"Why did you break up with me four years ago? Do you know how heartbroken I was?"
"When I needed you most! When I was at my most helpless! You actually left me!"
Her words from the private room kept echoing through my mind, each repetition like a knife twisting deeper.
I'm just a food driver at a hotpot restaurant.
And her? She isn't just any customer dining here today - she's become the Regional Director for Helios Nation at Vuitton International, one of the world's most prestigious luxury brands!
Four years ago, right after the college entrance exams, I broke things off with her.
She was the woman I loved most in this cold, pale world!
The one I once swore I'd marry and no other!
The woman for whom I built an eternal fortress in my heart, where I remain imprisoned to this day!
My thoughts spiraled in despair.
Her words kept interrogating my soul, an endless loop of torment.
I whispered to myself: --I didn't want to, but I had no choice...--
"Cough, cough..."
Suddenly, my throat erupted in searing pain, forcing out two harsh coughs.
I pulled down my mask and spat - blood stained my saliva.
Late-stage liver cancer.
That's right, when I broke up with her four years ago, I had already been diagnosed with hepatitis.
Four years on, my condition hasn't improved. It's only deteriorated, evolving into liver cancer.
The doctors gave me six months to live.
...
"Honestly, Ele, when Marco caught your eye back then, his ancestral must have been burning with fortune."
"Who would've thought that punk wouldn't treasure you and even dared to break up!"
"Now look at you - you've risen to Regional Director at Vuitton International, raking in millions in stock options annually!"
"That guy probably never dreamed you'd be this successful now!"
"I heard after breaking up with you, he's been struggling these past years in our city, either delivering takeout or hauling cement at construction sites."
"Now you two are worlds apart - one soaring in the Skye, the other crawling in the dust!"
My thoughts snapped back to the moment I encountered Elen Stavros.
The supervisor had asked me to deliver two plates of fatty beef to her private room.
I didn't know she was the customer then.
Wearing my mask, carrying the beef to the door, I was about to push it open.
That's when I heard her voice - the voice of the woman who had haunted my every breath.
"How depressing, everyone's in good spirits today, why bring up that person?"
It was her!
I froze at the doorway.
The woman I had heartlessly abandoned!
I might forget any other voice, but hers? Never!
After all, she meant more to me than my own life!
She was right here in the private room!
What should I do?
Should I go in?
Would she recognize me?
My heart raced chaotically, terrified she'd know who I was.
I couldn't face her.
Not because of our current status gap.
Simply because I had wronged her so deeply.
"Our fatty beef is here!"
Just then, someone inside opened the door.
I startled.
Hadn't expected anyone to open it themselves.
I carried the beef in, my body stiff as a board.
"Here's your ord-"
Mid-sentence, my foot suddenly slipped.
My body lurched forward uncontrollably, my hand knocking over the sauce dish.
The dish flew, splattering its contents all over Elen's dress.
Pure panic seized me.
One glance at Elen's dress told me it wasn't cheap - worth thousands at least.
If I had to compensate for such an expensive dress, my entire month's salary wouldn't even come close!
Anxiety painted my face.
"Hey kido, you blind or something?! Look what you did to Ele's dress!"
A well-dressed man about my age, sitting beside Elen - the only sharp-looking one in the room - stood up in fury, grabbing my collar.
"I'm sorry, the floor was slippery," I explained.
"That's not our problem! You ruined Ele's dress, you must pay for it!" the suited man's face darkened.
Ele?
His familiar way of addressing her caught my attention.
Why such an intimate name? What was their relationship?
A premonition stabbed at my heart like an icy needle.
Could he be... her current boyfriend?
My mind went blank with a buzz.
She has a boyfriend!
She really has a boyfriend!
Her boyfriend is right here!
But her boyfriend... isn't me...
My heart shattered.
Even when we broke up four years ago, it hadn't hurt this much.
In that moment, it felt like every ounce of strength had been drained from my body, like I might crumble to pieces.
"Luciano, enough. It's just a dress, let it go, don't make things difficult for him."
As my heart was being torn apart, Elen suddenly spoke up.
The furious suited man gave a heavy snort, releasing my collar, and said:
"You're lucky kid, running into someone as kind as Ele. Otherwise, you'd be in real trouble today!"
I stood there, soul-crushed and motionless.
"Look how scared he is..."
Elen shot a reproachful look at the man called Luciano, pulled out some tissues, and walked toward me, seemingly to help clean up the oil I'd spilled.
Our eyes met, and Elen suddenly froze in place.
She stood there, stunned.
Her gaze fixed on my eyes, then moved to the moles on my forehead.
I have three moles there.
Before we broke up, Ele used to say these three moles were like pearls emerging from the sea - a sign of great fortune and prosperity.
I'd just laughed it off then, not taking it seriously.
But now, as Ele stared at those three moles, my heart sank with dread.
"It's you!"
Ele recognized me.
The man who once made solemn vows with her, whom she willingly swore to marry and no other!
The man who later betrayed her, abandoned her!
The man she'd hated and grieved over for four years!
"How are you not dead yet!" Elen's face frosted over, as she said coldly.
"You know him?" Luciano Conti frowned.
Elen let out a light snort, offering no explanation, and said:
"I wasn't going to make you pay, but since you're Marco, you're definitely compensating!"
"This dress I bought at Fashion Week last month cost 5,880$. I'll forget the small change - you'll pay me 5000$!"
What?
5000$!!!
The color drained from my face, my mind exploding, disbelief written all over my expression.
So much money!
That's equal to ten whole months of my salary!
How could I possibly afford it?
Besides, I'm seriously ill - my monthly medical expenses and treatments already cost hundreds!
If I pay out 5000$, I'm as good as dead!
What should I do?
Do I really have to die by her hand?
I hit rock bottom, despair consuming me entirely.