His Revenge, My Unwanted Fortune

arge enough to be a lifeline, but it felt like the heaviest thing in the world. It was a

t but firm. "Ethan can be... intense.

ke the money and disappear, to use it as a bandage for the gaping wound that was now my existence. But another part of me, t

oney," I managed to

u have pride. You've never had any. You've always b

doubling over slightly. The stress, the lack of food, the endless g

?" I heard Ethan's friend

ed marble floor rushed up to meet me. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Ethan's face

t and muffled, as if from

someone. "Someone will clean it u

t on me. Not a person, bu

paramedic was leaning over me, shining a light in my eyes. I was on a gurney, being whee

d. Severe dehydration, malnutrition, and

name. My savings were wiped out paying for the lawyers for my divorce and my parents' funeral expenses. The public shaming had made me unemployable. E

r, until the last of my cash ran out. I was standing on a street corner

, the reckless passion I had mistaken for love. I hadn't even thought ab

in the gas station bathroom down the street. I sat on the di

ink l

iti

preg

d it felt like a physical blow, knocking the last bit of air out of my body. In the cracked, grimy mirror of that gas station bathroom, I saw my