Maxed-Out Love: She Left Me to Die

My CEO girlfriend, Stella Nielson, wants to groom me into the most loyal and perfect boyfriend for her. So, she freezes my bank accounts, and I'm forced to report all of my expenses to her. I comply because I love her. I ruin my health for the sake of her career development, and now, I have to rely on expensive medications to even stay alive. My doctor says that my condition has severely deteriorated, and I require immediate treatment. But when I can't even scrape together 15,000 dollars for the surgery and call Stella asking for a loan from her, she mocks me instead. "Seriously? A grown man like you, asking me for money? Have you no shame, Noah Mendoza? I'm having cash flow problems at the company right now. I don't have any money to lend to you." She tells me not to be unreasonable, but she goes ahead and celebrates her childhood sweetheart, Damon Hayes' birthday on social media in an ostentatious manner. She even purchases a 50-million-dollar villa for him and books a lavish cruise party for the entire night. This time, I don't beg her for the money anymore. Instead, I decide to just disappear from her life. Chapter 1 It was about 1:00 am by the time my girlfriend, Stella Nielson, finally walked in through the front door. I could literally smell alcohol on her the moment she stepped into the apartment. She seemed to have had a lot of fun earlier. Her eyes curved upward in a pleased grin that made her usual cold and aloof demeanor soften a little. However, the moment she caught sight of me, the grin on her face dimmed. She then thrust a paper bag in my face. "These are your meds for the month." I glanced briefly at the bag and didn't take it from her. My passive attitude immediately made a dissatisfied frown appear on her face. She spoke to me in a low voice, sounding weary and impatient. "Can you stop acting like this, Noah Mendoza? You're a man. You shouldn't resort to giving me the silent treatment even if you're being sulky with me like this. "It's all because of Damon, isn't it? It's his birthday today, and I grew up with him. What's wrong with throwing a birthday party for him? Can't you just be a little more understanding?" I opened the paper bag and calmly responded to her interrogating tone. "I've always been very understanding of you. You don't have to lose your temper with me like this." After taking a closer look at the medication in the bag, my fingers stiffened. They were all different from my usual targeted medication. "Your previous meds are too expensive, and it's not like they're effective anyway. So, I changed to another type for you." I hadn't even asked her about them, and she was already explaining things to me in a very indifferent manner. She sat down next to me and gently hooked my wrist. "You can't blame me for being a little rough with you. 15,000 dollars is not a small amount of money. But since you're not working or bringing in any income, it's no wonder that you have no idea just how hard it is to make 15,000 dollars nowadays." The corners of my lips tugged upward after listening to her ridiculous explanation. "Isn't this just loose change compared to the 50-million-dollar villa you purchased?" Stella's face darkened the moment the words were out of my mouth. She looked like she wanted to say something, but her phone rang just then, breaking the tension between us. I didn't even have to guess to know that it was a phone call from Damon Hayes, her childhood best friend. "Hey, Stella! Thanks so much for throwing the party for me today. I felt really happy. Let's meet up again sometime!" Damon's voice was light and breezy, and it even sounded a little flirty. They seemed more like a flirting couple while I was just the third wheel in their budding relationship. I shook Stella's hand off my wrist and took the medication, preparing to retire to my room. However, she called out behind me and stopped me. She covered the phone speaker with her hand as though she was worried that Damon would overhear and misunderstand us. "Mom and Dad told us to go back for a family dinner in a few days. Just assume that I was in the wrong for whatever happened today. I'm sorry. "You should also stop getting jealous for no reason. I swear that Damon and I are nothing but friends." I simply acknowledged with a hum and closed the door behind me, cutting off Stella's inquisitive gaze. The moment the door clicked shut, I slid to the floor, paralyzed from the extreme pain spreading from my heart to the rest of my body. Chapter 2 Ever since ruining my health, I had to rely on specific targeted medication every day to stay alive. The medication was incredibly expensive. However, stopping the medication would be akin to giving up on my life. I recalled the past when Stella first learned about my condition. She'd reacted as though the sky had fallen as she knelt before the doctor, begging him to save my life. The moment she learned about the existence of the targeted medication for my treatment, she said, "Noah, I swear to God that I will never give up on you! We'll continue with your treatment no matter how expensive it gets!" But now, the cheap medicine box lay before me in the bag like a joke. I inhaled deeply and swallowed the metallic taste of blood welling in my throat. Then, I grabbed my phone and sent my doctor a text message. "I've decided to give up on my treatment, Dr. Peterson." … Stella seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth for the following week. I also stopped staring at her text messaging window like I always used to, waiting for her replies that never came. I was quite content with the peace and quiet I had at home without her around. Some days later, she seemed to have finally remembered about my existence and came home to bring me over to her parents' for the family dinner. "Can't you put in some effort to perk up and make yourself look more spirited? What's with you always looking so sickly like this? You look like bad luck." She wouldn't stop nagging at me while tugging at my necktie in a dissatisfied manner. This was the first time that I'd found her nagging actually annoying and ear-piercing. I shoved her hand away as she tried to redo my necktie and caught sight of the shocked look in her eyes. "Well then, that's on the person who thinks I'm bad luck," I said rather self-deprecatingly before stepping aside. I walked into her parents' apartment building first, with her coming in after me much later. Her footsteps were hurried as she kept her eyes trained on me. "You're still mad, aren't you? I'd already given you a whole week to cool off, and you're still holding a grudge against me? Must you force me to apologize in your face before you're finally happy with it?" I sighed softly and felt my heart hurting, quite literally. "I'm not mad." Stella looked at me doubtfully. However, her attention was diverted very soon. She'd told me that it was a family dinner, but I didn't know why Damon ended up being there as well. He was getting along with Stella's parents like a house on fire. Yet, the moment they saw that I'd arrived, the warmth died down, and the atmosphere turned awkward. Stella seemed to forget about everything unpleasant as soon as she saw Damon. She went over and sat down right next to him at the table without a second thought. I hesitated for a second before taking the seat the farthest away from her. "Since everyone's here, we're going to be frank about things right now," Stella's parents, Perry Nielson and Kate White, said, before turning to look at me. "Stella, we'll set the date for your engagement to Damon for the 15th of this month." My hands froze mid-air as I was reaching for the table salt. Then, I looked up and met Stella's eyes straight-on. She averted her eyes in guilt and lowered her head without another word. "Noah, I know that you've been good to my daughter over the years, but your illness won't be getting any better, and you're only going to be a burden to Stella. "If you really loved her, you should leave on your own. Stella doesn't have the time and energy to be taking care of you all the time!" I knew what Perry and Kate would be telling me before I came here. They had always looked down on me. However, they finally agreed to let Stella and me date until today because she was head-over-heels in love with me. I tried proving my love to Stella by using all of my connections to set her up with clients and suppliers, bringing her to drinking parties and such for her to network with the people there. However, that also meant that I was constantly drinking on her behalf, which took a toll on my health. I nearly gave up my life helping Stella get to where she was today, being the CEO of her own company. Yet, I didn't ask for a single share from her. My only request was that she marry me in the end. However, ever since my health began to fail, the topic of our marriage kept being put off and delayed. At first, it was Perry and Kate who opposed the idea of it. Then, Stella also kept coming up with excuses to postpone the discussion. Ultimately, they just thought that I was a burden to them. Chapter 3 Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Stella had been wearing a ring on her right hand for a while, and it was a couple pair with the one on Damon's hand. I smiled bitterly, feeling the last of my hopes completely dashed to pieces. So, as it turned out, I was the only one kept in the dark about this. "Sounds good." I stood up amidst everyone's surprised expressions. I wasn't welcome in this place anymore, and I wasn't shameless enough to continue staying here anyway. However, just as I was about to walk out of the main door, Stella suddenly called out to me from the back. "Noah Mendoza!" I didn't stop walking. She continued chasing after me. She caught up to me and grabbed me by my sleeve, panting loudly as she looked at me with a dissatisfied look in her eyes. "Why are you running away? Don't take what my parents just said to heart. Damon and I just have a really close relationship because we grew up together. Don't take it too seriously. "That part about marrying him was also just a spur-of-the-moment thing that my parents decided by themselves. I haven't agreed to it yet. "But you know, Mom and Dad are right. Your illness is really—" She continued explaining herself to me frantically, but I cut her off at the end. "You can't say that you don't know why I turned out like this, Stella Nielson." Her face turned pale as she stopped short, stunned by my words. I looked straight into her eyes. If she really cared about me, she would have immediately defended me the moment her parents brought up the topic of marriage at the dinner table earlier. But instead, she just came out after me after the whole ordeal to give me weak excuses like this. I suddenly chuckled out loud and said coldly, "Damon is very young and bubbly. He's your type, isn't he?" I recalled the time when Stella and I first met each other. She was the one who fell for me at first sight. She was also the one who kept pursuing me and telling me that she loved me. She also said that she would never let me die before she did. I shook off Stella's hold on my sleeve and got into a cab. Then, I watched her from the rearview mirror, noticing that she was still standing there completely stunned instead of leaving. I shut the curtains in the backseat of the car and felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. It was a text message from Damon. "Don't you think that women prefer bright and bubbly people, Noah? If you'd just look at yourself in the mirror, you'd understand why Stella won't even bother looking at you anymore." I pressed my lips in a thin line and deleted his text message before blocking him. When the phone screen went out, I caught sight of my current appearance in the reflection. My cheekbones were protruding, my eyes were sunken, and I literally looked like I was about to die. I sighed and asked the cab driver to drop me off at the hospital instead. My attending doctor, Dr. Carl Peterson, was happy to see me there. He immediately dragged me to a full-body checkup. However, the outcome still wasn't optimistic. "You'd have had a 50% chance of survival if you went through with the surgery the last time. But now, after the delay, it's a little…" He paused mid-sentence and looked at me with a complex expression on his face. "If you want to live, you really need surgery now. We can't afford to delay it any longer." I looked at the hospital bill and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Will there be a 100% chance of survival if I had the surgery?" Dr. Peterson hesitated. He didn't look like he was able to guarantee it. I then handed him the medication that Stella had bought for me. "Do these meds work?" He just glanced at the boxes for a while before frowning hard and chiding me in an urgent tone. "Are you crazy? There's no alternative medication for your illness! You can't just take random medication like this! Are you trying to shorten your own lifespan or something?" I was extremely calm as he got frantic with me, putting the medicine away and speaking in a low voice. "I don't have any money, Dr. Peterson. I can't even afford the 15,000 dollars needed for the surgery. So, we can just forget about the treatment." Chapter 4 "Isn't your girlfriend some sort of CEO?" Dr. Peterson asked. "She used to accompany you here all the time. Why wouldn't you have the money to afford the surgery? You've already been on targeted therapy for such a long time. How could you just say that you're giving up now?" His eyes were round as he stared at me incredulously. After all, Stella always came with me to the hospital for my appointments last time, and he knew who she was. Yet, when he realized that I was firm about my decision, he sighed in defeat and looked at me with pity. After leaving his clinic, I was about to leave through the hospital main entrance when someone suddenly called out after me. I turned and saw a young woman walking up to me. She looked rather familiar. I racked my brains for a name to match her face and finally recalled that she was my college junior, Audrey Carter. If I recalled correctly, Audrey had studied abroad for several years in the medical research field. She had also kept in touch with me now and then over the past few years, trying to persuade me to get my illness treated abroad. I just never thought that she would end up coming back here. "Noah? I've taken a look at your medical report. Are you still not planning to accept my invitation?" she asked. "If you're worried about the medical expenses, you can just leave it to me. I'll take care of it somehow!" She looked a lot more anxious about my illness than I was. Previously, she'd told me that the drug she was currently researching seemed very suitable for my condition. Once it was successfully developed, my chances of recovery would increase greatly. I'd rejected her invitation very decisively in the past. After all, Stella had only just taken the CEO position at her company at that time, and I didn't think that she could handle all of the company matters on her own just yet. But it was evident now that she didn't need me anymore. I looked up at Audrey and nodded, accepting her invitation without any hesitation. "Alright. Then, let's go now." Audrey didn't seem prepared for my answer. In fact, she was probably getting ready for me to reject her instead because she was so stunned at my response that she just stood there for a few seconds, staring at me in disbelief. I didn't bother explaining much to her and just went back home to grab my things and pack up my suitcase. There weren't many of my belongings at the apartment anyway, aside from my medication and some empty syringes. While taking my clothes out, a yellowed envelope fluttered down to the floor from the corner of the wardrobe. Stella's writing was on it. "I don't know when you're going to read this, Noah, so just take it as a surprise. Don't worry, I know that you're going to recover completely! "I purposely got this emerald amulet for you because I heard that it will help restore your health and bring you peace. But I know that you'd have already recovered completely by the time you read this letter! And when that time comes, I will marry you." A small green amulet then fell out of the envelope. I stood rooted to the ground for a long time, keeping my head lowered as I read the words on the letter. I stayed there for such a long time that the tears streaming down my face wetted the letter paper completely. Stella had always liked hiding little surprises for me here and there and waiting for me to discover them myself. But now, I still hadn't recovered as she had hoped in the letter; in fact, my health was rapidly deteriorating. Meanwhile, she'd also gone back on her promise and wasn't marrying me after all. I haphazardly wiped off the tears from my face and left the letter and the amulet behind. I also left behind the proposal ring I'd prepared a long time ago and the many photos we'd taken together over the years. I wasn't bringing with me anything that didn't belong to me. It wasn't until the entire apartment was finally clear of my belongings that I finally nodded my head in satisfaction. Whatever happened in the past wasn't important anymore. … On the way to the airport, Audrey turned to me with a confused look on her face. "Aren't you going to tell Stella about this?" I instinctively pursed my lips when I heard her mention Stella's name. I guessed that Stella was having fun with Damon elsewhere without me at the moment. "There's no need," I replied. "Whatever happens to me in the future doesn't have anything to do with her anymore. It doesn't matter if I'm dead or alive." The plane soared to the skies, and the city I desperately tried establishing myself in gradually receded from sight. Suddenly, I was bombarded with text messages from Stella.