Blurb：
Elena won the World Philanthropic Billionaire Award, but her triumph was shadowed by regret. On live television, she called the one person she couldn’t forget—Ethan, her ex-husband. Unbeknownst to her, Ethan was fighting for his life, unable to afford a new artificial heart. When he asked for a loan of two hundred thousand, Elena coldly ended the call, declaring she had no regrets. Little did she know, years ago, Ethan had secretly given her his own heart to save her from severe heart disease. Now, with a new boyfriend Lucas by her side, Elena’s wealth contrasts sharply with Ethan’s desperate health struggles. As past and present collide, secrets unravel in this emotional tale of sacrifice, love, and redemption. Will Elena discover the truth behind Ethan’s heartlessness before it’s too late?
Content：
On the day Elena won the World Philanthropic Billionaire Award on television.
My doctor told me I was out of time because I couldn’t afford to replace my artificial heart.
On the screen, the host asked Elena to call the person she regretted losing most.
Without hesitation, she dialed my number.
I answered, listening as Elena asked:
“Back when you left me for money, did you ever regret it?”
Looking at the staggering bill for my heart replacement, I chuckled softly:
“Elena, since you’re so wealthy now, could you lend me two hundred thousand?”
The call ended abruptly. On TV, her face was cold as she stated,
“Now there are no more regrets.”
She never knew—back when her heart was failing,
It was me who secretly gave her my own heart.
Right after the broadcast, I immediately received a transfer of two hundred thousand from Elena.
I froze for a moment, feelings complicated.
After using the money to pay the medical bills, I suddenly heard a familiar voice outside my hospital room.
Peering through the door crack, I saw Elena.
Seven years had past, while she was still as radiant and beautiful as ever.
The only thing that had changed was the person by her side—it wasn’t me anymore.
The awards ceremony had just ended. She hadn’t even changed out of her gown before rushing to the hospital.
All because her new boyfriend, Lucas, had a slight stomachache.
Watching her tenderly cradle his head against her shoulder,
I lowered my head, wanting to pretend I hadn’t seen anything and shut the door unnoticed.
Elena pulled the door open forcefully.
Startled, I looked up and met her eyes.
Her gaze was icy as it swept over me.
“It’s been years. Not even going to say hello?”
Looking at her, I parted my lips slightly. Thousands of words swirled inside, but all that came out was:
“Elena, could you lend me another three hundred thousand?”
Elena paused, her cold eyes flickering with anger.
She grabbed my wrist:
“After seven years apart, is that all you have to say to me?!”
The dense needle marks on my wrist throbbed with a dull, persistent pain.
I took a deep breath and whispered:
“A wealthy woman like you—if I don’t ask for a loan, I’m afraid Mr. Lucas might get the wrong idea.”
Confusion flickered in her eyes, followed by something more complicated.
As she was about to speak, Lucas took her hand:
“Sweetheart, is this your ex-husband?”
Lucas looked at me with a tone of mock pity:
“What even cost three hundred thousand? Elena spent five hundred thousand on a suit for me just last week!”
“It’s a shame Mr. Ethan didn’t know how to cherish what he had. If you hadn’t been so heartlessly and abandoned Elena, I never would have met my soulmate”
I stayed silent, memories flooding back.
Elena and I met in college. We fell in love, building a life together for five years.
Back then, she wasn’t a billionaire tycoon.
And my body wasn’t this broken shell.
We were both orphans, poor students who had found the most important person in each other.
To build a small family of our own, we worked tirelessly.
Just as our careers were taking off, Elena was diagnosed with severe heart disease.
Treatment and transplant surgery required a fortune.
We drained all the savings we had set aside for our startup.
To cover medical expenses, I worked on multiple jobs, ate only one meal a day, and counted every penny.
I pushed myself to the brink for the paltry sums that bought her medicine. We even switched to the cheapest, generic drugs.
But a matching heart never seemed to arrive.
I watched her waste away,growing more desperate each day as she faded. When I was on the verge of utter despair, the doctors called me.
The match they had found… it was me.
The whirlwind of memories cut off abruptly.
Elena rose on her toes and kissed Lucas’ forehead, her eyes overflowing with tenderness:
“If it weren’t for his heartlessness, how would I have met my little angel like you?”
“And that wallet you liked? The one for thirty thousand? I’ll buy it for you when we get back. Next time pick something more expensive—your wife can afford it.”
Watching them, the pain from the needle marks on my wrist seemed to pierce straight into my heart, making it hard to breathe.
I pulled my hand free from Elena’s grip,
No longer willing to be their benchmark for true love.
As I turned to leave, Lucas subtly stuck his foot out and tripped me.
I stumbled and fell hard onto my knees, the medical reports scattering from my hand, landing at Elena’s feet.
“Oops! Ethan, you should be more careful!” he chirped.
Seeing me fall, Elena’s face tightened, and she instinctively reached out to help me.
Lucas pulled her hand back, exclaiming:
“What’s this?”
Elena’s attention was drawn to the reports on the floor.
She picked them up and skimmed through them quickly.
“Artificial heart replacement…”
A flash of anger crossed Elena’s face.
She threw the papers back in my face.
“Ethan, I never thought you’d sink this low, using such a pathetic trick to scam money!”
“You’re exactly the same as you were seven years ago. It was always about the money, wasn’t it? It’s all you ever cared about!”
I stood up, looking at Elena’s healthy, vibrant body.
A faint smile touched my lips as I quietly gathered the reports.
“Since you know how much I love money, how about lending me a bit more?”
Lucas, masterfully playing his part, let a few tears fall as he clung to Elena’s arm,
But the look he shot me was full of scorn and malice.
“Sweetheart, maybe it’s true?”
“And… back then, it was because Ethan left you that you received a donated heart from a kind stranger!”
“Shouldn’t we help him?”
His words were a deliberate reminder of my “betrayal..
The anger and hesitation in Elena’s eyes instantly froze over.
“A charitable person’s heart can’t save someone without a conscience. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Elena turned to leave with Lucas. He continued his pleading act, but the smirk he threw over his shoulder was unmistakable—vicious and triumphant.
I picked up the medical reports now covered in Lucas’s footprints.
My mechanical heart suddenly shuddered in a way that felt unnatural.
My vision blurred, their figures fading into haze.
Much later, I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, looking at the words “Artificial Heart Replacement.”
My fingers brushed over the scar etched on my chest for seven years.
Elena still didn’t know.
The heart beating in her chest—was mine.
Seven years ago, because a matching heart couldn’t be found,
Elena grew weaker every day.
The technology for artificial hearts was still experimental then. Theoretically, it could sustain basic life functions.
But it came with too many risks.
After the match was confirmed, I gave my heart to her.
I replaced mine with an artificial heart that had a theoretical lifespan of seven years.
To save money, I chose the cheapest kind.
Since then, I’ve often felt stabbing pains in my chest.
Coughing up blood and sudden weakness became routine.
And because of the cost, the surgery to replace this failing mechanical part with a new one kept getting delayed.
Now, seven years have passed.
The artificial heart in my chest aches for the seventh time.
I know it’s living on borrow time.
…
After leaving the hospital, I returned to my rented apartment.
It was small, damp, unbearably cold in winter, and sweltering in summer. But it was cheap.
This was where Elena and I had lived, where we dreamed about our future together.
After learning my heart was a match for hers,
I pretended to be greedy and shallow. I presented her with divorce papers.
Elena and I had spent five years together.
Though all the hardship, I never once complained, never left her side.
She knew how deeply I loved her and refused to believe I would abandon her.
I also knew she loved me with all her heart.
If she knew the truth, she would never let me trade my life for hers.
To save her, I had to be cruel. I had to make her believe I was tired of it all.
Tired of staying by her side, waiting a future that seemed nothing but bleak.
Tired of a life that offered no hope.
Tired of the cheap medicine, the one meal a day, drinking cold water when I was thirsty, chewing on plain bread when I was hungry, pinching every penny until it screamed.
I told her I was done with all of it.
I still remember that day,
The strong, resilient girl who never feared hardship or pain, cried for the first time.
Tearfully, she signed the divorce papers.
I signed the organ donation agreement.
After the surgery, burdened with infamy, I left Elena completely.
I returned to the rented apartment where we had spent five years together.
Quietly waiting for the death I had embraced.
I just never thought I would see Elena again someday.
Now, she’s moved on, becoming the woman we both once dreamed she could be.
But I can never go back.
Watching her confident, successful image on the news, a bittersweet ache washes over me.
Yet, there’s also a thread of relief.
The ringtone on my phone interrupts my memories.
I answer—it’s the bank.
The bank informs me that the previous transfer of two hundred thousand was a mistake.
I need to return the money immediately, or face legal consequences.
Hanging up, I could only manage a wry, helpless smile.
After a moment of silence, I call my buddy, asking him to find me a job to repay the debt.
Elena hates me so much. If she knew I, the money-obsessed fool, struggle to pay her back in installments,
She’d gladly accept, and delight in watching me work myself to death.
Because of my heart condition, I often feel weak, unable to do many jobs.
I barely scrape by on occasional odd jobs.
My buddy, Chris, knows my physical condition and found me a job as a banquet server.
The work is relatively light, paying two hundred dollars a day.
As I dressed in the server’s uniform, wearing a mask, and serving drinks at the banquet,
I saw Elena again.
She stood there, draped in an elegant gown, her posture graceful and poised.
Lucas was in an expensive suit, standing tall beside her.
Arm in arm, they looked like a perfect power couple, the center of everyone’s attention.
After one glance, I immediately lowered my head.
Elena, holding a glass of wine, didn’t recognize me. As I turned to leave, Lucas suddenly spoke:
“Is this how you serve? Can’t you see you’ve spilled wine on my suit?!”
I stopped, noticing a wet patch on the corner of Lucas’s jacket.
I didn’t speak, just bent down to wipe the stain with a napkin.
Elena looked at me, and her brow furrowing slightly.
Malice flashed in Lucas’s eyes. He suddenly kicked me in the chest.
Excruciating pain shot through me. I fell to the ground, crying out involuntarily.
“Don’t touch me with your filthy hands! Security, throw him out!”
Lucas feigned anger, but the smugness on his face was unmistakable.
Even with only my eyes visible,
In that brief moment of eye contact, Elena recognized me.
Her lips trembled, a flicker of heartache in her eyes, quickly replaced by endless mockery.
She stopped the security guards, pulled off my mask.
“Ethan, isn’t it? Aren’t you going to say hello to your ex-wife?”
Lucas pretended to just recognize me, hurriedly helping me up.
“Ethan, is that you? You’re Elena’s ex-husband! How could you be working as a server here?”
The hall fell silent, as if someone had hit mute burron.
All eyes fixed on me.
Then, the whispers and sneers began, swelling into a chorus of open ridicule..
“I heard he left Elena for money when she was at her lowest…”
“Hah, serves the scumbag right.”
“Serves him right for abandoning her, ending up as a waiter.—what a joke!”
Someone threw a glass of red wine at my head.
Then, drinks came from all directions,
Glasses shattering one after another against my body.
Dark red wine mixed with red blood, pooling on the floor.
Clearly, these people currying favor with Elena wanted to vent their anger for her.
Blood streamed down my forehead, over my cheeks.
But I felt no pain, remaining silent.
Elena looked at me, her eyes cold and unwavering.
“Ethan, cat got your tongue? Or does talking to you cost money now?”
Elena sneered, and the crowd laughed mockingly.
“You came here as a server just to borrow money from me, right? Fine, I’ll indulge you!”
She signaled for several bottles of expensive red wine to be brought and opened.
“Drink all of these, and I’ll give you three hundred thousand.”
She threw the cash on the floor, staining it with the spilled wine.
Her expression was frozen in contempt.
Everyone in the room watched, a captivated audience for this spectacle of humiliation.
…
Since receiving the artificial heart,
My body has grown increasingly weak. I can’t lift anything heavy.
I can no longer run or jump; even walking a few extra steps leaves me breathless.
Alcohol, which ordinary people use to numb themselves,
Could cause my artificial heart to fail if I have even a little too much.
I looked up at her, forced a smile, and finally spoke:
“Does that mean the two hundred thousand… I don’t have to repay it either?”
She stared, taken aback. The icy fury in her eyes intensified, and I could hear the faint, tense grind of her teeth:
“Fine!”
With her answer, I smiled, then grabbed a bottle and started chugging.
My body was already failing. The doctor had warned me not to touch a drop of alcohol.
The burn filled my mouth. My body convulsed, gagging, fighting to reject it.
I forced it down, then reached for bottle after bottle.
Everyone watched with mocking laughter.
Only Elena’s expression grew darker and more somber.
After another bottle, as I reached for the next, Elena finally snapped and grabbed my wrist.
“Ethan, is your life really so worthless without money?!”
Meeting her bloodshot eyes, I nodded.
“You’re right. Without money, I will die.”
She shoved me away in fury.
“Good, then drink up! Drink until you’ve had your fill!”
My body felt like it was weighed down by stones.
The artificial heart in my chest seemed to have stopped beating.
I smiled, took a shallow breath, and reached for another bottle.
Elena couldn’t take it anymore. She snatched the bottle from my hand, the sound echoing as she let out a raw, guttural shout. :
“Enough!”
My body gave out. I collapsed to the floor.
Shards of glass pierced my skin, staining the floor crimson.
My buddy Chris heard the commotion and rushed over, horrified. He helped me up,
Yelling at Elena:
“He gave you his heart! He’s living with an artificial one! He can’t drink alcohol—it could kill him! Do you understand?!”
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