After Seeing Through Her Boyfriend's Disguise

Massive gambling debt.

I never imagined that these distant words would find their way into my life, into my world.

Watching them drag him away and torment him day and night broke my heart.

They gave me an ultimatum: either I sell the house my parents left me, including the old family home, and use the money to pay off part of his debt, or they would use their own methods to extract money from Blake.

Extract money? How?

The image that flashed through my mind hit me like a bolt of lightning.

These were dangerous people. I didn't dare call the police—I was terrified they'd take it out on Blake.

After a night of panic, I rushed back to my hometown overnight.

The next day, I arrived at the arranged location, carrying $500,000 in cash.

The moment I saw Blake covered in bruises and dragged out of a barrel like a beaten dog, my heart broke into pieces.

I screamed at them, calling them monsters, but they just laughed, hauling him into a van.

They told me this was just the first payment. I still owed them $700,000, with $500 in daily interest starting that day. They forced me to put my fingerprint on a contract.

They said if I couldn't pay by the end of the month, they'd chop off one of his fingers each month. Once he was out of fingers, they'd use the other methods they'd mentioned to collect their money.

$700,000—$170,000 in interest per year. It was high but still within legal limits.

No matter where I went to complain, it wouldn't help.

They weren't even worried about me making an issue out of what they were doing to Blake. They already had a fall guy lined up to take the heat if anything happened.

All they wanted was to make one thing clear: I needed to get rid of any thoughts of escaping this and just pay up.

Otherwise, we'd never know peace.

During that time, I took care of Blake during the day and worked at night.

Though his physical injury was healing, his spirits were low. I knew he didn't want to be a burden on me.

One night, I stopped Blake from jumping off a building.

He broke down in tears that night.

With $15,000 in monthly interest, plus daily expenses and costs for his mom and sister, we needed at least $20,000 a month just to get by.

Under those conditions, coming up with $700,000 was next to impossible.

But I'm stubborn by nature.

Once I set my mind on something, I wouldn't give up.

From that day on, I did whatever I could to make money.

Hauling bricks and giving massages.

Being a bridesmaid at weddings and mourning at funerals.

Selling drinks at bars and singing at karaoke houses.

As long as it didn't involve selling my body or breaking the law, I did it.

In my best month, I made $50,000.

Surviving on less than four hours of sleep a night, I lived like this for six years.

Just as I was about to hit that $700,000 mark, my body finally gave out.

I knew I couldn't keep putting it off. That day, I found the jade bracelet my grandmother had left me in my bag.

It was something her grandmother had passed down to her, and it was the only keepsake my grandmother left me.

When that keepsake turned into stacks of cash, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer.

I broke down in tears.

"No, you have to go get the bracelet back right now. I can't let you lose the last piece of your family because of me."

Even though I hadn't brought Blake with me, I couldn't hide it from him.

"I didn't sell it forever; I only pawned it.

"We're so close now. We can't let all our years of hard work go to waste just because I'm not feeling well. Pay them off first, and then we'll work together to get it back, okay?"

I gently stroked Blake's cheek, my heart filled with love.

"In this world, I have no family left. You have to take care of yourself. Our good days are just around the corner. Please don't think about ending it all again—I couldn't bear it."

I pulled Blake into my arms, and once again, the tears flowed.

"I won't, I'll never leave you. After this, we'll get married, have lots of kids, and when we're old, we'll find a quiet village, build a little cabin, and spend the rest of our days together, away from the world."

With a tender kiss, the tension between us eased.

The $700,000 was finally put together, and the money was transferred to Blake's account.

Soon, he wouldn't have to endure the crushing weight of his father's massive gambling debt anymore.

But I was scared—scared I wouldn't live to see that day.

A while back, while I was working, I suddenly had a severe nosebleed and then lost consciousness.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital.

After tests, I was diagnosed with brain cancer. With aggressive treatment, I have a 3% chance of survival.

In the best-case scenario, I had about three months left.

I wanted to spend them with Blake, making the most of the time we had.

But just as I was looking forward to our future, fate struck again.

One day, my boss sent me to another venue in the city.

I was taken to a private club, where I saw Blake.

Or rather, Ellis Lane, the only son of the Lane Group.

He was lounging on a sofa, casually waving his hand as the DJ picked up the mic with perfect timing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's expenses are all on Mr. Lane! Let's hear it!"