A week before my birthday, my family had taken him in when we were kids, practically raising him to be my future husband. But Ryan suddenly swapped the luxurious hotel we’d booked for a cheap inn. My friends laughed at him. “Just because Ashley likes B&Bs, you changed Chloe’s birthday venue? They’ve been rivals since childhood! Aren’t you worried Chloe will be heartbroken and break up with you if you don’t tell her?” “Besides,” another friend added, “you’ve been together for so many years. If she wants a hotel, just give her what she wants. Why stir up trouble?” Ryan scoffed. “It’s fine. She’d break her own legs for me, that’s how much she loves me. She’ll listen to me.” “If she broke up with me, wouldn’t her legs have been broken for nothing? She’d never leave me.” I watched the surveillance footage, silent for a long moment, then my trembling hand switched off the recording. On the day of my birthday, Ryan couldn’t find me at the inn. He desperately FaceTimed me. “Chloe, where are you? I can’t find you anywhere!” Wearing a custom-made gown, I stood by the bar, watching guests mingle, and smiled as I replied, “I’ve been here for half an hour.” **01** This year was a milestone birthday for me, coinciding with our ten-year anniversary with Ryan. So, I’d planned a grand celebration. I’d booked the city’s most luxurious resort for the event weeks in advance. But I never imagined Ryan would go behind my back to change the venue, all because my arch-rival, Ashley, wanted to spend a few days at a B&B. Tears streamed down my face, and I held my breath, staring intently at the surveillance video. Ryan’s friends couldn’t understand him. “Chloe’s so good to you, this will break her heart.” “And besides, it’s *her* birthday. She should decide.” Ryan impatiently shot back, “Who cares what she wants? She’ll end up doing what I say anyway. Ashley was orphaned as a child and constantly bullied by Chloe. She’s suffered so much over the years; I don’t want to disappoint her.” “What reason do I have to soften for a cripple? She only lost her legs. Was Ashley any less pathetic when she was so traumatized by Chloe she couldn’t speak?” Ryan’s assistant, a smirk playing on his lips, chimed in, “Don’t you worry, sir. You adore Miss Ashley, so a little sacrifice is only right.” “As for Miss Hayes, your marriage is a done deal, nothing she can do to change it. There won’t be any problems.” “Besides, with her crippled legs, who else would be willing to take Miss Hayes in if you left her?” Hearing this, Ryan frowned and snapped, “Shut up. Some things are better kept to ourselves. If Chloe finds out, she’ll go on a hunger strike, and can any of you afford the consequences?” His friend watched him helplessly. “Alright, alright, just make sure you know what you’re doing. If you knew it would come to this, why did you ever turn down Ashley’s confession in the first place?” Suddenly, a sweet ringtone chimed. Ryan pulled out his phone. Everyone recognized it as Ashley’s personalized ringtone, and they smirked, teasing Ryan. The assistant quickly jumped in to flatter him, “Sir, your future wife just FaceTimed me asking what you were up to.” Ryan’s face lit up at the title, and he nodded in satisfaction before answering the call softly. Ashley’s sugary voice, dripping with fake sweetness, carried through the speaker. “Ryan, I don’t really like the décor at the B&B. Can we change the wallpaper to light blue?” “Oh, and I want to add a private screening room! We can watch movies together in there!” Her tone was ambiguous and嬌氣, and for the first time, I saw a shy expression on Ryan’s face. Ryan nodded. “Consider it done, just as you like.” Ashley hesitated. “But… won’t your girlfriend be upset? She never really liked me.” “I’m not trying to make her unhappy, I just want her to have a wonderful birthday!” Ryan gently coaxed her, “What’s the big deal? If she gets mad, she’s just being petty! Go ahead and decorate however you want. Don’t worry about the money; just deduct it from Chloe Hayes’s wedding budget.” “Oh, Ryan, you’re so good to me! I’m going to pick out a pretty dress right now. I’ll look absolutely gorgeous for our anniversary!” Ryan hung up, and his assistant, after observing his expression, immediately launched into a string of compliments. “Sir is so good to Miss Ashley; she’ll be even more grateful to you.” His friend looked uneasy. “It’s your anniversary with Chloe, and it’s also her birthday. Is it really appropriate to let Ashley handle everything?” Ryan smiled dismissively. “Chloe and I have been together for so many years; she’ll understand me. Her legs are broken, she can’t run, and she can’t wear pretty dresses. Ashley is different; she’s healthy and has a bright future.” “Besides, even if it comes out of Chloe’s wedding budget, I’m still the one paying for it.” I stared at the monitor, feeling utterly powerless. So this is what it felt like to be treated differently. All these years, no matter what I wanted to do, Ryan always used my disability as an excuse to reject my requests. For so long, I hadn’t even owned a single decent dress. The only one I ever had was a miniskirt he’d bought for Ashley, which she found ugly. But Ryan never thought about it: what business did a cripple like me have wearing a miniskirt? **02** Sitting in my wheelchair, I clutched the tablet tightly, biting my lip, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably. The people in the surveillance video were long gone, but what had just happened was devastatingly real. Ryan and I had been together for seven years, from high school sweethearts to now. Seven entire years, I had poured my entire life into him. Including my legs. I naively believed that as long as I kept giving everything to him, he would always love me. When he first suggested throwing a birthday party for me, I was so touched I almost cried in his arms. I always comforted myself, telling myself that he loved me. That he was trying to make me happy. Was he perhaps remembering how I looked dancing in a blue gown when we first met at that hotel? Too bad he wouldn’t remember. I cried, looking at my progressively atrophying legs, sadly thinking, maybe he never loved me at all. My legs started to ache. I wheeled myself to the bedroom in a flurry, found my anti-inflammatory medication, and swallowed a handful. Ever since I broke both my legs protecting Ryan from robbers, I’d had to take a dozen bitter, huge pills every day. The medicine in my throat was so bitter I wanted to cry, but I forced myself to swallow it down. I felt nauseous and threw up all my breakfast into the trash can. I instinctively wiped my mouth; this had become my daily routine. But Ryan had never once shown concern for me. A SnapChat message from Ryan popped up. I picked up my phone to read it: “Babe, I have to go on a business trip tonight. Be a good girl at home alone, and remember to take your medicine.” My hands trembled uncontrollably. Finally, I managed to compose myself and slowly typed out: “Okay.” Ryan had supposedly been on a business trip for a week, but I’d just seen him on surveillance footage at another mansion in Northwood. My gut told me he was hiding something. I lay awake all night, tossing and turning, until I finally saw him in a picture my best friend sent me. “Chloe, why is your boyfriend on Ashley’s Ins? It looks pretty cozy.” I clicked on the screenshot. Ashley had posted a photo of Ryan’s back, captioned: “True friends always prioritize their buddies over their crushes! ~” In the picture, Ryan, wearing an apron, was cooking with his back to Ashley, who was pouting playfully at the camera—definitely a girlfriend’s POV shot. Beneath it, a flood of comments: “Couple goals!” “Seriously, they’re soulmates, look at them!” “Wow Ashley, your mystery guy has an amazing body!” Ashley replied below, “Don’t guess randomly, everyone! Ryan and I aren’t quite there yet!” I quietly saved the screenshot. He was always like this, pushing my boundaries again and again. I touched my disabled legs, already planning what to do next. Once upon a time, I would have just endured it, just like he said: I’d broken my legs for him, so I’d be reluctant to break up. But now, I refused to endure any longer. I dialed the number I’d memorized long ago. **03** “A meeting?” As I organized the leverage I’d collected against Ryan over the years, I called Julian, Ashley’s stepbrother. He scoffed. “Mrs. Miller calling me bright and early, before I’m even out of bed? A bit bold, wouldn’t you say?” Ignoring his mockery, I suppressed my anger and calmly stated, “Don’t you want to get your conniving stepsister out of the Lin family for good?” “Mr. Lin should know what’s more important: mocking me, or getting her out of your house.” Julian stopped his taunts, falling silent for a moment before saying, “Meet me at the Downtown Bean coffee shop.” My objective achieved, I gathered the evidence, ready to discuss our partnership. Suddenly, a loud kick against the door echoed from outside. Ryan stumbled in, clearly drunk, vivid red hickeys on his neck standing out like a sore thumb. “Chloe Hayes, get over here and change my clothes!” His eyes half-closed, he pointed at me and yelled. Martha, our housekeeper, rushed forward to help him instead, but he harshly pushed her to the ground. “What are *you*? How dare you touch me? Where’s Chloe Hayes? Where did she run off to?” “Only the woman I love can take off my clothes!” I smirked. Ryan was such a good actor; even drunk he was pretending to love me. If I hadn’t seen those videos and Ins posts, following my usual pattern, I would have been incredibly touched and loved him to the point of irrationality, no matter his drunken rants. Martha’s eyes pleaded with me. I walked forward expressionlessly, my voice cold. “You’re a grown man, undress yourself.” Ryan froze, looking at me with a wronged expression. When he saw I remained unmoved, he angrily shoved me aside. The mirror shattered when I hit it, sending shards everywhere, some piercing my skin, making me break out in a cold sweat from the pain. Blood welled from the cuts, and my eyelid was sliced. Helpless, I could only blink one eye, the other squeezed shut. Seeing this, Ryan scrambled, trying to help me in a disorganized panic, but his phone rang, interrupting him. Ashley’s sugary voice, dripping with fake sweetness, came through the phone. “Ryan, my, my hand got scratched by some grass! It’s bleeding, and I’m so scared!” I watched Ryan in silence, the evidence in my hand clenched tight. If he chose me today, I would forgive him. But Ryan didn’t hesitate; he turned and rushed out of the mansion. Before I closed my eyes, I only heard him frantically FaceTiming his assistant. “Mike, get the car to the mansion ASAP and pick me up! Ashley’s hurt, I need to take care of her!” “If you’re late, you’re fired!” I heard Martha sobbing beside me, cradling me. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I closed my eyes, my heart filled with years of unrequited love, pain, and the agony of having my boyfriend stolen by my rival. “Why her? Why?!” I cried out, devastated, in Martha’s arms. When I next awoke, I was in the hospital, hooked up to an IV. Julian, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, sat quietly beside me. Seeing me stir, a faint smile played on his lips, tinged with sarcasm. “Mrs. Miller certainly keeps people on their toes. A phone call in the morning, and in the hospital by the afternoon.” “Does Mr. Hayes even know what a living hell his daughter is enduring?” I remained silent, then turned and handed him the files on my phone. Julian raised an eyebrow, scanning the documents carefully, his eyes widening in surprise. “So much evidence! Chloe Hayes, you’ve actually gotten smarter over the years!” I smiled. “Don’t mistake me for someone easily bullied. As the Hayes family made him, we can also unmake him.” “Since he betrayed me, he shouldn’t blame me for being ruthless.” **04** Alone in the hospital, I bit my lip hard, but tears still welled up uncontrollably. To say I wasn’t heartbroken would be a lie. Ryan and I had been together for over a decade. For more than ten years, I had so naively believed he loved me. I remembered my father holding his hand, smiling as he looked at me: “My dear daughter, this is Ryan Miller. You two will grow up together.” Ryan’s father had passed away then, and his mother had remarried. My father, pitying his difficult circumstances, took him into our home. When he was eighteen, he was kidnapped while trying to save Ashley. To rescue him, I had both my legs brutally broken. At that time, Ryan, his eyes red-rimmed, swore to me: “Chloe, I’ll protect you for the rest of my life!” But his “lifetime” apparently only lasted a few years. Only I remembered him holding me, covered in blood, crying in such utter despair. It was as if he were a completely different person now. I clearly felt it: the Ryan I loved no longer loved me. Julian hired the best orthopedic doctor for me. As I watched the doctor repeatedly press my calf muscles, sighing constantly, tears silently streamed down my face. Julian, seeing this, patted my shoulder. “Chloe Hayes, it will get better. Don’t overthink things.” Remembering the doctor’s instructions, I desperately fought back my sorrowful thoughts, tilting my head back, trying to force the tears back into my eyes. Ryan’s phone call came through. The background on his end was noisy. Ryan impatiently asked, “Chloe, where are you? Why aren’t you answering my messages?” I felt a pang of disorientation. He hadn’t really changed, had he? Always delivering words of concern with the most impatient tone. But in the past, I never noticed these details. I just thought he was good to me, that I had a husband who cared about me anytime, anywhere. Ryan continued, “Don’t be mad about this morning, Chloe. I was drunk and couldn’t control myself. Plus, Ashley’s hand got scratched by some grass and bled a lot, so I had to go help her first.” I gave a self-deprecating laugh, glancing at Julian, who was silently observing the drama unfold, then said, “Ryan, I bled no less than Ashley did.” Ryan froze. “Chloe, are you okay? I was too frantic this morning, I didn’t think about you.” “Ashley’s still young and a bit delicate. I hope you can understand. I’m like a brother to her; I have an obligation to take care of her.” I scoffed. “A brother? What kind of brother are you? Isn’t Ashley’s brother Julian? He hasn’t even made a move, and you’re already overstepping your boundaries to handle someone else’s business?” “Ryan, she may be young, but I’m a year younger than she is.” “You have the time to take care of someone else’s sister, but you weren’t even remotely moved when your own girlfriend was lying on the ground, covered in wounds?”
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