The Dumped Husband Gets A Debt System

One

"Reed, please sign the divorce agreement and set me free." Selene held out a bunch of papers and, when he remained shocked and unmoving, she flung them in his face.

They were standing in the apartment Reed had rented for Selene with the meager salary from his three jobs.

"What have I done wrong, Selene? If this is a joke, it is a cruel one." Reed was on the edge of tears.

Reed had been excited when Selene had sent a text inviting him over. They had always talked about how they could tell the whole world that they were a couple when she finally started getting good roles and it seemed that at last they had arrived at that point.

Since Selene had just finished press for a pretty good role she had in a blockbuster, Reed assumed she had called him over to ask him to move in with her.

Now, she was singing a different tune. He did not want to believe that Selene had called him here just to dump him after all the sacrifices he had made just for her happiness.

Selene and Reed had grown up in the same orphanage up in the mountains.

Regardless of his poor background and lack of parents, Reed was a hardworking and diligent young man. Added to the fact that he was also very handsome, he was a catch.

So, it had not come as a surprise to many when the two ended up getting married. Selene was a beauty and she charmed Reed with her helplessness and fragile beauty.

Reed loved Selene and was willing to do anything for her. His deepest wish was to help her become an idol just like she wanted.

That had resulted in him selling everything in his name and moving out of the mountains to go to Ruby City, so that Selene could have the opportunities she needed to become a star.

Life in the city had been harder than he expected, but Reed had adapted quickly.

He got three jobs: one as a delivery man for a noodle shop, another as a factory worker, and one as a cleaner because he did not have the connections to get a white-collar job.

The hours were bad and the salary was a pittance, but Reed happily did everything he could do. Despite his dedication and hard work towards helping Selene reach her goals, Reed had started to notice many changes in her.

She stopped letting him visit her in the apartment he had rented for her Uptown so that she would not need to travel too far to get to her auditions. So they never spent any time together as husband and wife; Reed was living like a single man in a hostel with hundreds of other young men like him.

Selene never called him except to ask for money, and when he did not give her what she wanted as fast as she wanted, she threw tantrums.

He had even noticed on social media that they were linking Selene with an A-list actor. It had disturbed him, but when he asked Selene, she told him it was all just PR to create buzz for a movie.

In spite of all this, he never would have thought that when things started to go good for her, she would as him to break up.

"I will work harder, I promise. Is this about the $2000 you asked for? I will take another loan." Reed stepped forward but Selene raised her hands to stop him.

"Reed, things have changed. I have changed. My peers are famous actors and entertainers. It is bad for my image to be attached to a poor man such as yourself."

"Selene, I left the mountains where everything was okay and came to the city just for you. I have worked so hard and taken loans from everyone, just to fulfill your dreams, and you want to dump me just like that."

"But did I ask you to come with me, Reed? Did I ask you to take loans? No. Listen, I'm not here to argue with you. Sign this divorce agreement and get out of my apartment."

"Selene, no one will be as devoted as I am to you. I gave you all my pure love."

"What good is your love? I need a man that can take care of me, not a man who comes with excuses every time I need something." She bent and picked up the papers that had fallen to the ground, then shoved them into his hands.

"Please, sign the papers at once."

"I know things are hard; this is just a rough patch. I promise you that things will change soon, Selene. Don't trash our relationship for the glamour of the entertainment industry, that place is full of people who will take advantage of you."

"Look at this loud-mouthed simp. What would a loser like you know about celebrities?" A new voice interrupted. Selene's face brightened while Reed turned, his eyes widening. It was Lucas Scott in the flesh, the same A-list actor who had been linked with Selene.

He walked past Reed in a cloud of expensive perfume and reached out to grab Selene by the waist, pulling her into an intimate hug.

"Lucas, you came," Selene said happily and arched her body provocatively against Lucas.

As Reed watched the scene before him, he was struck by the severity of the situation. Selene had been lying to him the entire time. She had used him as a ladder, and now that he was no longer convenient or useful to her, she wanted to discard him like a used tissue.

He realized that there was no point in trying to fight for a love that had obviously died long ago. "Fine. I will sign it. But can you pay off those loans I took for you?"

Selene and Lucas started to laugh, then Lucas sneered at Reed. "Selene, I did not realize your taste in men could be so bad. I can't believe he is begging you for money."

"Yes, Reed. Don't you have any shame? You already want to leech off me before I even fully become a star."

But Reed could not afford to have shame. He had been willing to go to the ends of the earth for Selene. He had taken numerous loans just for her; even this apartment had been paid for with those loans.

And now she no longer needed him, he needed those paid. He could not afford to lose on all sides.

Before he could insist,

"Joel!" Lucas called at the top of his voice, and a huge man walked in.

"Make him sign the papers and kick him out of my sight." At Lucas's command, the bodyguard advanced toward Reed, who raised his hands in surrender and signed the divorce agreement.

It would be like adding salt to injury if he allowed himself get beaten for a greedy woman like Selene. After he signed, he was physically carried like an errant toddler and thrown out in front of the apartment buiding.

As if matters could not get any worse for Reed, his delivery bike refused to start up.

So he was forced to push the bike down the streets of the city, uncaring of the people who honked at him and shouted at him to get out of the way.

The walk to the noodle shop should have taken about fifteen minutes.

That evening, it took forever. His mind was numb; his heart felt like it had been shredded into pieces.

When he was just a few yards away from the noodle shop, someone stepped out of the darkness in front of him.

"Look who is here."

Reed's heart dropped to his belly. A figure stepped out from between two parked cars. Reed recognized the scar running from temple to jaw. It was Koba, the loan shark's enforcer. The man who had smiled while explaining what organs were worth.

"Going somewhere, pretty boy?" He suddenly flipped open a knife. The knife blade caught the streetlight, flashing silver.

"Today," Koba said, stepping closer, "you pay what you owe. In cash. Or in parts."

Reed's back hit a wall. He hadn't even realized he'd been backing up. Behind him, a second thug laughed.

"We've got a buyer waiting for a fresh kidney. Paid a deposit already."

Reed looked left. Looked right. There was no escape. And somewhere in the darkness, something unseen began to calculate. Koba kept walking forward until Reed was sandwiched between himself and the other thug.

"I… I will get the money, I promise, just give me some time," Reed stammered, his voice shaking. "I will take more shifts. I just need a couple more days. Please…"

"Enough!" Koba grunted and licked his knife. "Your time is up."

"Yeah," the other thug answered from behind Reed.

"The boss has a buyer for a fresh kidney, and yours looks like it's in great shape since you don't drink oe smoke. It's simple math: your life for your debt."

Reed gulped anxiously. His life was over, and he had never even bought one nice thing for himself with the money he had taken from the loan shark.

He had poured it all into Selene, and all the thanks he got was being cheated on, humiliated, and then ditched for a better model.

Reed thought bitterly of the fact that he was going to die in some stinking alley because he had loved foolishly. Koba stepped closer, forcing Reed back until his shoulders hit the brick wall.

The other thug moved to his left, cutting off that escape route. The only way out was right toward the main road.

Reed's eyes darted right. Koba saw the look. "Don't even think about it."

"Hey! Who's there?" A voice shouted, startling the three men.

Reed saw his chance, and in a moment of pure, adrenaline-fueled terror, he didn't think. He just ran. He darted between the two thugs, ignoring the sting of the knife that caught his arm.

He ran blindly toward the main road. The sparse 7 PM traffic allowed him to run across the road without much hindrance.

"Hey! I'm not done with you!"

"Get back here!"

In his haste to move away from danger as fast as he could, Reed did not notice the car that came out of nowhere. He didn't see the SUV; he didn't hear the engine. He felt it. The impact lifted him off his feet, a massive, bone-shattering force that took him up before dropping him with a sickening thud to the ground.

He heard something crack. His own rib? The car's headlight? He couldn't tell.

As the light faded from his eyes, he heard, as if from a distance away.

"Ding!"

[Calculating outstanding debt…]

[Life value assessment complete.]

"Welcome to the Super Debt System."