"Elen, isn't he the ex who heartlessly abandoned you back then?"
"I thought your ex must have been someone impressive, but he's just serving plates at a hotpot restaurant!"
"If he hadn't broken up with you, given your current status Elen, imagine how much of a downgrade that would've been!"
"Yeah Elen, you should thank him for that mercy!"
"..."
Elen's female companions jeered.
I didn't know any of them. Must be Elen's company colleagues.
I absorbed their mockery without arguing back, letting the pain sink deeper into my heart.
What right did I have to be her boyfriend anyway?
My mother died early, leaving me with just my sister to care for.
A sister who still needed me.
Plus, I never even went to college - just a high school graduate.
In this age where college graduates were everywhere, a high school grad like me was worthless.
I had no future.
Worse still, illness consumed me.
While she climbed toward brilliance, I sank closer to my grave.
Our worlds were galaxies apart.
How could I ever be worthy of her?
Thank goodness we broke up - I would've just been a burden!
Fortune had never smiled upon me.
I just happened to meet her, happened to be lifted up by her kindness. Nothing more.
But whenever I think about my dumb luck, I can't help remembering the cheat sheet I gave her in high school. I'd copied a poem on it: "Chrysanthemums bloom twice, bringing future tears; joy can never be like it was before."
Elen wrote back on the note: "'Joy can never be like before' sounds too melancholic for our age." So she changed "joy" to "south wind."
The poem became: "Chrysanthemums bloom twice, bringing future tears; south wind can never be like it was before."
I stared at those words for two whole classes, then added: "The south wind knows my heart, blowing dreams to western shores."
I remember how Elen beamed when she read it - her smile lit up the whole day.
I'll never forget that moment.
I can't reconcile that gentle girl with this cold woman before me now.
But I'm self-aware enough to know I deserve this treatment.
Because I abandoned her when she needed me most...
She should be cold to me, cruel to me - it's perfectly justified revenge.
Yet whenever I think about how we went from being each other's everything to strangers, my heart feels stabbed. The pain steals my breath.
"I'm sorry..." I suddenly blurted out.
Elen's autumn-pool eyes wavered with a hint of sympathy.
Just as she started to speak, Luciano cut in:
"Ele, have you forgotten how devastated you were when he dumped you?"
"Your stomach problems started then. He never cared about you, just made empty promises."
"Now he's ruined your dress - if I remember correctly, this is a limited edition signed piece that money can't easily buy."
"He ruins such an expensive dress and tries to get out of responsibility by acting pitiful."
"Just like when he dumped you back then. You're a kind woman who's already been hurt by him once - do you want to be hurt again?"
Elen's sympathetic gaze frosted over at his words.
Luciano continued:
"Kido, don't blame Ele for being heartless now - you were heartless to her first."
"If she wants revenge today, you deserve it."
"Besides, making you pay isn't revenge - you did ruin her dress, you should compensate her."
"Ele is being kind by reducing it by 880$, only asking for 5000$. Don't tell me you can't even afford that?"
His lips curled into a sneer. "I spend more than 5000$ just on livestream donations every night. You're not telling me you can't afford this small amount?"
I stayed silent.
Not because I didn't want to take responsibility - I really couldn't afford 5000$.
Luciano was clearly a rich young master, probably a second-generation heir.
While 5000$ was pocket change to him, to me it was astronomical.
Even if I sold myself, I couldn't raise that kind of money.
"Your silence speaks volumes - seems you really can't pay up."
"Ele, since this kid can't afford it, you'll need another way to make him take responsibility."
Luciano spoke again.
Elen nodded. "Then he can write an IOU." (I Owe You)
Luciano sneered: "Ele, have you forgotten those days after he dumped you - how you writhed in bed with stomach pain?"
"Just an IOU is letting him off way too easy!"
Ele agreed: "You're right, just an IOU is too lenient."
She looked at Luciano. "What do you suggest?"
Without another word, he opened three or four bottles of alcohol and poured them into the hotpot.
Then ladled out a large bowl of the spiked broth.
He placed the alcohol-laced soup before me: "Drink this, and you can leave."
I stared at the steaming broth, frozen.
I knew it was scalding hot.
Besides being hot, it contained hard liquor.
With liver cancer, I absolutely couldn't drink alcohol.
If I drank this alcohol-laced hotpot broth, my condition would definitely worsen.
I might even go into liver failure on the spot.
I didn't want to drink it, didn't dare drink it.
But!
I also knew.
With Luciano here, if I refused this bowl, he wouldn't let me go.
I was just a wage worker.
No power, no influence.
If he alerted the restaurant manager,
I'd have no choice but to pay, willing or not.
I knew. There was no escaping this bowl of broth.
I had to drink it.
Otherwise, I wouldn't leave this hell tonight.
With that thought,
I took the bowl.
Just as I was about to down it, I caught Elen's crimson lips moving slightly from the corner of my eye, like she wanted to speak, but she stayed silent.
Gulp! Gulp!
I chugged the hotpot broth in one go - scalding, burning my throat as the alcohol-laced liquid flooded into my stomach.
The alcohol hit my system and my liver erupted in stabbing pain.
Like something inside was about to explode.
My face turned deathly pale, features contorting in agony as my breath caught in my throat.