Love Ends in Winter

He waited for a moment, then finally grew impatient.

"Claire Grant, I said my stomach hurts."

He stood, swaying. Without his corrective shoes, he walked with an unsteady gait.

He stood in front of me, watching as I laid out the files one by one.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"Owen Galloway, you're not helpless. And I am not your maid."

Surprise and anger flashed in his eyes.

Out of love and guilt, I had always been accommodating and tolerant of him. 'When had I ever spoken to him in such a tone?'

He kicked my files, sending them scattering across the floor. His voice was strained. "That's right, I'm a cripple. You look down on me now too, don't you? But what can you do? Your mother still had to beg me to marry you!"

I slowly lifted my head, trying to see some semblance of his old self in that contorted face.

"Owen Galloway, does humiliating an old woman make you proud?"

He froze, and just as he seemed about to say something, his phone suddenly rang.

He answered it right in front of me.

It was Sylvia Linton. She said her stomach was hurting and was asking him what medicine she should take.

I found it laughable. 'As if he'd have any idea what she should take. Why would she even ask him?'

But as soon as he hung up, Owen immediately started searching on his phone. Then, he hurried to the first-aid kit and rummaged through it for some medicine.

As he was leaving, he also grabbed the back support pillow I'd left on the sofa, intending to take it with him.

I ran over and snatched it back.

I've had a bad back for a long time, and Owen knew it. He'd even made fun of me, saying the pillow was hideous.

Owen's brow furrowed. "Give it to me."

"She has a stomach ache, not a back ache. What do you need that for?"

"She's been working overtime lately, and her back has been bothering her."

I looked at his matter-of-fact expression, and it felt like a gaping hole had been torn in my chest, with cold wind whistling through.

I must have given him a hideous smile, because a flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"What does that have to do with me? Am I supposed to buy her pads for her, too?"

The man's face darkened instantly.

"Claire Grant, her face was ruined because of you! A woman's face! You owe her a debt you can never repay in this lifetime, so what's the big deal about one back pillow?"

I froze, the world spinning around me.

Right before our college graduation, the school organized a class trip. But we were caught in a once-in-a-century flood.

Sylvia Linton, who had tagged along uninvited, and I were trapped together in a small cabin on the mountain.

Owen Galloway found us. Despite Sylvia Linton's pleas, he gave the chance of survival to me.

As a result, Sylvia Linton was disfigured, and Owen Galloway's right leg was crippled.

For all these years, guilt has been a crushing weight. I accepted his confession, gave him the best medical care and a life of comfort. I humbled myself completely, unconditionally accepting whatever moods he threw at me.

I even pretended not to notice when he got back in touch with Sylvia Linton, their connection lingering, their relationship ambiguous.

'But what did I get in return for my forbearance?'

"What gives you the right to blame me for everything?" I was finally furious.

Owen Galloway sneered, his laughter laced with hatred.

"Who else? You didn't just ruin her, you ruined me too!"

He kicked his shoe off, and the corrective insole inside tumbled out. "How much longer do I have to wear this ugly thing? When will I be able to walk like a normal person? How much more of this ridicule am I supposed to take?"

"Do you know how they laugh at me? They call me a kept cripple. Your trophy husband. A useless piece of trash who depends on you for everything!"

"I had so many dreams! I wanted to be a basketball player! I wanted to go teach in the mountains! I wanted to do extreme sports, become a race car driver! It's all ruined! You ruined my entire future!"

He loomed over me, his voice dripping with venom. "Do you know what I feel every time I see you? Disgust. I hate you so much I want to vomit. Claire Grant, what right did you have to ruin both me and Sylvia, while you got away without a scratch?!"

...