Chapter 41: Begging for Mercy

"Please... please let me go."

Olivia’s voice had been reduced to a hoarse whisper.

She was on her knees in the dirt, tears streaking through the makeup that had once been carefully applied. Her swollen face throbbed with every heartbeat, but the physical pain barely registered anymore.

"My little brother is still young," she pleaded. "My older brother is hardly ever home, and my mother is getting old. She needs me. Please, Jason... I’m begging you."

She looked up at him with desperate eyes, hoping her words would reach whatever compassion remained inside him.

They didn’t.

If anything, mentioning her family only made Jason’s expression grow colder.

Her words had dragged him straight back into the worst memories of his previous life.

His mother lying in a hospital bed.

The diagnosis.

The endless bills.

The terrifying realization that every treatment seemed to cost more than the family could possibly afford.

Their savings had disappeared almost overnight.

If it hadn’t been for Zara stepping in and lending him more than a hundred thousand dollars, he didn’t know how he and his mother would have survived.

And then there was the fifty thousand dollars.

His money.

Money he’d saved since childhood. Birthday cash he’d tucked away instead of spending. Wages from summer jobs. Every little amount he’d managed to put aside because he’d believed it would someday help him build a better life.

He had never imagined that the money would become the reason Olivia would abandon him.

He had only asked her to return it.

Fifty thousand.

That was all.

They had dated for barely three months. Jason had paid for nearly everything. They had held hands, gone out together, watched movies, eaten at restaurants.

That was it.

Yet when he’d asked for his money back, Olivia had looked him straight in the eyes and called it compensation for the three months of her youth he’d supposedly wasted.

He had spent weeks trying to reason with her.

Then months.

He’d begged.

He’d argued.

He’d swallowed his pride and asked again and again.

Every time, she had thrown the same cruel words back at him.

A woman’s youth is worth more than a man’s.

A man with money can always find another young woman.

Fifty thousand is nothing compared to what I sacrificed.

And then came the words he could never forget.

So what if your mother is sick? What does that have to do with me?

She’s not my mother.

If you’re lying, I hope it’s true.

And if it’s true... I hope she rests in peace.

The memories came one after another, sharp and merciless.

Jason’s jaw tightened.

His hands curled slowly into fists.

Olivia noticed the change in his expression.

Before she could say another word—

Smack!

The slap cracked through the quiet garden.

Olivia’s head snapped sideways.

A metallic taste filled her mouth, and she stared blankly at the ground for several seconds before realizing that one of her teeth had come loose.

She touched her lips with trembling fingers.

Blood stained them.

"Jason..."

Her voice broke.

She covered her face with both hands and curled inward, her shoulders shaking violently.

Jason stared down at her.

There was no sympathy in his eyes.

No hesitation.

"You keep talking about your mother," he said quietly.

He crouched in front of her.

"But you’re not the only person in the world who has a mother."

Olivia’s tears flowed harder.

"I know... I know I was wrong."

Jason’s expression hardened.

"Save it."

She flinched.

He stood again, looking down at her.

"You wanted those photographs, didn’t you?"

Olivia froze.

For the first time since he’d confronted her, something resembling hope appeared in her eyes.

She nodded frantically.

"Yes."

Her voice trembled.

"Yes, Jason. Please. Give them to me."

She swallowed hard.

"I’ll do anything."

Anything.

The words hung between them.

Olivia knew exactly what those photographs represented.

Her reputation.

Her education.

Her future.

Everything she’d spent years building could disappear overnight.

If they reached the wrong people, she could lose everything.

Jason watched the desperation slowly consume her.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Then crawl."

Olivia stared at him.

For a moment, she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

"What?"

"On your knees."

His voice remained calm.

"Crawl over here."

Her pride screamed at her to refuse.

Every instinct told her to stand up, turn around, and leave.

But then she pictured those photographs spreading across the internet.

Her classmates whispering.

Her professors looking at her differently.

Her carefully constructed future collapsing.

Her family learning what she’d done.

She lowered her eyes.

Slowly, painfully, Olivia dropped onto her knees.

Then she began to crawl.

Her palms pressed into the rough ground.

Her knees scraped against the dirt.

Every movement felt humiliating.

But she kept going.

She couldn’t stop.

Not now.

Jason watched her approach without moving.

When she finally reached him, he looked down at her and gave a quiet laugh.

"You really do look like a dog."

Olivia’s face burned with humiliation.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to attack him.

She wanted to disappear.

Instead, she remained on the ground.

Jason pulled out his phone.

He raised it.

Click.

Olivia’s eyes widened.

"What are you doing?"

"Keeping a memory."

He glanced at the screen and smiled faintly.

"Perfect."

He lowered the phone and held one of the photographs against her swollen cheek.

"If you want these back," he said, "there’s one condition."

Olivia stared at him.

"What?"

"My fifty thousand."

Her expression changed immediately.

The money.

Of course.

Jason wasn’t going to let her escape that easily.

"I’ll get it," she whispered.

She scrambled to her feet, wincing as pain shot through her body.

"I’ll go to the bank right now."

Jason checked his watch.

"You have ten minutes."

Olivia’s heart jumped.

Ten minutes.

She couldn’t waste a second.

She turned and hurried toward the dormitory.

Every step hurt, but fear pushed her forward.

When she reached the building, she nearly collided with Ivy, who was standing near the entrance.

Ivy stared at her in shock.

"Olivia? What happened to you?"

Olivia ignored her.

"Move."

She hurried upstairs, grabbed her bank card, and rushed back outside before Ivy could ask another question.

The bank was only a short walk from the university.

Normally, Olivia would have driven.

Today, she couldn’t afford the delay.

She crossed the street almost blindly and rushed inside.

The lobby was crowded.

People stood in line. Tellers moved between counters. Conversations blended into a constant murmur.

Olivia went straight to the nearest ATM.

Her fingers trembled as she inserted her card.

She entered her PIN.

Wrong.

She tried again.

Wrong.

"Come on..."

Sweat gathered along her hairline.

She entered it a third time.

This time, the machine accepted it.

"Are you planning to spend all day there?"

An elderly woman waiting behind her clicked her tongue impatiently.

Olivia spun around.

"Can you shut up?"

The woman’s face hardened.

"Young people these days have no manners."

Olivia glared at her.

"Then stop breathing down my neck."

The woman muttered something under her breath.

Olivia turned back to the screen.

Her hands were shaking so badly she nearly dropped the card.

Finally, the machine dispensed the cash.

She grabbed it immediately, shoved the bills into a plastic bag, and held it tightly against her chest.

Fifty thousand.

Her last bargaining chip.

Her ticket back to safety.

She hurried out of the bank and raced back toward the university.

By the time she reached the garden, she was breathing hard.

Jason was still there.

Exactly where she’d left him.

Olivia stumbled toward him and thrust the money into his hands.

"Here."

She was almost crying again.

"I returned every penny."

She stared desperately at him.

"Please, Jason."

Her voice cracked.

"Give me the photographs."