My Paralyzed Husband Ran to Save His True Love

For three years, my husband Julian Blackwood pretended to be paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair.

The night the cruise ship caught fire, a burning beam fell and shattered my leg. I screamed his name, my voice breaking, begging for help.

He sat in his wheelchair, watching me with cold eyes.

Too far. I can't reach you. Crawl.

But the very next moment, Seraphina, his true love, fell into the water.

Julian sprang to his feet. He dashed to the edge of the deck and plunged headfirst into the dark sea.

Because of him, my leg was left mangled by fire. Because of him, my brain was deprived of oxygen, its growth halted at the age of six.

Three years later, Julian searched for me like a madman. He found me on the street, a beggar now.

He fell to his knees, his eyes burning a desperate red.

"To avoid me, you'd sink to this? Was it worth it?"

I tilted my head, studying the strange man. Then I pulled the last piece of candy from my pocket and held it out to him.

"Your legs aren't broken. Why are you kneeling like me? I only have one left. Here, you can have it."

Julian didn't take my candy.

"Elara, how long are you going to keep this up?"

His voice was too loud, too sharp.

I flinched and hugged my cracked bowl tighter against my chest. Inside were three dollars-my dinner money. No one could have it.

My silence only made Julian angrier. He grabbed my arm, his grip rough.

"Ow! Bad man! Don't hurt Elara!"

I cried out in pain, but my other hand still clutched the candy tightly.

Caleb had given it to me this morning as a reward for not wetting my pants yesterday.

"Playing crazy, are we? Pathetic!"

Julian scoffed, his gaze falling on my tightly clenched fist.

He probably thought I was hiding something valuable.

He forced my fingers open.

In my palm lay a slightly melted, dust-covered fruit hard candy.

Julian froze for a moment, then a wave of immense disgust surged in his eyes.

"All this... for this?"

He snatched the candy, slammed it to the ground, and crushed it twice with his gleaming leather shoe.

"No!"

I screamed. That was my candy.

I don't know where the strength came from, but I broke free from his grip and flopped onto the ground.

Desperately, I tried to pick the crushed sugar crystals embedded in the pavement.

So dirty.

But so sweet.

I shoved the candy bits, mixed with dirt and shoe prints, into my mouth, tears and snot smearing my face.

"Sweet... it's sweet..."

People had stopped to stare. Some were filming on their phones.

My display seemed to enrage Julian even more. He grabbed me by the collar and lifted me like a stray kitten.

"Elara! Have you no shame?"

I didn't answer him. I just cried, my eyes fixed on the crushed stain on the pavement.

"Give it back... you owe me my candy..."

Julian gritted his teeth, threw me over his shoulder, and shoved me into the black luxury car idling at the curb.

I beat my fists against the window, watching my cracked bowl sitting alone on the sidewalk.

"My money! My money!"

"My brother will be hungry!"

Julian locked the car doors and ordered the driver to leave.

He turned, staring at me with an gaze full of pure hatred.

"Good, let that stray starve to death."

"Elara, since you love acting so much, I'm taking you back to the place you most wanted to escape, so you can perform to your heart's content."

The car pulled up to a massive house.

It looked somewhat familiar, but I dared not acknowledge it.

The walls here were too white, like a hospital.

The lights here were too bright, like fire.

Servants stood at the door, covering their noses at the sight of my grimy state.

Julian threw me onto the living room carpet.

"Clean her up. Don't let her soil my carpet."

A few maids approached, roughly dragging me into the bathroom.

The faucet hissed open. Scalding hot water sprayed out, steaming.

"Ah!" I shrieked, shrinking into a corner.

"Fire! It's fire! Don't burn me!"

The hot water pouring over me felt just like the searing flames on the cruise ship that night.

I clutched my head, trembling all over, my teeth chattering.

The maids impatiently held me down.

"Ma'am, stop pretending. It's just water."

I struggled with all my might, my nails scratching one maid's arm.

"Slap!" The maid slapped me backhand.

"Crazy lunatic!"

When Julian burst in, I was huddled in the corner of the bathtub, like a drowned rat.

My clothes had been ripped off.

The vast, grotesque patch of burn scars on my back, twisting like tree roots, was exposed to the air.

Julian's pupils contracted sharply.

He seemed to want to reach out and touch the scars, but his hand stopped halfway.

"You really went all out for this act, didn't you?"

He gritted his teeth, his voice a mix of sarcasm and something else I couldn't decipher.

"Julian?" A sweet, delicate voice drifted from the doorway. Seraphina walked in, wearing a white ballet dress.

She was so clean, like a white swan.

And I, I was a rat in the gutter.

Seraphina saw the scars on my back; a flicker of disgust crossed her eyes, but she quickly replaced it with an expression of concern.

"Elara, what happened to you? Julian is doing this for your own good, how could you scratch the maid?"

I caught a whiff of her perfume.

I sneezed, pointing at her.

"You smell bad."

Seraphina's face stiffened, her smile almost faltering.

Julian immediately shielded Seraphina behind him, looking at me with cold fury.

"Elara, apologize to Seraphina!"

I didn't understand.

She was the one who smelled bad, why did I have to apologize?

I stubbornly pressed my lips together, saying nothing.

Julian lost his patience.

He turned to a cabinet and pulled out a red box.

Inside, nestled perfectly, was a pair of red ballet shoes.

Three years ago, they were my most treasured possession.

But now, seeing them, I only felt the aching in my legs.

My broken leg bones throbbed faintly.

"Didn't you love to dance?"

Julian tossed the ballet shoes in front of me.

"Put them on. Dance for me."

"I won't dance..."

I shook my head frantically, shrinking backward.

"My legs hurt... fire... don't burn me..."

He thought I was protesting this way.

"You won't dance?"

He scoffed, picked up the shoes, and strode to the fireplace.

A fire crackled within the hearth.

"If you won't dance, then you'll never dance again!"

He let go, and the ballet shoes tumbled into the flames.

The fire instantly consumed the red satin.

"No!"

I stared at the inferno, and something snapped in my mind.

The fire.

The cruise ship.

My broken leg.

I lost control of my bladder on the spot.

A warm, yellow liquid streamed down my thighs, filling the air with a pungent, sour smell.

Seraphina gasped, covering her nose and recoiling into Julian's embrace.

Julian looked at the puddle on the floor, his face turning ashen.

He finally realized.

The proud Elara Vance, once radiant like a peacock.

She was truly shattered.

Julian locked me in the room, forbidding me from leaving.

But I was hungry, my stomach rumbling loudly.

I missed the hotdogs Caleb used to buy me.

That night, the mansion buzzed with activity.

Julian was hosting a family dinner.

A servant led me downstairs, pressing me into a chair at the dining table.

The table overflowed with delicious food, but I dared not touch it.

Julian sat at the head of the table, Seraphina beside him, acting like the lady of the house.

"Eat."

Julian watched me coldly.

"Aren't you hungry?"

I stared at the steak in front of me. It was raw, with streaks of blood.

I was terrified of blood.

I shook my head, my eyes fixed on a small cake in front of Seraphina.

It was strawberry-flavored, surely sweet.

Seraphina noticed my gaze.

She smiled, pushing the cake toward me.

"Elara, if you want it, just eat it. Don't be shy."

I swallowed, cautiously reaching out.

The instant my finger touched the plate, a sharp pain shot through my inner thigh.

Seraphina's hand, hidden beneath the tablecloth, had mercilessly pinched me.

She put all her strength into it.

"Ah!" I cried out, my hand trembling.

The plate flipped, sending the cake crashing onto Seraphina's white dress.

Cream smeared all over her.

"Oh! My dress!"

Seraphina shrieked, tears instantly welling up.

"Elara, if you didn't want to eat it, why did you throw it at me?"

"This was a limited edition Julian bought for me!"

Julian slammed his hand on the table, springing to his feet.

"Elara!"

He glared at me. "Is your jealousy so strong that you can't even stand a single dress?"

I cowered, scrambling under the table.

Hugging my head, trembling uncontrollably.

"I didn't... she pinched me... it hurt..."

Julian didn't believe a word.

"Get out from under there!" he roared. "Pick up the cake from the floor and eat it!"

I didn't want to come out, but I was afraid of being hit.

I crawled out, knelt on the floor, and reached for the cake mixed with cream.

Seraphina, next to me, pretended to wipe her dress.

Her high heel discreetly crushed a glass that had fallen to the floor.

Fragments of glass mingled with the cream.

I didn't understand.

I just knew I had to obey to get food.

I grabbed a handful of cake, and the sharp glass shards immediately pierced my palm.

Blood streamed out.

"Wah!"

I cried loudly in pain, holding up my bleeding hand for Julian to see.

"It hurts... it's bleeding..."

Blood dripped onto the carpet, a shocking sight.

Julian looked at the blood, his heart suddenly trembling.

He instinctively started to stand up, but Seraphina suddenly clutched her chest and collapsed into his arms.

"Julian, my chest feels so tight... I must have been so upset..."

Julian's movement halted.

He looked at Seraphina, then back at my bloodied hand.

Finally, he turned his head, hardening his heart.

"Take her away."

"No bandages, no food."

"Let her learn her lesson."

The basement was pitch black.

No windows, just the squeaking of rats.

I huddled in the corner, licking the wound on my hand.

The blood had dried, sticky and crusty.

I was so hungry.

I missed Caleb so much.

Suddenly, there was a huge crash outside the door.

Bang!

The iron door rattled violently, kicked repeatedly.

Then came the shouts of bodyguards and sounds of a struggle.

"Get out of the way! Let me in!"

That voice... it was Caleb!

I snapped my head up, my eyes suddenly alight.

"Caleb!"

I stumbled toward the door.

The door burst open.

Caleb rushed in, an iron pipe, smeared with blood, in his hand.

He was covered in injuries, his clothes torn, but his eyes shone with a frightening intensity.

"Elara!"

He saw my bloodied hands, and his eyes instantly reddened.

"You animals!"

He threw down the pipe and rushed over to embrace me.

"Don't be scared, Elara. Caleb's taking you away."

His embrace was warm, carrying the faint scent of the streets, but it was the safest smell in the world.

But we couldn't leave.

Julian, with even more bodyguards, blocked the doorway.

He stood there in his bathrobe, looking down at us.

"So this is your little stray?"

Julian's gaze fell on Caleb's hand wrapped around mine, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"A garbage picker?"

Caleb subtly shielded me behind him.

"Julian, are you even human? She has the mind of a six-year-old! You're abusing a child!"

Julian scoffed.

"A child? She's a better actress than anyone."

He waved his hand, and the bodyguards swarmed us.

Soon, Caleb was pinned to the ground.

Julian walked over, placing his foot on Caleb's hand.

"Ah!"

Caleb grunted in pain but clenched his jaw, refusing to beg for mercy.

"Since this hand dared to touch my woman, then let's break it."

Julian took a baseball bat handed to him by a bodyguard.

He raised it high.

"No!"

I rushed forward like a madwoman.

I pushed Julian away, shielding Caleb with my scarred body.

"Don't hit Caleb! Caleb gives Elara candy! You're a bad man!"

Julian watched me protect another man like a fiercely protective mother bear.

Jealousy distorted his face beyond recognition.

"Fine, very fine."

He tossed the baseball bat to a bodyguard.

"Since you love him so much, then I'll break his fingers one by one, right in front of you."

The bodyguard raised the bat.

Caleb struggled desperately. "Elara, run! Don't worry about me!"

I stared at that bat.

I knew it would be very, very painful.

I couldn't let Caleb feel that pain.

My gaze fell on a kitchen knife on the coffee table.

That kind lady once said that if you do something wrong, you have to pay compensation.

Since he wanted a hand, I'd give him one.

I grabbed the kitchen knife.

Without a moment's hesitation, I slashed at my left pinky finger.

"Splat-"

"No!"

Caleb and Julian roared at the same instant.

Blood sprayed.

The pain was so violent my vision whited out, yet I smiled.

I picked up my severed little finger, hand shaking, and held it out to Julian.

"I'll pay you back...See? I'll pay with my finger...Now let Caleb go. Please."

Julian stared at the finger, his entire body frozen.

His face was paler than mine.

Before the pain dragged me under, my hand was still curled tight in Caleb's shirt.

"Caleb... no pain..."