He sighed deeply, releasing me gently and pulling himself up with ease that seemed impossible for someone who was paralyzed. “I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.”

I sat up, my heart pounding. “Ethan, what is going on? You can walk?”

He nodded, his eyes shadowed with guilt. “Yes, I can. But it’s not what you think. Please, let me explain.”

I crossed my arms, trying to mask my shock with a stern expression. “I’m listening.”

He leaned back against the bed, running a hand through his hair. “After the accident, I was paralyzed. But over time, I regained some mobility. My family didn’t want the world to know. They feared it would attract unwanted attention or somehow tarnish our family’s image.”

The weight of his words settled in, and I felt a flicker of anger. “So, you let everyone, including me, believe you were still paralyzed?”

“It wasn’t entirely my choice,” he said quietly, his eyes meeting mine with earnest sincerity. “I was trapped in a life dictated by expectations and appearances. When you came into my life, I thought it would be just another formality. But now, I see how wrong I was.”

A part of me wanted to be furious, to demand answers and retribution for the deception. But another part, a softer, inexplicable part, realized that Ethan was as much a prisoner of circumstance as I was.

For a moment, we were silent, the room filled only with the sound of our breathing.

“What do we do now?” I finally asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Ethan reached out, taking my hand in his. “I don’t want this marriage to be just a contract or an obligation. I want it to mean something. I know it’s unfair to ask you for a chance after everything, but… would you consider it?”

His vulnerability was disarming, and I found myself nodding slowly. “I think we owe it to ourselves to try.”

A smile, tentative yet genuine, spread across his face. “Thank you, Lila.”

As we sat there, hand in hand on the floor, I realized that the future was uncertain, but perhaps not as bleak as I had once feared. Love, it seemed, could be found in the most unexpected places—like a fall on a wedding night that revealed secrets and opened the door to new beginnings.