Chapter 2

The downpour drenched all three of us in an instant.

Zachary gave me no chance to resist, shoving my wheelchair violently toward the van.

The wheels jolted over the rough gravel. Every single bump sent a tearing, agonizing pain through my broken spine.

I gripped the armrests tightly, my nails digging deep into my palms just to keep from screaming out loud.

Fiona hurried behind him, her wet silk dress clinging to her body.

"Zachary, please don't be like this. Miss Clara has special needs..."

Zachary yanked the car door open.

"What special needs could she possibly have?"

"She's a cripple who loves throwing temper tantrums."

"Clara, this pathetic, dying-swan act of yours..."

"Could you drop it already? Looking at it makes me want to throw up."

Using one arm, he hoisted me and my wheelchair into the back seat.

Then, he slipped into the front passenger seat.

That used to be his exclusive spot.

Fiona had no choice but to bite her lip with a pouting expression, climbing into the back seat beside me.

The door slammed shut, and the air inside the vehicle grew suffocatingly tense.

Soaked to the bone, I shivered violently. The old spinal injury flared up agonizingly against the damp, cold storm.

As the car wound down the bumpy mountain road, every jolt felt like a blade hacking at my bones.

I bit down on my lip until I tasted the warm, metallic tang of blood.

Zachary caught a glimpse of my pale face and bleeding lip through the rearview mirror.

A flicker of irritation crossed his eyes.

"What? Does riding in your own car feel like an insult now?"

"Or do you think we're dirtying up your precious space?"

I took a shaky breath, forcing all my focus onto controlling the hand-adapted steering wheel and the road ahead.

His eyes drifted down to the small pill bottle sitting in the center console.

"What's that?"

It was a heavy-duty prescription painkiller. I had torn off all the labels long ago.

I couldn't let him know.

"Just multivitamins," I lied, my voice trembling slightly from the sheer agony tearing through my body.

He sneered.

"Oh, Clara, taking care of your health now?"

"What, did your sponsor wear you out too hard?"

"Starting on pills so young just to keep yourself running?"

Fiona piped up instantly from behind him, her voice dripping with sweet vanity.

"Miss Clara sure knows how to treat herself."

"Unlike me. All I ever worry about is Zachary. He works so hard, running around all day."

As she spoke, she leaned forward, seemingly by accident, and knocked over my water bottle.

The cold water spilled right over the blanket covering my useless legs.

"Oh no!" she shrieked dramatically.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Clara! I didn't mean to!"

"Wait, Miss Clara, you can't feel your legs anyway, right?"

"You probably won't catch a cold. It's not like you can move them anyway, can you?"

She reached out, intending to pull my wet blanket aside.

I snapped out my hand, clamping down hard onto her wrist, my gaze dead and freezing.

"Don't touch me."

Fiona flinched back in shock, turning toward Zachary with tear-filled, wounded eyes.

"Zachary, I just wanted to help her..."

Zachary's face turned completely cold.

"Clara, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Don't bite the hand that feeds you!"

The pain was causing muscle spasms to ripple through my core, cold sweat soaking through my clothes. I had to pour every scrap of strength I had left into steering the car.

With immense difficulty, I finally brought the car to a halt outside the small motel at the foot of the hill.