Debt collectors showed up at our doorstep when my mother's company went bankrupt. They said they would break one of my mom's legs if the money was not repaid within three days.

I swallowed my pride and went to my girlfriend Jasmine, who had a net worth of over a hundred million dollars. I begged her to lend me $500,000 to get my family through this crisis.

It was the first time I had ever asked her for money.

She frowned but still agreed, saying she would have her finance department transfer it to me that afternoon.

I waited by my phone, refreshing my bank balance over and over, from daylight until nightfall.

However, she suddenly went completely silent, ignoring my calls and messages.

Anxious and restless, I tried to comfort myself, telling myself she might just be busy with something urgent.

Still, saving my mom's leg could not wait. In the end, I had no choice but to take the watch my father left me before he died and bring it to an auction.

I did not expect to run into Jasmine at the auction house with her childhood sweetheart, Lionel.

She was spending money like it meant nothing, bidding on an expensive painting for him.

The final price of that painting was exactly $500,000.

She had not forgotten about me.

It was just that my desperate emergency meant less to her than the man she truly cared about.

"Congratulations, Miss Lowe! With a bid of $500,000, you've won the painting titled 'Distant Mountains' by the young artist, Elias Xane!"

Applause filled the room as camera flashes focused on the elegant, cool-tempered woman seated in the front row.

Jasmine Lowe rose to her feet and personally handed the painting to Lionel Shaw, who sat beside her.

Lionel's eyes lit up with a bright smile. "Jasmine, thank you. I can't believe you actually bought it for me just because I casually mentioned I liked it!"

Jasmine looked at him. There was a rare hint of indulgent affection in her eyes. "As long as you like it, I'm happy."

They looked perfect together, a match made in heaven.

People around them whispered among themselves, watching the pair with envy.

No one noticed me in the corner, wearing a pair of jeans faded almost to white from going through too many washes.

When I could not reach Jasmine earlier, I tried to comfort myself, telling myself that perhaps she was just too busy.

She was too busy to remember me and too busy to remember my mother's leg, which was hanging by a thread.

When I saw the tenderness in Jasmine's eyes, a bone-deep chill spread through me.

She was not busy, nor had she forgotten.

She simply believed that my mother's leg meant far less than the passing interest of the man she truly cared about.

My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.

My eyes burned, but I stubbornly refused to let even a hint of weakness show.

Just then, the auctioneer's voice rang out again.

"Next up is a custom wristwatch called 'Morning Star', the final work of the late master watchmaker Mr. Moore. The starting bid is $300,000."

'Morning Star' was the only thing my father left me.

He once told me that the morning star symbolized hope, and no matter how dark the night was, the sun would always rise.

I would never sell it unless I had absolutely no other choice.

At this point, I had none.

My gaze cut through the crowd and met with Jasmine's.

She clearly recognized the watch. The tenderness on her face froze instantly and was replaced with shock.

Lionel followed her gaze and looked over as well. When he saw me, he pretended to be surprised.

"Sebastian? What are you doing here? Isn't that the watch your father left you? Why are you selling it?"

In an instant, every eye in the room turned toward me.

Jasmine's expression turned completely cold.

She walked up to me. Her voice carried a hint of disappointment.

"Sebastian, are you really that desperate for money?"

Jasmine's cold words pierced into my ears, shattering my heart into pieces.

I lifted my head to meet her bottomless, piercing gaze.

There was no pity nor remorse.

Of course, I had forgotten.

In her eyes, I was just a man willing to do anything for money.

Back when my mother's company faced its first crisis, everyone said I was only with her to chase the Lowe family's wealth and status.

Now that my family was bankrupt, asking her for money only confirmed their suspicions.

I did not care what the outside world thought, as long as Jasmine understood me.

However, she did not.

Her dislike for me went far deeper than that.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced a smile. "Yes, I'm short on money. What else? Did you think I came here just to experience life, Miss Lowe?

"Are you that forgetful, Miss Lowe? Have you already forgotten I came to ask for a loan to keep my company afloat?"

My words cut her.

Her brows knitted instantly, and she put on a mocking smirk.

"Sebastian, you think I'd believe that? How could your mother's company suddenly go bankrupt? Stop this pitiful act. Don't embarrass yourself here!"

Her words hurt more than any blade.

I let out a bitter laugh. "I'm selling my father's only keepsake to save my mother's life. How is that embarrassing? Is it somehow more noble to spend $500,000 to please another man, like you just did?!"

Her face went pale in an instant.

Lionel quickly stepped forward, gently grabbed her arm, and tried to reason with her, "Jasmine, don't be angry. Sebastian must be joking."

He turned to me, putting on a concerned expression. "Sebastian, even if you're short on money, you shouldn't joke about your mother's company like that. Jasmine would take such a matter seriously. If you need something, just ask her directly. You two are a couple, after all."

I looked into his seemingly innocent eyes, feeling the sting of irony.

He knew I was Jasmine's boyfriend, yet he crossed every boundary without a second thought.

Jasmine never pushed him away. It was as though she were blind to his intentions.

I stared coldly at him. "I already told her, but apparently Miss Lowe wasn't listening."

Lionel's face paled. He pressed his lips together, and his eyes reddened.

Jasmine immediately moved in front of him, shielding him. Her gaze toward me grew ice-cold.

"Sebastian, I never imagined you'd become like this. You're so bitter and unreasonable! Lionel was just concerned for you. Why do you have to speak with venom in every word?"

"What do you mean, what I've become?"

Sadness and anger twisted in my chest, threatening to burst through.

"I'm being forced to the edge, having to sell the only keepsake my father left me, while my girlfriend is here, cozying up with another man! Do I not even have the right to question her? In your eyes, Lionel is this perfect, untouchable first love, and I'm just some useless fool who only brings you problems. Isn't that right?!"

"You're being completely unreasonable!" Jasmine was completely enraged by my words.

At that moment, the auctioneer's voice rang out.

"$300,000 once, $300,000 twice. Any higher bids?"

"I'll bid $350,000!" a voice suddenly called.

I turned toward it. It was Miss Zabel from West City, a notorious and wealthy socialite.

She was scanning me up and down with a blatantly provocative gaze.

Jasmine's face darkened further.

I knew she was not interested in the watch. She wanted me.

If I accepted her money, I would be accepting her.

The last shred of hesitation in my heart vanished the moment I saw the glance exchanged between Jasmine and Miss Zabel.

I understood immediately.

This was humiliating to Jasmine.

She wanted to see me humiliated instead, to see me suffer.

The auctioneer shouted excitedly, "$350,000! Miss Zabel bids $350,000! Any higher bids?"

I straightened my spine and said to the auctioneer, "I'll sell it!"

Then, I turned to Jasmine, speaking each word slowly and clearly. "Jasmine, from this moment, we're over."

Before she could react, I turned around and walked away.

Behind me came Jasmine's furious roar.

"Sebastian, how dare you!"

Of course I dared.

When a person was pushed to the edge, there was nothing left to fear.

Clutching Miss Zabel's greasy, $350,000 check, I rushed straight to the meeting spot.

A few rough-looking men surrounded my mother, cursing and spitting as they stood over her.

My mother was curled up in the corner. This woman, who was once so proud and confident, now had streaks of gray in her hair and a face hollowed by exhaustion.

When she saw me, a flicker of light appeared in her cloudy eyes. "Sebastian, why did you come here? Run! It's dangerous here!"

"Mom, I came to pay back the money."

I handed the check to the scar-faced man leading the group. My voice trembled slightly from fear.

"Here's $350,000. Please give me a few more days for the remaining $150,000."

The scar-faced man spat and sneered. His eyes were full of contempt.

"A few days? Do you think we run a charity? Three days was the agreement. If you're even a second late, your mom's leg will stay here even after you head home!"

Then, he drew a gleaming steel pipe from behind him.

My mother's face went pale with terror, clutching her leg protectively.

I leapt forward, spreading my arms in front of her. My legs were shaking, but I refused to back down.

"I will pay you the money! If you lay a hand on my mom, I'll fight every last one of you!"

"Fight us? You think you're capable?" The scar-faced man sneered as he closed in.

"Well, your mother is still quite the beauty. How about this? We'll forget about the remaining $150,000 if she spends one night with us instead. How's that?"

I trembled all over, and my stomach churned.

I spat at him. "In your dreams!"

The scar-faced man, enraged, was about to bring the steel pipe down on my head when several black cars screeched onto the scene, slamming to a halt right in front of us.

The doors swung open, and a group of bodyguards in black charged out, taking down the thugs in seconds.

I was still reeling, eyes wide, until the rear door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out.

It was Jasmine.

She walked up to me, and my shame was laid bare.

"Sebastian, selling yourself to some scum for money? Do you actually enjoy getting entangled with people like this?!"

I snapped my head up, meeting her cold eyes, which reflected my sorrow back at me.

"Jasmine, you have the nerve to talk to me?"

I roared, "I swallowed my pride and begged you for $500,000 to save my mom's life! I waited for you all day like a fool, yet what did I get? I had to watch you throwing money away at an auction for another man!

"How many times did I call you? Why didn't you answer? Do you realize that if I'd been even a minute later in coming here, my mother could've lost her leg? You pushed me to the edge, yet now you turn around and blame me? Who do you think you are?!"

My questions came out in a hysteria of desperation.

Jasmine's expression shifted. A flicker of guilt flashed across her eyes.

She remembered my plea and her promise.

Just then, Lionel stepped down from the car, looking fragile. He linked his arm with hers and gave me a pitiful look.

"Sebastian, please don't blame Jasmine. I liked the painting so much that I insisted she bid on it. That's why she forgot for a moment…"

He paused for a moment, shot a glance at the debt collectors on the ground, then shifted his tone.

"But Sebastian, even if Jasmine was hurrying to get the painting for me, you shouldn't humiliate yourself over money like this! Don't you remember Jayden…"

"Shut your mouth!"

Jasmine cut him off sharply, but the anger she had just suppressed flared back to life.

Her gaze locked on me. Hatred burned in her eyes.

"Sebastian, you really are as despicable as ever!"

She ground her teeth. "Ten years ago, you ruined someone's life because of this. Who else are you going to destroy now?!"

A cold bitterness spread through my chest, turning into a silent ache.

I opened my mouth to explain, to tell her that what happened ten years ago was not what she thought…

However, the words died on my lips, turning instead into powerless self-mockery.

In her eyes, I was already guilty.

"Jasmine."

My voice was calm. "You've never believed me."

I said no more. I lifted my shaken mother into my arms and staggered away from that suffocating place.