After my boyfriend risked his life to save me in a fire, I proposed to him.

But he refused, saying he was burdened with massive debt and wasn’t worthy of me.

From then on, I worked five jobs a day, just to pay off what he owed as soon as possible.

But fate had other plans.

I was diagnosed with brain cancer.

When I finally saved enough and went to say goodbye, I overheard his conversation with his friends.

“The heir of the Law family, pretending to be broke in front of some poor girl. Seriously?”

“She’s worked herself to the point of coughing up blood. You really don’t feel anything?”

Landon Law curved his lips into a faint smile.

“This is just a test for her. Once we’re married, I’ll treat her well.”

“And what about Clara Shaw? She’s coming back soon. That rich girl has been talking about marrying you for years.”

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“They’ve both been through hard times with me. I can’t let either of them down.”

“But Clara’s fragile. She can’t handle any shock. She wouldn’t survive without me. I have to protect her.

“Stella is understanding. As long as I give her the position of Mrs. Law, she’ll accept it.”

The moment I heard that, everything went black, and I collapsed.

When I woke up again, Landon was gripping my hand tightly.

“Stella, don’t be afraid! Even if I lose everything, I’ll make sure you get treated!”

A mechanical voice suddenly echoed in my mind.

[Congratulations. You have been granted the ability to detect lies.]

[Accumulate more than five detected lies from the male lead to exchange for a full recovery from brain cancer.]

Before I could even process what was happening, the phone in Landon Law’s pocket, its screen shattered into a spiderweb of cracks, started ringing.

A message notification popped up on the lock screen.

[Clara]: “Landon, I’m scared being here alone…”

A flicker of panic crossed his eyes. He quickly turned off the screen.

When he looked up again, his face was full of guilt as he tucked the blanket around me.

“Stella, the foreman’s calling me back to the construction site. Just rest, alright? I’ll find a way to cover your treatment.”

Before, hearing those words would have made my heart ache.

I would have cried, then handed over every last cent I’d earned.

But now, all I felt was disgust.

Right then, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in my mind.

[Detected male lead’s lie: “Returning to the construction site to earn money for medical expenses.”]

[Lie identified. Reward granted: Brain tumor progression has been halted.]

As the notification faded, the splitting pain in my head, the kind that felt like it might explode at any moment, actually eased, as if by a miracle.

He had barely left when my attending doctor walked in right after.

“Miss Ross, the tumor is already pressing on your nerves. You need to pay the full 60,000 for treatment by tomorrow. Otherwise, you won’t last a month.”

I took out my phone and looked at the remaining balance of 52 dollars and let out a bitter laugh.

For eight years, every cent I made had gone to him.

And in the end, all I got in return was a ridiculous act of playing poor.

I took a deep breath, pulled the IV needle from the back of my hand, and struggled out of bed, steadying myself against the wall as I stumbled after him.

The man who, just ten minutes ago, had claimed he was heading to a construction site stepped out of the general ward and, in the next breath, was dressed in an immaculate custom-tailored suit.

On his wrist was a watch worth a million, and he was striding quickly toward the VIP executive ward on the top floor.

Through the crack in the door, I heard a woman’s soft, delicate voice complaining, “Landon, the smell of disinfectant in this hospital is awful.”

Landon’s eyes were filled with a tenderness I had never once seen before.

He gently stroked her hair.

“Be good, Clara. I’m sorry you had to put up with this. I’ve already bought this private hospital. From now on, the entire building will be reserved just for you to recover in, alright?”

The laughter between the man and the woman inside the room pierced straight through my heart like a blade.

I clung to the wall, fingers digging in so hard my nails split, yet I felt nothing.

For eight years, to help him repay that so-called “two-hundred-thousand-dollar debt,” I gave up my guaranteed admission offer.

I washed dishes in the back alley of a hotel in subzero weather, my hands cracked open and bleeding from the cold.

To save money, I lived on plain water and stale bread, until my body gave out.

And now, Clara had only murmured that the place smelled unpleasant, and he had casually bought the entire hospital.

So, his poverty had been an act. His devotion was also an act.

Only my suffering, my blood, and the tumor in my head were real.

I watched as he fed a cherry to Clara with gentle care, while the metallic taste of blood filled my own mouth.

Since fate gave me a chance to live, I wouldn’t die alongside a man like him.

“Landon, your lies would be the stepping stones of my rebirth.”

I had just returned to my room and lay down when the door was pushed open.

Landon walked in wearing that faded, torn T-shirt, his face smeared with dark grime, and the moment he entered, he pressed a crumpled stack of cash into my hand.

“Stella, the foreman paid me sixty dollars today. I’ve saved it all for your surgery.”

I lowered my eyes, looking at the money, but this time, I didn’t feel moved to tears.

Because I could clearly smell the expensive cologne on him.

[Detected male lead’s lie: “The foreman paid sixty dollars.”]

[Lie identified. Reward granted: Brain tumor reduced by one-third.]

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Is your head hurting again?” Landon reached out nervously to touch my forehead.

Before he could finish, the door to the room was suddenly kicked open.

Three heavily tattooed men stormed in. The bald one in the lead strode forward, grabbed me by the hair, and dragged me violently off the bed.

“Landon! You owe us two hundred thousand—ten grand in interest this month alone. Pay up today, or she’s dead!”

“Ah!”

A tearing pain ripped through my scalp, and my whole body trembled uncontrollably.

It was the instinctive fear carved into me after years of beatings from debt collectors.

“Don’t touch her! Come at me!”

Landon lunged forward, eyes red, shielding me beneath him as he took the blows meant for me.

Fists and kicks rained down on his back.

Before, I would have been sobbing, begging them to stop.

But now, despair ran so deep it made my soul shake.

Because in that moment, pinned to the ground, I saw it clearly.

In the bald man’s ear was a communication earpiece bearing the Law Group logo.

And the blows landing on Landon’s back lost their force the moment he gave the slightest, almost imperceptible signal.

So all these years, the so-called loan shark harassment that had kept me up at night, that had tormented me endlessly, had been nothing more than a performance he paid for.

Using the cruelest, most despicable means, he fed my fear, tested my loyalty, until I was nothing more than a dog, utterly devoted to him.

“If you can’t come up with ten thousand by tomorrow, I’ll sell her off!” the bald man snarled before leading his men out.

Landon struggled to his feet, then pulled me into his arms, his face full of guilt.

“Stella, I’m sorry… Do you still have any money? Give them something first to keep them quiet, or they’ll come back tomorrow and hurt you again.”

I forced down the nausea and took out my phone.

“I have one thousand left. I was saving it to buy painkillers.”

Landon’s eyes lit up. He snatched the phone from my hand and, without hesitation, transferred the one thousand to his own account.

“Stella, don’t worry. I’ll pick up a shift in a restaurant kitchen tonight. I’ll find a way to cover your medical bills.”

He lowered his head and kissed my forehead, then, with the last of my life-saving money in hand, turned and hurried away.

[Detected male lead’s lie: “Working a shift in a restaurant kitchen.”]

[Lie identified. Reward granted: Brain tumor reduced by another one-third.]

No sooner had Landon left than a nurse walked in and removed my pain pump.

Cold sweat broke out across my body as the pain surged. I clutched the sheets tightly. “Why? I already paid for these past few days of medication!”

The nurse replied flatly, “The VIP patient upstairs, Miss Shaw, complained of a headache and said the standard medication had too many side effects.

“Mr. Law ordered all imported painkillers in the hospital to be transferred to the top floor.

“Mr. Law also said patients in the general ward are tougher. They can endure it.”

I stared at the needle mark on the back of my hand, still seeping blood, and let out a cold laugh.

The pain was so intense I wanted to slam my head against the wall, yet it couldn’t compare to Clara’s offhand remark about having “side effects.”

For her, Landon took away the life-saving medication of someone on the brink of death without a second thought.

Just then, a local entertainment livestream notification popped up on my phone:

[Heir to the Law Group spends one million to book out the penthouse restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel for his beloved!]

On the screen, Landon stood in a tailored suit, untouchable as a king, fastening a dazzling pink diamond necklace around Clara’s neck.

“As long as my Clara is happy, what’s one million?”

One million…

Just moments ago, he took my last one thousand—money meant to keep me alive.

I dialed Landon’s number.

From the receiver came his deliberately lowered, breathless voice, laced with exhaustion.

“Stella, the collectors said one thousand wasn’t enough. They beat me again. I’m in the kitchen now, scrubbing dishes nonstop—my hands are already ruined. Once I get paid tomorrow morning, I’ll buy you the best medicine.”

I looked at the screen, at the long fingers now wrapped around a glass of red wine, my voice eerily calm.

“Is that so? If your hands are ruined… does it hurt?”

“It does,” Landon sighed on the other end, his tone tender.

“But when I think about saving your life, it all feels worth it. Stella, I love you.”

[Detected male lead’s lie: “Beaten by debt collectors, hands ruined from washing dishes in the kitchen.”]

[Lie identified. Reward granted: Brain tumor has completely disappeared.]

With the mechanical voice, the searing pain in my head receded like a tide.

For the first time, my mind felt utterly clear. I ended the call without hesitation.

“Landon, the moment I’m fully recovered is the moment you lose me for good.”

…

The next morning was the final deadline to pay for the surgery.

Landon rushed in carrying a thermos, his eyes red as he grabbed my hand.

“Stella, I’m sorry. I went to the black market yesterday and sold 800cc of blood, but it still wasn’t enough. I made your favorite oatmeal. You should at least have a few bites, alright?”

[Detected male lead’s lie: “Sold blood on the black market.”]

[Lie identified. Reward granted: Cancer cells have significantly regressed.]

I had just opened my mouth when the sharp sound of high heels echoed down the hallway.

Clara walked in, dressed in designer clothes, covering her nose.

Landon’s expression changed instantly. He shot to his feet and moved to block her.

“Clara, there are too many germs here. Go back upstairs.”

But Clara leaned around him, her gaze sweeping over me with disdain.

“Landon, is this the poor girl who throws herself at you over scraps of kindness?

“You really went all out training her—even staged that whole ‘playing poor’ act. Must’ve been exhausting for you. But I suppose it makes sense.

“A family like the Laws, where everyone devours each other alive, only someone cheap and disposable like her is fit to go in my place, suffer for me, and serve your parents.”