Ursula was forcing me to cave, and all of it was to protect Aaron.
I borrowed a phone from a nurse and dialed the number I knew by heart.
"Sir, could you... lend me some money?"
On the fourth day, I was cleared to leave the hospital.
Fighting through the discomfort of the titanium rib in my chest, I went to the company and handed in my resignation.
Even if I could still barely tolerate flying someday, a pilot whose physical condition failed to meet standard.
Would never captain a plane again.
After that, I made a trip back to my hometown.
Even swallowing my pride, I could only bring myself to ask my old mentor for a million dollars.
Years ago, I'd used the wages I'd saved to build my parents a two-story house with a courtyard back home.
It had long been agreed the place would go to my brother when he married.
So that house wasn't something I could take, and there was no need for it either.
But the moment I stepped into the courtyard, I froze.
Aaron sat at the table with a guitar in his arms, pinching the pick made from my rib between his fingers, while Ursula stood beside him feeding him fruit.
Seeing me, Aaron greeted me with a smile:
"Thomas, you're back? My concert needs an opening music video shot, and Ursula said the scenery here was nice, so she brought me along. Figured we'd drop off the money for your brother's wedding house while we're at it."
"I'm really sorry about that night, I had a bit too much to drink, I didn't mean it. But your mom and dad have already forgiven me on your behalf."
My parents nodded along, fawning, their eyes darting again and again to the two boxes of cash on the table.
Not one of them asked how I was doing after the surgery.
I walked over, stared at the suit he was wearing, and gave a bitter little laugh.
"What, taking my rib wasn't enough? Now you're taking my wedding suit too?"
"Do your fans know they've got a thief on their hands?"
Aaron's expression shifted, and he looked at the woman beside him, wounded.
"Thomas, ease up. I gave Aaron that suit. He didn't have anything decent to wear for the video."
Ursula shielded him behind her, displeasure written on her face.
"Besides, your build was never as good as his. It'd have been wasted on you anyway."
That suit had been custom-made half a year in advance.
And I'd never even tried it on. It was already on someone else's back.
I looked at Ursula. "Then what about me?"
"The wedding's at the end of the month. You think there's still time to have a new one made?"
She knit her brows, impatient.
"It's just a formality, isn't it? Rent something when the time comes. Don't be so cheap."
I had nothing left to say. I pushed the two boxes of money back toward her.
"Take the money back. We've already broken up, and my brother doesn't need another wedding house bought for him."
Ursula's face went cold at once, and she turned to my parents with a sneer.
"Is that so? Do you two think the same?"
"Such a shame. I'd been planning to give a three-million-dollar payout."
My parents' eyes lit up instantly.
Before I could get a word out, my mother pinched me hard.
"You little wretch, did they take your brain out along with your rib? Who said we don't need it? You think it won't cost money when your brother has kids someday?"
"You're his older brother. Can't you show some sense? You think a breakup is something you just throw around?!"
So they really had agreed to it.
I shut my eyes, my heart gone cold.
"How much more sense do you want from me? The money I've made all these years either went to pay off your debts and build your house, or you schemed every way you could to swindle it out of me, so my brother could eat, drink, and play."
"For money, you'd sell off my career and my health, watch my fiancée parade around town with another man, and never once ask whether I was in pain."
"I've been sensible enough. My brother has two hands and two feet. If he wants a wedding house, he can go earn it himself. If he can't afford it, then don't have kids. I'm a person, not your cash cow!"
