บททั้งหมดของ He Owed Me Everything, Gave Me Nothing: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

I pressed a hand to my bleeding forehead. Blood seeped between my fingers and dripped onto the greasy floor.Through the blur, I saw Jax tenderly putting a Band-Aid over a tiny scratch on the back of Camilla’s hand.“Camilla, don’t be scared. It’s okay now.”Camilla clung to his sleeve, her eyes red, looking as if she’d been terribly wronged.When the thug charged in and swung that bottle at Jax, I threw myself in front of him without thinking. I took the blow that could have killed him.But he didn’t even turn around.All he had eyes for was a frightened Camilla.I didn’t say a word. I quietly turned and dragged myself out of the restaurant.I thought back to when he’d always put me first, when I was his whole world.When I ran a high fever, he was more worried than I was. He stayed up with me all night and didn’t even care about missing his class reunion.He’d sworn he would only ever love me and would never let me down.But now my head had been split open, and he acted like he didn’

With money I’d practically bled for, I paid Mike’s tuition just before the deadline.Early one morning that weekend, Mike rode the bus for two hours to come see me.Mike’s eyes reddened the moment he saw my paper-white face and the bandage on my forehead.“How did you get so thin?”He took my hand, clearly worried, and insisted on taking me out for a good meal.I couldn’t talk him out of it, so I threw on my coat.But just as we reached the dark mouth of the alley by my place, disaster struck without warning.A few heavily tattooed thugs blocked our way.They’d come to collect the overdue payment.Their leader, Rocco Hayes, spat on the ground and fixed me with a vicious glare.“Daisy, where’s that piece of garbage Jax? This month’s interest is three days late!”Jax had taken the money for the interest payment and used it to pay Camilla’s rent.“I don’t know where he is.” I kept Mike behind me, shielding him.Rocco flew into a rage, grabbed me by the hair, and slammed me to the ground.

Once Jax had Camilla settled at the hospital, he rushed back to the abandoned warehouse by the river.But it was too late.The firefighters had put out the blaze, and nothing was left of the warehouse but a charred frame.The acrid stench of smoke hung in the air as a bitter wind blew off the river.His eyes red, Jax tried to charge into the still-smoking ruins.“There’s still someone in there! My girlfriend’s still in there!”Several firefighters held him back, shouting at him to stop.“The fire was too big, and there was gasoline in there feeding it. There’s no sign anyone survived.“We’re sorry for your loss.”Jax broke free of the firefighters, and his legs gave out. He dropped to his knees in the mud and black ash.Jax ignored the heat still rising off the ground and dug through the ashes with his bare hands like a madman.His nails broke and his fingers bled, but he didn’t seem to feel any pain.Finally, at the edge of the rubble near the window, his hand closed on a familiar pie

With my broom in her face, Camilla shook all over.Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jax frozen nearby. Like she’d found a lifeline, she scrambled over to him.“Jax! Look at her! She hit me, and now she’s trying to kill me! Hurry up and teach her a lesson!”She clung to Jax’s pant leg, hoping he’d shield her with his broad frame and call me heartless, just as he’d done countless times before.But this time, Jax kicked her away as if she were something filthy.He didn’t even glance at Camilla on the ground. He kept his eyes glued to me, desperate to please.“Daisy, I’m sorry. I really didn’t know she’d come looking for you.”He came closer like a fawning lapdog. “You had every right to hit her. If you’re still angry, take it out on me. Do whatever you want, as long as you take me back.”“Get lost. Keep your filth off my doorstep.”I spat the words out coldly, turned, walked back into my shop, and yanked down the rolling shutter.Early the next morning, people crowded around the

When Jax woke to the smell of hospital disinfectant, he received news that felt worse than a death sentence.The doctor stood beside his bed, holding his scans. His voice was cold and matter-of-fact. “You’ve suffered severe spinal cord damage. The paralysis from your waist down is permanent. You’ll need a wheelchair for the rest of your life.”Jax frantically pounded his legs with his fists, but he couldn’t feel a thing. It was as if they no longer belonged to him.He dug out his phone and tried to borrow money from the friends who’d once claimed he was like family.But every single call ended the same way. They turned him down and blocked his number.All those friendships he’d bought with my hard-earned money vanished the moment he hit rock bottom.Jax couldn’t pay his hospital bill, so they kicked him out.He couldn’t afford a decent wheelchair, so he bought a beat-up skateboard for a few dozen bucks. He pushed himself along with his hands, inching his way back to that leaky, run-dow