Crippled by Deception, Now They Drown in RegretChapter 1
Five years after reuniting with my wealthy biological family, the so-called heiress Scarlett Harrison ran me down with her car, shattering my leg.
My parents and my childhood sweetheart, Elijah Parker, rushed me to the hospital in a panic. When the doctor solemnly declared that I might never walk again, Elijah dropped to one knee without hesitation, vowing to take care of me for the rest of my life.
My parents had severed all ties with Scarlett and taken charge of the evidence, assuring me that justice would be served. With that, I could finally rest and focus on my recovery.
Later, they claimed Scarlett had drowned accidentally while fleeing in guilt and I believed them.
It wasn’t until five years into my marriage that I unexpectedly saw Scarlett, the woman who was supposed to be dead.
She cradled a little boy in her arms, her voice soft yet brimming with emotion as she spoke to Elijah.
“These past years, I’ve been so grateful to you and Mom and Dad. Without you, I would have ended up in some run-down sewing factory cast aside by Azalea.”
“That cripple never would have imagined, even in death, that you and I have a son. That Mom and Dad were in on it all along, wiping away the evidence, switching out her medication for worthless vitamins.”
“Don’t say that,” he murmured. “Marrying her was the only way I could keep issuing those forgiveness letters. It was the only way to keep you safe.”
“As long as you and our son are happy, none matters.”
So that was the truth.
The marriage I had once clung to as my salvation had been nothing more than a cruel illusion. My parents had betrayed me and discarded me, all for the sake of fraud.
Fine.
If I was nothing to them, then I would walk away.
——
I stood in silence in the hospital lobby, watching as Scarlett held her son. Elijah stood beside her, his family beaming with joy.
It felt as if someone had hollowed out my chest, leaving behind nothing but a raw, gaping wound. The pain was suffocating; I could barely breathe.
The husband who once vowed to stand by me, to cherish me, had loved the very woman who nearly ended my life.
And my parents, after erasing the evidence, still refused to believe me. Instead, they had Elijah marry me, not out of love, but to keep issuing letters of forgiveness, shielding Scarlett from the consequences of her actions.
My phone rang.
It was my mother.