The Beggar Who Healed My Paralyzed Legs Was My Long Lost First Love

The Ghost of the Past

Before Penelope or Grace could utter another word, the mysterious young man stood up and vanished into the bustling crowd, leaving only the faint scent of ozone and autumn leaves behind. Grace was left trembling, but not from fear. With a shaky breath, she wiggled her toes. For ten years, her lower body had been a void of numbness. Now, a fierce, healing heat radiated through her muscles. Trembling, she pushed herself up from the chair. Penelope shrieked in a mixture of terror and joy as Grace stood upright on her own two feet.

But Grace's mind was racing far beyond her physical miracle. Those eyes. That voice. It was impossible, yet her heart knew the truth. Ten years ago, she had been in a horrific car crash with her first love, Luke—a boy from the wrong side of the tracks whom her aristocratic family despised. When she woke up in the hospital, paralyzed and broken, her father had solemnly informed her that Luke had not survived the crash. She had spent a decade mourning him, believing her heart had died alongside his.

Driven by a sudden, fierce determination, Grace demanded to be driven to her family's estate. She confronted her father in his study, her standing posture striking him like a physical blow. He gasped, dropping his glass of scotch as he saw his daughter walking. But his joy quickly turned to ash as Grace demanded the truth about the boy from the crash.

Cornered by her miracle and her fury, her father finally broke. He confessed to a monstrous betrayal. Luke hadn't died. But her father had used his immense wealth to pay off the boy's astronomical medical bills on one condition: that he leave the state forever and let Grace believe he was dead, threatening to ruin what was left of Luke's family if he ever contacted her again. "I did it to protect your future!" her father cried out, but Grace felt only utter disgust.