The Pride I Broke for You

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!”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.Clutching the money I had picked up, I went to the hospital, bought painkillers, and swallowed a handful. The pain in my body eased. The pain in my heart wouldn’t. Then the bank called. Emma had reversed the transfer she’d sent earlier, and the bank warned me to repay the money. After a moment of silence, I hung up. I released all my balloons except the one with Mickey and Minnie on it. I left my remaining money to Liam Carter, the friend who had always helped me. Then I took that balloon with me to see the ocean one last time. Because this was where I had first met Emma. I never expected to run into them here, too. Emma wore a white wedding dress, her arm linked through Dylan’s. A large group of guests followed behind them. The moment she saw me, a flicker of panic crossed her eyes, and she pressed her lips together. I stood there without a word. All I could think was how beautiful she looked in that dress. Mockery flashed in Dylan’s eyes. “Ethan, why did you follow us here? Don’t tell me you’ve already spent the money Emma just gave you.” Anger flickered in Emma’s eyes. “Ethan! If you’re going to beg for money, at least pick your moment. Can’t you see we’re filming our wedding video?” The guests behind her joined in. “I heard her ex left her for money when she was at her lowest. Now that she’s successful, he keeps crawling back for more. How shameless.” “He looks decent enough, but he’s a total scumbag! Actually, calling him that is an insult to scumbags.” A sneer tugged at Dylan’s mouth. He came over with a show of concern. “How much do you want this time, Ethan? If it isn’t too much, I’ll give it to you myself. Just don’t interrupt our wedding video.” He started reaching for his wallet, but Emma angrily stopped him. “Dylan, why should you give him anything? Do I owe him?” She turned back to me, her chest heaving, and pointed at my chest. “Let me make this clear, Ethan! I don’t owe you a thing! If anything, you’re the one who owes me! Get lost!” I drew a deep breath and nodded, my face expressionless. I turned to go, but Dylan caught my arm. His fingers dug into my wounds, sending sharp pain through me. “Don’t say that, Emma. Maybe Ethan’s in some kind of trouble.” “Aren’t we short one person to film us from the water? I remember Ethan being a pretty good swimmer…” I saw the malice behind his mocking gaze and pulled my arm free. Before I could speak, he stumbled backward and fell. Emma stormed up to me and slapped me across the face. “Ethan! So now you’re getting violent? We won’t give you money, so you hit him?” I stood there in silence. Somehow, the pain in my arm didn’t seem to matter anymore. “Nothing to say?” Emma let out an angry laugh. “Fine. You want money, don’t you?” Sneering, she had someone bring over the camera equipment and throw it at my feet. “You heard Dylan. Get a good video of us, and I’ll give you a million dollars!” “But remember, you don’t get to miss a single frame. I want you to see with your own eyes just how happy the woman you abandoned is going to be.” I looked at her frost-cold face, then lowered my eyes. Whatever remained inside me fell still. My body was covered in open wounds. The moment seawater touched them, the pain would be unbearable. I had originally planned to find a rooftop. That way, the pain would only last an instant. But… if I could help it, I didn’t want to die owing Emma money, too. I pulled at the corners of my mouth and looked up. “Sure. If I do this, I won’t have to pay back that eight hundred and eighty thousand either, right?” “Right.” Emma stared hard at my face. It took her a long time to force that single word from her throat. I lowered my eyes, wound the balloon string around my wrist, and slowly bent down to pick up the camera. Then I headed into the sea. The freezing water washed over me like thousands of needles. Laughter broke out behind me, interrupted by the occasional click of a camera. Emma came up beside me, her face tight with anger. “Do you really love money that much, Ethan? Enough to throw away our seven years together?” “So much. So very much.” Only I knew I wasn’t talking about money. Emma shouted furiously, “Fine! Then keep crawling! The farther you crawl, the more money you get!” I moved faster. The seawater tore at my wounds, staining the water beneath me a faint red. A wave broke over me and knocked me down. Pain pressed against my chest. Through the crashing waves, I heard Emma crying. What was she saying? That she hated me. That she resented me. That she never wanted to see me again. Of course. To her, I had always been the bastard who betrayed her love. Then I would let that bastard disappear from her world for good. I pitched forward, tears spilling from my eyes as I sank… toward the dark ocean floor. Just then, Liam came running, his eyes red as he shouted at Emma, “Ethan borrowed from loan sharks to pay off your debts!” “And you’re just standing there watching him kill himself!”