All Chapters of The Rival I Left Behind: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Diane Chanel let out a chuckle at the scene. "Ms. Quinn, do you know Mylo Vane? He was just asking me for a few more days on his debt."She looked at me again. "Mylo, you should have mentioned you knew Ms. Quinn. If you make her happy tonight, we can definitely work something out regarding the money."I grit my teeth. My stomach was churning so hard I felt like I was going to throw up right there.Vera Quinn just watched me with a cold, calculating look."Ms. Chanel is mistaken." I looked up and forced a smile. "I don’t know Ms. Quinn. Since you’re busy, I’ll get out of your way."I turned to leave, but Vera’s hand clamped around my wrist."You don't know me? Mylo, begging her is a waste of time. You’re better off begging me." She pressed the glass against my lips, her voice dripping with satisfaction."Drink this. Admit you’re a useless coward. Just get on your knees and tell me you've lost. Do that, and I'll make sure she gives you whatever you want."People around us started

Chapter 2

Vera stopped tapping her fingers on the table.She didn't seem to expect me to actually take the glass.I closed my eyes and forced the liquid down my throat. The mixture of alcohol and hot mustard felt like a ball of lava, searing its way down my esophagus before exploding in my stomach."Nice! Mr. Morass is certainly a good sport!" Diane led the applause.Vera suddenly stood up. She stared at me, her face darkening with a terrifying intensity."Mylo, you’re disgusting." She threw the words at me coldly and turned to leave.I couldn't care less about her insults. I shoved through the crowd and stumbled toward the restroom.Once inside a stall, I could no longer suppress the metallic, bloody taste surging up. I heaved, vomiting violently into the toilet. The pain in my stomach was so intense my whole body spasmed, leaving me curled on the floor, gasping for air.I fumbled through my bag, found a painkiller, and swallowed it.I can't die. Not yet. I haven't bought a plot for my

Chapter 3

"I only believe what I see." Vera let out a cold laugh. She suddenly reached down and snatched my bag, which had fallen in the scramble.Everything spilled across the floor. The debt repayment plan, a few crumpled bills, and the box of painkillers I hadn't had time to hide.Vera stared at the painkillers, then at the debt repayment plan from my bag."Apologize. Get on your knees and wipe the water off Cole's shoes, and I’ll let tonight go." A flash of something complex crossed Vera’s eyes."Otherwise, I’ll tell Diane to take back her promise immediately."A crowd of onlookers had already gathered at the restroom door to watch the drama.Cole leaned into Vera, his voice performatively kind. "Vera, let it go. Mylo probably didn't mean it. He’s clearly going through a lot right now....""Struggling isn't an excuse to hurt people." Vera cut him off, her eyes locked on mine. "Mylo. Get down and wipe his shoes clean."My mind went blank for a second.Get on my knees?Back when we w

Chapter 4

Vera let out a cold laugh and bent down to snatch the pills from my hand."You’re still denying it? You even had the painkillers ready. Mylo, you haven't changed a bit when it comes to acting for sympathy."She weighed the box in her hand. "Do you really think acting fragile is going to make me let you go?""Give them back," I said, reaching for them.Vera jerked her hand back, easily avoiding me. She grabbed a glass of red wine from a passing waiter’s tray and right in front of everyone, popped the pills out of the box and dropped each pill into the wine.The pills dissolved quickly, creating tiny white bubbles in the alcohol.Vera held the spiked wine out to me. "Since you have stomach cancer, if you drink this, I’ll clear your debt with Diane myself."A collective gasp went up from the crowd. Everyone knew how badly mixing red wine and pills would wreck a stomach, especially with high-strength painkillers like these.I looked at Vera, but all I felt inside was a dead silence

Chapter 5

When I woke up again, I was lying in a soft bed.The burning sensation in my stomach had dulled slightly.Vera was sitting in a nearby armchair, a half-burned cigarette between her fingers. In the swirling smoke, her profile looked dark and tense."You're awake?" she scoffed, crushing the cigarette out in an ashtray."You’ve certainly become fragile, Mylo. A little liquor and some pills were enough to leave you flat on the sidewalk. Whatever happened to that guy who used to pull all-nighters with me on strategies three years ago?"I struggled to sit up. "Vera. The debt is cleared. Let me go.""Go?" Vera grabbed a thick stack of documents and threw them in my face. "Diane has already transferred all your debt claims to me. You don’t just owe me ten million now, Mylo. You owe me for everything you've taken from the Quinns over the years."I looked at the documents, my heart turning cold. Diane truly was a merchant of greed. She’d sold me out to Vera the second she had the chance.

Chapter 6

Vera’s company was facing its biggest crisis in three years.A rival firm had somehow obtained overseas investment records from three years ago. They were accusing her of money laundering and financial fraud. The stock price hit the floor in a single day, and the media swarmed the office building until it was completely blocked off.As the PR manager, Cole was sweating through his shirt in the conference room. His eyes were red. "Vera, I really tried my best. But they were too prepared. We've put out a statement, but no one believes us."Vera sat at the head of the table, her face pale with rage. She gripped her pen so hard it looked like it was about to snap.I stood in the corner, watching Cole’s performance with nothing but irony in my heart. That financial loophole was something Cole had created himself three years ago to suck up to Vera. She hadn't known about it at the time, but now she was taking the fall for it."Everyone out," Vera growled, her voice raspy.The room cl

Chapter 7

I woke up to the stinging smell of Lysol.Through my blurred vision, I saw Vera sitting by my bed. She looked completely broken. Her usually perfect makeup was gone, and her eyes, once sharp and calculating, were bloodshot."You're awake," she said, her voice incredibly raspy.I didn’t say anything. I just turned my head to look out the window."Mylo, why didn't you tell me?" Vera suddenly grabbed my hand, her voice trembling. "Late-stage stomach cancer... how could you keep this from me for so long?"I let out a weak, self-deprecating laugh. "Tell you for what? So you’d have one more excuse to humiliate me?"Vera’s body trembled violently.Just then, the door to the room opened and my attending physician walked in. The doctor looked at Vera with a face full of disgust and anger. "Are you the family? Do you have any idea that he had a perforated stomach when he was brought in?"In his physical condition, he was working at high intensity and even drinking massive amounts of hard

Chapter 8

Vera snapped, standing up with a look of obsessive madness in her eyes. "I won’t let you say that! I have money! I have more than enough!"If it means saving you, I’d sell all of Quinn Corp without a second thought! Mylo, didn’t you love competing with me?"You won. You won every single game we played over the last seven years. Just stay alive. I’ll give you the partner position. I’ll be your assistant. You can humiliate me however you want!"I looked at her, but I didn’t feel a single spark of satisfaction. All I felt was a deep, heavy exhaustion."Vera, in these seven years, what were we even fighting for?" I closed my eyes, weak."Fighting over whose strategy was more perfect. Fighting over whose performance reviews were higher. Fighting to see who could stomp the other into the dirt first. But in the end, I lost my life, and you lost your soul."Is winning like this actually worth anything?"Vera froze. She slowly knelt by my bed and buried her face in my palm, her scalding

Chapter 9

Vera’s eyes turned red. She pulled a velvet box from her pocket and slowly opened it in front of me.Inside was a brilliant diamond ring, reflecting the sun light."But Mylo, what’s the point of all this fame and fortune if you aren’t here to see it?" She dropped to one knee, her voice breaking so hard it was barely audible."I bought this ring three years ago. I wanted to give it to you at the victory party, but instead, you handed me your resignation."I was so angry. I felt like you had betrayed our promise. That’s why I said those horrible things."She slid the ring onto my ring finger. The ring was large, making my skeletal, withered finger look even thinner."In the next life, let me be the one chasing you, okay? I won’t fight you for over clients. I won’t mess with your presentation. And I’ll never lock you in a supply closet again."She rested her head on my knees, sobbing like a child who had lost their entire world. "In the next life, you can be the director and I’ll

Chapter 10

Vera stood by the sea, her eyes hollow as she watched the ashes scatter in the wind.She returned to the company and announced her retirement at the board meeting. She sold all her shares and real estate, using the proceeds to establish a cancer relief fund named the "Mylo Foundation."Vera moved out of her luxury villa and into the cramped, dilapidated apartment Mylo had once rented. Just like Mylo used to, she woke up early every day to squeeze onto the bus and buy a burrito from the corner stand. She wanted to experience the hardships Mylo had endured over those three years, searching for any trace he might have left behind in the mundane details of everyday life.Every morning, Vera brought a bouquet of fresh red roses to his gravestone."Mylo, today's burrito was a little salty. It’s not as good as the place you used to take me to.""Mylo, Cole isn't doing well in prison. See? I’ve avenged everyone who ever bullied you."She spoke to Mylo’s photo, sitting there for the ent

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