For $10k, I Ruined the Billionaire

"Does it hurt? Stop pretending, it's not like it's your first time." Adrian Hale vented his anger without a second thought. The pain radiating through my body told me the truth: somatic symptoms of anxiety. Afterward, same as always, Adrian tossed me ten thousand dollars. "Being in pain doesn't mean you get paid more," he said with contempt. "Ten thousand is already a fortune for someone like you." I had no energy to dwell on the humiliation. Through the pain, I begged him, "Please, it really hurts." Adrian gave a cold laugh. "I barely used any force. You're telling me it hurts that much?" Even so, he got up and grabbed his phone, calling a doctor to come to the house. After the painkiller injection, he waved me off impatiently. "You're not dying, so get up. Come with me. We're welcoming Chloe home. She's suffered enough over the years. You owe her an apology." He dragged me to a private room at Nocturne, where Chloe Price, my sister, the true heiress of the Price family of Westbridge, was already seated at the table. "Why did you bring her?" Chloe asked, her voice carrying a note of displeasure. Adrian's expression was unreadable as he gave a faint smile. "To apologize to you." He picked up a glass from the table and handed it to me. "Drink it. Then what you did to her is forgiven." I took the glass and drained it, only to break into an uncontrollable coughing fit. Adrian looked annoyed. "Getting a taste for the dramatics, are we?" he said. "You could cough yourself to death tonight, you're still drinking." He reached across the table and lined up a row of shots. "Finish all of these. Another ten thousand." The people around us knew he was in one of his moods and didn't dare make a sound. He never let go of that ten-thousand-dollar insult. The girlfriend he had loved with his whole life had saddled him with a public scandal, costing him any chance of uncovering the truth behind his father's death. By the time I finished the row of shots, my coughing had only gotten worse. "Get out of here," Adrian snapped. "And bring back five Trojans." Laughter rippled around the table. "Adrian's in rare form tonight, looks like no one's sleeping." A faint blush crossed Chloe's face. Outside, the cold air hit my lungs and I coughed up blood. The pain in my chest told me it wouldn't be long now. By the time I bought the condoms and made my way back to Nocturne, everyone had already left. Adrian had sent a hotel address to my phone; I was to deliver them there. The hotel was in a residential villa district, nearly impossible to get a cab to, so I walked. I followed the GPS with five boxes of Trojans in hand. Along the way, Adrian called twice to hurry me along, and I had to pick up the pace and cut through a side street. A drunk man stumbled out of the shadows and blocked my path. His eyes landed on the boxes in my hands, and he leered. "Well, well. Came prepared, didn't you?" My legs went weak with fear. I couldn't move. The cold air kept rushing into my lungs and I couldn't stop coughing, until I choked and spat blood onto the man's shirt. "Disgusting," he spat, backing away. "You'd better not have some filthy disease. Get the hell out of here!" I dragged my exhausted, aching body through the streets for what felt like forever before I finally arrived. When I knocked, Adrian opened the door, glanced at me, and took the bag from my hands. "Took you long enough," he said. "Where were you wandering off to this time?" I stepped inside and saw Chloe sitting on the sofa wrapped in a bath towel. The pain in my body left no room for embarrassment. I just wanted all of this to be over. I curled up on the couch in the suite's living room and lay there through the night, while Chloe's voice carried from the bedroom until dawn. The next morning, I was woken by a cup of hot water thrown in my face. "How did it sound, Natalie?" Chloe stood over me. "Listening from out here while Adrian was with me last night, what did that feel like? What's it like to have someone steal the person you love most?" I had no strength to answer. I just wanted to leave. When she got no reaction from me, Chloe slapped me across the face. "Playing dead won't save you," she snapped.