Bye, My Ex-husband

Chapter 34: I Can't Take The Money 

"You're hurt! Let me help you get patched up."

Janessa approached the man to take him away from the dark alley.What she had just done right now was risky.

If those men found out that she played a trick on them, she would've been in danger.All of a sudden, the men returned to the spot where the young man was crumpled on the floor.

Janessa and the young man were suddenly surrounded in the dark alley by these men.

"You bitch! What do you think you're doing here? You only need to mind your own business!" Peter whipped out a knife and stared at Janessa and the young man with eyes full of malice.

Anyone who saw the fierce look on his face would be scared.

The young man shoved Janessa behind him and said, "Peter, I'm the one who owes you money.You don't need to make an innocent person suffer because of my mistakes."

Janessa looked over at the young man who now looked wise beyond his years and felt like a younger brother was coming to her aid.

She always wanted to have a younger brother, and now this man filled the longing in her heart for one.

If she had a brother by her side while she competed with Aydin for the family properties, maybe they wouldn't have bullied her the way they did.

Peter clutched the man’s hair with the hand that held his knife and threatened, "Innocent person? What innocent person would come to save you? Do you think I'm a fool, Eric? Everyone, beat him!"

Peter's men surrounded Eric as they kicked and punched him.

When they attempted to hit Janessa, Eric pushed them away and protected Janessa with his body.No matter how hard they beat him, Eric didn't whimper or cry out.As Peter looked at Eric and Janessa, Peter became angrier.

If his men didn't warn him that things seemed a bit fishy, they would have completely fallen into this woman's trap. Sure enough, when they returned to the scene, they didn't see any police around the area.

"Stop! Do you have any last words, you brat?"

Peter said as he squatted in front of Eric and Janessa.Eric's body was covered with cuts and bruises, and Janessa's face had been dirtied by his blood.

"I promise to pay you back, Peter.Please let her go.She had nothing to do with this.She knows nothing."

"How do you plan on paying me back? Do you have money on you right now? Maybe I should cut off an arm of yours as interest payment."

Eric played numerous instruments for a living, and he couldn't lose an arm due to his debt.

"Wait a minute! This is the five thousand I earned for tonight's performance.Please give me some more time to raise the money.I promise to pay you in full the second I have the money."

Eric glanced at the woman behind him to make sure that she was safe.

After that, he took out the money from his pocket and handed it over to Peter.

"You should've given me the money earlier! If you'd done that, we wouldn't have beaten you like this.I'm warning you to give me my money as soon as possible.If not, I don't think your father will be able to hang on for long."

After that, Peter quickly left with his men.

At last, Eric and Janessa were alone and safe from harm.

Janessa slumped onto the floor and sighed in relief.

At that time, she didn't give much thought to helping Eric.

However, everything began to catch up with her, and she felt terrified.

"Eric! How much money do you owe them?"

Eric looked at Janessa with wide eyes, wondering what she could possibly mean.Although this woman was a stranger to him, he still answered in a bitter tone,

"Three hundred thousand.My father was hospitalized, and I borrowed fifty thousand from Peter.As time passed, the interest kept growing.Before I knew it, I owed him three hundred thousand.Unfortunately, my father is still in the hospital."

Eric leaned against the wall, with exhaustion written all over his body.

His eyes shone with tears as he looked up at the night sky.

"Come with me."

Janessa lifted Eric out of the darkness and found Alana shouting by the door.

"Alana, I'm right here!"

It took Alana some time to get Eric's phone number from the owner of the bar.

She ran out of the bar as soon as she got the number, but then, she couldn't find Janessa anywhere.

After a few minutes, she finally found Janessa.

She was relieved when she saw that Janessa was alright.

But...Why was Janessa coming back from a dark corner with Eric in her arms? "You two..."

"Oh, I'm sorry.Eric, this is my friend, Alana.Alana, you need to take us to the closest hospital.I'll explain what happened later."

Although Alana was puzzled to see the two together,when she realized that Eric was injured, she quickly agreed to drive them to the hospital.

As the doctor examined Eric, Janessa told Alana was had happened to both of them.

Alana was surprised by Eric's story.

She never would've expected her Prince Charming to be in that kind of situation.

"If it weren't for his father's illness, he would be better off, "

Alana replied with a sigh.

The only thing she could think of was how badly she wanted to help Eric.

She took her bank card from her purse and handed it over to Janessa.

"I know you needed a lot of cash after your divorce, so I'll do this.The three hundred thousand in the card isn't crucial to me right now.Eric needs it more than I do.I don't want that man harassing him again."

"The money..."

This money was from Alana's parents.

Was she foolish enough to lend it to a man she had only seen twice? "It's alright, don't worry too much about it.This money is from my savings."

Janessa initially thought to refuse the money but decided that Eric needed the money right now.

"Thank you, Alana.I owe you for this."

When Eric came out of the emergency room, Janessa handed the card to him and took out another twenty thousand from her purse.

"Inside this card is three hundred thousand.You can use it to pay Peter back.The additional money is to cover your father's remaining hospitalization fee."

"I can't accept your money.You've already done enough for me.You drove Peter and his men away, and now you're lending me money? I can't..."

Eric was overwhelmed by gratitude.

The last thing he expected was to meet a kind soul today. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Janessa had almost been injured because of him.

He couldn't take her money no matter how grateful he felt for it.

"I'm not giving you the money.It's a loan.You can pay off the bank interest and pay in full when you have enough money."

"But..."

Eric couldn't believe that Janessa and Alana had offered him this kind of help.

"Don't think about too much.Just take the money.Peter's interest rates are crazy! There's no way for you to pay off your debt to him.It will keep growing and growing.You're too young to be working so hard for that kind of money."

Janessa had overheard that Eric had been working multiple jobs since he was twenty years old.

With the card in his hand, his heart felt heavy.

He looked at Janessa and Alana and bowed before them.

"I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can.Thank you so much for the kindness you've shown me.If you need anything, please don't hesitate to give me a call.I'll do anything to repay you."

Janessa placed a hand on Eric's head and smiled at him.She hadn't felt this happy in a long time.Eric was like her new younger brother.

Now, she would finally have a younger brother who would protect her and stand by her side.