When I refused to pay at that fancy restaurant, he looked at me like a stranger, while his mother wore a smug smile. Suddenly, he spilled his drink on me and said, “You pay or it’s over.” The silence was heavy, a burning sensation in my chest. I slowly wiped myself, met his gaze, and replied, “Very well.” Because what I did next left them speechless, with no way out.

The moment the room fell silent.
What followed was so sudden and so unnecessary that, for a second, my mind tried to dismiss it as impossible, like dismissing a loud noise that suddenly erupts in a quiet place. Michael raised his glass of wine and hurled it at my face with a swift, precise, confident, and assured gesture. The liquid struck my cheek and jaw, cold at first, then sticky, with a