He stopped breathing.
Not metaphorically.
Literally — like his body forgot how.
His fingers loosened.
The watch slipped.
Hit the ground.
A small crack — barely loud enough to notice.
But somehow… it felt louder than everything else.
He didn’t pick it up.
Didn’t look at her again.
Whatever she said — it was enough.
Enough to break something that was already barely holding together.
He took a step back.
Then another.
No tears. No anger.
Just… emptiness.
And then he turned…
and walked away.
Like there was nothing left to fight for.
The woman didn’t move.
Didn’t call him back.
Just stood there — staring at the broken watch on the asphalt.
For the first time… she looked lost.
Around her, people started whispering.
“Did you see that?”
But no one understood it.
Because the truth wasn’t in what they saw.
It was in what she said.
And whatever it was…
it was something he wasn’t supposed to hear again.
