Chapter3

The acute failure caused by irreversible damage to a single kidney was like a raging fire raging wildly in my blood vessels.

The severe infection caused by the high temperature left me reeking of decay. The doctor gave me an ultimatum: without that $50,000 miracle drug to suppress the infection, I definitely wouldn't survive the night.

I can't die. My mother is still waiting for me to bring the medicine back in that dark, damp basement.

This unwavering determination sustained me as I dragged my bleeding, battered body all the way to the top-floor ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Here, Victoria was hosting a lavish recovery dinner to celebrate Julian's "rebirth."

With a "bang," I used the last bit of strength to smash open the heavy, carved door.

The melodious symphony abruptly stopped. In the elegantly dressed banquet hall, everyone's eyes were fixed on me, this uninvited guest covered in mud and reeking of blood and stench, as if I were a sewer rat.

“Victoria…” I collapsed to my knees on the heavy Persian carpet, cold sweat blurring my vision. I stretched out a trembling hand towards the back of the woman in the haute couture evening gown, “Lend me fifty thousand US dollars…I’m begging you, I need that miracle drug to save my life…”

Victoria turned around, her brows instantly furrowing into a tight knot. She immediately covered her mouth and nose with her silk-gloved hand, her eyes piercing me with undisguised disgust.

"Is the security guard a dead man? How could he let this stinking garbage in?" She took a half step back in disgust, as if afraid that the mud on my body would splash onto her skirt. "Arthur, I've already given you the divorce certificate, but you're still sticking to me like a leech. It disgusts me."

The humiliation was nothing compared to the excruciating pain of organ failure. I kowtowed violently, my voice hoarse and barely audible: "Just fifty thousand... consider it the money to save my kidney! My mother is still waiting for me..."

"Money to buy your life?"

Victoria let out a cold laugh, turned to her assistant beside her, and snapped her fingers. The assistant immediately stepped forward with a silver tray, on which lay a bottle of white pills with a foreign label.

It was the life-saving drug I desperately needed!

My cloudy eyes lit up instantly, and I instinctively wanted to rush over.

But Victoria picked up the medicine bottle first. She looked down at me condescendingly, then walked straight to the trash can in the center of the hall. The trash can was piled high with cigarette ash flicked off by guests, spit-out phlegm, and shards of glass that had been accidentally broken earlier.

Under the watchful eyes of all the celebrities in the room, Victoria unscrewed the bottle cap.

"Splash—"

She dumped the snow-white life-saving pills, like cheap candy, into that disgusting trash can, where they mingled with broken glass and filthy cigarette ash.

“Aren’t you most proud of your hands that can code in Silicon Valley?” Victoria’s lips curled into a cruel smile as she pointed to the mess on the floor. “If you want medicine, dig it out yourself like a dog. Find one, and I’ll consider it my last act of charity.”

A burst of laughter erupted around me. Those business partners who used to treat me so politely were now raising their champagne glasses and staring at me like I was a monkey in a circus.

The rage in my chest almost burned my reason to ashes, but through my blurred vision, I seemed to see my mother's convulsing state in the basement.

Dignity is worthless in the face of survival.

I bit my tongue, forcing myself to swallow all the humiliation, and crawled towards the trash can on all fours.

Without any hesitation, I plunged the hands that had once typed out valuation codes worth hundreds of millions into a pile of rubbish filled with broken glass.

"hiss--"

The sharp shards of glass instantly sliced through my fingertip and pierced deep into my nail bed. Blood dripped from my fingertip, turning the white pill a glaring red.

Ignoring the excruciating pain, I rummaged through the ashes and phlegm. Finding one, I popped it directly into my mouth.

Without water, I swallowed the blood, mud, and shards of glass that were in my mouth. The sharp fragments cut my esophagus, and each swallow felt like swallowing a razor blade, the strong smell of blood assaulting my nostrils.

"Click, click."

The crisp sound of leather shoes stepping on broken glass stopped in my ears.

Julian, dressed in a sharp, bespoke suit, held a glass of red wine and gracefully half-knelt in front of me. His back was to Victoria and all the guests, his tall frame blocking the view of the others.

Seeing my bloodied mouth and the gruesome sight of me chewing on muddy pills like a wild dog, Julian's usually gentle face twisted instantly, revealing a monstrous, venomous laugh.

He leaned close to my ear and whispered a devilish whisper in a voice only the two of us could hear:

"You're just like an old dog guarding its food, Arthur."

My chewing motion suddenly froze, and I stared intently at him.

“Since you’re about to die, I’ll take pity on you and tell you a secret.” Julian swirled his wine glass, his eyes brimming with the arrogance of a victor. “Actually, my kidneys aren’t sick at all. Acute failure? That’s just because I spent a million dollars to bribe a hacker to change the matching report.”

These words struck me like a thunderclap, exploding directly in my mind.

I was ice cold all over, and I couldn't even feel the excruciating pain of my esophagus being cut by shards of glass.

Not sick?!

“Unbelievable, isn’t it?” Julian reveled in the horrified look on my face as he plunged the poisoned blade into my heart. “Now you know where your healthy kidney went? I didn’t need it. I had the doctor cut it out and throw it into the medical waste incinerator like a piece of rotten meat!”

"I'm crippling you completely, just so you can never compete with me for Vicky's fortune again. You're nothing but a bug I can crush with a flick of my wrist!"

After the extreme shock came a devastating rage!

My kidney… the organ I used to exchange for my mother's life-saving medicine… he actually burned it like trash?! And Victoria, that incredibly stupid woman, not only became an accomplice, but is now wantonly trampling on my dignity for this fraudster!

"I kill you!!!"

A piercing, ghostly scream erupted from my shattered throat. I sprang up, ignoring the glass shards piercing my hands, and desperately tried to strangle Julian.

A flicker of panic crossed Julian's eyes, but he reacted swiftly, falling backward and shattering the wine glass in his hand, letting out a terrified scream.

"Arthur! Are you insane?!"

With a scream, Victoria rushed over in her high heels. Without hesitation, she grabbed the metal ice bucket from the table and smashed it hard on the back of my head.

Warm blood gushed out instantly, blurring my vision. I collapsed to the ground, but still stared intently at Julian, who was hiding behind Victoria, feigning innocence.

“Vicky… I just wanted to tell him not to eat dirty things, and he actually tried to kill me…” Julian covered his neck, which was not injured at all, and trembled.

"You ungrateful mad dog!" Victoria stood protectively in front of Julian, looking down at me with the utmost disgust in her eyes. "I kindly gave you medicine, and you dare to hurt Julian?"

“He’s not sick…he lied to you…” I vomited a mouthful of blood mixed with shards of glass and roared with my last bit of strength.

"Still spouting lies! Security! Drag this lunatic out of here!" Victoria didn't listen to a word I said and screamed sternly.

Two burly security guards immediately stepped forward and, like dragging a dead dog, grabbed my arms on either side.

My body dragged across the rough carpet, leaving a shocking trail of blood.

Just as the door was about to close, I peeked through the crack and saw Victoria tenderly wiping away a non-existent wound on Julian, and I also saw Julian reach over her shoulder and make a throat-slitting gesture at me.

The cold wind from the corridor rushed into my broken chest.

I stopped struggling and stopped explaining. At that moment, extreme despair underwent a qualitative change, transforming into a deathly silence colder than the coldest hell.

Victoria, since you're so blindly defending your true love.

Then I'll stake my worthless life on dragging all of you down to hell with me!