Chapter 2

My love story with Edward had once caused quite a stir in the city.

The romance between a prince and a Cinderella was always something people admired and longed for.

Edward was the prince, and I was the Cinderella who got ridiculously lucky and ended up with him.

Edward and I came from families that never should've crossed paths, but somehow, fate threw us together.

My dad was just a small-time worker at one of the Lane family's companies. One day, a freak accident at work took him away for good.

My parents were deeply in love. When my mom got the news, she fell ill from grief and never recovered. Six months after my dad passed, she went after him.

At nine years old, I was suddenly left all alone in the world.

Lucas, Edward's grandpa, was a kind man. When he heard about what happened to my family, he offered to take me in.

From the age of nine, I moved into the Lane residence and became Edward's little shadow.

Even though he was the golden boy of the Lane family, he never looked down on me, the orphan girl living under his family's roof.

Maybe it was because I was always well-behaved and sensible that Edward took a liking to me from the day I moved in.

That feeling stuck with us all the way through to college.

But no matter how hard I tried to better myself, I could never quite meet the standards expected of a Lane family daughter-in-law.

Lucas sat me down and asked me to break things off with Edward myself.

I didn't want to let go of Edward, but I knew there was no future for us.

So I ghosted everyone and vanished overseas. When Edward found out I was gone, he chased after me.

His love for me burned so bright and true. He was even willing to give up his entire inheritance just to be with me forever.

His stubbornness left his family with no choice. In the end, they gave us their blessing.

I thought Edward and I were about to start our happily ever after, never realizing it was all just an illusion.

Just as Edward and I were preparing to return home, a tragedy struck.

We got into a car accident. At the critical moment, I pushed Edward out of the way, but my own legs were crushed by the car.

When I finally woke up and realized I'd lost the use of my legs, the pain was so overwhelming I wished I were dead.

But Edward held me close, begging me again and again. He told me he loved me and he couldn't live without me.

Love really was powerful. Edward's persistence finally made me let go of those dark thoughts.

I said yes to his proposal and became his rightful wife.

Our wedding was nothing short of spectacular. Edward wanted to make amends for everything I'd been through, and like he promised, he laid the very best the world had to offer at my feet.

There was a custom-designed wedding dress and expensive wedding rings meant to last a lifetime, just for the two of us.

Our wedding became the biggest event Rivergate had ever seen.

Everyone marveled at how unbreakable our love seemed, and how deep Edward's devotion to me was.

After we got married, life was pretty sweet. Edward would take me to the hospital for treatment every single day.

Back then, both of us were clinging to hope. With modern medicine being so advanced, maybe one day I could stand up again and live a normal life.

But day after day, there was still no progress. After three years of going through rehab with me, Edward grew to hate the hospital.

He started making excuses about being too busy with work, leaving me to go to the hospital for treatment alone.

Then, he began leaving early and coming back late.

In the end, he got involved with another woman behind my back.

*****

People said betrayal came in only two forms: zero times or countless times.

I totally get that. The first time Edward cheated, most of my heart died inside. So when he did it again, it barely hurt anymore.

But that didn't mean I wasn't hurting.

I was just human, and I did love him, once.

We'd spent nearly twenty years together, sharing every little moment. I just couldn't let go.

I tried to put myself in Edward's shoes: he was a normal man with needs; he couldn't stay faithful to a wife who was disabled.

Then I convinced myself I could forgive Edward for straying temporarily.

I wanted to sit down with Edward and have a real talk. I wanted to tell him that there was hope I could get better, and maybe we could give our relationship another shot.

But Edward kept dodging me. He was really into his latest flame, Charlotte Quinn.

To strengthen his relationship with Charlotte, he spent every single day with her. He hadn't even come home once in over a month.

Whenever I texted or called him, he always had some excuse ready to dodge me.

Even though Edward never returned, I knew every single thing he had done for Charlotte.

Every day, that alt account that friended me would send me daily updates about them.