My Dad’s Terminally Ill Girlfriend Pretended to Be Poor, Then Bought Her Male Best Friend a Luxury Watch—Now She Regrets Losing Me

“Chloe, my dad is in the hospital waiting for a kidney so he can have surgery. We need $200,000! There are three million dollars in my salary account. Could you give me $200,000 first?” I looked at Chloe Hart’s impatient expression and humbled myself as much as I could. I said everything I could to persuade her, but she only frowned in disgust. “Ethan Parker, can you stop putting on an act? Jason was right. You’re just too stingy to part with your money, and you’re always guarding against me because you’re afraid I’ll swallow up your savings!” “My father is the chairman of a billion-dollar company. Do you really think I care about your three million dollars? I was only testing how sincere you are about me, but you’ve disappointed me!” When she pushed past me to leave, I hurriedly blocked her path. My father had waited years for a suitable kidney. The doctor had said that if he missed this chance, his condition would rapidly deteriorate, and he might not survive. “Chloe, I really wasn’t lying! I’ve been with you for seven years. When have I ever asked you for money? Haven’t I always paid for everything between us? If my dad didn’t need this life-saving money, I would never have asked you for anything!” The moment she heard that, Chloe’s expression turned cold. “What’s that supposed to mean? Do you think being with me has been a burden? Ethan, if you care so much about that filthy money, then let’s break up!” When Jason Reed heard the words “break up,” a glimmer flashed through his eyes. He tugged at Chloe’s sleeve and pretended to persuade her. “Don’t you give him two hundred dollars in spending money every month? Maybe Ethan thinks that isn’t enough, so he came up with an excuse to ask you for more. You should try to understand him. He came from a poor family, so it’s normal for him to care about money.” Seeing Jason trying to drive a wedge between us, anger flared in my chest. Ever since I started dating Chloe, I had handed my salary card over to her. I earned more than fifty thousand dollars a month, yet she gave me only two hundred dollars in pocket money. She claimed she was afraid that if I had money, I would go out and cheat on her. With that little money, I had to cover my own expenses and care for my father, who had been hospitalized for years. I was constantly struggling to get by. So even though I earned a high salary at the company, my food, clothing, housing, and transportation were worse than those of the cleaning staff. Whenever Chloe saw me wearing clothes I had bought online for less than ten dollars, she only thought I looked shabby and embarrassing. But every time I asked for a little more money, Chloe’s expression turned cold, and she accused me of not trusting her. “Ethan, I planned to marry you. But you know my family is afraid you’re only after our money, so they made you sign a prenuptial agreement.” Sure enough, after hearing this, Chloe’s expression became even uglier. She pulled several bills from her purse and viciously slapped them across my face. “How did I never realize what a money-grubbing person you are? Is this enough?” The red bills scattered across the floor, and Chloe’s high heel stepped right over them. Jason wrapped an arm around her waist, soothing her while throwing me a taunting glance. Strangers passing by pointed and whispered. I looked at the money on the ground and thought of my father waiting in the hospital for life-saving treatment, so I gritted my teeth and picked up the bills one by one. But how could this amount possibly be enough? I went home and gathered every valuable thing I owned, listing everything on a secondhand website at the lowest possible prices. I would take whatever money I could get. But it still wasn’t enough! After thinking it over, I took out the last thing I had hidden away. It was a Royal Oak watch Chloe had given me shortly after we started dating. I had secretly looked it up back then and found out it cost more than $200,000, which scared me so much that I didn’t dare accept it. But Chloe had said that no amount of money spent on me was too much and insisted that I put it on. It was the only gift she had given me in our seven years together. Looking at the watch I had worn only a handful of times, I felt a sharp ache in my heart and couldn’t bring myself to sell it. In the end, I swallowed my pride and messaged Chloe, hoping she could lend me $200,000. I told her I could write an IOU. But she didn’t reply for several days, and when I called her, I discovered that she had blocked me. The red exclamation mark on my screen seemed to mock me for my one-sided affection. I was hesitating over whether to look for her again when Jason sent me a video. “Chloe, isn’t this too expensive for a birthday gift?” In the video, Jason stared at the watch in his hands, clearly delighted, while pretending to refuse it. Chloe held onto his arm and said coquettishly, “It’s only a little over three hundred thousand dollars. I checked, and there’s more than enough money in Ethan’s salary account. If you like it, you can buy two watches. Pick whichever ones you want!” How ridiculous! When I asked her for a few hundred dollars, she interrogated me as if I were a criminal. Yet she could turn around and use my money to buy another man an expensive watch. I completely gave up on asking Chloe for money and took the luxury watch to a secondhand market. Once I sold it, I would consider my seven-year relationship with her officially over. All I wanted was to save my father’s life. I didn’t want anything else. I couldn’t afford Chloe’s love! In the VIP room, the sales associate carefully examined the Royal Oak in my hand and checked its serial number. Then she looked up and sized me up, a trace of disdain in her eyes. “Sir, this watch is counterfeit.”Hearing the sales associate’s words, I stood frozen in place. It took me a full three minutes to understand what she had said. “That’s impossible! Please check again. Could the age of the watch have caused you to make a mistake?” Chloe was the heiress of a wealthy family. How could she possibly have given me a fake? A false smile appeared on the sales associate’s face as she returned the watch to me. “If you don’t trust the appraisal, you can take it to a professional authentication agency. The craftsmanship on this counterfeit is very crude. It’s worth no more than two hundred dollars on the market.” A chill spread through me. My hands trembled as I took the watch back. The scene from the day Chloe gave it to me came rushing back with perfect clarity. She had told me the watch was extremely valuable and needed to be carefully maintained, so I shouldn’t wear it outside casually. I had treasured it and naturally agreed, hardly ever daring to wear it out. Now that I thought about it, she must have been afraid that someone would discover the watch was fake if I wore it in public. This watch was just like her feelings for me. It was all a fantasy born from my own wishful thinking. I sat on the steps and threw the watch hard into a trash can. My phone rang. It was the hospital. “Mr. Parker, the kidney matched to your father has been purchased by someone else. The patient also passed away from complications just moments ago.” Those few words rolled through my mind like thunder, mocking me for being an unfilial son. If I had never met Chloe, if I hadn’t devoted myself to her so foolishly, I wouldn’t have been unable to come up with even the $200,000 my father needed for treatment. “I’m sorry, Dad…” When I saw my father lying in the hospital bed, his breathing gone, I could barely remain standing. I hadn’t even managed to see him one last time. I numbly handled my father’s funeral arrangements and couldn’t even be bothered to go to work. Chloe seemed to finally remember me and called. “Ethan, where the hell have you been? Are you seriously quitting? You’re throwing a tantrum over a little money?” “Yes, I signed a prenuptial agreement with you, but that doesn’t mean I have to marry you! If you keep making trouble, we’ll break up right now!” I stared at the urn in front of me, my heart already dead. “There’s no need. I won’t ask you for money again. My father is gone. I’ll never need it for him again.” Chloe was stunned for a moment before letting out a cold laugh. “Ethan, you’ve really opened my eyes. You’re so desperate for money that you’re cursing your own father to die early!” “If you’re unwilling to come to the company, then you can give up your position as general manager too. Let Jason have it!” I felt nothing. “Fine. Didn’t you want Jason to replace me all along? Now you can have it your way.” Chloe laughed angrily. “Fine. Remember, you’re the one who resigned voluntarily. Don’t come asking me for severance pay!” I gave a mocking laugh. Even when I was leaving her, the only thing she cared about was money. “I don’t want any money. And while we’re at it, let’s officially break up.” “Break up?” Chloe’s voice rose sharply. “You want to break up with me over something this trivial? Ethan, I’ve told you hundreds of times. Jason is only my best friend. Why do you always target him?” Her male best friend? Even though I had already lost all hope in Chloe, I still couldn’t stop the anger from rising inside me when I heard that. During our seven years together, Jason had always hovered around Chloe like a ghost that refused to leave. He even followed us on every single date, claiming he was only there to look out for Chloe. Whenever I complained, Chloe always grew impatient. “He’s my best friend. I think of him as a girl. Can you stop being so disgusting? If there were anything between us, it would have happened long ago. You wouldn’t even have a chance with me!” Because Chloe indulged him, Jason became bolder and more shameless. He even intertwined his fingers with hers right in front of me, and the two of them wore matching couple outfits every day under the excuse that they were best-friend outfits. Even when outsiders mistook them for a couple, Chloe never explained. Instead, she seemed delighted that people saw them that way. They did everything couples did under the name of friendship, then turned around and accused me of having a filthy mind. “Chloe, don’t you always say that where the money goes, the love goes too? Who have you spent more money on, Jason or me?” As soon as I said that, Chloe was rendered speechless. She had always used that argument to force me to hand over all my money. Humiliated and furious, Chloe said coldly, “Are you trying to settle accounts with me now? Don’t forget that our prenuptial agreement says the money in your salary account was a voluntary gift. Even if we break up, don’t expect to get it back!” I said calmly, “Take all of it. Buy Jason as many luxury watches as you want. I won’t ask a single question.” Perhaps because my tone was completely different from before, Chloe began to panic. “Ethan, is there some kind of misunderstanding? I’ll come find you right now. Just listen to me…” I couldn’t be bothered to hear another word and hung up. Not long after I submitted my resignation, a headhunting firm called me several times. “Mr. Parker, I heard you’ve left your previous company. Would you be interested in joining us? The salary we’re offering is far higher than what you were making before!”