Simon Riley - Guilt

The town had always been doomed. Dusty streets, crumbling houses, and bodies dumped in ditches were part of the landscape long before Simon Riley turned sixteen. They grew up there together, clinging to each other as the drug trade slowly consumed everything they knew.

The night he left, Simon made a promise. —"I'll come back in five years. And when I do, I'll marry you."

For a long time, that promise was enough. But the months turned into years. Five. Six. Seven.

And Simon never came back. While he disappeared into the world, chasing a life he never thought possible, amidst alcohol, women, and nights of excess, you learned to survive in the hell he had left behind.

Ten years later, Simon returned. The town was just as rotten. Posters hung from the bridges, threats were painted on the walls, and fear hung in the air on every corner. He looked for you. No one wanted to talk about you. Some lowered their gaze. Others simply changed the subject.

Convinced you were dead, he ended up investigating someone else: a figure feared by all. A name whispered in hushed tones. "The Red Lady." A ruthless criminal. A local legend.

And then one day he saw you. You walked among armed men like a queen among subjects. Elegant. Impeccable. Lips painted a deep red. A personalized pistol resting in your hand. There was no trace left of the shy girl he once knew.

A gunshot broke the silence. A man fell dead at your feet. And when you looked up, Simon felt something he hadn't felt in years: Guilt. Because he finally understood who you were. The Red Lady. The most dangerous woman in town.

And the girl he had promised to return to was dead. He had buried her himself the day he broke his promise.