Chapter 1: The Girl in the Wheelchair
“You’re nothing but a useless girl in a wheelchair.””
Brianna said it loudly enough for everyone at the Carter family engagement party to hear.
The ballroom fell silent.
I sat beside the champagne table, my fingers resting on the silver rims of my wheelchair. Crystal chandeliers glittered overhead. White roses decorated the tables, and expensive champagne flowed freely.
Everything looked perfect.
Except for the woman standing in front of me.
Brianna wore an emerald-green designer gown that hugged her pregnant stomach. A diamond necklace rested against her collarbone, and her manicured fingers played with the engagement ring on her left hand.
She looked like a princess.
She behaved like a monster.
“And I,” she announced, rubbing her stomach, “am carrying the next generation of the Carter family.””
Several guests exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Nobody defended me.
I had grown accustomed to that.
Brianna was engaged to Ethan Cole, the only son of a wealthy family connected to the Carter business empire. Her father owned several commercial properties, and her future father-in-law controlled a substantial investment company.
People tolerated her cruelty because they wanted invitations to her parties.
I looked at Ethan.
He stood beside her in a black tuxedo, holding a champagne glass.
He knew me.
He knew how I had lost the ability to walk.
He knew how many surgeries I had endured.
And he knew that the accident had taken more from me than my ability to stand.
Yet he remained silent.
“Ethan,” I said quietly.
He looked at me.
“Please tell her to stop.””
His jaw tightened.
“Brianna, that's enough.””
Brianna laughed.
“That's enough? Really? You're defending her now?””
“I'm asking you not to make a scene.””
“She's the one making a scene!””
She pointed at my wheelchair.
“Look at her. Everyone came here to celebrate our engagement, and she's sitting there looking miserable. Does she think anyone wants to see that?””
I swallowed.
“My wheelchair doesn't embarrass me,” I replied.
“Your behavior should.””
A few guests gasped.
Brianna's cheeks turned red.
She stepped closer.
“You should remember who pays for the food you're eating tonight.””
“I paid for my own dinner.””
“Not in this family.””
That sentence hurt more than I expected.
For the past three weeks, I had been staying at the Carter estate while recovering from another medical procedure. Richard Williams, Ethan's uncle, had personally invited me.
He had been unusually kind.
He asked about my physical therapy, remembered my favorite tea, and never once looked at my wheelchair with pity.
I still didn't understand why.
Brianna glanced toward the stage.
“Richard probably regrets inviting you.””
A deep voice interrupted her.
“I regret many things, Brianna. Inviting her is not one of them.””
Richard Williams approached.
The sixty-two-year-old businessman wore a navy suit and a silver watch. His expression was calm, but the people closest to him immediately stepped aside.
Brianna straightened.
“Richard, I was only joking.””
“Were you?””
“Of course.””
“Then perhaps you can explain why nobody is laughing.””
She glanced around.
Nobody moved.
Richard extended his hand.
“Give me your phone.””
Brianna frowned.
“What?””
“Your phone.””
“This is ridiculous.””
“Brianna.””
His voice became colder.
She reluctantly handed it over.
Richard examined the screen before looking at Ethan.
“Did you tell her?””
Ethan's champagne glass trembled.
“Uncle, please. Not here.””
Richard placed the phone on the table.
“Then you should have thought about that before making private arrangements with someone else's fiancée.””
A wave of whispers moved through the ballroom.
Brianna's face went pale.
“You promised you wouldn't reveal that.””
Richard opened a black folder.
“I promised nothing.””
Ethan stepped forward.
“Uncle Richard, we can discuss this privately.””
“No. You've both enjoyed the luxury of secrecy long enough.””
Richard removed several photographs.
They showed Ethan and Brianna entering a private hotel suite on different evenings. Another showed them kissing outside a restaurant.
The ballroom erupted.
Brianna grabbed the edge of the table.
“You have no right to show those!””
Richard looked at her.
“You were engaged to my nephew while carrying on a relationship with another man.””
Ethan lowered his head.
Brianna turned toward him.
“Tell them!””
He said nothing.
“Ethan! Tell them those pictures are fake!””
“I can't.””
Her mouth fell open.
For a moment, she looked genuinely frightened.
Then her expression changed.
She looked directly at me.
“You think you're better than me?””
I blinked.
“I never said that.””
“You've been sitting here judging me all night!””
“I haven't said anything about you.””
“Because you can't! You're pathetic!””
Richard stepped between us.
“That's enough.””
But Brianna wasn't finished.
She pulled out another phone from her purse.
Ethan immediately moved toward her.
“Brianna, don't.””
She smiled.
“Oh, now you're worried?””
“Put that away.””
“Why? Afraid they'll discover what we really did?””
Richard's expression changed.
“What are you talking about?””
Brianna ignored him.
She crouched beside my wheelchair and turned the phone toward me.
A photograph appeared.
At first, I saw only a hospital room.
Then I recognized the date.
June 17.
The night of my accident.
My breathing stopped.
There was a hospital bed in the photograph. A woman lay beneath a white blanket. Beside her stood a younger Ethan, wearing a bloodstained shirt.
But he wasn't looking at the woman.
He was looking at a newborn baby.
My hands began trembling.
“Where did you get this?”” I whispered.
Brianna leaned closer.
“You really don't know, do you?””
I looked again.
The baby had a small crescent-shaped birthmark beneath the left ear.
My fingers instinctively moved toward the same place on my neck.
I had the same birthmark.
Brianna noticed.
Her smile widened.
“That's what I thought.””
Across the ballroom, Richard suddenly stopped moving.
His eyes were fixed on the photograph.
“Brianna,” he said slowly.
“Where did you get that picture?””
She stood.
“Ask your nephew.””
Richard turned toward Ethan.
For the first time that evening, the powerful businessman looked genuinely terrified.
“Ethan,” he whispered.
“Tell me that isn't the photograph from St. Mary's Hospital.””
Ethan's face became completely white.
May you like
And then Brianna delivered the words that made my entire world collapse.
“She's not the girl you think she is. She was never supposed to survive that night.””
