Love Scam: The "Crippled" Boyfriend's Two-Year Plan

When my boyfriend, Mark Jamison, gets in a car accident that leaves him paralyzed, I pawn the ring my mother left to me before she died to help him.

With hands that have never been used to do any work or a single household chore in my life, I start lugging around delivery bags.

In the middle of a rainstorm, I get assigned to deliver a food order worth 10,000 dollars, with a 100-dollar tip. Just as I happily celebrate my luck, I overhear the raucous laughter coming from inside the villa.

"She actually believes you got paralyzed in a car accident? She now spends all day doing deliveries just to support you financially? She even sold off her dead mom's ring?"

"She'd probably cry her heart out if she ever finds you're actually a wealthy scion worth tens of billions of dollars, who's just pretending to be poor!"

Mark twirls the wineglass he's holding and says, "A lowly woman like her was born to wait on others. She brought it upon herself by always being better than Rosie back in school. Messing with her is the punishment she deserves."

I continue to stand in the rain, tears rolling down my cheeks.

This is how I find out Mark has spent the last two years faking his condition just to help his childhood sweetheart get back at me.

His so-called paralyzed legs, deceased parents, and helpless tears are all just part of a meticulously executed lie.

I haven't talked to my father, the richest man in town, for years. But now, I have finally decided to call him.

"I lost, Dad. I'll accept the marriage alliance and marry the guy you picked for me."

After I ended the call with Dad, Rosie Shaw's voice drifted out of the villa once more.

"My sweet Mark loves me the most, of course. That's why he's helping me teach that bitch a lesson. I'm so happy!"

When she held Mark Jamison's jaw, I saw the ring on her ring finger—it was Mom's ring.

Chuckling, Mark gently bit her finger, saying, "You're always so mischievous!"

His legs, which were supposed to be paralyzed, were stretched out comfortably on the coffee table in front of him. It looked like they could move just fine.

The thick layer of white cast around them, which'd fooled me for over two years, glared brightly under the light.

Clutching my delivery bag, I knocked on the door, which opened on its own. Everyone inside turned toward me. Immediately, the ruckus in the living room died out.

Step by step, I walked up to Mark, my soaking shoes leaving watery footprints on the floor.

Mark's eyes flickered with panic. His voice was tight as he asked, "What are you doing here? I'm just attending a gathering with some of my old classmates…"

Ignoring him, I stared at the ring Rosie was wearing.

"Give me back the ring."

Mark's smile stiffened. He didn't expect me to be this cold toward him. He rolled over in his wheelchair and attempted to calm me down in his customary gentle tone. "Emmy, let me explain—"

"Explain what?" I interrupted, my smile looking more like a grimace. "Explain that you kindly helped me sell my ring to Rosie for a high price? Or that by sheer coincidence, your paralyzed legs somehow started working again?"

Mark turned pale. His mouth was open, but no words came out.

The atmosphere grew even heavier.

Only Rosie let out a scornful snort. She stood up and strutted over to me in her heels, deliberately waving the ring in front of me.

"Mark gave this ring to me as a gift! Are you asking for it back now because you've taken a liking to it too?"

She emphasized the part about Mark giving it to her, her eyes filled with taunting glee.

Turning even paler, Mark exclaimed, "Stop talking, Rosie! Emmy's—"

"What about her?" Rosie snapped, cutting him off impatiently.

Her condescending gaze swept all over my cheap and soaking-wet delivery uniform.

"You want the ring? Sure. I can give it back to you as a courtesy to Mark, but not for its original price, since I've worn it already. But I'm in a good mood, so I'll give you a good price—500 thousand dollars in cash. Give me the money now, and you can leave with the ring."

500 thousand dollars?

After my fight with Dad, I'd exhausted all of my money to cover Mark's "treatments". I even had to pawn off the ring Mom left to me. I couldn't even scrounge up 500 dollars.

I looked at Rosie's smug expression before turning my gaze to Mark. He averted his eyes, silently supporting Rosie's ploy to humiliate me.

I felt as though my heart had been clenched in an icy grip. The last bit of hope, sustained only by the warm memories of the past, instantly died out.