A Broken Heart's Awakening

At 25, everyone said that Evelyn Carter was the luckiest woman in all of the city of Beaumont.

The heir to one of the city's most influential families, Victor Blake, fell in love with her at first sight during a performance. Even after a tragic accident caused a stage rig to collapse, leaving her paralyzed, Victor defied all expectations and married her.

After the wedding, Victor spared no expense, hiring the top medical experts both in the country and abroad to treat her injuries, and he indulged her every need. He would do anything for her.

The day she stood again was their third wedding anniversary. Evelyn, filled with excitement, bought a large bouquet of flowers, eager to surprise Victor.

But just before she could enter their private room of a club, she overheard a conversation that would haunt her forever.

"On your anniversary, you're not at home with your little wife, instead you're here drinking with us. What's up with that, Victor?"

"Little wife? She's just his pet. He keeps her around, sitting in that wheelchair like a useless thing, making her do whatever he says."

Victor was sitting on the couch in the room, silently listening to their words, making no attempt to refute them.

James Thornton, his childhood friend, threw his arm around Victor's shoulder with a grin.

"If you ask me, Victor's plan was brilliant. He orchestrated Evelyn's stage accident to make sure she couldn't compete with Sophia anymore. Now she's stuck in that wheelchair, and Sophia gets to win the awards."

Evelyn froze in place, her hand just inches from the door, her smile suddenly faltering.

James and Victor had grown up together, and he wasn't shy about speaking so recklessly in front of him.

Seeing Victor's lack of reaction, James continued, "I just don't get it. If you've already ruined her, why go through the trouble of marrying her? Why hire the best doctors to treat her legs? Was it really love at first sight?"

Evelyn's heart clenched. She held her breath, waiting for Victor's response.

If Victor truly loved her, she could give up everything for him, even her own dreams.

But Victor's next words struck her like a slap to the face.

"Do you think that's possible? I married her so that Sophia could get what she wanted, to be with the person she truly loves. I don't need to be happy, but she has to be."

The room fell silent for a moment, and James let out a sigh, patting Victor on the shoulder.

"That's one way to put it. But you know that John Huxley just won't take no for an answer. He's been relentlessly pursuing Evelyn, even after she got married, still holding onto his obsession with her. Sophia has agreed to return home tomorrow, and it's likely she's finally giving up on him, ready to let go for good. You've had your fun with Evelyn, but don't wait until Sophia's married to someone else before you regret it."

Evelyn could listen no more. Her hand trembling, she wheeled herself back to the mansion.

The doctor visited again to check her legs, asking if she could feel anything. Evelyn stared blankly, shaking her head.

The man she had spent three years of marriage with, the one who had shared her bed every night, was the one who had caused the accident that left her paralyzed.

She couldn't bring herself to tell anyone in the mansion that she could now stand on her own.

There were spies everywhere in Victor's household. She couldn't risk him finding out that she was capable of walking again-what if he decided to ruin her legs once more?

At 10 PM, Victor came home as usual and asked the doctor about Evelyn's condition. When he was told that Evelyn still had no feeling in her legs, he sighed in relief, as if finally able to rest easy.

He then smiled, pulling a jewel necklace from his pocket and placing it around her neck.

"Happy anniversary, my love. Do you like it?"

Normally, Evelyn would have been overjoyed, caressing the necklace and resting her head against his chest with a shy smile.

But now, she couldn't smile at all.

Victor noticed her change in mood and knelt down in front of her, his brow furrowing with concern. "What's wrong? Did someone upset you?"

Without waiting for her to reply, he frowned and coldly ordered the butler, "Call everyone in the house to come here..."

Evelyn forced a smile, stopping him. "I'm fine, please don't make them uncomfortable."

Victor gently touched her face. "I've been busy at work today. I didn't even have time to spend the day with you. I promise we'll make it up."

Evelyn quickly replied, "How about tomorrow? I heard that international dance superstar, Deanna Cassan, is performing here in Beaumont. I'd love to see it..."

"Tomorrow won't work," Victor interrupted, cutting her off.

Realizing her reaction was getting a bit too intense, Victor softened his tone. "I have an important client meeting tomorrow. How about I have my assistant Lucas accompany you instead?'"

Before Evelyn could respond, he turned and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

That whole night, James's words kept swirling in her mind.

Evelyn didn't sleep well that night.

By the time she woke up the next morning, it was already noon. Lucas Grant had been waiting in the living room all morning, only to regretfully tell her that the dance performance had ended.

Since her legs were paralyzed, she hadn't watched any dance performances.

One reason was because she was afraid it would stir up painful memories.

The other reason was that she didn't want to relive the traumatic day when her legs were crushed by the stage equipment.

The previous day, she had purposely suggested going with Victor to see the performance, merely as an excuse to test his commitment.

She had gambled, hoping that Victor would choose her this time.

But it turned out she had lost the bet.

She didn't remember when she had followed Sophia Fraser's Instagram account, but on the first day Sophia returned to the country, she posted three updates in quick succession.

The first post was a picture of Victor waiting in the rain at the airport to pick her up at dawn.

The caption read, "Heard I was coming back, and someone was waiting for me at the airport at the crack of dawn. He even said he wanted to be the first to see me. So cheesy."

The second was a picture of her and Victor together, cuddling while watching the dance performance.

The caption read, "We're here to see the dance show! He promised to put me on the international stage. Talk about bragging."

The latest post was a photo taken at a restaurant, where Victor was carefully wiping her mouth. His wedding band, which he had been wearing the previous night, was now missing.

The comments were flooded with people envying her and offering their blessings.

Evelyn let out a self-deprecating laugh and called Victor.

He rejected the call twice before finally answering. "I'm not available to talk right now, I'll call you back later."

A woman's voice, sweet and flirtatious, came through the phone. "Who's calling at this hour? I've already taken my clothes off."

Before Evelyn could react, Victor quickly hung up.

Lucas, noticing what had happened, couldn't help but comfort her. "Mr. Blake has been really busy lately. If there's anything you need, just let me know."

Lucas couldn't understand why, if his boss had feelings for Sophia, he had gone through all the trouble of marrying Evelyn.

He would never know how much damage his rash decision had caused to the fragile woman sitting in front of him.

Evelyn had just sent a message to her best friend, Claire Jennings. "A friend will be visiting me soon. Could you help me bring her in, Mr. Grant?"

She lowered her gaze and glanced at the wheelchair she was sitting in.

"You know, it's not really convenient for me to go out like this."

A trace of sympathy crossed Lucas's face, and he quickly agreed.

As soon as Claire entered the bedroom, Evelyn immediately locked the door behind her and took a few slow steps in front of her.

Before Claire could scream in surprise, Evelyn quickly covered her mouth.

"Keep it down."

Claire, almost in tears, whispered excitedly, "The doctor Victor found for you really worked! Your legs are healed, you can stand! This is a miracle! Does Victor know?"

"He doesn't know. I can't let him find out."

Claire's smile instantly froze on her face.

Evelyn briefly told Claire about what she had overheard the day before. After hearing her out, Claire silently embraced her, and then Evelyn continued.

"Sophia's back in town. I don't have a reason to stay any longer."

Evelyn took out a divorce agreement from the safe in her room and handed it to Claire.

"This is the divorce agreement between Victor and me. You're a lawyer, so I'm entrusting you with my entire divorce case."

This was the same divorce agreement Evelyn had made Victor sign when they got married. She had willingly given him the power to choose, telling him that if there came a time when he grew tired of her-when her disability became too much for him-he could end their marriage whenever he wanted, simply by using the agreement.

Victor had probably forgotten about it by now. Even if he remembered, Evelyn was certain he would quickly activate the agreement once he was ready.

Claire nodded after reviewing the signed divorce agreement. "Everything looks fine. But there's a 30-day waiting period before it becomes effective. That means you'll still need to stay at the Blake estate for the next month."

Evelyn tapped her sore legs. "I know."

Her legs hadn't fully recovered yet, and the month would give her a good opportunity to rest and heal.

Not long after Claire left, Evelyn received a text from Victor.

"I might bring a friend home today."

He wasn't asking for permission, just letting her know.

Victor rarely brought people home, and even his closest friend James had never stayed over. Evelyn couldn't think of anyone who would make him break that habit except Sophia.

She opened her phone, and sure enough, she saw the newest post from Sophia.

"As soon as I said I had no place to stay, he offered to let me crash at his place. You guys can stop guessing in the comments. I just found out he's married. We're just good friends, I hope his wife won't misunderstand."

Scrolling down, Evelyn saw several comments.

"No matter how powerful the wife is, she'll always have to step aside for you."

"The true love is back. If that disabled one knows what's good for her, she'll move aside."

And then, Victor's glaring comment caught her eye...

"Come on, who'd dare mess with you? You basically own the place," Victor's comment read.

No one expected Evelyn to be following Sophia's Instagram account-let alone that she'd scroll through every single comment under her latest posts.

That evening, just as expected, Victor brought Sophia back to the house.

She offered Evelyn a bright smile and reached out to shake hands, casting a glance down from her higher vantage point as if inspecting her.

Evelyn frowned slightly-she had never liked being looked down on, literally or otherwise-and silently wheeled herself away.

Sophia clearly wasn't pleased. She turned to Victor with a pleading look. "Did I do something wrong? I think Evelyn doesn't like me..."

Evelyn had barely lain down when Victor came storming in to confront her.

"She's an old friend, and it's her first time visiting. Was it really necessary to act so cold? Do you know she was crying outside just now? You should go apologize."

Evelyn stared straight at him and replied, each word steady and firm. "I'm tired, and I don't want to argue with you over petty things. Besides, I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?"

Just then, Sophia barged in, beaming as she held a cardboard box.

"Victor, I can't believe you kept my old dance shoes and costumes all this time! Were you secretly in love with me or something?"

She gave him a playful nudge on the shoulder.

Victor looked utterly confused-but Evelyn recognized the box immediately. It was hers.

Swallowing the urge to stand, she wheeled herself over and reached out with a burning gaze.

"That's not yours. Give it back."

Startled by Evelyn's sudden approach, Sophia's hand slipped-and the box's contents spilled across the floor.

Among them was a trophy, which clattered against the ground and shattered into pieces.

Evelyn's eyes went wide in disbelief. In the chaos, someone must've kicked her wheelchair-it tipped over sideways.

She scrambled to pick up the broken trophy, her breathing ragged.

Sophia, visibly shaken, ducked behind Victor and clutched his arm. "What's wrong with her? She's scaring me..."

Victor finally snapped back to his senses. He gave Sophia a calming pat on the shoulder, then turned toward Evelyn. She was dragging her legs, trying to gather all the fallen items back into the box.

"It's just a bunch of junk. Do you really have to be this dramatic?"

Evelyn didn't answer. Her hands trembled as she tried to fit the pieces of the broken trophy back together.

Victor bent down to pick her up, but Evelyn, trembling with rage, slapped him hard across the face.

"That's not junk," she said through clenched teeth. "That trophy meant the world to me."

It held the last of her dreams-and the final fragment of her father's love.

Victor had always been proud and arrogant. Being slapped after trying to console her made his temper flare-he dropped her back down without a word.

Sophia peeked out from behind him and said nervously, "I'm so sorry, Evelyn. I didn't know it was yours. I really thought it was mine. I have plenty of trophies. I'll give you one of mine to replace it!"

And just like that, she turned and fled.

Victor didn't even hesitate-he ran after her immediately.

Left behind, Evelyn sat on the floor clutching the broken trophy. Her legs throbbed with pain, but she pushed through, slowly crawling back into bed.

That trophy... it wasn't expensive.

But it was hand-made by her father when she was twelve.

Now it was broken, just like her dreams of dancing.

Not long after, Victor returned and set another trophy by her bedside.

"This is Sophia's first-ever trophy. It's also her favorite. She said she's willing to give it to you. She also asked me to apologize on her behalf. Evelyn... let's not drag this out. Please, let it go."

Evelyn picked up the trophy from her nightstand and turned it in her hands, studying it.

Three years ago, she'd been forced to withdraw from the competition after her accident left her paralyzed.

So this was the championship trophy-won by Sophia.

No wonder it was her favorite. The first trophy she'd ever gotten, snatched through underhanded means. Of course she was ecstatic.

Victor really kept his word. No matter what it cost Evelyn, if he made Sophia a promise, he'd see it through.

And now, Sophia had brought this trophy to her as compensation. There was no doubt about it-it was meant to humiliate her.

Evelyn closed her eyes. Memories of the past with Victor played like a reel in her head.

Three years ago, Victor had taken over every digital billboard in the city, making a public confession of his love for her. That year, she became the most envied woman in Beaumont.

She'd handed him her heart without hesitation. And in the end, it had all been a lie.

That thought alone made her reach for the trophy and hurl it against the wall.