Crippled Husband, Devoted Wife

At the Kelsey Coffee Shop...

It was where Zoey Carter worked. Charlie Kingsley had arrived near the cafe for quite a while but did not come in. He sat in a black car across the road, observing the girl who was as busy as a bee with a critical eye through the large floor-to-ceiling window of the shop.

The girl was beautiful, and the most attractive feature was her smile which dispelled all the darkness around her like a bright sun.

Since crippled, Charlie had felt that the world was dark and cold. But looking at her smile with dimples on the face engendered a bit of warmth in his heart. No wonder his grandmother liked her so much, as she indeed seemed to be a delightful girl.

He thought that if he did not know that the girl married him, who was disabled for some ulterior purpose, he would have liked her as much as his grandmother did.

As Charlie thought of that, a drunken man stumbled into the cafe. Hearing the ringing of the doorbell, Zoey greeted him with a smile. "Welcome."

The man's face was red, and his pace was unsteady. When he saw Zoey, he revealed a lewd smile, mumbling, "Beauty, have fun with me... I have money..."

With her face sagging, Zoey replied curtly, "Sir, this is a cafe, not a special club. It's not the place you look for!"

The effect of alcoholic gave the man the nerves to be reckless and rude. "No, it is right the place I am looking for!" He pounced on Zoey, who dodged quickly.

The man began to chase Zoey. For several times he almost caught Zoey with his fat and greasy hands. Seeing Zoey in danger, Edward Ford, Charlie's assistant, said to Charlie, "Mr. Kingsley, Miss Carter is in trouble. Should we go over and help her?"

"If you are not afraid to be entangled with her, you can do it."

She had saved him once. If he came to her rescue, it would be more difficult for him to keep her away.

All of a sudden, a sound of slap occurred.

Charlie looked over and saw Zoey standing upright with her right hand raised in the air. The man seemed to be so drunk that he was easily knocked over a trash can next to him.

The man cursed, "Fuck, you are just a shameless whore. Why do you pretend to be righteous? Isn't it the way you earn money? How many men have you slept with? You should feel honored to sleep with me..."

Without uttering a single word, Zoey lifted her foot to kick the man, her face relentless.

Seeing Zoey hit the most vulnerable part of the man's body, Edward instinctively covered the same place, as if he could feel the drunkard's pain.

If Miss Carter, who was so tough, married Mr. Kingsley ... Edward peeked at Charlie, hesitant to say what he thought.

"What are you looking at?" Charlie noticed Edward's strange gaze and frowned.

"No, nothing... No, I'm just worried that Miss Carter hurt the man..."

The words had just come out of the mouth of Edward when he heard the man, whose penis was given another powerful kick by Zoey, screaming like a tortured pig.

"Mr. Kingsley, should we go over... to stop Miss Carter..." Edward stopped. He never expected that the future wife of the boss was so violent.

"Call the police!"

"What?" Edward could not believe what he had heard, as he thought that the police would certainly detain Zoey.

Completely sobered up by the intense pain, the man yelled at Zoey, "I'm calling the police, and you are to be put in jail!"

Zoey laughed. "Call the police? Okay, hurry up! Even though I'm a whore, as you say, how can you not pay for your whoring? I'm going to your office and your house to ask for payment." In terms of quarreling, she was an expert.

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The man was so furious that he swung a chair towards Zoey. Noticing that things worsened, Charlie could not, in good conscience, refrain from saving the girl.

After Adam Holt, a bodyguard of Charlie took the alcoholic away, and Edward pushed Charlie, who sat in a wheelchair, into the cafe.

When fixing her white uniform, Zoey was embarrassed by finding a button on her chest missed. Hearing someone coming in, she looked over. As she met Charlie's eyes, she was like seeing a ghost.

"Miss Carter, hello." As Zoey's whole body froze, Charlie took the initiative to break the silence.

Zoey came to senses and stammered, "Mr. Kingsley, do you want to drink coffee? Which kind do you want? It's my treat..."

Before coming here, Charlie had investigated the background of Zoey, who was born in a low-income family but very independent. And because Zoey saved his life, Charlie was unwilling to be tough on her, even though he was repulsed by the forced marriage between him and her.

"I'm here for you. When do you get off work?"

"Soon. Wait, I'm calling the store manager to ask for leave." Zoey went behind the counter and made a call to the store manager to get his assent.

Zoey changed out of her work clothes and walked towards Charlie with a red face.

The sight of Charlie made Zoey's heart race, even though he sat in a wheelchair with a bland expression.

She regretted that she did not wear a sponge corset today. At the thought of that there was a spot dyed slightly purple on the hem of her blouse, that there were dark circles under her eyes because she stayed up late for study yesterday, and that she ran into a lousy drunkard, Zoey felt in stark contrast to Charlie who owned an aura of grace.

With a combination of regret, shame, and inferiority in the heart, Zoey followed Charlie to a western restaurant.

Zoey did not restore her senses until Charlie asked her what she wanted to eat.

"I've never been to a place like this before, so I don't know what food it has. But I'm not picky. I'll eat whatever you order."

When Zoey smiled slightly with adorable dimples on her cheek, Charlie frowned. She mistook his expression for a sign of contempt, and her smile was gone.

Charlie ordered a meal for Zoey according to the preference of Caroline Thomas, his ex-girlfriend.

While waiting for the meal, Charlie asked outright, "Why do you want to marry me?"

"I..." Zoey blushed immediately. What could she say? Could she tell him that it was because she had fallen for him since she was a child?

Charlie laughed lightly, asking, "Do you know my ex-fiancée?"

Zoey raised her head and, staring at Charlie and nodding, her hands clenched tightly under the table. Was it because he still loved his ex-fiancée that he was reluctant to marry her?

"We were affectionate towards each other, but when I was crippled, she went abroad without even saying goodbye to me."

"..."

"What was she afraid of? Was she afraid that I would pester her to stay with me? Was she too afraid to talk to me?" Charlie stared at Zoey and asked, "So, Miss Carter, why are you willing to marry me, a disabled man?"

"You won't believe me if I say it's because I love you." Zoey looked at Charlie and said in a firm tone, "But, what I say is true. As for why? I don't want to tell you. When you recall me, you will understand."

"We've met before?" Charlie asked.

"Yes."

Zoey gazed at Charlie and smiled wistfully with her sweet dimples.

"Where?"

Charlie stared at Zoey's beautiful face, trying to search for the event in his memory, but failed. He should not have seen her before. Otherwise, a gorgeous girl like Zoey must have left him some impression.

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"You indeed have forgotten me!"

She always kept Charlie in mind while he had no recollections about her. Her eyes flashing with obvious disappointment, Zoey said, "I will not give you a hint. You have to remember it by yourself!"

"Miss Carter, what do you want? Tempting me by deception?" Hearing the cold contemptuous voice, Zoey felt her heart being stabbed by a knife.

There were a thousand scenarios she had imagined when they met, but none of them was that he would hate her so much.

After a moment of silence, Charlie continued with sarcasm, "Why don't you say anything? Because I am right, right?"

Zoey slapped on the table and shouted at him, "What do you want me to say? Now that in your eyes, I'm a greedy, vain, and pretentious woman who trades her body for money, will you believe me even though I'm telling the truth?"

"..."

"Tempting you by deception? Let me tell you, Charlie, if I desire money, I would have chosen to be a mistress when I started my freshman year."

She suddenly clutched Charlie's hand. Charlie was stunned and tried to get rid of her. But her grasp was so tight that he failed. As Zoey gently rubbed his hand, Charlie felt offended.

"How dare you!" Charlie did not expect this woman to be so shameless and was about to shake her hand off and leave when he heard Zoey continue, "Do you feel the calluses on my hands?"

She relieved Charlie and let both of their hand, a large one and a small one, spread out. There was a thin layer of calluses on Zoey's hand while Charlie's hand was smoother.

"Charlie, your hands are beautiful...

"Look at my hands. It is not a hand of greed and vanity. Although I am poor, I am striving to change my fate. As for how to achieve that, it is definitely not by marrying a rich man."

From the bottom of the heart, she had no faith in men.

That was what she learned from her parents.

"Charlie, I want to marry you because I love you instead of money. I know you don't trust me, but time will tell.

"Charlie, can you give me a chance to prove that my feelings for you are sincere?"

The 19-year-old girl who fell in love was brave, and her love was as hot as flame and as vigorous as dawn.

Charlie was moved at the sight of Zoey's rough hands, which should not have been belong to a young and beautiful girl.

If she was after money, she, who was endowed with good looks, should have lived a comfortable life, or at least better than now.

"Miss Carter, can you tell me why do you love me?"

Zoey furrowed her brow and pondered on Charlie's words. But after quite a while, she still failed to find an answer. So she replied sadly, "Does that need a reason?"

There were a thousand reasons to hate a person, while there was actually no reason to like a person.

She was convinced that there was always one person that God had prepared for him or her. When they looked at each other, there was nothing left in their eyes but each other. This kind of feeling was too wonderful to be described or found on purpose!

Charlie was the one God had prepared for her.

"Of course, it needs reasons, such as a man's appearance, character, wealth, talent, and so on..." If he were an innocent teenage boy, he might have believed that Zoey truly loved him.

Perceiving the doubtful look in Charlie's eyes, Zoey gave up arguing with him. She said helplessly, "You won't believe whatever I say, so I'll save my words."

She put her hands under the table, her head slightly lowered, looking aggrieved.

"Miss Carter, I have no interest in marrying you at all, but considering that it is the strong wish of my grandmother and you, I agree to marry you. But ..."

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