Chapter 5 I Want To Help You

Danica sent Isaac a pointed glance that carried a silent warning.

Isaac paid no attention to her look and said, "I'd like a word alone with Miss Willis."

Since Isaac had spoken, Danica held back any further comment. She already knew his intentions. If only he would simply cooperate. Most likely, he was planning to convince Verena to back out.

With a slow exhale, Danica kept her poise. "It seems Isaac wants to speak privately with Verena and know more about her. Laura, let's step outside for a bit, shall we?"

She understood that Laura was eager for this marriage to happen.

Danica's words served as a subtle nudge to Isaac not to interfere with the agreement.

The response caught Laura off guard. She hadn't expected Danica to be so lenient after Verena's outrageous lie.

Feeling pleased, Laura replied, "Yes, they could use some time alone."

She gave Verena's shoulder a light pat, her voice holding a note of caution. "Verena, remember to take care of Isaac. He's your fiancé now."

Verena lifted her glass for a sip, a faint smile curving her lips. Her dislike for Laura hadn't changed, yet the thought of Isaac being her fiancé brought a quiet thrill to her heart.

When the two women stepped out, Isaac spoke. "My legs are useless now. They'll stay this way for the rest of my life."

His deep, slightly hoarse voice carried the weight of someone who hadn't spoken much in a long time, and his cool, detached tone made it sound almost void of emotion.

Yet Verena understood that his words were a warning, meant to remind her of the kind of man she was about to marry.

"What else?" she asked, her clear eyes fixed on him like a mirror that reflected everything.

Isaac hesitated. His throat tightened, and a shadow crossed his gaze as he thought of the unspoken truth. Then he forced himself to lay it bare. "I can't function like a normal man anymore. I can't give you happiness or the life of a normal marriage."

Isaac understood that his mother's intentions went beyond silencing gossip; she also hoped to steady the company's position. Even so, neither reason justified binding a woman to him in marriage. Becoming his wife would mean giving up her own happiness and future. In his mind, he was already a ruined man, and there was no need to pull someone else down with him.

At those words, Verena walked around the table until she stood directly in front of him.

From where he sat, Isaac had to lift his gaze to meet the eyes of anyone around him.

Verena lowered herself into a crouch so she was looking up at him instead.

It was the first time since the accident that Isaac wasn't forced to look upward at someone.

"Can I touch your legs?" Verena asked.

There was no hesitation in her tone. Her clear eyes held no judgment or avoidance, as though she were speaking to any other man and not one paralyzed from the waist down. Unlike the rest of his family, she didn't treat his injuries as a forbidden topic.

Since the accident, every relative who looked at him carried pity and regret in their eyes. They didn't speak the words aloud, but their glances said it all. He was crippled, no longer a complete man.

Most people knew that paralysis often meant a loss of sexual function, and he was no exception. Rumors about his body had spread, and the cruel truth was that they matched reality. The wound they left was sharper and more suffocating than any blade to the chest.

Isaac fixed his deep gaze on Verena. "Do you realize what you're saying?"

She nodded, her expression steady. "Yes, I do."

They had been strangers until this moment, yet Isaac felt an odd sense of familiarity when looking at her. He couldn't explain the reason. Driven by instinct, he gave his answer. "Okay."

With his consent given, Verena's eyes curved with a soft, genuine smile.

For a brief moment, Isaac's focus wavered.

When her fingers touched his leg, he could see the movement, yet no sensation reached him.

He followed the sight of her slender fingers as they began at his knee and slowly traveled upward.

To an outsider, the gesture might have looked like she was trying to flirt, but Isaac knew better. He was a man living with paraplegia, completely powerless and without feeling below the waist.

Her hand stopped on his thigh, tapping lightly before she looked up. "Can you feel that?"

Isaac gave a small shake of his head.

Her touch resumed, inching closer toward the base of his thigh, until Isaac reacted on instinct and caught her hand.

"What are you trying to do?" His voice was edged with warning.

Verena let out a quiet laugh, pulling her hand back without resistance.

"Isaac, I want to help you."

"Help me?" he repeated with a mocking twist to his tone. "Help me with what exactly?"

"I want to help heal your legs."

The statement landed like a sudden crack of thunder in the still air.

It sounded ridiculous, yet something in her unwavering expression sparked an unfamiliar flicker of hope inside him.

When reality set back in, Isaac let out a bitter laugh at himself. Countless experts had studied his condition and found no cure, yet here he was letting the words of a woman he barely knew stir something in him.

"Do you realize how cruel a joke like that is to someone who's disabled?" Isaac asked.

In his mind, even open contempt would have been kinder than offering a false hope.

Isaac slowly loosened his grip on her hand.

"I'm being serious," Verena said, her gaze locked firmly on his.

Her reason for coming to Shoildon was solely because of Isaac, and she had no intention of abandoning that purpose halfway.

He regarded her with a chill in his eyes. "Then tell me why you want to help me. And what makes you think you're capable of it?"

Verena faltered for a brief moment. She had already realized that Isaac had no memory of her.

"Do you really not remember what happened in Clokron's Dragon Quarter?"

In Isaac's mind, there was no doubt he had never seen her before. She was a woman of striking beauty-someone whose presence would command attention anywhere. If they had crossed paths, there was no way he could have forgotten her.

He gave a slow shake of his head. "I've been to Dragon Quarter plenty of times, but I've never once seen you there."

A quiet sigh escaped Verena. So that was it. Maybe it had something to do with the recent accident.

She wasn't certain of the specifics of his condition and would need to look into it before deciding anything.

Without the accident, Isaac couldn't have forgotten her. No one forgot the person they once pursued-unless they had lost their memory. And for him, amnesia seemed the most likely explanation.

"Isaac, I don't know the full extent of your condition yet. Once I've reviewed your medical files, I'll give you a clear answer. But... could you at least not shut me out right now?"

Isaac's eyes stayed on her, his silence stretching between them.

Looking into those eyes that seemed to pierce through him, he felt his usual resolve weaken for the first time.

After what felt like a long pause, he spoke unexpectedly. "Alright."

A beat later, he added, "If you can heal my legs, I'll give the Willis family everything they're asking for. But my condition makes marriage impossible. A life with me would be a life spent alone."

Verena froze, and then realization struck her. Her eyes flicked almost instinctively toward his crotch. "You..."

The glance made Isaac's face heat with shame. When their eyes met again, the clarity in her gaze made him feel a rare and uncomfortable urge to turn away.