Chapter 2

The next day, the casino manager called. "Emily, you don't need to come in anymore. Starting today.

"I took you in because I felt sorry for you, and out of everyone, you just had to go and piss off Mr. Lawson. Seriously, do you think someone like you could ever go up against a guy like him?"

I gripped the phone, unable to say a word.

When the call ended, I collapsed onto the bed. A deep, bone-piercing pain spread through my entire body.

I reached under my pillow and pulled out the last remaining vial of Demerol. I injected myself.

As the needle pierced my skin and the drug seeped into my bloodstream, the pain finally began to loosen its grip.

I stared at the ceiling as what happened four years ago replayed in my mind, frame by frame.

Back then, Andrew and I were planning our wedding when his mother, Karen Lawson, suddenly fell gravely ill.

In the industry, that specialist—the one with the highest success rate for this kind of surgery—didn't take appointments at all.

Just when the Lawsons were at their wits' end, Sophia came to me. She said she could get the expert to operate on Karen, but there was a condition. I had to take the two million dollars as a "breakup fee" and leave Andrew so he would completely give up on me.

That money was meant to be the advance payment for hiring the specialist.

For his mother's sake, I agreed.

At the moment when Andrew was at his most desperate, I got into the luxury car Sophia had arranged and took the check from an actor posing as a wealthy businessman.

Andrew rushed over and demanded an explanation. All I could do was stick to the script and tell him coldly, "Your mom's illness is a bottomless pit. I'm not about to throw my whole life away for it."

When he saw the check in my hand, he became convinced that I had abandoned him for money—and that I had stolen the money meant to save his mother's life.

For the past four years, he had used his connections to blacklist me, making sure I couldn't find work at any legitimate company. I had no choice but to work in nightclubs, drinking with clients to get by.

Two years ago, I was diagnosed with bone cancer. The doctor said it was caused by years of late nights and heavy drinking.

It wasn't that I never tried to reach out to Andrew. I had messaged him, even begged for help. He told me to get lost and said he never wanted to see me ever again.

I deleted his contact. From that day on, I never went looking for him again.

Thinking back now, it all felt painfully ironic. He could throw money around for Sophia without a second thought, yet he wouldn't spare a few hundred bucks to save my life.

My phone rang again. It was the underground drug dealer. "Emily, I heard you pissed off Mr. Lawson and lost your job?

"Listen, you better bring me every penny you owe for those meds—not a cent short. I gave you a few days because I felt sorry for you, but don't make trouble for me. Or else, I'll sell your contact info to the loan sharks."

I looked at the empty vial in my hand as a dull ache spread through my chest. I had to get the money.

Two hours later, downstairs at the Lawson Group headquarters, a security guard shoved me hard enough to make me stumble. Just as I was about to speak, a black Maybach pulled up in front of me.

The window rolled down. It was Andrew.

He glanced at me through the car window, his eyes cold. "Emily, you really don't know when to quit," he said. "What, the money you made at the casino wasn't enough? So you came to my company to beg?"

Sophia sat beside him, clinging to his arm. She frowned openly. "Andrew, why is she here? How unlucky."

I tightened my grip on the worn velvet box in my pocket. For four years, I had treated it like a treasure, keeping it close at all times.

For a split second, the image of him on one knee, proposing, flashed through my mind again. "Emily, marry me. If you don't say yes today, I'm not getting up."

The stabbing pain in my bones yanked me back to reality. My body trembled so badly I could barely stand. Cold sweat soaked through my back.

I took a deep breath and met Andrew's hostile gaze. "I came to see you... to give this back to you."

I held out the box. Inside was the token of love he had carved for me by himself. Before I died, I just wanted to give back the one thing I had held onto.

Andrew glanced at the box. Something unreadable flickered in his eyes—and vanished in an instant. "Emily, do you have any idea how disgusting you look right now?" he said flatly.

Despite the contempt on his face, I stubbornly kept holding out the velvet box. "Could you, for the sake of what we once were, trade me a little cash for this?"

The moment I said the word "money," his expression darkened. I had touched a nerve again.

He shoved the car door open and stepped out, looming over me. "Money. Money. Money," he snapped. "Emily, was there ever anything you cared about besides money? I must have been blind to ever fall in love with you."

He snatched the velvet box from my hands and slammed it onto the ground. With a crack, the bracelet he had spent countless sleepless nights carving shattered into pieces.

"From the moment you stole the money meant to save my mother four years ago, we're done. There's nothing left between us." The hatred in his eyes was almost enough to swallow me whole. "Emily, do you really think I'd ever fall for your bullshit again?"

Sophia immediately grabbed his arm, her eyes reddening. "Andrew, don't get mad. She's just trying to guilt-trip you with your old feelings. You can't fall for that."

Andrew turned to the security guards. "Don't let this wretch set foot in here ever again. If she shows up one more time, make her disappear from Bay City."

The guards stepped forward, seized my arms, and dragged me to the roadside.

I didn't resist. I was too spent to even resist anymore. "Andrew, you're right. I'm nothing but a wretch. I'll vanish without a trace, just like you want."

I was shoved out of there. Behind me, his voice rang out, cold and unhinged. "Emily, what do you take me for? You come when you want and vanish when you feel like it. I never meant a damn thing to you."

I didn't turn back. Using the last of my strength, I fled his sight. At the next corner, my body finally gave out. I braced myself against the wall and slid to the ground, blood spilling from my mouth.