1 Her father saved my mother’s life. For that, I left my home in the secluded mountain Glades, bound to him by a life-debt. The terms were simple: stay by his daughter Seraphina’s side for six years, to repay ninety-nine acts of grace. Only then would I be free. For six years, I catered to her insatiable appetites, exploring every fantasy with her, letting her drag me into the thrill of the outdoors. She seemed to love me with a fierce, possessive passion, once buying me an entire yacht just to see me smile. The final act of grace remained unfulfilled. She promised me a surprise, something special for my birthday. That day came, and on a massive screen before all our friends, she played a video of me, naked and entangled with a much older woman. My five-year-old daughter, Lisa, smashed my birthday cake into my face. “You’re a bad man!” she shrieked, her little voice cracking. “You’re not my daddy!” Cream and blood slid down my cheek. I looked at Seraphina, lost. She was laughing, her arm linked with her childhood sweetheart, Joey. “Your mother was a home-wrecking whore who seduced my father and drove my own mother to her grave,” she sneered, her voice dripping with venom. “I wanted everyone to see just how filthy you really are.” “Kevin,” she said, her voice a cruel mockery of our shared name, “the final debt you owe me is to watch Joey and me get married.” I stared at her, my world tilting on its axis. The woman who had been whispering sweet nothings and feeding me wine just a moment ago now looked at me with chilling indifference. I stumbled forward, my voice a whisper. “Sera… there must be some mistake…” She shoved me, hard. I tumbled back, splashing into the icy water of the pool. As I flailed, gasping for air, her words rained down on me like shards of glass. “Stop acting so innocent! You and that bitch mother of yours know exactly what you did!” she screamed. “Do you have any idea how much it sickened me to even look at your face for these past six years? Now that Joey is back, you can get the hell out of my sight.” Lisa watched me with cold eyes. She picked up an empty wine bottle from a nearby table and hurled it at my head. It struck my forehead with a sickening crack. As blood streamed down my face, she turned to Joey and smiled, a sweet, terrifying smile. “Joey, I punished the bad man. Can you be my daddy now?” In one single, brutal moment, the wife who had shared my bed and the daughter I had adored with all my heart turned on me, savaging me to win the affection of another man. The pain was a physical thing, a spear through my chest. Tears I couldn’t stop welled in my eyes and streamed down my face. “That’s a bit much, Sera,” a voice cut through the haze. It was Vanessa, Seraphina’s best friend. “Kevin has been with you for six years without any official title. He agreed to have a child with you when you didn't want to get married, he even let Lisa take your name.” She had security guards pull me from the pool, my body shivering and broken. But her words only fueled Seraphina’s rage. “Oh, I underestimated you,” she scoffed, her eyes raking over me with disgust. “Sleeping with my best friend behind my back now, are we? You’re just as cheap as your mother.” “Always babbling about repaying some debt. I don’t have time for your little games. You’ll be in my debt for the rest of your life!” she spat. “Vanessa, you still want him? I left whip marks on him last night. Go on, take a bite.” Her words were daggers, each one twisting in my heart. There was a time when she would have destroyed anyone who dared call me a country bumpkin. Now, she was the one inflicting the deepest wounds. Her six years of tenderness and love had been a lie, a carefully constructed stage for this single, devastating act of revenge. All this time, she had hated me. I came to repay a debt, but I stayed because I had fallen in love with her. In her eyes, though, I was nothing more than a gold-digger, a parasite clinging to her wealth. I had been waiting for this birthday, hoping, praying she would finally agree to marry me. Instead, the ring she had custom-made now shone on Joey’s hand. Joey looked at me, his face a mask of contempt. “You looked like you were enjoying yourself in that video. Don’t tell me you weren’t a willing participant.” He put a protective arm around Seraphina. “You only had Lisa to trap her! You don’t even love your own daughter!” His accusations were a performance, meant not to defend her but to humiliate me. My face burned with shame and rage, but all I could do was shake my head, speechless. I couldn't tell them it was Seraphina who had begged me to make those videos, that she was the one who promised me a real family, a real title, on this very day. A sharp, searing pain shot through my lower body, and my legs began to tremble uncontrollably. I felt a horrifying wetness, and saw blood beginning to stain my trousers. I met Seraphina’s gaze, my voice barely a croak. “Sera… I just had the enhancement surgery you wanted…” Joey scoffed. “Who knows which one of your little lovers that was for.” The air left my lungs. I swayed on my feet, the world dissolving into black spots. Vanessa rushed to my side, grabbing my arm. “Kevin, you need a hospital. Let me take you.” But my eyes were fixed on Seraphina. My voice was a dry, rasping sound. 2 “The ninety-eighth debt,” I whispered, the words tasting like ash. “You said you wanted me to get the enhancement, to give you a better experience.” A cruel smile touched her lips. “Do I need you? Your body is bland, uninteresting. The thought of touching you makes me want to vomit. Vanessa, he’s just a dog I kept. He’ll never be able to leave me.” I bit my lip, swallowing the question that clawed at my throat: What did Lisa and I ever mean to you? I already knew the answer would be nothing but more poison. Seraphina had planned this for six years, meticulously crafting a dream for me only to shatter it with her own hands the moment I believed it was real. How could she be so cruel? The pain in my groin intensified, a throbbing, relentless reminder of my own stupidity. My expression went numb. “Please,” I said, my voice flat. “Call an ambulance. The surgical wound has torn open.” Even as I lay on the operating table, her venomous messages kept coming. [Kevin, it’s just a torn stitch, not a death sentence. Your mother killed MINE.] [And don’t forget, next month, you’ll be witnessing my wedding to Joey.] She had promised to marry me, to stand before the world and give me a place by her side so no one would ever look down on me again. Now, all I had was shame and infamy. Because of a debt, my mother, who had died long ago, was branded a seductress. And I was left to endure Seraphina’s merciless revenge. The day of her wedding would be the day my debt was finally paid. The day I would finally leave. In the Glades, we have a saying: a broken heart is a debt that can never be repaid, but a faithless partner is a chain that must be broken. After I was discharged, Vanessa offered to drive me home. I managed a weak smile and refused. “Seraphina will take it out on you. You two have been friends since you were kids. It’s not worth fighting over me.” She looked at my pale face, hesitating. “You really love her that much? Even after all this, you can’t let her go?” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “The debt I owe her family… it’s almost paid in full.” She didn’t understand, of course. She just sighed. “You and Sera were never going to work. You’re from different worlds. She and Joey grew up together. You should just try to forget her. As for Lisa, the Steinbergs will take good care of her.” “I’ll help you leave town tomorrow,” she offered. “It’ll be better than watching her get married.” I just shook my head. To the world, I was the pathetic lover, clinging to Seraphina despite her cruelty. No one knew the truth. They didn’t know that my mother’s lungs had failed, a rare condition our healers in the Glades couldn’t treat. It was Seraphina’s father, a visiting scholar, who had rushed her to the city, to the best doctors. Mrs. Steinberg had suffered from severe paranoia and delusions. She became convinced her husband was having an affair with my frail, bedridden mother. One day, in a state of psychosis, she threw herself from a balcony. My own mother passed away soon after. Mr. Steinberg, consumed by guilt, brought me to the city and begged me to stay by Seraphina’s side, who was shattered by the tragedy. It was he who invoked the old ways of my people, sealing the life-debt between us. The rules were absolute: until the debt was paid, I could not go home. Seraphina, lost in her own depression, developed a desperate need for physical intimacy, often keeping me awake all night. She thought my talk of "debts" was just a quaint joke. The tasks I completed were small things—watching a sunrise with her, taking her skiing. When someone once insulted me, calling me a country nobody, she had them secretly beaten. Living with her, day in and day out, I slowly, truly fell in love. When she told me she wanted our child, my heart soared. I thought that even after the debt was paid, I could stay with her forever. How wrong I was. The woman I loved for six years, the daughter I cherished… they now saw me as a thorn in their side. As I reached the gates of the Steinberg estate, a swarm of reporters appeared out of nowhere, their cameras flashing in my face. “Mr. Harrows! Is it true you’re the other man who broke up Seraphina Steinberg and her fiancé?” “Your sex tape is all over the internet! Why would you cheat on a woman like Ms. Steinberg with a sugar mama?” “We heard you were injured down there. Was it a client? Will it affect your… performance?” I tried to back away, but they swarmed me, laughing, taunting. One of them even tried to pull down my pants to “get a look.” They were like vultures, jeering as I stumbled and fell, clutching my chest, struggling to breathe. “Look at him, playing the victim again. Is that how you sell yourself, Harrows? Is that the type of thing these rich ladies go for?” “Check out the hickey on his neck. Must have been a wild night.” “Did he piss himself? Your pants are all wet!” They shoved me, pushing their cameras closer to film the fluid still seeping from my surgical wound. 3 I curled into a ball on the cold pavement, shaking. The tears I’d been holding back finally broke free, and I sobbed, the sound raw and humiliating. The villa gates swung open, and the reporters scattered like roaches. The butler stood there, his face a stone mask. I was left alone, a pathetic, broken heap on the ground. Staggering into the courtyard, I saw Lisa running towards me, her eyes wide and tearful. For a fleeting, hopeful second, she looked like the little girl I knew, the one before Joey had poisoned her mind. “My kite… it’s stuck in the tree…” Her voice was small and sad. Forgetting my own pain, I immediately followed her. But as I pulled on the kite string, a massive, buzzing hornet’s nest dropped from the branches, right onto my head. Lisa was already a safe distance away, laughing. “You stupid idiot!” she screamed, her face twisted with malice. “That’s for using me to get to my mommy! You deserve it!” A swarm of angry hornets enveloped me. Stinging fire erupted all over my exposed skin. I trembled, trying desperately to shield my face as a thousand tiny needles pierced me. Purple welts rose on my skin, and the shock slowly turned into a heart-shattering numbness. I remembered all those sleepless nights, walking the floors with a crying infant Lisa in my arms. The memory was now just a cruel joke. A peal of laughter echoed from above. Seraphina stood on the second-floor balcony, Joey’s arm wrapped around her waist, both of them watching my torment with amusement. “Look at him, Sera,” Joey chuckled. “He looks like a pig’s head.” He raised his voice to mock me. “Hey, Kevin! Think any of your rich old ladies will want you looking like that? I doubt anyone could stomach it.” The woman who used to fret over a paper cut was now watching me covered in stings, a satisfied smile on her face. This must have been what she wanted all along—to see me humiliated by my own daughter, branded a whore by the press. Numbly, I tried to get back to my room to treat the stings, to just lie down. But my belongings were piled in a heap outside the door to the small utility closet. Seraphina looked at me with pure disgust. “Trash belongs with the trash. You have some nerve, Kevin, still hanging around my house.” My eyelashes fluttered. “You forgot,” I said, my voice cold and flat. “I have to watch you get married.” A flicker of confusion, maybe even unease, crossed her face. She hadn’t expected that. She expected tears, pleading. But it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by her customary sneer. “I’m just worried you’ll stick around like a stray dog even after the wedding.” My face was a mask. After your heart has been shattered, the smaller cuts barely register. Once the ninety-nine debts are paid, I won't linger for a second. A wife and daughter who despise me? They are no longer mine. I just wanted to rest, but the door to my miserable little room swung open. It was Joey, a smug smile on his face. “Kevin, old pal. Sera tells me you’re a fantastic cook. I’m craving some turtle soup. You know, to build up my strength.” Seraphina, seeing the angry red welts covering my body, actually frowned for a moment. A flicker of something—pity? guilt?—crossed her features. She almost seemed to think she’d gone too far. “He’s not a servant, Joey. I’ll have the chef make it.” But Joey just tightened his arm around her waist. “He’s going to be mooching off us after we’re married anyway. Might as well get him used to his new role.” I took a deep breath, about to refuse. “Didn’t you hear what Joey said?” Seraphina’s voice was sharp, all traces of softness gone. “Get moving or get out of my sight forever.” I couldn’t leave. Not yet. So I clenched my jaw and nodded. Fighting the agonizing itch of the stings, I stood in the kitchen, mechanically washing the ingredients. Joey leaned against the doorframe, a smirk on his face. “Hurry it up. My… happiness with Seraphina tonight depends on you.” I bit my lip. “Is there anything else, Mr. Steinberg?” “Who do you think you are, putting on that righteous act?” He suddenly grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the sink. “Does a bedwarmer like you get to look at me with those eyes?” As I struggled, I knocked over a glass of water. Seraphina rushed in at the sound. Joey was already cradling his hand, hissing in pain. “Kevin’s jealous I’m marrying you! He threw boiling water on me!” “I didn’t—” Before I could finish, Seraphina’s palm cracked across my face. She looked at me, her eyes like ice. “Apologize.” A wave of exhaustion washed over me. I lowered my gaze, my voice dull. “It was my fault. Please forgive me, Mr. Steinberg.” Only then did Seraphina seem satisfied. She wrapped her arm around Joey’s and led him away. “Joey and I are going to pick up Lisa. Have dinner ready when we get back.” I was chopping vegetables when my phone rang. It was the hospital. “Are you Mr. Harrows? You’re listed as Seraphina Steinberg’s emergency contact. She’s been in a car accident. She needs surgery.” My mind flashed back. There was a time Seraphina loved hiking. Once, after a small landslide, I couldn’t reach her, her phone going straight to voicemail. I had run out of the house barefoot, frantic with worry, searching for her in the hills. 4 When she finally came home, safe and sound, she had found me, my feet bloody and torn. Her eyes had filled with tears as she cleaned my wounds. That night, she made me her sole emergency contact, promising that I would always be the first to know if anything ever happened to her. She never changed it. But everything else had. Lisa needed a blood transfusion, but the hospital was out of her rare O-negative type. My type. I watched them draw bag after bag of my blood until my lips were white and I was on the verge of passing out. Seraphina’s injuries were far more severe. Her liver was ruptured. She needed a transplant, and the waiting list was long. I didn’t want to wait. I had my bone marrow tested. I was a match. I insisted on being a living donor. The doctors argued, they warned me of the risks, but faced with my unyielding resolve, they finally, reluctantly, agreed. For the next month, I lay in a hospital bed, recovering. And every single day, all I heard were the glowing news reports about the heroic Joey Steinberg, who had so selflessly donated a part of his liver to save the love of his life. I had asked the doctors to keep my identity a secret. I never imagined someone would have the audacity to steal the credit. By the time I was discharged, the wedding was the next day. The Steinberg villa was draped in white silk and flowers. The moment I walked through the door, a teacup shattered at my feet. Lisa stood there, her face puffy with anger. “You dirty thing! You finally decided to come home!” she screamed. “Mommy was right! You just abandoned us!” Joey swept her into a gentle embrace, then fixed me with a look of disappointment. “Kevin. The moment Sera and Lisa were in trouble, you vanished. Now that they’re safe, you come crawling back.” Every word was a carefully aimed dart, painting me as the coward who had abandoned his family. Hearing him, Seraphina’s face hardened, and she shot me a look of pure disgust. “Just like your disgusting mother. The second you thought I was in real trouble, you ran off to screw someone else. Are you back because you’re afraid I’ll take revenge on you and your new lover?” She turned to Joey, her eyes soft with adoration. “While Joey was giving blood for Lisa and donating his liver for me, you were God knows where, with God knows who. I was right about you all along, Kevin. You’re a heartless, back-stabbing snake.” Their accusations no longer had the power to make me cry. I just felt… tired. On the day of the wedding, I tried to make myself invisible, hiding in a dark corner of the grand hall. But I could still feel the guests’ eyes on me, hear their whispers. “Is that him? The lover she kept for six years?” “I heard she doted on him. Why not marry him after the kid was born?” “Lover? Please. He was a toy. Something to pass the time. His sex tape is everywhere. God knows how many rich women have had a piece of him.” I tried to tune them out. But a moment later, one of Joey’s groomsmen approached me. “Mr. Steinberg needs you to help with his tie.” I was dragged towards the dressing room, the unhealed incision in my side protesting with a dull ache. When Lisa saw me approach, she scowled. “You’re so clumsy! Don’t you dare hurt him!” Seraphina stroked her daughter’s hair. “Our Lisa is such a good girl.” The three of them were a perfect, happy family, leaving me to stand awkwardly to the side. I knelt down and began to polish Joey’s expensive leather shoes. He smiled, rolling up his sleeve, revealing a delicate silver chain bracelet with a tiny bell that chimed softly. “Lisa said this brings good luck,” he said, his voice casual. My blood ran cold. My vision tunneled. It was my mother’s. The last thing she gave me before she died. I had searched for it everywhere. And all this time, Lisa had it, and she had given it to him. I clenched my jaw, my voice a dry rasp. “That’s mine.” Joey’s eyes immediately welled with tears. “Kevin, how can you do this to me? On my wedding day? Are you trying to slander me even now?” he whimpered. “I shouldn’t have done this. I shouldn’t be marrying Seraphina!” He "accidentally" kicked out, his shoe grinding down on the back of my hand before I could pull it away. I fell back onto the floor. Lisa glared at me. “You made Joey upset! You deserve it!” Seraphina rushed to comfort him, her voice a soft coo. She glanced at me, at my numb, expressionless face, a flicker of confusion in her eyes. Was she wondering why I wasn't crying? You can’t bleed from a heart that’s already turned to stone. I stood in the shadows, watching as Lisa presented them with the diamond-encrusted wedding rings. I watched as Joey lifted the veil and pressed his lips to Seraphina’s in a deep, passionate kiss. “I, Seraphina Steinberg,” she declared, her voice ringing through the hall, “take Joey to be my husband, for the rest of my life.” On my arm, the faint, crimson mark that symbolized the life-debt faded away, disappearing into my skin. The ceremony was over. The debt was paid. As the guests erupted in applause, I turned and walked away. Behind me, I heard Lisa’s sweet, childish voice pipe up. “I love having Joey as my daddy!” Their love was no longer mine. And I was finally going home. Later, as Seraphina was toasting with her guests, Joey’s arm around her waist, she found her eyes drifting to the dark corner where Kevin had been standing. The familiar silhouette was gone. He’s probably hiding somewhere, crying, she thought. No matter how much she hurt him, he would never have the strength to actually leave. She smiled and took a sip of champagne. Just then, her phone buzzed. It was a friend who had just returned from a trip abroad. “Sera? I just saw your little boy-toy at the airport. Where’s he off to?”
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