I Paid the Man Who Crippled My Husband

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 badly? Has the Zander family ever wronged you?"

"You ungrateful piece of trash! This wedding is over!"

"Return the wedding money, too!"

The accusations came at me relentlessly, yet I stayed silent through it all.

Mom couldn't take it anymore. She tugged at my sleeve, her voice shaking as she forced a weak smile and tried to appease Helen.

"Helen, please calm down. Winona was just too shocked to think straight. She didn't mean it! We'll give her a good talking-to. As for the money, we'll figure something out once we get home. How does that sound?"

Rebecca let out a cold snort and shoved Mom aside. "Figure something out? What exactly is that supposed to mean? Are you planning to sell your daughter off? Oh, right, that's what your family does best, isn't it?

"Now that Henry's leg is broken, you think you can run off with the wedding money and find someone else? In your dreams!"

Mom stumbled back, nearly falling, her face draining of color. "That's not true… We're not that kind of people…"

Dad stood there, shaking for a second, before trying to calm the situation the only way he knew how. He forced a smile and started mumbling apologies to the Zander men, nodding so hard he looked ready to bow.

"This is our fault. I didn't raise my daughter right. Please don't take it to heart…"

"Get out of my face! Don't talk to me like we're family," Henry's uncle snapped.

One of Henry's cousins jabbed a finger in Dad's face and sneered, "Look at you. You've got no backbone, no pride, and you raised a daughter just as rotten. Your whole family is bad luck. Get out of here with that jinx and quit being an eyesore!"

Dad's face turned scarlet, but he didn't dare argue. He just kept apologizing under his breath. "You're absolutely right. This is all our fault…"

In the middle of all the commotion, I finally lifted my head. "Are you finished?"

They instantly quieted down.

I pulled my arm free from Mom's hand and stepped forward.

"I wasn't driving the car. I didn't hit anyone. Henry's broken leg has nothing to do with me," I said softly. "The 880,000 dollars were money my parents gave me. It was mine, not the Zanders'. I can do whatever I want with my own money."

"And just so we're clear…" I said, looking at their livid faces one by one. "I've already transferred it to the driver's family. Every single cent."

"You…"

Helen clutched at her chest while jabbing a finger in my face. She looked seconds away from passing out again.

Dad pointed at me, then glanced at the operating room doors, before finally slamming his fist against the wall.

"You disgrace!" he roared. "Are you trying to drive our whole family into the grave?"

Mom had already sunk to the floor, covering her face as she cried, but I didn't look at any of them again and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Dad shouted after me, his voice cracking with desperation. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

I didn't turn around, and my steps didn't falter.

"I'm going to meet the real victim in this accident."