I Dumped My Poor Boyfriend, Became Rich—He Said Regrets Chapter 16

I Dumped My Poor Boyfriend, Became Rich—He Said Regrets Chapter 16(Ethan’s POV)

The first time I saw Veronica Vance was at the freshman registration assembly.

She was wearing a pristine white dress, walking through the sun-drenched corridors of the department like she owned the light. From that single second, every dream, every ambition, and every desperate fantasy I

would ever have took on her exact shape.

I loved her instantly, but I knew the rules. We belonged to two entirely different species. She was the princess of an untouchable ivory tower, completely pure and untouched by the dirt of the real world. Her feet had never touched the grime of the streets. She was the moonlight-beautiful, cold, and entirely out of reach. She was the source of every single insecurity that tore through my chest. How could a boy like me ever dare to look at her? Just thinking about her felt like a crime.

My parents had died when I was a kid; Grandfather Thomas was the only family I had left. The winter before freshman year, his legs were severely injured in a factory accident, leaving him permanently disabled. The entire financial weight of our lives fell onto my shoulders. I needed to fund my tuition, his rent, and his escalating medical bills.

When my financial aid package was stolen by a well-connected legacy student, I felt like the world had stepped on my neck. I lost faith in the concept of fairness entirely.

I never expected the moonlight to pierce through my dark world. The second she told me she liked me after class, the blood in my veins practically boiled. But the moment she offered to pay me for a kiss, the room turned into absolute ice. I felt like I’d been dropped into a freezing trench. What did she think I was? A pretty

toy she could rent with her allowance?

But her eyes were so completely pure, lacking even an ounce of malicious intent. I rejected her anyway.

Until Grandfather Thomas collapsed, ending up in the ICU. The crushing weight of those five-figure hospital bills completely broke my spine. Veronica appeared out of nowhere, clearing the entire balance without

blinking.

Then she looked at me with that same bright smile and whispered, “Be with me, please?”

This time, I said yes. Not because of the money. But because when she pouted like that, my heart completely

surrendered. I had zero defenses against her.

Later, I realized Veronica had lived such a golden life that she didn’t even understand the power of wealth.

She didn’t use money to flex or dominate. To her, money wasn’t a weapon-it was just paper. That was why

she was more pure than anyone I’d ever met.

Veronica loved me fiercely. She insisted on holding my hand wherever we went. Her hand was so small, soft, and entirely free of calluses. I was always terrified the rough, blistered skin on my palms would scratch her,

but she didn’t care. She’d wrap both hands around mine and squeeze.

Sometimes I felt like a sworn knight. I only moved when the princess gave the command. Outside of her

orders, I didn’t dare step into her space. She was always the initiator, her touch completely raw, honest, and

full of warmth.

But the campus bubble quickly turned toxic. Vicious rumors began trailing behind us. Even the professors

who used to champion my code began dropping subtle hints about “moral integrity” and “conduct.”

I loved her, but I despised the words they used to describe me. I thought about breaking it off a thousand

times, but my hands refused to let go. Who could ever willingly walk away from Veronica Vance? No one.

She was a miracle, a divine gift in my miserable life.

As the slurs grew louder, I buried myself in my algorithms and delivery shifts, forcing the noise out of my

head. Then, her father cornered me behind her back. He told me to pack my bags and leave the city. He said

a charity case like me would never be allowed into his family tree.

I refused. Even when his legal teams threatened me, I kept my jaw clenched. As long as Veronica didn’t let go

of my hand, I would never let go of hers. I worked myself to the bone, desperate to prove I could build a

future worthy of her. Whatever other girls had, my girl was going to have the best version of it.

When my roommate bought his girlfriend a silver bracelet, I resolved that Veronica needed one too. I pulled

double shifts at the diner and ran DoorDash until my eyes bled, finally saving enough to buy the chain.

But I couldn’t bring myself to step into her birthday gala. If my presence was going to bring class-shaming

and mockery down on her head, I preferred to stay in the dark outside the gates.

By senior year, I found myself secretly reading engagement ring catalogs. The prices were terrifying. I

couldn’t even afford the tax on a platinum band. I just needed her to wait for me a little longer.

Major tech firms were already throwing high-six-figure offers at me, and I was drafting the code for my own

startup. Soon, I’d be able to buy the ring. I’d buy the estate, the dress, and every single luxury she deserved.

Venture capitalists had just greenlit my initial seed round, and I was sprinting to her apartment to share the

incredible news when she dropped the axe.

She told me she was bored of her toy.

In that exact second, I felt like the biggest idiot in the world. What had I expected? That the moonlight would

actually choose to stay in the mud with an insect like me?

I walked away, locking myself in my dark room for two days in pure, agonizing fury. Then the anger faded, leaving nothing but the terrifying realization that I couldn’t survive without her. Fine. If I’m just a toy, then I’ll be the best damn toy she’s ever had.

I ran back to her apartment, but she was gone. Completely erased.

I walked out on my seed round, tracking down every single rumor across the country, throwing myself into unfamiliar cities just to find a trace of her hair. But she was too fast. She left zero footprints.

Then the news of her family’s bankruptcy finally hit the wires. I had zero capital back then. Was that why she left? Because I was too poor to pay off her creditors? I had never loathed my own lack of wealth more than

in those dark months.

Once my savings hit absolute zero, I crawled back to Lexington City, crashing on a friend’s couch to finish the code for the tracking system. As my network expanded, the full scope of the Vance collapse was laid bare before me. My mind finally cleared, and the agonizing truth hit me. The Vance empire hadn’t just fallen; her entire ivory tower had crushed her underneath it. My princess had been dropped straight into the brutal grime of the real world… was she even surviving?

I was completely torn apart. Half of me was furious that she’d abandoned me, and the other half was

terrified she was starving somewhere.

I still couldn’t find her. To evade the collection agencies, her family had completely changed their identities.

I started buying every single thing she used to love. The luxury hand creams, the designer bags, the high-end

skincare-l packed my penthouse with them. The day she came back, she wouldn’t have to miss a single

thing.

Four years. Four years of dead air, and then I saw her at the lounge.

That night, I deliberately stayed behind, waiting until the lights cut out just so I could walk behind her in the

corridor. The elevator ride from the twentieth floor to the lobby took exactly three minutes. Those three

minutes felt longer than the last twenty-four years of my life.

Why did she pretend not to know me? Why was she running toward the exit like my touch was poison? Did

she really loathe me that much?

Risking her permanent hatred, I called out her name. The cap tilted up, and I finally saw her face clearly. She was so thin, the bright, arrogant fire in her eyes completely snuffed out. When she was talking to Chloe, I couldn’t even process the words; I was too busy counting the hollow lines of her cheeks, forgetting how to

breathe.

The most brutal blow was discovering she was running multiple manual labor jobs. Exactly like I used to do. When I held her hand and felt the thick, rough calluses on her soft skin, I nearly choked on my own tears. I had survived years of poverty without shedding a single tear, but seeing calluses on Veronica’s hands made

me want to burn the city down.

Then she told me she had a fiancé. I didn’t believe it for a second. Until that entitled bastard Chad

Montgomery showed up at my door.

…I wanted to tear his head off.

I had lived my entire life by a strict moral code of integrity. But for the first time in my life, I was ready to do

something entirely toxic. I was going to steal her back.

I wasn’t poor anymore. I could give her the world. Her family’s debts were nothing but pocket change to my firm. My heart was entirely settled: I loved the pure princess from our past, and I loved the fierce,

unbreakable survivor standing in front of me tonight. We were exactly the same.

On New Year’s Eve, Veronica looked out at the city lights and asked me, “Ethan, what do you think is the

most resilient thing in the universe?”

I looked at her profile and murmured, “The moonlight.”

She didn’t understand, turning her head back toward the snow. She had no idea that she was the only moon

I’d ever watched.

I used to think the moonlight had fallen into the dirt, ruined forever. But I watched her crash on the ice, wipe the blood from her knees, and stand right back up. The world couldn’t break her.

“Why the moonlight?” she asked, her voice soft and naive.

I leaned down, pressing my lips gently against her forehead. “Because even when the world goes completely dark… the moonlight never falls.”

I will love my moon forever.

(The End)