He Risked His Life for His Heiress Ex

I'd broken up with Ethan six times, and every single time it was because of Mara.

To support this bankrupt heiress and her extravagant lifestyle, he'd always sneak behind my back to fight in illegal underground matches, trading his life for money.

Every time I steeled myself to break things off, he'd kneel before me, eyes red, swearing it was the last time.

Seeing him covered in bruises, I'd soften every single time.

Today was supposed to be the day we met each other's parents and set our wedding date.

I sat in the private dining room, enduring judgmental looks from relatives, waiting from noon until dark.

Ethan never showed up.

It wasn't until ten at night that I got a call from his buddy, Marcus.

"Gianna, Ethan went to fight again. He's in the emergency room right now, you need to"

I cut him off.

"Let me guess. For Mara again?"

Marcus stammered an explanation.

"Mara had her eye on some limited edition bag..."

Through the phone, I could hear chaos on his end, and faintly, Mara calling out Ethan's name.

Suddenly I felt so tired.

This endless cycle of boundary-crossing and breaking up and getting back togetherit was like torture with no end in sight.

I closed my eyes and spoke calmly into the phone.

"I'm not coming. Tell him we're completely done this time."

My mom looked at me and sighed with heartache.

"Breaking up is for the best."

"Our family isn't afraid of embarrassment. It's better than you living in constant anxiety for the rest of your life."

I held back tears and nodded.

"Mom, you and Dad should head home. Don't worry about me."

"I just need to take care of a few things."

After seeing my parents off, I sat alone in the empty private room.

My phone screen lit up. It was a video from Mara, just over ten seconds long.

In the footage, Ethan lay in a hospital bed, face bruised and swollen, looking pathetic and weak.

He forced the corner of his mouth into a smile.

"Why are you crying?"

"I told you I'd get you what I promised, didn't I? When have I ever broken my word?"

The video cut off abruptly.

Right after, Mara sent a text message.

[Ethan's awake now, and he got me the bag too. Don't be mad at him, and don't worry, okay?]

I didn't reply. I just locked my screen.

Half an hour later, I returned to the apartment Ethan and I rented together.

I pulled my suitcase out from under the bed and started packing.

When I opened the bottom drawer of the closet, my hand froze.

There sat a cheap trophy Ethan had won from his underground fights.

Looking at it, I suddenly felt dizzy with memories.

I thought back to two years ago.

The first time he snuck off to that underground fight club without telling me, I found out and completely broke down. I told him we were done.

That night, it rained hard.

Ethan, his body covered in injuries, blocked the entrance to my rental apartment and refused to leave no matter how much I tried to make him go.

I told him coldly I'd never forgive him. He panicked so badly his eyes turned red, and then he actually passed out at my feet.

I was terrified, shaking all over, holding his unconscious body and crying so hard I couldn't breathe.

I thought I was really going to lose him.

That fear of losing the person I loved most made me surrender completely.

Later came the second time, the third time...

"Bzz bzz bzz"

My phone's vibration pulled me out of the memory.

It was Ethan calling.

"Gianna, I bet I scared you. I'm fine, just some superficial wounds."

"Marcus is such a drama queen. The doctor said I just need to stay for observation for a couple days and I'll be good."

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it today. Your parents must be really upset, right?"

I made a neutral sound of acknowledgment.

Hearing that I wasn't crying and making a scene like usual, he sounded relieved.

"But hey, I want to discuss something with you."

"About our weddingcould we maybe push it back a couple years?"

He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully.

"Mara was just in my hospital room telling me all her old friends recently bought cars, and she wants one too."

"So I transferred her the money we'd been saving for the wedding."

When I didn't respond, his tone became coaxing.

"You know Mara's family did so much for me. I've always treated her like a real sister."

"Her family went bankrupt. If I can help her, of course I have to..."

He kept rambling on the other end about how deeply loyal and righteous he was.

If this had been before, hearing those words would have made me scream myself hoarse demanding answers.

What am I to you then?

What about my youth and my dignity?

But now, I didn't even have the desire to argue.

I spoke flatly.

"You can do whatever you want."

On the other end, Ethan's voice couldn't hide his joy.

"Gianna, I knew you were the best."

"You were so quiet just now, I thought you were going to break up with me again. You scared me to death."

I smiled slightly.

"I won't. I'll never fight with you again."

Suddenly his tone turned serious.

"Gianna, trust me, this is the last time I'll ever fight."

"I'll never let you suffer even the slightest grievance again. Even though we're postponing the wedding, I swear I'll give you the most spectacular wedding in the entire city and marry you with all the honor you deserve..."

I listened quietly.

He'd said the same words too many times over these five years.

The first time I heard them, I was moved to tears.

But now my heart was like a dry well that couldn't even produce an echo.

Just as he was painting our future with passionate promises, I heard the hospital room door being pushed open on his end.

Then came Mara's excited voice.

"Ethan! Marcus just brought my car back! It's downstairs right now, and it's super cool!"

"Come on, come downstairs with me to see it, please?"

Ethan's heartfelt confession to me stopped abruptly, and his tone immediately switched to indulgent.

"I just got stitches... Fine, fine, fine. Let me throw on some clothes and I'll go with you. Stop pulling."

I didn't keep listening. I hung up directly.

Actually, Ethan and I weren't always like this.

When we first got together, Mara didn't even exist in my world.

It wasn't until two years ago, when the Morrison family went bankrupt and Mara was forced to return from abroad.

That's when I learned Ethan was an orphan who'd grown up with the Morrison family's support.

In Ethan's heart, Mara wasn't just an ordinary sistershe was a benefactor he had to repay with his life.

This debt of gratitude was like an insurmountable mountain, making our relationship a dead end from the start.

I took a deep breath, picked up my phone, and called my university advisor.

"Professor Wilson, that position you mentioned beforethe one at the Iceland polar observation stationis it still available?"

The professor's voice was serious.

"The position is still open."

"But I need to remind you againit's highly classified. Once you're in, you can't return home for at least three years. Are you willing to accept that?"

I said firmly, "I'm willing."

The professor paused for two seconds and sighed.

"You refused so adamantly before. Did you break up with that guy?"

I made an affirmative sound, my eyes stinging slightly.

"We broke up."

I was just pulling my suitcase out of the building when headlights swept over me.

A brand-new car pulled up by the curb.

The window rolled down. Mara's eyes swept over my suitcase, and she smiled with raised eyebrows.

"What, running away from home in the middle of the night?"

I smiled back.

"If I don't leave, how will I make room for you?"

Mara pushed open the car door and stepped out.

"Don't make it sound like I'm the other woman. That's pretty funny."

"Ethan willingly gives me his money to spend. What can I do about it?"

She paused deliberately.

"Actually, you're pretty pitiful. You know that?"

"One time when Ethan was drunk, he told me that if I weren't the high-and-mighty Morrison family heiress and he weren't the poor kid they supported"

"If he hadn't felt the class difference was too vast to dare reach for me, he never would have settled for someone else."

"So don't really think of yourself as the main wife."

"If I actually wanted to compete with you, what chance would you have?"

The night wind blew past, tousling my long hair.

Hearing these words, I didn't feel sad at all.

I only felt how absurd these five years had been.

I smiled faintly.

"Then I wish you two a long and happy life together. May you be locked together forever."

My reaction made Mara freeze. It gave her the frustrating feeling of punching cotton.

Seeing me about to leave, she grabbed the strap of my suitcase.

"Wait, who said you could leave now?"

"If you leave, Ethan's still lying in the hospital. I'm not going to take care of him. You need to go look after him."

I looked at her hand gripping my suitcase.

"Let go."

Not only did Mara not let go, she actually pulled out her phone and video-called Ethan.

"Ethan... did I make Gianna mad again?"

"I just wanted to show her the new car, but she's pulling her suitcase and insisting on leaving. She won't even go to the hospital to see you. I can't stop her..."

On the screen, Ethan had gauze wrapped around his head, his face pale.

After hearing Mara's words, he didn't ask why I was out on the street with a suitcase in the middle of the night. He didn't ask if I was cold.

He frowned, his tone helpless.

"Gianna, what are you throwing a fit about now? We were just fine on the phone earlier."

"Don't make things difficult for Mara. Just come to the hospital."

I stood in the night wind, about to turn and leave, when I suddenly remembered what Professor Wilson had told me.

"The security clearance for the Iceland polar project is very strict. First thing tomorrow morning, you must bring your original passport and ID to the dean's office to process everything."

All my important documents, including my passport, were with Ethan.

Because today was supposed to be when we met each other's parents and set our wedding date, with plans to go to the civil affairs bureau first thing tomorrow morning to register our marriage.

Last night, I'd put all my documents together in his personal bag.

That bag was sitting on the bedside table in his hospital emergency room.

I looked at Ethan on the screen.

"Okay."

"I'll come to the hospital right now."

Half an hour later, I arrived on the third floor of the inpatient building.

Just as I was about to push the door open, I heard Marcus's voice inside.

"Ethan, you really went too far this time."

"That was the down payment money for you and Gianna's wedding, and you spent it all on a car for Mara?"

"You stood up Gianna's parents today. Aren't you afraid Gianna will really be heartbroken this time and break up with you for good?"

"We've all seen how good Gianna's been to you these past five years."

My hand froze in midair.

Through the crack in the door, Ethan was silent for two seconds, then his confident voice came through.

"She won't break up with me."

"Five yearswith this many years of history between us, how could it end so easily?"

"You know Gianna. She's so soft-hearted. Every time we fight, as long as I apologize, she comes back on her own."

"I'll wait a couple days until I'm discharged, buy her a gift and really make it up to her, and this whole thing will blow over."

Marcus sighed.

"But Ethan, you're giving Mara way too much, aren't you?"

"What woman could stand her husband taking care of another woman with no boundaries? What are you even thinking?"

Ethan's tone suddenly became serious.

"How can you compare the two?"

"Mara's family went bankrupt. She has nothing left."

"I said I'd take care of her for life, so there's no way I'm abandoning her. This is a debt I owe her. I have to repay it."

He paused, then softened his tone slightly.

"Gianna's understanding and reasonable. After we get married, I'll be twice as good to her. Worst case, I'll make it up to her in other ways."

"But with Mara, I can never let her go for the rest of my life. Gianna will get used to it eventually."

Just then, Mara's pampered voice suddenly rang out from behind me.

"Hey! What are you doing standing at the door?"

The conversation in the hospital room stopped abruptly.

Ethan in the bed jerked his head up.

When he saw clearly that it was me standing outside the door, panic filled his face.

"Gianna, when did you get here? Let me expl"

I cut him off.

"No need to explain."

"Ethan, I've heard enough of your explanations. I'm sick of them."

Ethan's face went white.

"Gianna, stop making a scene, okay? What I just said to Marcuswe were just talking."

"And didn't I already tell you? This is the last time. From now on I'll definitely"

I pulled at the corner of my mouth.

"The last time?"

"How many times have you told me it's the last time?"

"You've been lying to me all along. You never planned to cut ties with her. You've just been testing me over and over, forcing me to slowly accept this twisted relationship between you two, right?"

Ethan's expression changed. His lips moved but he couldn't come up with a rebuttal.

My eyes felt swollen.

"Ethan, every single time you went to those underground fights, I couldn't close my eyes all night long!"

"I sat there clutching my phone, terrified of getting a call from the hospital, terrified that one day you'd die in that octagon cage!"

"But did you ever think about me? Even once, did you think about me waiting for you at home?"

Ethan urgently raised his voice.

"Nothing's going to happen to me!"

"I know what I'm doing. I always come back in one piece. Look, I'm fine, aren't I?"

I laughed once.

"Fine?"

"Then let me ask you, Ethan."

"Even if we get married, even if we have children somedayas long as Mara says the word, as long as she wants something, you'll still go behind my back to those places and risk your life to earn money for her, won't you?"

Ethan fell silent, lowering his head, not daring to look at me.

I looked away.

"Give me that black bag on your bedside table."

Ethan froze.

"What do you need the bag for? Gianna, what are you trying to do?"

"Give it to me!"

Seeing the situation, Marcus quickly turned and handed me the bag.

I unzipped it, took out my ID and passport, and turned to leave.

The next morning at nine o'clock, I stood punctually in Professor Wilson's office.

"You're sure? Once you hand over these documents and the process starts, you can't go back."

I said firmly, "I'm sure. I won't regret it."

...

Three days later.

Ethan, with thick bandages on his head, pushed open the apartment door.

He'd bought a bouquet of lisianthus from the flower shop downstairs, planning to apologize and humble himself like he had every other time.

"Gianna, I'm discharged. I brought you..."

The apartment was completely silent. No one answered.

He frowned and changed his shoes, walking into the bedroom.

"Still mad? I came straight here after discharge to make it up to you..."

His voice stopped abruptly the moment he opened the closet door.