Alle Kapitel von I Paid the Man Who Crippled My Husband: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 8

The moment those words left my mouth, the entire room went silent.A few seconds later, Dad broke free from Mom's grip and lunged at me. "I'll kill you, you heartless monster!"The rest of the family scrambled to hold him back.Helen stared at me like she was looking at a beast. Her lips trembled, and a broken wail escaped her throat before her body gave out and she collapsed.My parents dragged me to the hospital, where the Zanders had me boxed into a corner against the wall. My parents stood off to the side, their faces flushed and their heads lowered."Winona!" Helen rushed out of the ER, her face pale. "Henry is lying in there, and you gave the money to the person who hit him. What exactly are you thinking?"She lunged at me, trying to grab my hair, but Henry's aunt, Rebecca Zander, pulled her back."Calm down, Helen. Don't hurt yourself," she said, though she immediately turned on me. "Winona, how could you do something like this?""Exactly! Has Henry ever treated you ba

On the day of the awards ceremony, Henry sat in a wheelchair with a Medal of Honor pinned to his chest. The 50,000-dollar award from the mayor was resting in his hand.Yvonne Taylor stood behind him as a friend, her eyes red-rimmed.A reporter stepped forward and held a microphone out to him. Henry gave a weak smile toward the camera."Thank you. I appreciate everyone's concern. Honestly, I don't think I did anything extraordinary. I didn't even have time to think. I just reacted. I believe anyone with a conscience would've done the same thing in that moment."He spoke with calm conviction, and right on cue, Yvonne lifted a tissue and dabbed at the corner of her eye, looking too emotional to speak.The reporter instantly pressed, "Then what would you like to say about your fiancee, Ms. Winona Burke, and everything that happened at the wedding, as well as the public response since then?"Henry's smile faltered. He went quiet for a few seconds, and when he finally looked up again,

"Ms. Burke, I found what you were asking for," the investigator said."Read it," I said.The entire room went quiet as everyone listened with bated breath."Henry signed an agreement with a foreign healthcare consulting firm three and a half months ago. It was… a surrogacy contract."The moment the word "surrogacy" was uttered, gasps rippled through the crowd.If the earlier revelations of cheating and attempted murder had already shaken them, this crossed a line no one was prepared for.Henry's body stiffened, and the last bit of color drained from his face."The contract required Henry to provide a suitable candidate. Female, between 25 and 28 years old, at least 5 feet 4 inches tall, and a graduate of a top-tier university…"Henry's face turned a shade paler with every condition the private investigator revealed."The contract specified that the pregnancy must occur naturally, without the candidate's knowledge. Once the pregnancy was confirmed, the client would pay an advan

I left that suffocating city behind.I sold the house I had owned before the marriage and refused the money my parents tried to give me out of guilt.I wanted a clean break from everything that had come before.With the savings I had built up over the years, I headed south and eventually settled in a small and cozy coastal town.I used part of the money to buy a house not far from the ocean, with a yard that was just the right size.Life gradually settled into a simple routine.I was no longer the Winona who poured everything she had into work and love. Instead, I started learning how to live for myself.I signed up for surfing lessons. Although I was knocked down over and over again in the beginning, I eventually learned how to stay on the board and ride the waves.The saltwater washed over me, and with it, it felt like the old wounds I had carried for so long were finally being worn away.I adopted an orange cat from a shelter and named him Mustard. That little one always ha