Billionaire Marries Jilted Girl In a Wheelchair

“I can't believe he did that,” an incensed voice spoke. “I blame the lady; how can you trust a man so blindly,... give him all your savings, and then he’ll elope with another lady!” Looking up, Annabelle saw two women shaking their heads in disgust. “It's possible to trust and love a man,” Annabelle said impulsively. They turned in Annabelle's direction, looking worried. “You should be careful. Men can't be trusted.” The first lady warned them. The second lady nodded emphatically. “I don't know you but, you seem like the trusting type… don't want something like that happening to you. … Don't trust any man blindly.” Shrugging her shoulders, Annabelle turned away from them. What do they know about love? She huffed angrily. “I trust my boyfriend wholeheartedly.” The discussion stopped abruptly when it was time for a routine checkup. “You look bored, Miss Annabelle.” Turning towards the sound, a doctor with gray hair walked in. “I am grateful for the successful Appendix operation. Yes, I'm bored and out of my mind. Doctor! When can I leave here? I am tired of staying in the hospital”, Annabelle asked. Chuckling softly, “In three days, you will be discharged.” “Doc! I don't like hospitals and staying idle for long intervals. Can't I leave this place right away?” She insisted. “If that's how you feel, I'll send the discharge waiver document to you. Sign it and return the paper to Nurse Abigail.” “Thank you! Doc,! You saved my life.” She replied. After signing the document, Annabelle quickly packed the few belongings she had brought to the hospital. And as she was about to leave, she heard a voice behind her yell. “Remember, don't trust any man blindly.” “I'm sure that's one of the gossipers.” She chuckled. —---- Annabelle boarded a taxi from the hospital to her home. It was noon when she reached their two-bedroom rented apartment in Middleton, South City. She was surprised the door wasn't locked from inside. “Why is Donald home?” Annabelle queried. “A smile spread across her beautiful face and clear blue eyes with immense joy”. “My safe arrival is sure to give him a pleasant surprise,” She thought. When she opened the door, she discovered Donald had used fresh rose flowers to decorate the sitting room. She cried happily, her heart quickening, thinking at last Donald was planning a surprise marriage proposal to her. “Wow! This is sweet. I never knew Donald was romantic.” Now in sync with the mood of the moment, she trailed the rose petals leading inexorably to their bedroom. “At last my patience has paid off. I wonder what's behind that door”. “She thought, her eyes twinkling with mischief.” She followed the trail excitedly into their bedroom, opened the door, and saw some rose petals hung on the wall facing the room door. They said “Jessica, will you marry me?” Annabelle was stunned, her mind recalled the discussion between two patients in that hospital an hour ago. “Wh… What's …happening here?” Donald Stone, her boyfriend, was on his knees and proposing to Jessica, their secretary. Her heart sank, and a gut-wrenching pain tugged at her chest. Then she yelled at Donald. “Why?” Momentarily, they froze. Then Donald looked at her with disdain and started spouting rubbish “I cannot marry a weak woman. I never loved you. You were too blind… too blind to see that I was using you to get what I wanted.” Annabelle was in pain, cried out. “When you had nothing, where was Jessica? Remember how we started the company, … even when you didn’t think we could get a loan? What about your promise to marry me? Wh… Where did I go wrong?” “Thank you, Annabelle. This is where it ends. I don't need you anymore,” he boasted. “Wait a minute! The company belongs to the two of us, right?” Annabelle asked, her voice trembling. “Hah! Hah! Hah! How can you be so gullible? You were never added as a Board member. The company is mine. Mine alone.” He replied. Shifting from one foot to the other and slowly brushing a strand of hair on her brow with her sweaty right palm, she shouted “That can't be true, I remember signing the company incorporation papers.” Donald gloated over her shocking discovery. “Yeah! Dream on. I asked the lawyer to give me a fresh form which I filled out and submitted. Like I said earlier, the company is mine. Dummy!” As they spoke, Jessica lay her head on Donald Stone’s chest. Then she looked at her in mock pity. “Annabelle, you are intruding on our special moment. Get out now.” Her voice cut to her heart, eyes red and tearful, she addressed Donald. “How can you let Jessica speak to me rudely? Did you tell her you rented this flat?” Looking at her fiercely, Donald answered, “Annabelle! Get out. We are done. Leave, and don't ever come crawling back to me.” “Donald Stone, I love you!,” Cried Annabelle. Infuriated by her continuous stay, and becoming impatient, he said, “I never loved you. Get that into your thick skull.” Grabbed her wrist, dragged her outside, and closed the door. Humiliated, tears flowing freely from Annabelle’s swollen eyes which were steadily reddened, she fled to the Car Port, took the key hung on the wall, and drove out so fast to nowhere. She was upset, she thought, the faster she drove, the farther she would be away from Donald and Jessica’s taunting words that cut into her heart, deeper than a knife on an open wound. As she cried, Annabelle recalled the good times they shared. Then, she began to beat herself up internally. “How could I have missed the ugly signs of his betrayal? How?” As if the weather was sympathetic to how badly Donald treated her, the heavens broke free with a heavy downpour. As she drove, all that she could think about repeatedly was the last words the woman at the hospital yelled at her when she was leaving. ‘Never trust any man.’ “How foolish of me," she thought. Her eyes were blinded by uncontrollable hot tears flowing freely coupled with poor visibility due to the rain. Still, she kept on driving, hoping to get away and be as far away as possible from Donald and their Secretary. She wasn’t paying attention to the safe driving rules, especially on a rainy day. So, when a truck appeared out of the blue from a sharp turn, Annabelle pressed down on the brakes, and her heart flew into her mouth as it was flat. “What could have happened?” She yelled in alarm. She remembered servicing that break before she was hospitalized. When the brake failed, the next thing she knew to do was maneuver the car out of a head-on collision with that truck and into a ditch, and she lost consciousness. When she came to her senses, she was lying in a hospital bed with a broken arm and a bandage around her head. But, when she tried to move her legs, they were numb. “Am I paralyzed?” She wondered aloud. At this thought, fear gripped her being and a gut-wrenching shout escaped from her mouth, but to her amazement, there was no sound. It was at that point that she passed out.