Chapter 2

Still gripping the balloons, I pulled my jacket tight to hide the blood and laughed at myself.

“Guess I couldn’t fool you, Ms. Bennett.”

“But considering how hard I tried, could you spare me a little something?”

Emma’s expression darkened. “You really haven’t changed. Money is still all you care about.”

“Don’t be so harsh, Emma. If Ethan hadn’t left you back then, maybe that kind stranger never would have come along to pay off your debts.”

“Our wedding is in a week. Think of it as sharing a little of our good fortune.”

As Dylan coaxed her, Emma’s eyes grew colder. She was probably remembering those difficult days after I had abandoned her.

“Fine. For Dylan’s sake, I’ll share a little.”

“Besides, I’d love to see the man who left me for money bend down in front of me and pick up cash I wouldn’t even bother with!”

She took a thick stack of crisp bills from her purse and tossed them into the air.

They fluttered to the ground like falling leaves.

The shoppers around us immediately rushed over to grab them.

Dylan put on an exaggerated look of concern.

“Oh, Ethan, what are you waiting for? Hurry up! They’re going to take it all!”

I needed money. I needed it to eat. I needed it for treatment.

Looking at the ice in Emma’s eyes and the mockery in Dylan’s, I swallowed my feelings and slowly bent down.

Dylan’s laughter rang in my ears, gradually fading as they walked away.

I quietly lifted my head, hoping for one more glimpse of Emma, only to find her looking back at me.

Our eyes met, tangled with emotions I couldn’t name. I immediately lowered my head and let the crowd hide me.

Pain throbbed through my battered body. Tears slipped down my face and soaked the bills in my hands.

Even now, Emma had no idea I was the one who had paid her debts.

Back then, I had gone to her hospital room and made myself into the bastard who had abandoned her.

I told her I was sick of suffering alongside her. That I couldn’t stand how selfishly she had tried to kill herself and leave me with all the debt. That I wanted to break up.

Curled up in the hospital bed, she hadn’t said a word. Her face had been utterly numb.

But after breaking up with her, I hadn’t simply walked away.

I had mortgaged everything for a massive loan, then borrowed from loan sharks to pay off what she owed the investor.

At the thought, I gave a bitter smile.

What good did remembering any of that do?

Seven years had passed. With interest piling on interest, the debt had become astronomical.

Even selling Emma’s newly listed company wouldn’t be enough to cover it.

My creditors had already given me a final warning. If I couldn’t pay, they would sell me on the black market and use my organs to settle the debt.

I didn’t have much time left.