When I stayed silent, he sighed and added, “Margaret drank a little too much when she was accompanying a client before. You also know that driving after drinking is more likely to cause an accident. Now someone has started to investigate this matter again, so you should voluntarily turn yourself in tomorrow..”
“And the wedding?” I asked calmly.
“The wedding goes on as planned. Your legs are useless anyway. Margaret will attend the banquet for you, but the name on the marriage certificate will still be yours.”
“I’m not going.” I refused flatly.
Jeremiah’s momentary shock at my refusal quickly gave way to an angry laugh. “I know how much you want to be part of your own wedding, but since you’re the one who ‘Knock someone down,’ you have to bear the blame, right?”
“Margaret going to the wedding in your place, you going to jail in hers, what’s the problem? If anything, Margaret’s the one getting the short end of the stick. You know how much a woman’s reputation means.”
I stared, stunned by the sheer shamelessness of it all.
Before I could respond, Jeremiah hung up.
My gaze fell on the small box beside me, the shattered pieces of the diamond pendant Margaret had destroyed.
I closed my eyes, tears welling up in my eyes.
I packaged the missing information from the days when my parents had the car accident and sent it to the relevant personnel.
When I was discharged and returned home, the living room was in utter chaos, and from the kitchen came muffled, obscene noises that turned my stomach.
Then I saw it, an unbearable scene.
With his back to me, Jeremiah was eagerly losing himself in Margaret, and she, drunk on pleasure, turned to give me a smug, provocative smile.
She mouthed silently: Useless thing, have you seen enough?
Disgust hit me so hard that I fled upstairs and threw up. It took ages before I could breathe normally again.
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but just as I reached the bedroom door, I saw Jeremiah standing there as if he’d been waiting.
He grabbed my wrist sharply.
“Lainey, can you show a shred of shame?”
“Didn’t I tell you to go turn yourself in? Or are you really going to wait for the police to drag you away?”
But as he caught sight of the wounds on my body, his voice faltered.
A flicker of conflict and hesitation clouded his face.
I shook off his hand and replied calmly, “I’m a cripple. How could I possibly hurt anyone?”