Chapter 1
The day Rebekah Fletcher was released from prison, she was carried out on a stretcher.
She was so gaunt she barely looked human, her right hand hanging limp at her side, her legs drenched in blood.
Three months earlier, Rebekah had been framed by false testimony, forced to take the fall for the Fletcher family’s true heiress. That was how her surgeon’s hands ended up with severed tendons, and her champion dancer’s legs would never hold her again.
Just as she was sinking into despair, her husband, Benjamin Forrester, had pulled every string to get her out.
Outside the prison gates, Benjamin froze for a moment when he saw the stretcher. Then he stumbled out of the car and wrapped her in his arms.
“Rebekah, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry I’m late p>
As he climbed into the ambulance, his voice shook. A crack appeared in his composure, and a single tear escaped-a sight Rebekah had witnessed only twice before: on their wedding day, and at the birth of their son, Shawn.
When the tear landed on her cheek, her composure finally shattered.
She hadn’t cried when they beat her or when they severed the tendons in her hand, but now, the tears came in a flood. She collapsed into his embrace, inhaling the scent that had always made her feel safe.
She still had her husband, her son. She had a family that loved her.
Benjamin’s eyes were bloodshot as he held her, his voice thick with a vow that felt like a raw nerve. “Rebekah, I swear I’ll find the monster who framed you. I’ll prove your innocence p>
Curled against his chest, she felt the vibrations of his words.
The assault on her spirit finally began to soften.
Loved so completely by her husband and son, she could finally let go. The Fletchers, who had raised her yet had eyes only for their true heiress, Candice, and the ex-fiancé who had left her-none of it seemed to matter anymore.
“It’s my fault,” Benjamin rasped, his gaze averted as if he couldn’t bear to look at her. “If I hadn’t asked you to drive that day, they never would have had the chance to frame you for a hit-and-run p>
Rebekah shook her head.
How could it possibly be his fault?
Benjamin was known in their circle as the perfect husband.
After they
married, he’d treated her
like a princess, insisting she didn’t have to do a thing. He’d even begged her to quit her demanding job promising he would provide forher. The heir to the Forrester family fortune was utterly devoted to her, and everyone envied her tuck.
But now… was she still worthy of him?
“I’m afraid I’ll never hold a scalpel again,” she sobbed. “That I’ll never be able to dance p>
His eyes reddened again, and he gently shushed her. “It’s okay, Rebekah If you can’t operate, I’ll take care of you for the rest of our lives. And if you can’t dance, then you won’t. I always got jealous seeing other men watch you
anyway p>
A bitter smile touched her lips.
He had always loved her legs, but now they were covered in wounds. Even if they healed, the scars would remain. Eventually, he would grow tired of looking at them.
When they reached the hospital, she saw Shawn.
Shawn threw himself at her bedside, his small body wracked with sobs. “Mom, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know they would use my words as testimony! I remembered it wrong! It’s my fault! I’ll give you my legs p>
Rebekah remembered three months ago, when she was accused of the hit-and-run Shawn, her own son, had testified that she had, in fact, left the house that day. He had always been a quiet mature child little reserved for his age, but now he was a mess of tears and snot,
looking utterly pitiful.
He was just a child, after all. And it’s so easy for a child to get things mixed up.
A wave of tenderness washed over her. She stroked his hair and said softly, “It’s
not your fault, sweetheart. Mom doesn’t blame you p>
“From now on, I’ll be your legs, Mom,” Shawn choked out. “I’ll run for you and see the world for you p>