Chapter 1
There was a car accident on the eve of our engagement. In order to protect his mother and brother and sister in the back seat, my boyfriend swerved the steering wheel and made me face the out-of-control truck.
My legs were deformed and he cried while putting a diamond ring on my finger in the ICU:
"Baby, don't worry, we'll get married as soon as you recover."
"My family will take care of the medical expenses."
Later, my father was sent away, the money for medical treatment was cut off, and his family disappeared.
I questioned him while crying, and he was full of impatience on the phone.
"How many times have I told you this? Your legs are broken and can't be cured. I can't marry a disabled person. Otherwise, go and sue me."
When I opened my eyes, I was back to half an hour before the car accident.
This time, I didn't get on the bus.
Instead, I smiled and wished them a safe journey.
"Rowan, this bride price is costing me half my life."
"But I love you, my child. I have no other intention in saying this. I just hope you can live a good life with Drew Slater."
My mother-in-law's straight eyebrows appeared before my eyes.
Under the scorching sun, she shielded her forehead with her hands, but that couldn't hide the calculating look on her face.
I don't have time for her.
Because I haven't realized yet that right now, wasn't I lying on the hospital bed worrying about the medical expenses?
How come he was downstairs in the community?
Am I dreaming?
Especially seeing the pair of legs that had long been amputated standing steadily under me.
“Hahaha, that’s really funny.”
At this moment, a familiar laughter suddenly came from behind.
While stuffing the camping tent into the car, my fiancé Drew showed his phone to his brother and sister in the back seat with a smile.
The three of them were laughing so hard while watching the funny video.
I took a deep breath instantly. This scene was too familiar.
Everything is presented before your eyes intact.
I'm pretty sure this was the day Drew invited me to go camping with his family.
Of course, it was also half an hour before the car accident.
I can't forget the screeching of brakes, the creaking of doors being squeezed and the muffled sound of bones breaking;
I also can't forget the despair in my father's eyes when he knelt on the ground and begged the doctor to save me;
I can't forget the depression and fear I felt when I looked at my empty lower limbs.
And all this could have been avoided.
But in order to protect his mother and brother and sister in the back seat, Drew made me face the truck.
What’s even more hateful is that he knelt in front of me and cried bitterly, and promised to put a diamond ring on me.
He said he would marry me as soon as I recovered.
He also promised to bear all subsequent medical expenses.
But when I had my limb amputated, they sent my dad away and the whole family disappeared.
The hospital urged me to pay the medicine bill, and I couldn’t contact Drew, so I borrowed a fellow patient’s phone to call him.
When he heard it was me, his tone was full of impatience.
"Your leg can't be cured. Are you satisfied only if you drag our whole family down with you?"
"To tell you the truth, I will not marry a disabled person. We have broken up. Don't call me again, or you can sue me."
We were in love for five years in college.
He kept saying that I was his only treasure, but in the end I became the debt collector he avoided.
The reporter was entrusted by me to go to their home to ask for an explanation.
His mother who always calls me her daughter looked indifferent:
"I just made the decision that every mother should make. I am guilty. Please let the law punish me. Thank you."
"Ask yourself, if it were you, would you marry a disabled wife?"
"We have already compensated her for what we owe her. We are also injured and have no money left. Whatever happens, it's up to you."
"If you harass me again, I will call the police."
That night, the family left the house.
After losing my legs, my future and life were ruined.
Chapter 2
The truck driver would rather go to jail than pay compensation.
My father's hair turned white overnight, and he fell asleep on the hospital bed due to exhaustion after working early in the morning.
I couldn't sleep at night, hating myself for giving my true love to the wrong person and hating myself for being too naive.
He actually had to pay the price of losing a pair of legs to see the person in front of him clearly.
"Rowan, what are you doing standing there in this hot weather? Get in the car."
Drew's "thoughtful" reminder brought me back from my memories.
When I saw that hateful face, I wanted to go up and slap him hard.
But one slap is not enough.
In this life, I will make all of them pay the price.
"Drew, I can't go on this trip with you guys."
I frowned and pretended to be embarrassed.
"What's wrong?"
Drew's face was filled with concern.
Of course I would like to cut off ties with your family as soon as possible.
I can’t say that though.
"Drew, the bride price has been reduced from $200,000 to $100,000. My dad has no objection, but my Aunt Diana disagrees."
"She said that our Vance family has never given such a low Bride Price, and we will be laughed at by the whole village."
When it comes to money, Drew's face turns visibly worse.
"But haven't we already agreed on it? Besides, we're getting engaged tomorrow, so we can't get that much money."
"I never met your aunt when I went to your house before. Why did she suddenly object?"
I sneered.
Yes, he didn’t know that my aunt objected in the previous life.
I got engaged without telling her despite the pressure.
"Rowan, the $100,000 was all borrowed by my aunt. If I need another $100,000, it would cost me my life."
"Everyone in the neighborhood knows about this. If anything goes wrong because of the bride price, how can we save our family's reputation?"
Drew's fucking voice was crying.
"Just taking out a loan to buy a house in the city is already a big pressure for my family. I'm almost 30 years old, why do I still listen to my family about everything?"
"Her aunt is a bit too nosy."
Drew's brother was sitting in the back seat, mumbling quietly, thinking I couldn't hear him.
But Lily Slater took my hand and tried to persuade me.
"Rowan, it's not easy for you and Drew to get to where you are now. It's not worth it to break up because of outsiders' opinions."
"You live your life for yourself, not for others."
When explaining profound truths to others, I sound like an expert.
Yes, life is not to be lived for others to see.
In order to be respected by others, his brother and sister even took out loans to buy Used BMWs.
In order to avoid being laughed at by others, they show affection in front of others but fight behind their backs until they are bleeding.
You've become a joke yourself and yet you're trying to lecture me on moral principles.
I didn't expose him, but nodded awkwardly.
"Yes, I know everything you said."
"But my aunt also hopes that I can live a good life."
"You know my mom passed away early and my dad worked away from home. It was my aunt who took care of me. I can't let her down."
"But I also love Drew deeply, and I know your conditions. So, I will have a good chat with my aunt when I get home."
"You guys go first, otherwise the camping tickets will be invalidated."
I urged them to go faster.
After all, if you are any later, you will miss the car accident.
"Well, I believe you will convince Aunt."
Drew thought for a moment, fastened his seat belt, and started the engine.
It seems that he is mysteriously confident in my love for him.
As soon as they left, I called an Uber.
I do need to go back to Oakwood County.
After getting in the car and giving my cell phone number, I was thinking about how to tell my dad when I got home, when I suddenly felt a pat on my shoulder.
“Rowan Vance?”
Chapter 3
When I saw the person in front of me clearly, I almost screamed.
It’s my college classmate, Shawn Miller.
We were originally a small group, but he and Drew had a fight for some reason and then we left.
He dropped out of school shortly after, and we never got in touch again.
Seeing that it was an acquaintance, he started talking immediately.
When he mentioned what happened that year, there was still anger on his face.
"We went to a bar that day, and I fell in love with a school girl. Drew said he would help me introduce her to someone else."
"As a result, this guy slept with me at night."
"I treat him as a good buddy, and he treats me as Wu Dalang, so why shouldn't I beat him up?"
I remember that day very clearly.
I went back to Oakwood County and lost contact with Drew for the whole night.
He said he was playing games without looking at his phone and was too sleepy to fall asleep.
At the time, Drew and I were together and I didn’t want our counselor to know, so we kept it a secret and they didn’t know.
When I asked him why he was beaten, he lied to me and said it was a misunderstanding.
Later he said that the school girl who was looking for him was his suitor.
Now it seems that the other person doesn't like him, but wants him to take responsibility.
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my flesh.
He always pretended to be affectionate, but I didn't expect that he would cheat on me and betray me in college.
"You may not know this yet, but we are getting engaged tomorrow."
I took out my headphones and spoke softly.
"Ah? You two are together?"
Shawn was stunned, but having been in society for a long time, he did not hide it.
"That doesn't matter. I dare to say that he has bad character in front of him."
"But I don't understand, Rowan. You are fair-skinned, beautiful, and have good grades. Why did you choose to be with him?"
“I don’t think he’s a good person.”
"Are you indirectly calling me blind?" I asked back.
He raised his eyebrows, neither admitting nor denying.
"I think so."
"ah?"
He wanted to ask something else when suddenly a burst of electric sound came from my headphones.
Then came the voice of Drew's brother.
"Drew, your partner didn't mention the bride price earlier or later, but had to mention it the day before the engagement. What does that mean?"
I didn't expect that they would talk about me.
I turned up the volume on my headphones.
Drew has a monitoring device in his car CD.
But it wasn't installed by me, it was installed when he first bought the car.
He was afraid that when he was on a business trip occasionally, I would cheat on him when I drove his car.
But he didn't notice anything afterwards, and probably forgot about it a long time ago.
I also found this headset when I was cleaning the house before getting engaged.
In my previous life, I was so busy preparing for my engagement that I forgot to ask him.
It was not until after the amputation that I was heartbroken and kept this only item, and then my fellow patients told me that it was an eavesdropping headset.
At that time, I felt like a huge joke.
"If you ask me, she might go to see her ex-boyfriend under the pretext of returning to Oakwood County."
"No, brother, why are you talking about this all of a sudden?"
"What are you talking about?"
Liam Slater's duck-voice voice speaks righteously.
"You don't know, right? Many people would secretly have some time with their ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends before getting engaged so as not to have any regrets?"
"When she comes back and says she has discussed it with her family, we will take advantage of her and she will enjoy the excitement. Who will be the one who loses out? My silly brother."
"No way, I've been watching her for the past few years, and she has had little contact with the opposite sex."
"Silly brother, accidents happen when people are most careless. You haven't dared to touch her in the past few years. If she is caught by someone else before the engagement... then it's not worth it for you, Liam, to warn him that he'd be cuckolded..."