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“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. He looked up, his eyes alive despite the dirt. “I’m Elena. This boy, Liam… he… he’s very attached to you.”
He smiled. “I know. He talks to birds. They understand things humans don't.”
She laughed despite herself. “May I… know your name?”
“John,” he replied simply.
They talked. Twenty minutes. Then an hour. Elena forgot about the meeting. She forgot about the umbrella, about the rain running down her back. Jonah didn't ask for money. He asked about Liam, about her company, about how often she laughed—and he listened. He really listened.
He was kind. Smart. Simple. And completely different from any man she had ever known.
The days formed a week.
Elena brought coffee. Then soup. Then a scarf.
Liam drew portraits of Jonah and told his mother, "He's like a real angel, Mom. Only sad."
On the eighth day, Elena asked a question she hadn't expected:
"What... what would you do to start your life over? To get a second chance?"
Jonah looked away. “Someone needs to believe I’m still important. That I’m not just a ghost that people don’t notice.”
Then he looked her straight in the eyes.
"And I want this person to be real. For them to not feel sorry for me. For them to just… choose me."
The Present - The Offer
And so it was that Elena Ward, the billionaire CEO who had been buying artificial intelligence companies before breakfast, now knelt on 43rd Street in the rain, ring in hand, before a man who had nothing.
Jonah seemed dazed. Numb. Not because of the cameras flashing around him or the crowd of people with raised eyebrows.
And through her.
“Do you want to marry me?” he whispered. “Elena, I don't have a name. I don't have a bank account. I sleep behind a trash can. Why me?”
She swallowed. “Because you make my son laugh. Because you make me feel again. Because you were the only one who didn’t want anything from me—you just wanted to get to know me.”
Jonah looked at the box in her hand.
Then he took a step back.
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