My Domination Begins With a Revenge

Price of Pride

"Take your filthy hands off my shoes before I have the guards break your fingers."

Evelyn Sterling sneered and kicked her heel forward. Her foot struck Ethan in the chest and sent him sprawling backward across the floor of the banquet hall. The loud thud of his body hitting the stone echoed through the room and brought the live orchestra to a sudden halt.

Ethan ignored the pain flaring in his ribs and immediately scrambled back onto his knees. He looked up at the woman celebrating her fiftieth birthday and pressed his palms together in a desperate plea.

"Please listen to me," Ethan begged. "I only need five hundred thousand dollars. Ada is in the intensive care unit right now and her organs are failing. The doctors will cancel her surgery at midnight if I do not pay the deposit."

The lavish ballroom fell quiet as two hundred city elites paused their conversations to stare at the commotion. Ethan knelt in the center of the room wearing a faded gray suit that stood in stark contrast to the designer gowns and tailored tuxedos surrounding him. He had spent three long years acting as the obedient servant to the Sterling family. He swept their floors and cooked their meals and swallowed their daily insults because they controlled the charity trust keeping his little sister alive.

"Do you think my birthday gala is the place to beg for loose change?" Evelyn asked. She swirled the champagne in her crystal glass and looked down at him with undisguised disgust. "That sick sister of yours is a bottomless pit of medical bills. We have already wasted enough money keeping her breathing. Let her die."

Ethan felt a sharp ache in his chest as the words hit him. He turned his head and searched the crowd of wealthy onlookers until he found his wife.

Sarah stood a few feet away near a towering ice sculpture. She wore a stunning crimson dress and held a designer clutch purse in her hands.

"Sarah, please," Ethan pleaded. He shifted on his knees and turned toward her. "She is just ten years old. You know I will pay back every single penny. I will work three jobs. I will do anything you ask me to do. Just speak to your mother and approve the medical advance."

Sarah did not even look at him. She stared straight ahead at a painting on the wall and took a slow sip of her drink.

"You are an embarrassment to this family," Sarah said. Her voice carried no emotion. "My grandfather forced me to marry you because he thought you had potential, but you are just a leech. Today is a day for celebration and networking. You barged in here reeking of hospital bleach to ruin the mood. Get out of my sight."

"I cannot leave without the money!" Ethan shouted. "Her heart is giving out! She will not survive the night!"

"Security," Evelyn called out. "Throw this trash into the street."

"Hold on a moment, Mrs. Sterling. There is no need to ruin a beautiful party with violence."

A man stepped out from the crowd and walked over to stand right beside Sarah. Aiden Taylor wore a custom Italian suit and smiled with the arrogant confidence of a man who owned half the city. He was the sole heir to the Taylor corporate empire and he had spent the last two years openly trying to steal Sarah away from Ethan.

Aiden placed a hand on Sarah's waist. Ethan watched his wife lean into the touch instead of pulling away.

"Ethan is technically family," Aiden said. He looked down at the kneeling man and let out a soft chuckle. "It is very sad to see a grown man crying on the floor like a stray animal. Five hundred thousand dollars is pocket change. I spend that much on wine during a weekend trip to Paris."

"You are too generous, Aiden," Evelyn said. Her harsh glare instantly softened into a warm and welcoming smile. "You should not waste your wealth on a useless parasite. He does not deserve your charity."

"I believe in helping the less fortunate," Aiden replied. He snapped his fingers and held his hand out toward his personal assistant.

The assistant stepped forward, opened a leather briefcase, and handed Aiden five thick stacks of currency. Each bundle was wrapped in banking bands and packed with crisp bills of one hundred dollars.

Aiden weighed the cash in his hands and locked eyes with Ethan.

"Is this what you want?" Aiden asked.

Ethan stared at the money. That cash represented Ada taking another breath. It represented a future where she could wake up and smile again instead of sleeping hooked up to machines.

"Yes," Ethan said. His voice was hoarse and desperate. "Please. Give it to me."

"I am a businessman, Ethan. I do not give away money for free. You said you would do anything for the cash just a moment ago. Let us test that devotion."

Aiden tossed the bundles of money onto the floor. The heavy stacks landed near his expensive leather shoes.

"The money is yours," Aiden said. "But you have to earn it. Get down on all fours. Bark like a dog. Then crawl through my legs and pick it up with your teeth. If you do that, you can take this pocket change to the hospital."

"Aiden, you cannot be serious," Sarah said.

Ethan felt a brief spark of hope. He looked up at his wife and thought she was finally going to defend him.

"The floor is dirty," Sarah continued. "He will get his cheap suit ruined and then he will track mud into my car when he drives home."

The spark of hope died instantly. Ethan stared at the woman he had promised to love and protect. She cared more about the upholstery of her vehicle than his dignity or his sister's life.

"Do not worry, Sarah," Aiden laughed. "I will buy you a brand new car tomorrow. Consider it a gift for having to tolerate this loser for so long."

Aiden looked back down at Ethan. "Well? I do not have all night. The doctors are waiting for their deposit and the clock is ticking. Are you a proud man or are you a good brother?"

The crowd of wealthy elites moved closer to watch the spectacle. They murmured among themselves and pointed their glasses at the man kneeling on the floor.

"He will never do it," a guest in a velvet jacket whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Even a beggar has some pride."

"I bet he runs out of the room crying," another guest added.

Ethan looked at the money resting by Aiden's shoes.

He thought of his sister lying in the white hospital bed. He remembered the frail sound of her breathing and the endless rhythm of the heart monitor. If he walked out of this room with his pride intact, he would be planning her funeral by morning. Pride was a luxury reserved for the rich.

Ethan placed his hands flat on the cold marble. He lowered his posture until his knees and palms carried his entire weight. He kept his eyes fixed on the green bundles of cash.

"Woof."

The sound left his throat quiet and broken.

"I did not hear that," Aiden said. He cupped a hand over his ear and smiled at Sarah. "Did you hear anything? Sounded like a mouse to me."

"Speak up, Ethan," Evelyn commanded from her seat. "If you are going to embarrass us, at least do it properly."

Ethan opened his mouth and forced the sound out louder. "Woof. Bark."

Laughter erupted across the ballroom. The wealthy guests covered their mouths and chuckled while Evelyn clapped her hands together in delight.

Ethan began to crawl. The marble floor felt like ice against his skin. He moved his hands and knees forward in a slow and humiliating rhythm. He approached the towering figure of Aiden Taylor . The polished leather shoes grew closer with every agonizing inch.

"Good boy," Aiden sneered. He spread his legs wider to make room. "Come get your treat."

Ethan reached the space between Aiden's legs. He extended his right hand toward the stack of bills. His fingers brushed against the paper wrapping.

Smack.

Aiden brought his heavy leather heel down directly onto Ethan's hand.

Ethan gasped in pain. The leather sole crushed his fingers against the hard floor. He tried to pull his hand back but Aiden applied his full body weight to trap him there.

"Did I say you could use your hands?" Aiden asked. His voice dropped its playful tone and turned cold. "I said use your teeth."

Ethan gritted his teeth and looked up. "I did what you asked. Give me the money."

Aiden laughed. It was a loud and cruel sound that echoed over the silent crowd. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his mobile phone.

"You really think I would give half a million dollars to a piece of trash like you?" Aiden asked. He tapped the screen and held the phone up for Ethan to see.

The screen displayed a text message thread with the chief surgeon at the city hospital.

"I called Doctor Evans an hour ago," Aiden said. "I transferred one million dollars directly into his private offshore account. I paid him double the surgery cost to cancel the operation and lock the operating room."

Ethan froze. The pain in his crushed hand faded into a numbing void.

"She is not getting the surgery," Aiden whispered. He leaned down so only Ethan could hear the next words. "Your sister is going to die tonight. I just wanted to watch you crawl like a pathetic mutt before it happened."

Aiden kicked his foot forward. The toe of his shoe struck Ethan in the shoulder and sent him collapsing onto his side. The crowd erupted into applause and cheers as Aiden picked up the stacks of cash and handed them back to his assistant.

"Let that be a lesson to you all," Aiden announced to the room. "Trash belongs in the gutter. It does not belong in our world."

Ethan lay curled on the floor. The laughter of the guests blended into a deafening roar in his ears. He stared blankly at the ceiling. The opulent crystal chandelier blurred as tears finally broke past his vision.

He had abandoned his dignity. He had let another man claim his wife right in front of him. He had barked like a dog and crawled across the floor. He had done all of it for a chance to save Ada.

It was all for nothing. The surgery was canceled. The money was a lie. Ada was going to die alone in a cold room while these monsters drank champagne.

The sheer weight of absolute hopelessness crushed his chest. He could not breathe. He closed his eyes and waited for his heart to simply stop beating.

Buzz.

His phone vibrated sharply in his front pocket.

Ethan did not move. It had to be the hospital. It was the nurses calling to tell him the monitors had flatlined. It was the final nail in the coffin of his miserable life.

Buzz. Buzz.

He reached into his pocket with his uninjured left hand. His fingers trembled as he pulled the cheap device out and pressed the power button. The bright screen illuminated his face.

He opened his messages and prepared to read the notice of his sister passing away.

Instead, the screen displayed a secure alert from the Sovereign Global Bank. It was a secretive institution that catered only to the royal families and the invisible trillionaires who secretly ran the world economy.

Ethan stared at the glowing letters. The notification clearly dictated that a deposit of one hundred billion dollars had been successfully credited to his primary checking balance.

A single automated text message followed the deposit notification.

"Welcome back young master. Your funds are ready.”