Godfrey tossed his apple core into the same trash can, the juice soaking into my crumpled report.
"You're heartless, Amanda!"
"My brother sacrificed everything for you, and you won't even cough up this much? Did a dog eat your conscience?"
Elise seemed used to scenes like this. She settled into the couch with an air of indifference and bit into a piece of fruit.
Vincent softened his voice.
"Babe, I know you've been working hard lately. Godfrey's wedding is a big deal, and Elise has been studying so hard she deserves a nice break. Just think of it as granting me one little wish, okay?"
"When I saved you that day, I never once thought about getting anything in return. If you can't even agree to something this small, it really would break my heart."
Break his heart?
My fingers clenched until the knuckles went white. My breathing turned shallow, ragged.
I stared at him, and the suffocating tide of memory dragged me back five years.
Five years ago, we ran a small restaurant together.
Those days were grueling. Four, maybe five hours of sleep a night, up before dawn and working until well past dark.
But watching the business grow a little more each day made every bit of it feel worth it.
One morning we left for the wholesale market at four-thirty to stock up on supplies. On the drive home, we were in an accident.
Vincent shielded me with his body, pinning me beneath him.
His legs were crushed beyond recognition, yet he begged the paramedics to save me first—me, who was pregnant.
By the time we reached the hospital, the baby was gone. And Vincent had suffered a spinal injury that left him paralyzed for life.
In that moment, my world collapsed.
I held him and sobbed until my throat was raw, saying I was sorry over and over again.
Telling him it was all my fault. That if he hadn't tried to save me, he never would have ended up this way.
Vincent held my hand, his voice barely a whisper.
"Amanda, don't blame yourself. I'm your husband. Protecting you is what I'm supposed to do."
That single sentence became the heaviest shackle around my heart.
I felt like I owed him for the rest of my life.
After Vincent was discharged from the hospital, he was confined to a wheelchair. Before the accident, he'd been the head chef while I worked as his sous chef and waitress. We'd only ever hired one dishwasher. Now the entire weight of the restaurant fell on my shoulders.