Five Million Dollars To Erase You

“The year I turned eight, my parents were killed in a car crash, and seventeen-year-old Channing took me in and raised me with everything he had for ten full years. But from the moment I confessed my feelings to him at eighteen, the look in his eyes held nothing but undisguised disgust. To make me give up once and for all, he brought home his socialite bride, Brenda, and handed her my unpublished paintings. Overnight, I became a shameless plagiarist, condemned by the entire internet. When I called him through tears, demanding to know why he had stolen my artwork, his voice was ice-cold. "Brenda needs a weighty centerpiece for her show. She's my wife - you owe her your help." At last I understood completely: to preserve his own name and standing, he was willing to destroy my future. On the morning of his wedding, I left a five-million-dollar check on the table and boarded a flight to London. Channing - from this day on, we owe each other nothing.”