After that, I drifted from place to place until I finally escaped here.

I never expected that I would run into them again—the people who were nothing short of a nightmare to me.

But it was fine. I'm going to die soon anyway. They won't be able to hurt me anymore.

When I regained consciousness, I was lying on a hospital bed.

My phone suddenly rang. I answered it, only to realize it was the owner of the pet hospital.

"Miss Gomez, do you still want Lucky to live or not?"

"You've owed the one-thousand-dollars treatment fee for how long already? Why haven't you sent it?"

"I'm warning you, I've stopped his medication. If you don't transfer the money soon, I'll kick the dog out today. Let it fend for itself."

My heart clenched so hard I almost cried. "No—please don't. My salary is coming out today."

"I'll go ask my manager right now and send Lucky's treatment fee immediately."

"Please don't throw him out."

The voice on the other end was impatient, "Fine. I'll give you a few more hours."

"But listen well—if you don't pay by the end of today, I won't care anymore."

"This is a pet hospital, not a charity."

After scolding me a few more times, he hung up.

Staring at the dark screen, I immediately dialed my store manager.

Yes—even though I didn't get the thousand-dollars tip, today was payday.

Even without commission, my base salary was three thousand two hundred dollars.

It was enough to cover Lucky's medical bills, and buy him plenty of dog food. Enough to entrust him to Granny Linda, the kind old lady who collected recyclables and stray dogs.

And with the leftover money... I could buy myself a cheap urn.

I was planning everything with a strange, peaceful joy—but the manager's next words made me feel like I had plunged into an ice pit.

"I'm sorry, Shirley... we can't pay you your wages."

My voice cracked in disbelief. "Why? Even without commission, I still have a base salary of 3,200. And I helped you close such a big order last night!"

Logan and Jillian were respectable people. After making such a scene yesterday—even if it was to humiliate me, they definitely paid for the shoes.

There was no way I wasn't getting my wages!

My manager sounded troubled. "It's because of that big order last night. Shirley... how did you offend Mr. Martin?"

"He topped up two million here last night. But his only condition—was that we can't give you a single cent."

"He even said that if you make a fuss, we shouldn't worry. The Martin family will take responsibility for all consequences."

"Shirley, I really can't help it. The Martin family isn't someone I can afford to offend. I know you're upset—look, I'll cover your IV bill from last night, okay?"

The manager kept talking, but I couldn't hear anything anymore.

Pain exploded in my head. Something seemed stuck in my chest—unable to go up or down. Before I realized it—bright red blood had already sprayed out of my mouth.

A nurse screamed and rushed over. "Miss, what happened? Do you need help?"

"No!" I waved frantically, refusing her. "I just feel a little unwell. It'll go away soon."

She frowned, worried. "Really?"

I nodded quickly. "Really. See? I'm fine now."

After saying that, I pulled out the IV needle and walked out of the hospital.

Of course, it wasn't fine. It wasn't fine at all.

The pain was killing me.

My heart hurts, my body hurts.

But with not a single cent to my name, how could I dare stay in the hospital any longer?

No matter how sad or how painful it was, I just had to endure it.

I could endure it. But what about Lucky?

Pancreatitis was agonizing. And he was such a tiny little dog. He couldn't bear it.

I still remember the first time I met him.

He was a stray himself—skinny, shivering. But when he saw me sleeping under the overpass, he dragged his own little cardboard box over and pushed it toward me.

After that... he never left even though I tried to chase him away countless times.

Because someone like me—who could barely feed myself—how could I dare take care of a dog? But no matter how many times I chased him off, he would always follow behind me quietly.

When I woke up early to deliver milk, he would crawl up with sleepy eyes and see me off.

When I worked night shifts, he would sneak along beside me, keeping watch.

There was one night I got off too late. Two drunken thugs saw me walking alone and tried to harass me.

Lucky went crazy—charging at them and scaring them off. He didn't even care that he got kicked twice.

No one had ever loved me so unconditionally. It took only a moment for me to decide I would keep him. But Lucky wasn't healthy either.

When I was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, I wanted to find him a new owner.

I thought, if I could entrust him to someone good... then I could leave this world without regrets.

But then he suddenly developed pancreatitis.

And sick dogs... no one wanted them.

The adopter who had already agreed refused to take him.

So I worked desperately, trying to earn enough money to treat him.

I thought—after he recovered, I could give him away. But now, even that hope had been taken from me by Logan.

If he wanted to force me to death, that was fine. But he also wanted to kill my Lucky.

For what?

Was it just because, when I was young and foolish, I dared to love him? Did that mean I deserved all of this?

Even if I had offended him, I could pay with my life.

But Lucky... I would never let him suffer for my mistakes.

I decided to confront Logan and put an end to this.