The Billionaire's Last Coin

POV: Elias I sat on a cold, hard chair in the hospital. My expensive suit was torn. It had dirt and dried blood on it. I looked at my hands. They were shaking. Just yesterday, these hands signed papers to buy big companies. These hands held the keys to fast cars and private planes. People called me a billionaire. I was a King in a world of gold. But right now, I felt like the poorest man on earth. ​I closed my eyes and I could still hear the screaming. I could still smell the smoke. ​It started so well. We were flying home from a beautiful vacation. My wife, Sarah, was sitting across from me. She was wearing a white dress that looked like a cloud. Our daughter, Bella, was playing with a small doll. She was only seven years old. She was laughing. ​"Elias," Sarah said, touching my arm. "Put the phone away. You have enough money. Just look at your daughter." ​I smiled and put my phone in my pocket. I looked at Bella. She was my heart. I thought I was the most powerful man because I could buy her anything. I bought her a diamond necklace. I bought her a playhouse that looked like a castle. I thought my money could keep them safe forever. ​Then, the plane made a loud bang. ​The floor tilted. The sky outside the window turned black. Sarah grabbed Bella and pulled her close. I tried to reach for them, but the wind was too strong. The plane was falling. It was falling so fast. ​"I love you!" I shouted. But the sound of the engines drowning out my voice. Then, everything went dark. ​When I woke up, the world was on fire. I was lying in the grass. My head was bleeding. I crawled to the broken pieces of the plane. I found Sarah first. Her eyes were open, but she wasn't moving. I touched her face. It was cold. ​"Sarah? Please wake up," I whispered. But she didn't move. She was gone. The woman I loved was gone. ​Then I heard a tiny cry. "Daddy! It hurts!" ​It was Bella. She was trapped under a heavy seat. I pulled her out with all my strength. Her legs were broken, and she had blood on her face. I carried her in my arms. I ran until I saw the ambulance lights. ​Now, I was here. In the hospital. A doctor in green clothes walked up to me. ​"Mr. Elias," the doctor said. "Your daughter is dying. She is bleeding inside her head. We need to do a very big surgery. But we need special doctors from another country. We need very expensive medicine." ​"How much?" I asked. I didn't care about the price. ​"It will cost billions," the doctor said. "And even then, it is a 50/50 chance. She might live, or she might die." ​I pulled out my phone. I called my assistant. ​"Sell everything," I told him. "Sell the big buildings in the city. Sell the mansion with the swimming pool. Sell the private jets and the gold cars. I want every kobo in the hospital’s bank account in ten minutes." ​"But sir!" my assistant cried. "If you do that, you will have nothing! You will have to sleep on the street! You worked twenty years for this money!" ​"I don't care about the money!" I screamed into the phone. "Money cannot call me 'Daddy.' Money cannot hold my hand. I would rather be a beggar with a daughter than a billionaire with a grave." ​I signed the papers. I watched the bank alerts on my phone. Mansion sold. Company sold. Cars sold. ​Then the final message came: Account Balance: 0.00. ​I looked at the doctor. "The money is there. Take her. Save her." ​They wheeled Bella into the surgery room. I stood by the door and watched her go. I reached into my pocket and found it was empty. I didn't even have money to buy a bottle of water. I was a man who used to own the city, but now I had to sit on the floor because I didn't even own a chair. ​I leaned my head against the wall. I was hungry. I was tired. I was broke. But as I watched the red light above the surgery door, I knew I made the right choice. I traded a kingdom of stone for a chance to see my daughter smile one more time. ​I sat in the dark, waiting. I wasn't a King anymore. I was just a father. And that was enough.