He Made Me Fight His Champion Best Friend, Then Begged Me to Come Home Chapter 01

He Made Me Fight His Champion Best Friend, Then Begged Me to Come Home Chapter 01

At the engagement party, my fiancé asked me to step into the ring with his boxing-champion best friend.

“You’re always strapped for cash, aren’t you?” Nathaniel Whitmore said casually. “Go one round with Sierra, and she’ll give you a million dollars as a wedding gift.”

“You love money that much. I doubt you’d turn it down.”

My face turned pale as I looked at him in disbelief.

He knew I couldn’t beat Sierra Vance. He knew I had suffered a miscarriage not long ago.

On the day I lost our baby, he had waited outside the ER at Millbrook General for an entire day and night, begging for only one thing, that I would make it.

Had all of that just been an act?

Nathaniel hesitated, but only for a moment. He didn’t stop Sierra when she sneered, “Don’t act so innocent, Emily. You sold your engagement gift for money. So spare me the act.”

Nathan stared at me coldly, tapping his fingers absently.

“You were desperate enough to sell the ring I gave you. One fight gets you a million dollars. There’s no way you’d turn that down.”

Then he personally pushed me toward the center of the crowd.

His expression remained detached.

My hand instinctively went to my lower abdomen.

A bitter smile touched my lips.

“Fine, if that’s what you want.”

“But a million isn’t enough. I need you to help me buy something for Grandma

Before I could finish, Sierra’s fist caught me on the temple.

The rest of my words died in my throat.

The metallic taste of blood spread through my mouth.

I collapsed onto the floor. My vision doubled, and through the blur I saw Nathan rushing toward me with his hand outstretched.

“Emily! Are you okay?” Panic flashed across his face.

But there was only one thing on my mind. “The money… A million…”

His grip tightened around my wrist hard enough to leave red marks.

“Emily, have you lost your mind? Is money really worth your life?”

Sierra laughed and blinked innocently.

“Oh, please. If I’d actually hit her seriously, she’d already be unconscious.”

Leaning against Nathan, she smiled as if the whole thing were a joke.

Pain robbed me of speech. I could only keep reaching toward her.

When I saw her pull out the prepaid debit card she had promised me, I forced myself to move.

Ignoring the throbbing agony in my head, I stretched out my hand to take it.

Suddenly, Sierra screamed. The next second, she threw herself directly on top of me.

Her elbow crashed into my already injured temple. Everything went black.

“Emily, you already got the money. Why are you trying to trip me?”

I barely had time to process what happened. Nathan shoved me away without hesitation and scooped Sierra into his arms.

My body slammed hard against the floor. Everything became a blur.

“Emily, you’ve really disappointed me.”

Those were the only words he left behind. Then he carried Sierra away.

Even when he heard my pained groans, he only slowed for a moment. He never looked back.

It hurt. Not just my body.

The pain settled deep in my chest, sharp and unrelenting.

I watched Nathan lower his head to check on Sierra, anxiety filling his eyes.

Once upon a time, he used to look at me that way whenever I got hurt.

Now those same eyes belonged to someone else.

In the end, everything had changed.

The darkness swallowed me whole.

When I woke again, the steady beeping of medical equipment echoed beside me.

Slowly, I forced my eyes open.

Nathan sat at my bedside. His eyes were bloodshot, and relief washed across his face the moment he saw me awake.

“Thank God. If the staff hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have known how serious things were.”

“I’m sorry, Emily. I handled this terribly. I stayed up all night making clam chowder. It’s your favorite. Let me feed you some, okay?”

A dull ache spread through my chest. For a moment, I didn’t know what I was feeling.

Back when we were struggling and I worked multiple jobs, every time I ended up sick in the hospital, Nathan would make soup for me.

The privileged young heir who had never stepped into a kitchen had burned and blistered his hands more than once because of me.

Lost in those memories, I opened my mouth automatically when he offered me a spoonful.

The moment the chowder touched my tongue, a familiar smell hit me.

I grabbed the bed rail and gagged. “Are there clams in this?”

I was severely allergic to shellfish.

And in eight years together, Nathan had never forgotten that.

Not once.