to their mother. "Why don't you give them a house to stay in as newlyweds since this will be their first time seeing each other again as a couple?"
Everyone stayed quiet for a while, waiting for someone to speak. Mrs. Mark agreed. Kanji said nothing. Eran, still kneeling, apologized once more.
"I'll take responsibility as a husband," he said. "I'll try my best. But if I fail… then she can sign for a divorce."
His words shocked everyone Mrs. Mark, Clara, Kanji, Mr. and Mrs. Kin, and even Talia herself.
Mr. and Mrs. Kin, who had planned this reunion with hidden motives, exchanged a knowing look. Their daughter, Talia, understood what their faces meant the decision had already been made for her. Quiet and obedient as always, she nodded and agreed.
After a while, the meeting ended. Both families went their separate ways.
Mrs. Mark and her sons, Kanji and Eran, went to the family's maintenance store. They took Eran to get cleaned up shaved his hair, treated his skin, dressed him in new clothes. For the first time in years, he looked like a new man, but still carried the same silence and guilt.
Kanji, now CEO of Starlink Company, told his mother he had a meeting and left.
Mrs. Mark, proud yet sad, hugged her son tightly. It was the longest she had ever held him. Even when he had lived at home, Eran had never given her time he had been cold, stubborn, focused only on the company. But now, he was quiet and soft. She felt, for the first time, the warmth of a son.
Clara, standing at the corner, smiled faintly. She told her mother to go home with the bodyguards since she was getting old. Their mother hesitated, but Eran promised he'd be fine.
They sent Mrs. Mark home, then Eran and Clara took one car.
"Why don't we go for a check-up?" Clara suggested. "Since you've been living such a rough life…"
She stopped midway. Eran understood without words.
He had forgotten what it meant to talk to his sister. After seven years, the memories were blurry. He said nothing as the car drove through the city, toward the largest hospital the one where his wife, Talia, worked as a nurse.
Inside the hospital, gossip spread like wildfire. Every hallway, every ward, every floor was filled with whispers about Talia the quiet, kind nurse known as the "holy nurse."
Some said, "Isn't that her husband? He looks like he's about to die."
Others whispered, "I thought she lied about being part of the Mark family."
Rumors filled the building.
Talia didn't care. She kept working, her friend Elisha by her side, though Elisha was furious at the gossip.
"Talia," Elisha said, "are you just going to stand there and say nothing? Don't you hear what they're saying about you?"
"What's the use?" Talia replied softly. "People will talk anyway." She walked away quietly.
At that moment, Ren the CEO of Skylight Company, who had tried to court her while her husband was gone entered the hospital. He had heard the gossip and seen the photos circulating online.
He called her name loudly. "Talia! So this is why you refused my proposal? For that man who ran away for seven years?" He sneered. "Who even says he's from the Mark family? Maybe he's an impostor! Maybe they're covering up his death!"
Everyone in the hospital turned to look.
Talia stood frozen, her face pale. Ren continued, mocking her and her husband, calling her names.
Elisha tried to drag her away, but Talia stopped her. "If I run now," she said, "they'll just talk more."
Ren grew worse pulling at her clothes, insulting her louder.
No one stepped in to help. Everyone just watched, waiting to gossip later.
But outside, a black car pulled up.
A man stepped out black suit, freshly shaved hair, silent eyes filled with sorrow.
Eran.
He walked in with Clara beside him, surrounded by bodyguards. Clara went off to visit her friend, the chief's daughter, while Eran wandered quietly into the hospital… straight toward the chaos he didn't yet know was about him.