The Delivery at the Wrong Door

“You have a new food delivery order. Please accept it in time.” The notification on my phone pulled me back to my senses. None of that mattered anymore.

Noah was still waiting for me at the hospital to earn money for his lifesaving treatment. I couldn’t slack off.

By the time I walked out of Tomson Riviera, a torrential downpour had suddenly started outside. I hadn’t brought a raincoat, and the raindrops pounding against me hurt.

But the heavier the rain, the higher the payout for each delivery. I didn’t have time to care about my own body.

I stuffed my phone into a waterproof bag and hurried off to keep delivering food.

It wasn’t until dawn that I finally stopped taking orders and got ready to go home, take a shower, and rest.

A call from an unknown number came in. “Hello?” “Bring me a cup of coffee.

I have to go to the office at 8:30.” That voice…… “Claire Morgan?” She seemed to frown, her tone impatient. “Aren’t you doing food delivery?

Get it here within half an hour, and I’ll tip you five hundred.” Then she hung up. I didn’t understand what Claire Morgan meant by that.

But five hundred dollars was enough for me to run a lot of orders.

Without hesitation, I quickly went to a nearby upscale café, packed up a cup of coffee, and rode back toward Tomson Riviera.

I rang the doorbell, and Claire Morgan opened the door very quickly. Her eyes swept over my dripping wet hair and clothes, and she gave a mocking smile.

I knew she must be feeling pretty damn satisfied right now. Back then, Ethan Carter had broken up with her for five million dollars.

Now, for a measly five hundred, he was willing to flatter her shamelessly and bow and scrape to please her.

My throat tightened, but I still kept smiling as I handed over the coffee. “Ms. Morgan, your coffee.” Claire Morgan took it and had a sip.

Then her face darkened immediately, and her tone turned extremely rude. “These beans are way too low quality.” “Ethan Carter, I gave you five hundred to buy cheap garbage and try to fool me?” I hurried to explain. “This cup cost seventy.

It’s not cheap.” But Claire Morgan clearly wasn’t listening. She said impatiently, “Buy it again!” Then with another loud bang, she slammed the door shut again. I had no choice.

For the sake of that five hundred dollars, I could only go back out into the rain and buy another coffee. This time, though, I learned my lesson.

I went straight to the café near Tomson Riviera. A cup cost one hundred and fifty, so expensive it made people wince.

But Claire Morgan still wasn’t satisfied. “The beans have to be espresso extract, not a darkroast blend.” “Buy it again!” Another one hundred and fifty.

But when it was delivered, Claire Morgan suddenly changed her mind again. “I suddenly don’t want an iced Americano anymore. I want it hot. Buy it again!” “It’s too weak.

I want a double espresso. Buy it again!” “It took too long. The ice melted, and now the coffee tastes watered down. Buy it again!” …… Again and again.

My soaked clothes chilled me so badly I was trembling all over. Even if I were slow to react, I could still tell Claire Morgan was deliberately making things difficult for me.

I glanced at the time. A whole morning had been wasted like this. Taking a deep breath, I said helplessly, “Ms. Morgan, there’s no need to toy with me like this.

I really am living badly right now. Just take it as me getting what I deserve. I don’t want the five hundred tip anymore.

Pretend I owe you.” “Six cups of coffee came to a total of nine hundred dollars. Can you settle that for me?” “I still have things to do this afternoon.

I can’t keep wasting time.” Sure enough, Claire Morgan’s face only got worse after hearing that. She snorted and sneered, “So you’ve run out of patience already?

You were pretty patient when you were cheating me out of money back then, weren’t you?” “I get it.

People like you only sell yourself when the price is right.” “Five hundred isn’t enough?

Then how about five thousand?” Before I could answer, Claire Morgan picked up the wallet beside her.

She pulled out a thick stack of bills and flung them straight at my face. “Pick them up.” “Take it as me throwing you a bone. Don’t you love money the most?” The bills were all new.

The corners were sharp, and when some of them hit me, they cut my cheek. They left a long streak of blood on my face.

There was a lot of money on the ground, far more than five thousand. It was enough that Noah’s medical expenses for next week wouldn’t have to be worried about. Dignity?

Poor people don’t have dignity. A sharp pain spread through my chest, but it quickly went numb. I bent down and neatly picked up the money on the ground.

One bill had been deliberately pinned under a black leather shoe. I paused, then raised my face to look up at Claire Morgan. I smiled at her without a shred of shame. “Ms.

Morgan, sorry.” “Your foot……looks like it’s stepped on one. Could you please lift it?” Claire Morgan’s contemptuous gaze fell on the streak of blood on my face.

She froze for a moment, then quickly looked away. Her brows tightened in disgust again, and she moved her foot aside before turning and walking back inside.

Facing Claire Morgan’s indifference, my eyes instantly turned red.

I suddenly remembered how, a long time ago, even if I sneezed a few extra times from a cold, the woman in front of me would nervously come over, touch my forehead, and force me to drink more hot water.

Forget it. I forced down the sourness in my nose. As long as I made money, that was enough. Noah was still in the hospital waiting for me to bring him food.

After I picked up all the money, I left without making a sound. Over there, Claire Morgan came back out again.

She stared blankly at the empty hallway, then lowered her head and looked at the cheap adhesive bandage she’d dug out after rummaging through drawers. She gave a selfmocking laugh.

Claire Morgan, five years. How are you still this damn cheap? Just as she raised her hand, ready to throw it into the trash, the phone in her pocket suddenly started vibrating.

She swiped to answer. Her assistant’s hesitant voice came through the receiver: “Ms. Morgan, we found something.” “Mr. Carter seems to……have a child, in the hospital.”

By the time I rushed to the hospital with the food, it was already 1:30. Noah had already eaten and was taking a nap. I gave Dr. Grant a grateful smile. “Dr.

Grant, I’ll transfer you the money.” “Really, thank you so much. I had something this morning that delayed me. I’m sorry you had to help take care of Noah.” Dr.

Grant smiled and shook her head. “No need. It was just food from the cafeteria. Not worth much.

I saw that you still hadn’t come by after 12:30, so I knew you must be busy again today.

So I brought Noah a portion.” She stepped closer, her gaze landing on my left cheek. “What happened to your face?” “Got scraped again while rushing to deliver food?” As she spoke, Dr.

Grant reached out to check my wound. I jerked my head away suddenly. Only after I saw Dr. Grant’s hand suspended in the air did I realize my reaction had been a little too extreme.

I quickly gave an awkward smile. Just as I was about to explain, Dr. Grant tactfully spoke first. “If it isn’t treated in time, it could get infected.

The wound doesn’t look deep, but it got hit with rainwater and dust, so you should be careful.” “I happen to be off shift. Come to my office.

I’ll disinfect it and take care of it for you.” I couldn’t refuse anymore, and just as I was about to follow Dr. Grant, my shoulder was suddenly slammed hard from behind.

I had no time to react. My elbow hit the cold wall with a bang, and half my arm went numb instantly. “Ugh……” A muffled cry escaped before I could stop it.

I clutched my numb shoulder and looked up. It was Claire Morgan. Ryan Brooks was hooked onto her arm beside her.

Maybe because I was blocking the way, she didn’t even look at me and just tossed out a perfunctory, “Sorry.” Then she took Ryan Brooks and walked away.

Ryan Brooks did glance back at me. Last night, when I was delivering food, Claire Morgan had blocked his view, so he hadn’t seen me.

Today was basically the first time he’d run into me. His eyes landed first on my wrinkled, stained delivery uniform, then swept over my miserable posture as I clutched my shoulder.

He let out a proud, mocking snort, as if even wasting another word on me wasn’t worth it. He then walked off intimately behind Claire Morgan. “Ethan, are you okay?” Dr.

Grant immediately turned around and supported me. Seeing how pale I looked, she lifted her leg, clearly about to chase after them. I stopped her. “It’s fine.

They were probably in a hurry about something, and they already apologized.” “Forget it, Dr. Grant.” Seeing that I was determined, Dr. Grant nodded and helped me to her office.

After treating the wound, she even gave me some medicated oil and massaged my shoulder. I thanked her and insisted on transferring her the medical fee no matter what.

Thankfully, after a bit of back and forth, Dr. Grant finally accepted it. I glanced at the time. It was already time to go back out and deliver food.

But the moment I got to the hospital parking lot, I found that the seat of my ebike had been slashed to pieces.

The whole bike was also splashed all over with paint. “Bastard!” A sudden curse rang out from behind me.

Ryan Brooks walked out of the shadows, holding a utility knife, and smiled at me. “Five million. You spent it that fast?” “Or what?

You’re so broke you can’t survive anymore, so now you’ve come out……to seduce Claire again?”

“Mr. Brooks, we just happened to run into each other.” “Pah, who believes in your ‘just happened’? You already stole twenty years of my life. Now you want to steal my fiancée too?

Are you disgusting or what?” Faced with Ryan Brooks’s accusation, I really was in the wrong.

And with my current standing, if I fought her headon, the only one who’d suffer would be me and Noah.

So I tried to reason with her politely. “Ryan, what happened back then……I really am sorry. But please believe me, this time it really was just an accident.

From now on, I definitely won’t interfere in your and Ms. Morgan’s lives.” Ryan Brooks clearly didn’t believe me.

He asked bluntly, “I really can’t tell if you’re stupid or pretending to be. Claire liked you so much back then. If you stayed with her, how much money wouldn’t you have had?

But you had to run off with some foreign rich guy whose face looked like a dog’s head and a horse’s face, and I heard you even went to be a gigolo.” “So tell me, how much money do you want this time?” I shook my head hard, my voice tight. “I don’t want money, and I won’t show up in front of you again.” “Mr.

Brooks, you really misunderstood me.” “Misunderstood?” He snorted and cut me off. Clearly, he wasn’t listening to a word I said.

He casually took a check from his chest and stuffed it into my arms. “Here. One million.” “Disappear from Claire’s sight forever after this.” I frowned and didn’t take it.

I didn’t understand why Ryan Brooks would suddenly become so generous.

I remembered that back when he kicked me out of the Brooks family, Ryan Brooks didn’t even allow me to take two extra sets of clothes.

That day, it was raining heavily, and one kind servant had chased after me, trying to stuff an umbrella and a thick coat into my hands.

He stopped her in a shrill voice: “Don’t give him anything! Which piece of clothing or accessory on this bastard wasn’t bought with the Brooks family’s money?

Letting him take these few things is already charity!” Seeing that I still hadn’t reacted, Ryan Brooks forcefully stuffed the check into my arms.

Along with it, he also handed over the utility knife.

I was stunned by his sudden move and subconsciously tried to pull the hot potatolike check out of my arms and give it back to her. “What are you—” Before I could finish, “Help!——” Ryan Brooks suddenly panicked and screamed, “Robbery!

Extortion! Help!” “Don’t kill me!” My whole body went rigid. I instantly realized this was a setup Ryan Brooks had made.

Behind me, hurried footsteps and the security guard’s shouts were already coming fast. “Don’t move!

What’s going on over there?” “Stop!” “Put the knife down, I’ve already called the police!” Everything happened too fast.

In the blink of an eye, the security guards and Ryan Brooks’s bodyguards rushed out. I was kicked hard from behind. Then my face was slammed into the ground and dragged across it.

It burned like fire. In my mouth, I tasted dust and the smell of rust. My body was pinned down tightly by a restraint fork.

I was fixed to the ground, my body twisted, unable even to breathe properly. I had no dignity left at all. “Let go, it wasn’t me……” “Stay still!

The evidence is conclusive!” The security guard holding me barked harshly, drawing more hurried footsteps. Pinned to the ground, I could only see a bunch of shoes nearby.

And I could hear Ryan Brooks’s panicked voice “describing” the “robbery and extortion” and “knife threats” that had supposedly just happened. The security guard had been paid.

He gestured wildly to the arriving police, telling them how I’d been terrifyingly waving a knife around to rob people.

When I was dragged up from the ground, I saw Claire Morgan arrive. She strode forward a few steps and pulled Ryan Brooks into her arms.

In a low voice, she asked, “Ryan, are you hurt?” Ryan Brooks leaned into the crook of her neck and shook his head, but the tears kept falling even harder.

Only then did Claire Morgan turn her gaze toward me.

As if she had seen something disgusting, her eyes were full of revulsion. “Ethan Carter, do you even have any shame?” “It’s been five years, and you’ve already fallen this low?

You sold yourself for five million back then.

Now that you see Ryan’s easy to bully, you want to extort another payout?” I was left alone and helpless, and tears of grievance spilled out as I explained, “I didn’t……” But tears couldn’t win Claire Morgan’s sympathy.

Instead, they only made her more disgusted. She cut me off sharply. “Didn’t what?” “Didn’t have a knife? Or didn’t ask for money?

Ethan Carter, back then you could sell yourself without hesitation for money and get a good price. Now, for money, you do even lower things.

What’s so strange about that?” “I really never thought you could be so shameless. You even did something lower than an animal.

The way you are now, what’s the difference between you and a maggot in a sewer?

Besides wriggling around at other people’s money bags, what else can you do?” I still wanted to explain, but I’d already been shoved into the police car.

Armed robbery wasn’t a small matter. That night, I was detained.

No matter how I explained or argued, it was useless. The investigation process still hadn’t been completed. I couldn’t get out.

I could only anxiously worry about Noah, who was still in the hospital. Had his fever gone down? Did he take his medicine on time?

Would he cry at night because he couldn’t find his mom? How many more days could the medical bills hold out?

Fear and anxiety were wrapped tightly around my heart, tightening more and more until I could almost suffocate. But even worse situations kept coming one after another.

Originally, while I was at the detention center, I could still write out my appeal materials by hand.

But maybe because I’d been out in the rain all night, I started running a high fever.

My whole body burned so badly that I was barely conscious, and I couldn’t even hold a pen steadily. No. I really couldn’t be falsely accused into prison. What about Noah?

He had just finished surgery. He was still so little. Four years old. He had only just been pulled back from the gates of hell. He didn’t have a mother. He wouldn’t survive.

But my body obviously gave out before my will did.

Just as I was about to collapse in the detention center, a police officer’s voice came from outside. “Ethan Carter, you can leave for now.” “Someone bailed you out.” It was Dr.

Grant. She walked in quickly and supported me as I left the police station, only to run into Claire Morgan. Her mocking gaze swept over Dr.

Grant’s arm around me, and her tone was nasty. “Ethan Carter, your son is already in the emergency room.” “How do you still have the nerve to be all over another woman like that?” My heart lurched.

I looked up at Dr. Grant anxiously, trying to confirm it.

Emily Grant pressed her lips together, shot Claire Morgan a dark look, then soothed her, saying: “It’s a high fever triggered by an infection.

His condition has been fluctuating, and there are signs it’s getting worse... He wasn’t in great shape when they brought him in.” “But the chief is already in surgery personally.

He’ll be okay.” The news made my legs go weak. I nearly fainted. I grabbed Emily Grant’s sleeve and begged her: “Take me to the hospital.

Emily, I’m begging you.” “Noah is still so little.

He really can’t have anything happen to him...” I stood by the operating room door, my face getting paler and paler as I stared at the bright red surgical light.

It felt like my whole heart was hanging by a thread. So fragile I could barely stand. “Ethan, sit down first.

You still have a fever...” I acted like I didn’t hear her, just shook my head, my eyes locked on the operating room. Emily tried to talk me down several times and couldn’t.

In the end, she had to leave first to get me something to eat and help me regain my strength. I didn’t know when Claire Morgan had followed after us.

Looking terrible, she asked Emily about the situation: “Why is he raising the child all on his own? Did he ever tell you why?” “Did he divorce that foreign guy who ran off with him?

That man didn’t even want custody, just dumped the kid on him like that?” Emily never said a word.

That only made Claire Morgan more anxious, until she finally asked the most important question: “What illness does this kid have?

Is Ethan Carter really... so desperate he’ll do anything to get money?” Emily knew Noah’s background. But there was really no time to explain everything to Claire Morgan.

She forced down the urge to splash the porridge in her hand right in Claire Morgan’s face and was just about to go around her and head back when— A nurse at the operating room door suddenly cried out in panic: “Mr.

Carter!” “Mr. Carter, wake up!” Emily Grant and Claire Morgan both changed color at the same time and ran.

There I was, already fainted, still clutching the critical condition notice I hadn’t managed to sign. The nurse was holding me and turned to Emily for help: “Dr.

Grant, the chief says the blood bank is critically low on type O.

Can you urgently arrange a transfer from other hospitals?” “That child is hemorrhaging badly!” A life is worth more than anything. Even if Claire Morgan hated me.

Faced with this kind of situation, faced with the child who had half my blood in his veins, even she couldn’t help softening.

While rolling up her sleeves, she walked up to the nurse and said: “I’m type O.

Take my blood.” The nurse’s face lit up, and she hurried to lead Claire Morgan away for the blood draw. Emily was shocked and rushed up to stop her. “No!” “She’s a direct relative.

She can’t donate blood!”