Chapter 2

[Molly]'s POV

A wave of dizziness hit me, and I nearly collapsed. I took a deep breath and looked at Joyce in anguish. “Joyce, why?”

I pointed at the woman beside him. “Is it because of her?”

The woman had her hand looped through Joyce’s arm, their posture intimate. She had honey-gold waves, exquisite makeup, and clothes from brands I did not recognize but could tell at a glance were expensive. Her nails were painted sapphire blue, and every finger glittered.

“Do you even need to ask?” Joyce spread his hands, looking utterly unconcerned. “This is my girlfriend, Kelly.”

“You—” Something lodged in my throat. “You betrayed me!”

Joyce burst out laughing. “Betrayed you? Molly, the moment your family went bankrupt, you and I were finished. Understand?”

Kelly clung to Joyce’s arm and cast me a provocative glance, her voice cloying. “Darling, why bother explaining so much to her?”

Joyce chuckled and looked me up and down. “I thought you’d be too ashamed to come see me. Since you’re here, I’ll make things clear.”

“You’re not worthy of me anymore, and you have no value. We’re done. Understand?”

His words struck me harder than White’s slap. I remembered how Joyce had spent three months pursuing me two years ago. He bought me flowers, wrote me letters, and knelt in my family’s garden to declare his love. The elders of both families had been pleased with our engagement—the union of two wealthy families, with a bright future ahead.

Ungrateful bastard! Had he forgotten how he used to beg me for every resource he needed?

Kelly tilted her head up in Joyce’s arms. He lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.

The kiss lasted a long time. His hand rested on her waist, and they were exceedingly intimate.

Kelly lifted her head from his embrace and looked down at me. “Joyce, we should go home.”

“Of course, Kelly.” Joyce turned to the security guards. “Get her out of here. Her shabby presence is dirtying the road outside my house.”

As Kelly passed me, she glanced my way, an excited gleam flickering in her eyes.

“Your family went bankrupt, didn’t it?” she said, deliberately loud enough for me to hear. “You must be desperate for money now.”

Her laugh was shrill, her eyes full of contempt. She pulled a wad of small bills from her purse and threw it at my face.

The bills scattered, grazing my cheekbone before fluttering all over the ground.

Joyce roared with laughter and flung another wad of money at me. “Weren’t you always so aloof? Let’s see if poverty can’t force you to your knees.”

I clenched my fists as overwhelming humiliation surged through me.

My nails dug into my palms. It hurt, but not as much as the burning heat in my face.

Joyce’s family had achieved its current glory only by working with mine. For years, my father took his father along to pursue projects and sign contracts. At every dinner, his father called mine his “dear brother.” Yet the moment my family went bankrupt, they changed their faces completely, cleanly and without even a transition.

I lowered my eyes to the money on the ground.

Hundreds, fifties, and twenties lay scattered everywhere. It was no small sum. It truly was a considerable amount of money, enough to fill the most urgent hole in my finances.

I closed my eyes and hesitated for only a second.

Then I crouched and picked up the bills one by one.

My knees pressed against the cold tiles. I heard people laughing above me, but I did not look up.

Pick it up and leave. Pick it up and leave, I repeated inwardly.

As I reached for the final bill, a high heel came down on it.

The narrow heel ground directly into my fingers, sending spasms of pain through my entire hand.

Kelly laughed without the slightest remorse. “Sorry. I didn’t see your hand.”

I raised my head and looked at her.

She gazed down at me, the glitter on her eyelashes flashing beneath the lights. I slowly pulled the last bill out from under her shoe.

Once I had gathered every bill, I rose dejectedly and gripped the money tight. Every dollar had a use.

“Molly, you’ve really fallen low. Even this much money appeals to you now,” Joyce sneered.

I ignored him and strode away.

Joyce’s furious voice came from behind me. “Molly, you’ve lost everything! What are you still acting so noble for? You’ll come begging on your knees!”

Today was the first time. It would never happen again. I silently swore it.

I did not return to school. I got straight into the car.

My phone rang halfway there. It was the hospital.

They were demanding payment for the medical bills.

I told them I was on my way.

After I paid, the doctor called me into his office alone, his voice grave. “Marcia’s organ failure was caused by poisoning. Continuing treatment will be extremely expensive—at least four thousand dollars a day. If other organs are damaged later, the cost will continue to rise.”

Four thousand dollars a day!

My vision went dark. The staggering number nearly knocked me down.

I lowered my head. My father’s debts weighed on one side, and Marcia’s medical expenses on the other.

What had four thousand dollars once meant to me? A pair of shoes. A meal. A number I signed off on without a thought.

Now it could crush me to death!

Yet Marcia was my mother, my only family left in this world.

I thought for only a second before raising my head, my voice firm. “I want to continue treatment. I’ve already paid today’s expenses. Please don’t stop treating her.”

The doctor glanced at me, nodded, and left.

I went into the ward to see Marcia.

She was asleep, her face noticeably thinner. A needle was inserted into the back of her hand, blue veins standing out beneath her skin. A thin mist coated the inside of her oxygen mask, ebbing and returning with each breath.

I did not dare stay long.

After I came out, I crouched beside a chair in the corridor. Before long, I started crying. Every time I thought of how she had looked, it felt as though someone were squeezing my heart.

Tears soaked my entire face, but I did not dare cry too loudly. This was a hospital, after all.

“Hey!” a voice called from above me.

I looked up. It was Beth.

Beth had rushed over.

She pulled an envelope from her bag and stuffed it into my hands. “This is all the allowance I’ve saved. I hope it helps.”

Strictly speaking, Beth and I were not even friends. We were rivals.

Our families did business together, and the adults had compared us since childhood. They compared our grades, our clothes, and which of us was more presentable. Beth was my sworn rival. We had disliked each other for more than a decade.

Now, when I needed money most, she gave me hers without hesitation.

When I thought of Luna turning a blind eye to me and Joyce humiliating me, Beth’s money made warmth flood my heart.

I threw my arms around her. “Thank you.”

My embrace made Beth stumble half a step backward. She gently patted my back. “You know how strict my family is. This is all the allowance I get each month, so it’s all I can do for you.”

“Beth, can you help me find a high-paying job? Anything will do.”

Beth waved her hand. “The only high-paying jobs I know are at nightclubs. You can’t work at a place like that. They’re dangerous.”

I covered my face. “But I really have no other choice. If I can’t repay the debt, I’ll be sold anyway...”

“I might as well sell myself from the start. It would still be better than being forced by White. He definitely won’t let me off, and I’ll only suffer more.”

The pressure was too great, and I could not stop myself from speaking in despair.

“How can you even think that?” Beth grabbed my hand. “You can’t degrade yourself for money. You used to be so exceptional. How can you ruin your whole life over this?”

“How about this? I have an idea. If it works, at least the medical bills won’t be a problem.”

I wiped away my tears. “What idea?”

“I heard there’s a vampire professor at our school named Harrison Raphael. He’s incredibly rich. His watches are worth millions, and we’ve never seen him wear the same one twice! Take your blood test results to him. If he likes your blood, you’ll definitely be well paid for supplying it.”

I calculated it inwardly.

If I could supply him with blood long-term, Marcia’s medical bills would be covered. As for the debts my father had left behind, I could find another solution. I would deal with them one at a time.

That same day, I paid for a blood test.

I knew the whole vampire thing sounded absurd, but I had no other option. If I had to sell something anyway, there was little difference between selling my blood and selling my body.

The report was only a thin sheet of paper. Holding it in my hand, I took a car to the university.

Following the floor and room number Beth had given me, I stopped outside the office.

The corridor was quiet. The window at the far end stood open, and the wind lifted one corner of the curtain. I spent a long time preparing myself—this was merely a business transaction. I would provide the goods, and he would pay. Neither of us would owe the other anything.

Just as I raised my hand to knock, the door opened.

A tall, handsome man stood before me.

I froze. His face was far too familiar, and I recognized him at once.

He was the man who had rescued me from White earlier today.

His tone was cold. “Are you looking for me?”

I swallowed.

Sunlight slanted through the window behind him and fell across his shoulder.

Were vampires so advanced these days that they could stand directly in sunlight?

I took a deep breath and summoned all my courage at once. Holding out the blood test report with both hands, I said, “Professor Raphael, these are my blood test results. If you need a donor, could you choose me?”