Chapter 2
1389 Words
When Annabelle woke up, alarm bells were ringing in her head. She knew something bad had happened to her. It was as if her legs were no longer hers, as she had lost sensation there.
“Nurse, please what’s wrong with my legs?” She screamed. ” I can’t… can't feel them.”
The kind-faced nurse, with her immaculate white uniform, slowly explained. “Your spinal cord sustained an immense blow when you crashed the car.”
”Does it mean I might not… can't walk again?”
She nodded her head, her face deadpan.
When the Nurse nodded, confirming her fears, tears welled up in Annabelle's eyes.
“How am I going to get married and have children?” She cried inconsolably.
That morning, Donald visits her with Jessica.
“Annabelle, how bad was the accident?”
She didn't reply, her face reddened and her eyes swollen. ‘Why is this stranger here,’ she fumed.
He grinned slyly and, instead of showing sympathy for her condition, spurted nonsense.
“Annabelle, how can you ruin our car with your reckless driving? Thank God I won't be stuck with an invalid for life…It's a pity… how can you go on living... Living like this without any money?”
“How will you pay for your treatment? I know you hate me and say I am wicked. Here… here is the proof your claims about me are untrue. Take this card and pay for your hospital bills?” He stretches his right hand towards the prostrate Annabelle.
However, before he could reach Annabelle, Jessica snatched the card from him. “Don't come crawling to Donald anymore. He won't support you today”. Jessica hissed and started, laughing at Annabelle's helpless state.
Unmoved by their actions. ‘So, he was asking me about what he already knew. Can his dishonest attempt to redeem himself make me walk?’ Thought Annabelle. Her eyes were fierce and her voice raised.
“Donald! Jessica! Stay away from me. How I live and pay my hospital bills is not your business.”
Jessica was quiet, her clear brown gloating eyes roving over Annabelle. It was like she was doing a victory parade. Her unspoken words and hatred burned through her eyes as if to say, “I won, die loser.”
Suddenly, Annabelle realized one thing.
“Shame on you Donald, you didn't come to wish me well. You came here with your new girlfriend to confirm how bad the accident was. You wish I were dead, sorry to disappoint you. From today, I promise that I’ll be your worst nightmare. Remember that.”
“Nurse Abigail, don't ever allow these two wretched fellows to see me again. They are not my friends.” She hollered.
“OK, Miss Annabelle! The gentleman claimed you work for his company. Pardon my errors.”
At that answer, the pain of Donald and Jessica's betrayal shot through her heart and tears started flowing freely again.
“Clenching her teeth, she muttered, I have been living in a fool's paradise… What a waste of time and resources. How could I have trusted him so blindly? Love blinded my senses. I helped to create and build a business. Now, I can't claim part ownership. What a calamity.” She mourned.
As they left, Annabelle shouted.
“I cursed the day I met you, Donald Stone. I shall return to make you pay for putting me in a wheelchair.”
“Ha! Ha! How will you achieve that? Right now you are penniless,” he bragged.
“Get out of here!” Annabelle responded. Gnashing her teeth as his remarks sank into her heart.
As the memory of her past with him flashed through her mind, “It's a pity…your betrayal hurt me so badly and hardened my resolve to destroy you. I wonder, will I ever trust men in the future?” Annabelle asked. Hot tears poured like rain from her eyes.
Exhausted from the emotional blow, she tried to rest her mind and sleep started to creep into her pain-wracked body. But she couldn't but blink her eyes when she heard a slight sound in the room. Opening her eyes, she saw a tall, powerfully built man folding his muscular arms across his chest and staring at her.
Recognition dawned on her, and she exclaimed, “It's Black, my father's bodyguard. What are you doing here, Albert Black?”
Bowing, he said, “Your father sent me, Lady Annabelle! We’ve been searching for you. It's time to go home.”
After a twenty-four-hour flight, she was home in the Eastern States. Her father, Helen, and all the Servants in the Adrian Powers family stood at the gate of ‘Villa Powers’ to welcome her home.
“What happened to you, Father, in those five years I was away? Dad! I have caused you so much grief. I am so sorry. Please forgive me, Father.” She wailed.
“Welcome home Anna! I missed you dearly,” he said, bending down to kiss her brow.
Although two deep lines were permanently etched on Adrian Power's eyebrows, his eyes remained undefeated.
After her father, Helen came to welcome her home.“Welcome home, dear Anna,” kissing her on both cheeks.
Annabelle noticed that Helen wasn't happy to see her back home. Even though she spoke cheerfully. To think that she had shared her world with Helen, yet she was hostile to her, as if her family's wealth were hers.
The servants gossiped about her. “Even if I closed my ears to gossip among the servants, their whispers were louder than an orchestra in concert, Annabelle observed. She heard them saying:
“How ironic. She ran away for love, and now, because of love, she's an invalid...this is sad.”
“Even worse, how is she going to control the Powers Group of Companies from a wheelchair?”
“Can't her father just hand over the CEO position to Helen?”
“Helen has proven herself worthy of that role since Annabelle ran away from home. Why remove her now?”
When she considered the servant's hostility and gossip, she thought.
“Their words cut like a dagger to my heart, but it was Donald Stone’s betrayal that created the wound... I must get justice to silence these whispers.”
To get revenge, she must walk again. That's why convincing herself that she could walk again became her daily mantra.
On her arrival home, she didn't question how much medical care she must undergo.
So when Annabelle’s world was plunged into a flash of multicolored lights, sirens and white coats, x-rays, massages, and caregivers, she welcomed the pain they brought to her with open arms.
During all that chaos, what kept her going was her vow. “I shall avenge myself on Donald Stone and Jessica as long as I have breath in this frail body.”
—--
Breaking News!
“Heiress to Adrian Powers Group of Companies Abrupt Complicated Return!
Lady Annabelle Powers, Heiress to Adrian Powers' Billion Dollars Renewable Energy Chain of companies has returned to her family. The report is that she had a motor accident that paralyzed her legs. If you're a caregiver, this news might interest you. The family urgently needs a caregiver to help her regain her walking ability. That's more like asking for a miracle-working Caregiver. If you're up to it, apply now, and you’ll handsomely be rewarded.”
When Jack Stallone heard that news, his face darkened.
“What a disaster. I can't believe this happened to Annabelle. I’ve always loved her during our college days.
So he swore. “This time, I will not let her go easily.” Their families' quarrels over business territories in the past were intense.
When a thought floated into his mind, he couldn't help but smile.
“I’ll become the bridge that unites both sides. … I must do something for the woman I love. She is the only woman that completes me.
When doubts crossed his mind, his face lit up like the sun at noon. “I know I am not a caregiver, but I believe love can work miracles.”
Jack decides to apply and help her walk again. Can Jack achieve that rare feat where medicine failed? Only time will tell.
- Writer
