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Home / Romance Short Story / One Percent of Love / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of One Percent of Love: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

I was falling fast. My bones rattled, my blood seemed to run backward, and my head buzzed.Somewhere above me Ethan was shouting, panicked. "Nora! Are you insane?"Just when I was sure I was about to die, I hit something huge and soft, a fire rescue airbag.Ethan came down too. He pushed through the crowd and stood over me.His voice was full of scorn. "Huh. Still alive?""Nora, you really know how to put on a show. Can't even die from a jump. You did that on purpose, didn't you?"His friends laughed along. "Yeah, she just wants Ethan to feel sorry for her."Ethan stood and brushed the dust off his knees. "Even if you'd jumped and actually died, I still wouldn't have married you.""You die, I marry someone else. You live, don't expect me to pity you."I opened my mouth. The taste of blood welled up from my throat, thick on my tongue.I forced it down, and my voice came out shaking. "Ethan, I don't want you to marry me.""As of today, we're even."Ethan's smile froze for a second. Then

Chapter 2

Five years ago, the day my mother was diagnosed, I walked out of the hospital with nowhere left to turn.I sat down on the steps outside and buried my face in my knees. The tears wouldn't fall and wouldn't go away.Then I heard the voice.[Host in crisis detected. Emotional Conquest System now active.]My head snapped up. I thought I was hallucinating, that I'd finally lost my mind.[The host must select a target and complete one hundred of the target's demands, until the target is willing to marry the host.][Upon completion, the system will grant the host one wish.]I didn't even have to think. "Cure my mother."[Wish locked. Please select a target.]My phone lit up. I scrolled through my contacts and stopped on Ethan.The Harts had money, resources, connections. He was the obvious choice.[Target locked.]That night I went to his apartment, knelt on the floor, and begged."Ethan, I'll do anything. Just marry me."Ethan lounged on the couch, one leg crossed over the other, flicking a

Chapter 3

The day my mother's life hung in the balance, I was putting together a financial report for Ethan's company.The hospital called. "Ms. Bennett, your mother has had a brain hemorrhage. She needs surgery immediately.""Please come and sign the consent forms. The deposit is fifty thousand, up front."Fifty thousand dollars.I checked every account I had. Together they came to less than five hundred.Ethan had taken all my savings, everything my parents and I had set aside over a lifetime. I had nothing left.When I burst into Ethan's office, he was leaning back in his chair on a video call with Vivian, his voice impossibly gentle."Baby, what do you want for dinner? I'll book somewhere."He frowned when he saw me come in, covered the phone's mic, and looked at me.I spoke fast. "Ethan, my mother has a brain hemorrhage. She needs fifty thousand for surgery. Can you—"He cut me off, his voice flat. "Money's tight for me right now. Figure it out yourself.""That money you took out of my acco

Chapter 4

On the third day in the hospital after the jump, Ethan came to see me.My leg was in a cast, suspended in the air. There was gauze taped to my face and an IV port in the back of my right hand.His tone was casual. "How bad is it?"I kept it short. "I'll live."He didn't respond. He pulled out an envelope, a thick stack of hospital bills inside."Your medical costs. I've covered all of it."I went still for a second.His expression was bland. "Don't thank me. You jumped because of me. It's only right that I pay."I said quietly, "Thank you."He nodded, dragged a chair over, sat, and was silent for a while before he spoke again."When you said you didn't want me to marry you. Did you mean it?"I nodded, serious. "Yes."He paused, then his brow tightened. "Nora, are you done acting out?""I'm not acting out.""You nearly got yourself killed and you're telling me you're not acting out?""It's because I nearly got myself killed that I finally came to my senses."He stood, shoving the chair

Chapter 5

I lay in the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.Ethan had a system too. So what had it told him to do?I turned it over in my mind all day and couldn't make sense of it. He came back the next day.His eyes were red. One look and I could tell he hadn't slept, that he'd been crying.I didn't make much of it. I just said, evenly, "Go on. Tell me about this system of yours."Ethan's voice was hoarse. "It woke up five years ago. The target was you."Five years ago, the exact moment I'd gotten mine."What was your task?"He looked at me, his lips moving. "To make you give up on me."I went still.A lot of things fell into place at once. No wonder he'd agreed to that agreement in the first place."Your task was to make me give up on you. Why? What was the reward?"Ethan dropped his head, his throat working."If you gave up on me, I'd live past thirty."Something in my mind snapped.He went on. "I've had a heart condition since I was a kid. I was never going to make it past thirty.""Five y

Chapter 6

By the time Ethan got back to his apartment it was the middle of the night.He pushed the door open, changed his shoes in the dark, and went to sit on the couch.The place was quiet. There was no dinner I'd made, no me smiling at him to come eat.He sat there ten minutes, then picked up his phone and opened our chat.He wanted to say something. He typed and deleted, typed and deleted, then gave up and threw the phone onto the couch.He woke early the next morning, rolled over out of habit, and called out, "Nora, what do we want for breakfast?"No answer came. He opened his eyes and found the other side of the bed empty.He lay there a long time, then just stared at the ceiling in silence.At nine he got to the office, pushed the door open, and glanced left without thinking.That was where I used to sit. I always got in before him, stacked his files in order on his desk, washed his mug, and filled it with hot water.Today the seat was empty and the desk was bare.Kyle came in with his c

Chapter 7

The day I was discharged, the sun was out.I handled the paperwork on my own, on crutches, and instead of going straight home I went to my mother's room. She was waiting for me.When I opened the door she was sitting on the edge of the bed, already changed into her own clothes, her bag packed.She saw me, stood, came over and took my hands, and looked me up and down.Her gaze landed on the crutches, on the bruises that hadn't fully faded from my face, on the leg that had just come out of its cast.Her eyes went red. "Nora, you've lost weight, and you're so pale. Have you not been eating?"Warmth spread through my chest. "I have. Every day."She touched my cheek, her fingers warm. "Come on. Let's go home. I'll make you something good."I smiled, and I meant it. "Okay."We went to her doctor's office for one last check.He looked over all her results and said everything was normal, that she could go home.I nodded along, then asked, almost in passing, "By the way, doctor, a friend of min

Chapter 8

I thought Ethan would vanish from my life just like that. I was wrong.The doorbell rang. I dried my hands and went to the entryway, and found Ethan kneeling outside the door.His knees were on the floor, his hands braced in front of him, his head bowed.Behind him stood two of his friends, Jack and Tom, holding bags, their faces uneasy.I stayed inside. "What is this?"Ethan lifted his head, his eyes red. "However many times you kowtowed back then, I'll give you double."He didn't wait for an answer. He bent straight down and pressed his forehead to the floor with a dull thud.Jack turned his face away, unable to watch, and Tom's fingers tightened around the bag in his hand.Ethan's forehead went red, then blood started down from between his brows.The count climbed. The arm bracing him began to shake, and the blood had smeared across his forehead and run into his eyes.He blinked once and didn't wipe it. He kept going.I finally spoke and put a stop to it. "Enough."He stopped, kneel

Chapter 9

After my leg healed, I took my mother for one last follow-up.Ethan trailed silently behind us. I ignored him.While we waited for the results, a commotion broke out at the end of the hall.A woman was crying. A nurse rushed past pushing a gurney with a small child on it, the child's lips gone blue."Out of the way. The child's lost too much blood. He needs a transfusion."Ethan got up from the bench at the other end of the hall and ran over at once."I'll give blood. We're the same type. Take mine."The nurse looked at him.Ethan was pale, his lips dry, still not recovered from the blood loss and the stomach pump."Are you up to it? You don't look well.""Yes. Hurry, the child can't wait."He lay down in the donation chair, pushed up his sleeve, and the blood ran out through the line and into the bag.His lips went whiter and his hand kept trembling, and the nurse glanced at him again and again.I stood at the corner of the hall and didn't go over.I watched the blood come out of him,

Chapter 10

Some time later, something happened to Ethan. One of his friends called to tell me."Ms. Bennett, Ethan's in the hospital. Could you come see him?"It was Jack, his voice urgent, the noise of the hospital behind him."What happened to him?""The cut on his forehead still hasn't healed, and there's the stomach pump, and he gave two bags of blood. Then a few days ago he went out drinking, drank until his stomach was bleeding, and collapsed in his apartment. Someone from the building found him after he'd already thrown up a lot of blood."Jack paused. "Before he passed out, he kept saying your name."I gripped the phone and didn't answer."Ms. Bennett, I know you don't owe him anything."Jack's voice caught. "But he's in a bad way. Just come see him once. Once is enough."I thought about it for a moment, then asked, "Which hospital?"When I got there Ethan hadn't woken yet.It was a private room, very quiet, only the steady beep of the monitor.When Jack saw me come in, he left and shut t

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