Nothing like Family

My friend, Taylor, sent me a photo. It was a family portrait without me.

In it, my mom, my wife, and Jim Sullivan were all smiling happily.

My heart ached so badly that I could barely breathe.

My wife, Julia Stone, who had sworn to love me for the rest of her life, had a child with Jim, who was responsible for what happened to me.

And my biological mom, Doris Moore, had only treated me well because of the inheritance my dad, Tom Sullivan, left me.

They must have had such a hard time.

Anger slowly rose inside me. I curled my trembling hands into fists and slammed them hard against my numb legs.

Mom had just gotten home when the loud pounding caught her attention.

She hurried over to me, her eyes full of concern. "Joshua, what on earth are you doing? Why are you hitting yourself?"

Hearing the concern in her voice made my emotions even harder to control.

"Why did this have to happen to me? I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair!" I shouted.

Seeing me break down, Mom quickly pulled me into her arms. "It's okay, Joshua. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side.

"And Julia will be there too. We'll always take care of you."

Whenever she said that in the past, I felt lucky to have the best mom and wife in the world.

But now, when I looked at her, all I could see was how pretentious she was.

I looked up and asked a question I already knew the answer to, "Mom, where did Julia go?"

Mom's expression stiffened. Her eyes darted around as she quickly made up an excuse that Julia had gone to buy me some peaches.

I smiled lightly and didn't expose her lie.

Instead, I pulled out my phone and said softly, "I'll call Julia."

The moment the call connected, Mom reached over to snatch my phone and hang up.

"Joshua, go back to your room and rest," she said. "I'll call Julia later. When you wake up, she'll be back, okay?

Her gentle coaxing made me realize what was really going on.

She was clearly trying to buy time so Julia and Jim could spend more time together.

Ever since I became paralyzed, Julia had often gone out while I was asleep. Every time she came home, she would bring me a little gift.

I naively thought she cared about me and went out to buy them while I was resting.

Now I knew she had been using the time while I was asleep to see Jim.

Pain and grief hit me all at once, and the complicated mix of emotions made it hard to breathe.

Jim nearly killed me, yet everyone was covering for him!

I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue. The taste of blood filled my mouth, and only then did I calm down.

After all their betrayal, I was done giving them chances.

I saved the video and photos, then asked Taylor for Julia and Jim's address.