Chapter 6 See You In Court

• "Do you think I care about the money? I just want the ring. I won't trade it for any amount of money. Give me my ring, or I'll call the police," the woman declared angrily.
• "I'm sorry, but I really lost the ring. Even if you call the police, I won't be able to recover the ring. I'm truly sorry about it. You can file a police report, but the most I can do is compensate you for your loss," Enrique replied, his voice filled with helplessness. Inside, he felt immense guilt. After all, the ring had been a witness to someone's love and their final memento.
• "Fine!" the woman uttered indifferently. "One million. You pay me one million right now."
• "One million?" Enrique widened his eyes in shock before responding, "I know the ring isn't worth one million. Don't try to deceive me."
• "But for me, that ring is worth ten million or even a hundred million. I won't exchange it for any amount of money. Let me tell you, I only want that ring. Give me back the ring." The woman became even more agitated.
• Once again, Enrique reiterated, "The ring is gone, I'm sorry. I won't be able to locate the ring even if you kill me. Why don't you tell me where you bought the ring? I'll buy you the exact same one."
• The woman chuckled in response before snapping, "Do you think the ring will be the same as the one you lost? Do you think I want just any ring? To me, that ring represents my husband. I feel safe wearing it. It makes me feel that he's still alive and by my side."
• "But the ring is gone, and there's nothing I can do! I would have tried to look for it if I could!" he uttered.
• The woman glared at Enrique for a moment before bursting into tears. She turned around to face the wall before crouching as she continued crying.
• "Hey..." The panicked Enrique wanted to reach out to the woman but abandoned the idea, feeling it was inappropriate for him to do so. He wanted to offer some comforting words to her but had no idea what to say. It was an incredibly awkward situation, and her crying left Enrique feeling even more helpless than when he realized he had lost the ring.
• They were at the hospital's emergency exit, which also served as a staircase. Given that the hospital had elevators for going up and down, there was no one else there except for Enrique and the woman.
• Enrique could see that the woman was crying so intensely that it seemed like she was on the brink of a breakdown.
• Just when Enrique could not bear the woman's crying any longer, she suddenly stopped. She stood up from the ground, still with her back to Enrique, and took out a tissue from her bag to wipe away her tears. Then, she turned to look at him.
• At that moment, she had transformed back into her earlier composed CEO demeanor, as if the person who had been squatting there, crying and on the verge of a breakdown, was not her.
• "The ring is gone, and it's partly my fault, too. I shouldn't have used the ring as collateral with you. If I hadn't been in such a rush to come to the hospital, I wouldn't have given it to you. Of course, it's pointless for me to say anything now. I don't care whether you genuinely lost the ring or hid it, but you must compensate me for it. I don't know how much the ring is worth, but I remember it cost eighty-eight thousand when we bought it. You must compensate me that amount," the woman demanded with a deadpan expression.
• "Eighty-eight thousand? That expensive?" Enrique was taken aback upon hearing this figure.
• She responded, "If you don't believe me, you can go to any store and inquire about the price of similar rings, or I can go home to find the receipt from when we purchased the ring."
• "It's okay. I believe you," Enrique responded immediately. He could sense that the woman was not the type to intentionally deceive him. Besides, he acknowledged that he was at fault for losing the ring, which held sentimental value for her.
• "In that case, let's discuss the compensation—cash or card?" the woman inquired with an indifferent demeanor, leaving no doubt that she harbored no favorable impression of Enrique.
• Enrique kept mum before fishing his wallet out of his pocket, taking out all the cash and small change he had, and handing them to the woman. "Here's a total of two thousand two hundred and eighty-three. And another fifty-cent coin here."
• "What is this supposed to mean?" the woman asked while knitting her brows.
• "I don't have much, but this is all the money I have. It includes yesterday's earnings from my business and the funds I was going to use for supplies today. It's everything I've got on me at the moment. Please, take this, and I'll write up an IOU for the remaining amount. I promise to pay you back. Just give me a year, and I'll make sure to repay it all. I'll allocate all my monthly earnings toward settling this debt," Enrique earnestly pleaded.
• Upon hearing his words, the woman laughed icily and said, "I've never met such a shameless person like you. I have your phone number, and I'll investigate your personal information. Wait for the court summons. See you in court."
• After saying that, the woman walked briskly toward the ward, her attitude extremely cold. She did not even touch the stack of money that Enrique had handed her.
• "I..." Enrique turned to look at the woman's graceful figure, feeling dejected. He wanted to say something but was bereft of words.
• Enrique slumped against the wall in despair, right where the woman had been crying just moments ago. Taking out a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it and began smoking it one puff at a time. Then, he retrieved his phone, found the contact labeled "The BMW Lady," and sent her a text message: "I want to apologize again. I truly didn't mean to lose your ring. In any case, I hope you can forgive me. I'll definitely compensate you for the ring, but please give me some time because I can't come up with that much money all at once. If possible, I hope you can let me pay in installments with bank interest. If you can't accept that, then you can take legal action against me, and I'll accept all consequences. My name is Enrique Walters, and my ID number is..."
• After sending this message, he also sent pictures of both sides of his ID card.
• He then stood up, continuing to smoke his cigarette as he descended the stairs one floor at a time instead of taking the elevator.
• "I can't believe I have another debt to deal with when I can barely handle one. Well, I suppose I've already become accustomed to it," Enrique murmured to himself with a self-deprecating smile as he walked towards the exit.
• "If I die, that would be one way to avoid this debt trouble. But if I survive, what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger. I have endured difficult times in the past, so why should I allow this to affect me?" Enrique chuckled, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he left the hospital.