Chapter 2

2

"The engagement party is canceled. Let us cancel the wedding too," I said flatly.

Without turning back, I powered my wheelchair toward the exit.

As soon as I rolled out the hotel doors, her furious screams echoed behind me.

"Who the hell does Ansel think he is? A cripple daring to break off an engagement with me?"

"I would like to see who else in this world would want a broken invalid like him!"

Her cruel words sank what was left of my frozen heart straight into the abyss.

Ten years!

A whole decade of devotion, and in her eyes, I was nothing more than a pathetic cripple surviving on medication.

My hands tightened around my numb knees, my throat tight with bitterness.

We were not always like this.

Rosalind and I met back in high school.

The first thing she ever said to me was, "Ansel Hayes, nice to meet you, Mr. Number One."

Back then, she wore her hair in a high ponytail.

Under the scorching summer sun, her bright, radiant smile captivated me in an instant.

After that, she constantly came over to ask me physics questions.

Later, the school rearranged the classes, and we ended up as desk mates.

We grew closer and closer every day.

Years later, I found out she had asked her family to pull strings with the school board just to be seated next to me because walking over was too much trouble.

That was when I learned she was the heiress of the massive Lawson Enterprises.

If it were not for my stellar academic grades, I would not have even had the right to stand beside her.

To stay by her side, I enrolled in the same top medical school she chose.

Luckily, we were placed in the same cohort again.

Just like in high school, we spent every day together, and dating became the most natural next step.

After graduation, we both started our residency at Metro General Hospital.

Her family wanted her to take over the family empire.

She had no interest in business back then. She wanted to establish herself in medicine, become a renowned surgeon, and break free from her family control.

Everything changed three years ago during a tragic accident.

We admitted a patient with severe pulmonary fibrosis whose only chance of survival was a lung transplant.

Before the surgery, Rosalind and the surgical team thoroughly explained the immense risks to the family, and they signed the consent forms.

Tragically, the patient died on the operating table.

That night, Rosalind broke down and sobbed uncontrollably in my arms.

It was her first time assisting in a major surgery, and she had just witnessed the brutal finality of life and death.

All I could do was hold her and comfort her.

What none of us anticipated was the family violent retaliation.

Later that night, an enraged relative snuck into the hospital armed with a hatchet, storming into Rosalind department in a blind frenzy.

To shield Rosalind from the blade, my legs were brutally hacked and crushed.

Before I could even process the agony, I passed out from the excruciating pain.

Rosalind walked away from that massacre without a scratch.

I, on the other hand, lost the use of both legs, shattering my dream of ever standing by an operating table again.

When I woke up, Rosalind was slumped over my hospital bed, her eyes red and swollen.

"Ansel, you are finally awake! I was so scared," she had wept.

"The chief said that as long as you keep up with physical therapy, you will walk again!"

"Do not worry. I will stay by your side and take care of you for the rest of my life!"

Because she promised me a lifetime, I believed her with all my heart.

That violent incident terrified the Lawson family.

Fearing another tragedy, they used my critical condition to coerce Rosalind into taking over the family business.

If she refused, they threatened to cut off all my medical care and rehabilitation resources.

Left with no choice, Rosalind agreed.

After stepping into leadership, she immediately founded a biotech division, proving herself to be an extraordinary businesswoman.

Today, Lawson Biotech dominated the regional healthcare industry.

Meanwhile, I stepped into the shadows, quietly managing her daily life, meals, and home for three whole years.

Because I came from an ordinary working-class background and was now disabled, the Lawson family despised me.

They believed I was an embarrassment to Rosalind and ordered her to keep me hidden away.

They even demanded that she publicly claim to be single.

I never cared about any of that.

All I ever wanted from the beginning was Rosalind herself.

As long as her heart belonged to me, nothing else mattered.

I thought my unwavering loyalty was the right choice until Zachary Ford showed up.

When Rosalind first decided to invest in Zachary research, I supported her.

As they spent more time together, she began abandoning me for him regularly.

There were months when we barely saw each other once.

A few days ago, I brought up the fact that I had saved her life to ask for one thing in return: marriage.

I hoped that getting married would finally make her settle down.

When she ditched our engagement party for Zachary and I saw the photo of them kissing under our maple tree, reality hit me hard.

I was wrong.

Completely and utterly wrong.

A marriage certificate is not a leash, and it could never hold someone who no longer loved you.