After Leaving My Ex: His Despair, My Satisfaction

With tens of thousands in debt still hanging over my head, I didn’t have the luxury to rest. Less than a day after my surgery, I had to get back to my feet and work hard again.

When I arrived at the runway venue, my steps faltered. Kelly was standing near the prep area and to make things worse, we were standing side by side on the catwalk.

When Kelly saw me, she gave me a signal with her eyes to follow her.

Once, we had been more than colleagues because we had been friends for several years, so I knew perfectly well what she meant. Kelly was also the only one who knew about my debt.

After the breakup, I had even reached out to Kelly. I had asked her to keep an eye on Simon and begged her not to let him drown in alcohol again. I had tried to protect him, even from a distance.

In the backstage dressing room, Kelly gave me a long once-over, then scoffed, "So … after leaving so decisively back then, what brings you crawling back now? Let me guess... Is it because Simon is the Payton Family heir now? That’s it, isn’t it? You think you can cling to him again."

Kelly sneered. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but I’m marrying him soon. Do you really think he’s treating you kindly because he’s forgiven you? Don’t be ridiculous."

"You have no idea how much he hates you," she continued. "He hates that you dumped him. He hates that you’re the reason he fell into the river and lost his shot at being an athlete. He hates you with every fiber of his being."

Kelly’s words grew more venomous by the second. However, the calmer I remained, the more infuriated she became. She then laughed and said, "Do you think he still loves you? No. That man’s heart is colder than steel when it comes to you. It’s been that way for a long time. If you have any self-respect left, you’ll disappear now. Spare yourself the humiliation."

I met her glare with calm eyes and said indifferently, "Alright. I’ll leave."

Kelly froze. Her eyes were skeptical when she said, "I don’t believe you. You love him too much. You’d never give him up."

A smile curved my lips, but my eyes were cold. "I owed him a debt for leaving the way I did. However, I’ve repaid it all. The boy I once loved is gone and the man he’s become... isn’t someone I want to hold onto. So, congratulations... you’ve won."

Then I turned and walked into the makeup room without a second glance, leaving Kelly stunned and seething.

That day’s show was themed around the water element. The centerpiece of the runway was a shallow, shimmering pool. Dressed in an ornate, flowing gown and balancing precariously on fifteen-centimeter heels, I stepped confidently onto the stage.

However, as I walked out, Kelly, who was matching my step for step, leaned over and hissed just loud enough for only me to hear, "I don’t believe you’re letting go. Keep clinging to him and I’ll make sure you regret it."

My instincts flared. I instinctively widened the gap between us.

Seeing me flinch, Kelly smirked triumphantly and said, "Can you guess who Simon loves the most right now?"

The words had barely left her mouth when the heel of Kelly’s shoe suddenly snapped. She stumbled, then tilted sideways.

There was no time to react. I could only watch as Kelly dragged me into the large pool.

As I sank and submerged into the pool, Simon’s panicked roar entered my ears, "Kelly!" Through the blur of water, I saw Simon dive into the water and swim toward Kelly with all his might. At that moment, my heart filled with heartache.

Water suffocated my lungs, but when the survival instinct kicked in, it propelled me to paddle toward the shore.

Finally, I arrived at the shore with great difficulty and the security personnel who had arrived in a hurry quickly jumped into the pool and rescued me.

Maybe because I had just had an abortion, my stomach hurt like hell and the pain made my face as white as a sheet.

Meanwhile, across the pool, Simon had already carried the weak Kelly in his arms. He didn’t even spare a glance at me.

My frantic manager was the only one who sent me to the hospital.