Chapter 1

On the day Emma Bennett rang the opening bell at Nasdaq to celebrate her company going public, my creditors beat me black and blue because I couldn’t pay my debts.

A reporter asked Emma to call the person she most wanted to thank.

A moment later, my phone rang. Emma’s cold voice came through the speaker.

“Ethan, I want to thank you for abandoning me when I was at my lowest. Without you, I never would have gotten where I am today.”

I lay helpless on the ground, nursing my wounds.

“What good is a thank-you if it’s just words? Why don’t you send me eight hundred and eighty thousand dollars instead?”

“Is money really all you have to say to me?”

I stayed silent, and that seemed to infuriate her.

“Fine. You want money? Bark three times, and I’ll give it to you.”

After a brief silence, I laughed and barked three times. Then I hung up, tears pouring down my face.

She didn’t know that when her company had failed to meet its investment targets and faced bankruptcy, I had mortgaged everything I owned and borrowed from loan sharks to pay off all her debts.

Whatever pride I’d once had, I had broken it for her long ago.

Before long, eight hundred and eighty thousand dollars appeared in my bank account, only to vanish again an instant later.

I stared for a moment, then gave a careless smile.

Over the years, even a single cent deposited into my account would immediately be seized to repay my creditors.

To keep myself fed, I had swallowed my pride and started selling balloons on the street.

That day, I went to my usual spot. But when I happened to look up, I saw Emma.

She wore an elegant trench coat. Her eyes were bright, her beauty as striking as ever.

Her arm was linked through that of a younger man—her boyfriend, Dylan Reed.

Her company had only just gone public, yet she had dropped everything and booked the earliest flight home.

All because Dylan had said they would get married once the company went public.

Bitterness rose in my throat, choking me for a moment.

I lowered my head, burying my face against my chest, hoping to pretend I hadn’t seen them.

But Emma’s cool voice reached my ears.

“I’ll take those Mickey and Minnie balloons.”

My heart gave a painful jolt.

Back then, her favorite thing had been to curl up in my arms and make me watch those cartoons with her.

She said she envied the way Mickey and Minnie always stayed together.

She said she hoped I would always stay by her side, too.

“Hey, what are you spacing out for? Give us the balloons.”

“We still have to go pick out her wedding dress.”

Dylan’s impatient voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

A wedding dress?

I stole a glance at Emma. What would she look like in a wedding dress?

Beautiful, surely.

Emma was staring at the balloons, lost in thought. She hadn’t recognized me.

Keeping my head down, I handed the balloons to Dylan.

After a moment’s hesitation, I lowered my voice and said carefully,

“Sorry, I only take cash.”

“Cash only?” Dylan frowned. “Who even carries cash anymore?”

At that, Emma suddenly caught my wrist.

Her icy voice rang beside my ear.

“Ethan? What are you doing here?”

Then she looked me up and down.

“Didn’t you leave me for money? And this is what you’ve done with your life?”

A thousand thoughts flashed through my mind. But all that came out was a quiet, “Yeah.”

Surprise flickered in Emma’s eyes. She was about to speak when Dylan cut her off.

“So you’re the ex who barked like a dog for eight hundred and eighty thousand dollars? How pathetic. That wouldn’t even cover the tires on the sports car Emma bought me today!”

“Still, I should thank you, too. If you hadn’t dumped her when she was struggling, how would I ever have gotten the chance to be with her?”

His words dragged me back into the past.

I was an orphan. Emma and I had known each other as children, then met again in college and fallen in love.

After graduation, she wanted to follow her dream of starting a business.

I gave up a hard-won position at a publicly traded company to build that dream with her.

She said that once the business succeeded, she would marry me.

Little by little, our two-person studio grew into a small company with dozens of employees.

Full of confidence, we signed a performance-based funding agreement with an investor, ready to make our mark.

But then Emma made a mistake and offended a major client. We failed to meet the terms of the agreement, and the company faced bankruptcy. She cried every day.

I tried to comfort her while frantically searching for a way out.

Then her parents died in a car accident.

Crushed by both blows, she began thinking about ending her life.

That day, I pulled her back from the rooftop. Afterward, I left without a word.

Emma’s icy voice brought me back to the present.

“I really should thank you, Ethan. Without you, how would I have met the true love of my life?”

Emma laced her fingers through Dylan’s, her eyes filled with love.

“In that case, why don’t you send me another eight hundred and eighty thousand?”

“Eight hundred and eighty thousand? You think you deserve that?” She stared into my eyes, biting out each word as her chest rose and fell.

I forced a smile through the stabbing pain in my heart.

“Yeah. I guess I don’t.”

“As long as you know it.” Emma’s gaze was cold. “Ethan, the biggest regret of my life is ever being with you.”

I could barely keep the smile on my face. I nodded and turned to leave.

But Dylan deliberately grabbed my arm.

“Hey, Ethan, we haven’t paid for the balloons. What’s the rush?”

My body was too weak to hold me up. I stumbled and fell, clutching the balloon strings through the pain. My wounds split open, blood soaking through my shirt.

Emma’s eyes sharpened. She started toward me, but Dylan cried out,

“Ethan, all I did was touch your arm, and you fell that hard? You’re not trying to scam me, are you?”

Emma stopped and sneered.

“Trying to play the victim so you can squeeze money out of me, Ethan? You could at least put some effort into the act!”