Chapter 3

The room erupted in mocking laughter. Someone even whistled and egged me on.

"Do it, Reuben! Ten apologies for five thousand dollars is easy money!"

"Yeah! Why should you fight money? It's not like you've got any dignity left anyway!"

The laughter lashed at me like a whip on my back, which hurt so much that I could feel my blood boiling with fury.

I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?

He pretentiously tugged at Stacie's sleeve, though smugness was hidden in his eyes. "Just forget it, Stacie. Reuben didn't mean it, so there's no need to take it this far…"

"No way!" she snapped, shaking him off.

Her gaze turned vicious as she continued, "He embarrassed me in front of all these people, so he has to apologize to you today! Either drink or apologize, Reuben. You choose."

I looked at the message from Mom on my phone, which read "Medical bills overdue". As I pictured Dad gasping for air on the hospital bed, my heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible hand. The pain was nearly suffocating.

Five thousand dollars was Dad's life on the line, so I couldn't afford to bet anything on it.

"I'll drink."

When I grabbed the bottle of tequila and twisted the cap off, the sharp scent rushed into my nose. Without hesitation, I tipped my head back and chugged it down.

The tequila burned down my throat like molten knives and ignited my stomach in searing pain, instantly setting my insides on fire. The jeers around me slowly faded until all that remained was the sound of my desperate gulps.

My stomach churned violently, and my vision darkened, but I dared not stop. Instead, I kept my eyes glued to the phone screen, waiting for the money transfer alert.

When the bottle emptied, the ping of a notification finally broke the silence. "Payment of five thousand dollars received."

As I let out a shaky breath, my hands shook so badly that I could barely hold the phone. With my last shred of consciousness, I transferred every penny to Mom.

Once the bank transfer went through, everything went dark, and I collapsed heavily to the floor.

The last thing I heard was Stacie's impatient voice. "What a buzzkill. Now we have to get him out of here."

…

I woke up to the smell of disinfectant filling my nose.

The doctor held a medical chart and sternly snapped, "Do you have a death wish, young man?

"Your stomach lining is severely damaged from continuous all-nighters, and you chugged an entire bottle of high-proof tequila on an empty stomach, so it triggered a gastric perforation. You wouldn't have made it if you'd arrived a minute later."

Gastric perforation…

I smiled bitterly and pressed a hand to my still-cramping stomach, but I felt no regret now that, at the very least, Dad's medicine was paid for.

In the next second, my phone buzzed with a message from Stacie.

"If you're awake, get back to the office ASAP! There's an issue with the app backend, and Tory says only you can fix it. Don't delay the company's IPO!"

As I read the text, I suddenly burst out laughing. The movement sent a sharp spasm through my stomach as tears slipped uncontrollably down my face.

She probably had no idea that just before I passed out last night, the self-destruct protocol for the tech database had entered its final countdown. The app's core functions would crash completely within 24 hours.

Instead of replying to her message, I contacted a lawyer and drafted the divorce papers. Then, I started sending out résumés.

Halfway through my job applications, there was a sudden knock on the door of my ward.

"Come in."

When I noticed who the visitor was, I sat bolt upright in shock.