Five years he used me so I married his worst nightmare

I stared at the blackened onions in the pan and sighed. Cooking was still hard for me, but I wanted to get it right. I wanted to be the perfect wife for Mathew.

People used to look at me and see only dollar signs. My father was once the wealthiest man in America. I grew up in a world of gold and glass, where everyone wanted to be my friend. But then Dad died.

I learned very quickly that grief brings out the wolves. His family, my own aunts and uncles, descended on his estate like vultures.

They found loopholes, they sued, and they looted.

By the time the dust settled, I had nothing left. Well, almost nothing. I had a single piece of real estate, a commercial building downtown, and I had Mathew.

That was enough for me.

Mathew Brewer was my rock. When my world fell apart, he was there. Even though his parents couldn't stand me. They always whispered that I was spoiled, that I married Mathew just to keep a man under my "primly thumb." They were wrong. I loved him with every part of my soul.

I wheeled my chair away from the stove. The accident last year had taken so much from me, but it hadn't taken my will.

"Okay, Melia," I whispered to myself. "You can do this."

I gripped the handles of my wheelchair, but then I did something no one knew I could do. I locked the brakes. I placed my hands on the countertop and pushed. My legs shook violently, screaming in protest, but I stood up.

I had been going to physiotherapy in secret for months. Every session was agony. I would come home sweating and exhausted, hiding my bruised knees under long skirts so Mathew wouldn't notice. I wanted it to be a surprise. A big, beautiful miracle.

"Today is the day," I thought. Mathew had been working so late recently. He barely came home before midnight, looking tired and stressed. I wanted to walk into his office and show him that his wife was back. I wanted to see his face light up.

I dressed carefully, grabbed my cane, just in case, and took a taxi to his office building.

The elevator ride up to the twentieth floor felt like it took forever. My heart was pounding, not from the physical effort of standing, but from excitement. I imagined him jumping up from his desk, rushing over to hold me, telling me how proud he was.

I reached his office suite. The receptionist was out on lunch, so the hallway was quiet. I walked slowly, focusing on each step. Left, right, left. I was doing it. I was really walking.

The door to Mathew’s private office was cracked open just an inch. I reached for the handle, a smile stretching across my face, ready to shout,

“Surprise!”

Then, I froze.

Through the crack, I saw them.

Mathew was sitting on the edge of his desk. But he wasn't looking at spreadsheets. He was looking at Lonnie Sewdan.

Lonnie. His secretary. She was his first love from high school. She had moved to Germany years ago to study, and I thought she was gone from his life forever. But she came back two years ago, broke and looking for work. Mathew had begged me to let him hire her.

"It's just charity, Melia," he had told me, holding my hands. "I have zero feelings for her. I love you."

I believed him. I trusted him.

Now, I stood outside the door, my legs trembling, watching my husband cup Lonnie's face in his hands. He leaned in and kissed her. It wasn't a friendly peck. It was hungry, romantic.

I couldn't breathe. I wanted to run, but my feet felt like they were nailed to the floor. I pressed myself against the wall, hiding in the corners, praying this was a nightmare.

They broke the kiss, breathless. Lonnie laughed, a low, throaty sound.

"How much longer, Matty?" she asked, tracing a finger down his tie. "I’m tired of hiding. I’m tired of watching you go home to that cripple."

My hand flew to my mouth to stifle a sob.

Mathew chuckled. The sound was cold. "Don't worry, babe. It’s done. She signed most of the papers this morning."

"The real estate?" Lonnie asked, her eyes widening.

"The last of it," Mathew said, smirking. "She finally transferred the deed to most of the land to my name. She thinks it's a 'business strategy' to protect the asset from her dad's family. God, she is so dumb."

"She really is," Lonnie agreed, leaning back against him. "Stuck up, prim, and clueless."

"I won't have to play nurse much longer," Mathew said, stroking Lonnie’s hair. "I’ve been stuck with her primly self for too long. But now that the building is almost mine, I don't need to pretend anymore."

My core dropped. The floor seemed to vanish beneath my unstable legs.

The building. The last thing my father left me. I had signed most of it over because I trusted him. Because I wanted to help him build our future.

He didn't love me. He didn't care about my accident. He didn't care that I was learning to walk again just for him. It was all a lie.

My reality shattered.