edward had long ago come to terms with the fact that he was not like everyone else and did not pay attention to people's stairs but at first it was not easy for him to accept it at all he did not sleep well was constantly depressed and even thought about ending his life everything that happened to him was a tragic set of circumstances on that ill-fated day he overslept and there was no way he could walk to university on time so he decided to take the bus at the bus stop there were a lot of people
and edward already had a feeling that this trip would not be very pleasant people with frowning faces stood waiting for transportation but then they heard sirens wailing in the distance and the crowd noticeably livened up many including edward went to the edge of the sidewalk to get a better look at what was happening edward watched with interest as the car pursued by three patrol cars raced along the road swerving in different directions he did not even have time to realize the danger as in a matter of seconds the chased car skidded right into the crowd
at a bus stop the last thing edward managed to see was the twisted face of the driver behind the windshield and then there was only terrible pain and darkness as he heard later three people had been killed that morning including the driver who had been in a drunken state and nine people had ended up in the hospital with various injuries after a month in the hospital the doctor gave edward their final verdict he would no longer walk that was the first time edward thought about death his mother tried to pretend that nothing had changed but
this irritated him even more the woman was very worried about her son and did not know what to do edward withdrew into himself often refused to eat and dropped out of his studies even though the university provided wheelchair accessible facilities edward was only getting better in the park where his mother took him soon he began to get there on his own where he would hole up in some remote place and read a book quietly if anyone tried to start a conversation with him the guy would answer very rudely and people lost any desire to talk
to him but one day everything changed edward as usual was sitting in the shade reading when suddenly he heard someone say hello to him he wanted as usual to tell something unpleasant but he looked up and saw a girl about 12 years old in a wheelchair as well as he he was surprised that she was smiling at him and involuntarily smiled back i noticed you a long time ago but i was afraid to come up the girl said good-naturedly and laughed happily and now why did you drive up replied edward not angry but not friendly
either because you don't seem so angry today edward grinned and they got to talking the girl's name was bella and she used to be a professional dancer but one day during a difficult competition she felt a severe pain in her back later it turned out that sport dances were strictly contradicted for her and because of the constant strain on her spine she had needed to gather a large sum of money for treatment in germany good for you but i have no chance edward muttered sadly we don't have that kind of money anyway when i grow
up i'll definitely earn that money get cured and then help others and if the treatment doesn't help what then edward smiled sadly looking at this good-natured and nice girl well i try not to think about it if it doesn't help then i'll think about it later we should always think of the good things only bella said with a smile and suddenly ever felt instantly ashamed of his breakdown in caprices of the anguish he had cost his mother with his behavior they agreed to meet with bella in the park the next day he liked talking to
her she made him feel hopeful and calm then edward returned home his mother simply did not recognize her son he was smiling for the first time asking for food and even volunteering to do the dishes and after her son asked her for the phone number of the dean of the university to negotiate the transfer to distance education the woman could hardly hold back to her tears of joy cheerful bella seemed to give edward the strength to go on living he was ashamed that he a grown man who has much more opportunities than the little girl
left his hands fall edward took up the cause and after two years he was completely changed the guy was preparing for his diploma and found a well-paid job on the internet he set a goal to help bella no matter what since she had a chance to have a normal life one day bella's mother mrs jenkins invited edward and his mother to visit them they lived modestly in an old one-story house mrs jenkins was glad to have edward in her daughter's life and took a moment to sincerely thank the young man for making bella smile more
i thought bella had never been sad edward remarked in surprise oh come on at one time the energy in her was just bubbling but the illness changed everything but after meeting you she began to remind me more and more of her old self from mrs jenkins edward also learned the details of what happened to the girl the thing is her father had the idea to make bella a celebrity as it turned out in the aftermath he knew that his daughter was contradicted from straining her back at all but he hid it from everyone the woman
sighed and looked out the window and after a few seconds she continued hit it from me too i always worked hard my husband didn't really bother to work he claimed he had poor health that he needed to take care of himself so he started to focus on bella and i trusted him and was even glad because bella was doing well and then when the daughter was in the hospital with severe pains everything opened up there was big competitions ahead of her the prize money was very big i came to the hospital a little earlier than
i was going to and overheard my husband trying to persuade the doctor to prescribe strong painkillers even offered him money to let the girl compete the doctor explained to him that this should not be done that the dance could be the last we had a terrible fight and on that fateful day when there was a competition i was on shift i was completely calm because we both agreed that we were done with dancing and at the end of the shift i got the call that my girl was in the hospital i dropped everything and ran
there and my husband was there he was upset not that he had destroyed his daughter but that she hadn't won the grand prize i wanted to kill him and then we were told that our girl will never be able to not only dance but probably just walk with a cane after that he just left saying that he had nothing more to do here that's how bella and i were left alone edward was shocked by the story but still asked if there was any chance that bella could be helped there is such a possibility we just
do not have that kind of money surgery abroad is expensive so is rehabilitation all this time i need to be around and that means quitting my job i work in two places at once one of my salaries is spent on treatment and we live on the other edward was of course shocked by such absurdity and cruelty he thought a lot about bella's fate and decided that he should definitely at least try to help he could do it he was young smart he had plenty of free time and he had a remote job which he decided
to give himself even more passionately to two years passed and edward managed to accomplish what he had planned he was preparing to surprise bella that he was sure would change her whole life he sat with his laptop all day long and his mother was glad that her son was engaged in business and even earned something but she did not go into details the woman was sure that he would not earn much so she did not dare tell him the truth which she had been hiding for a long time actually the doctor's verdict was not so
categorical edward had a chance to recover but his operation was very expensive they did not have that kind of money and then she decided not to tell him about it yet not to upset him unnecessarily and today she decided to say the truth about it but edward happily informed her that they were going to visibella today and the woman decided to postpone the conversation until they returned home what an intrigue laughed the mother merrily so what's the surprise if bella were 18 years old i think you decided to propose to her effort looked up with
her with a reproachable look and then laughed mom if she was 18 i'm closer to 30. what proposal oh it's no big age difference at all said the mother meaningfully and went to change edward only good-naturedly shook his head he was friends with bella helped with the lessons treated her very warmly but could not imagine how they could be a couple in the future given the 10 years difference in age at bella's home the guests were greeted with a special pie everyone present already knew that edward had something in mind for bella but no one
could guess what the surprise was when everyone was seated at the table edward finally spoke with a cryptic look and everyone froze in anticipation i won't keep you waiting any longer a couple of years ago when i first met bella she turned my whole life upside down and made me act but i have not a chance to get back on my feet and she has so i decided to give her that opportunity i found a way to work on the internet and it started to bring in a nice income i have already saved enough money
and paid for bella's treatment at the clinic edward are you kidding aspela dumbfoundedly and taking the envelope with the supporting documents from the man's hands she realized it was all true mrs jenkins was shaking with sobs of happiness but edward's mother sat silently pale realizing what a mistake she had made why didn't i tell him earlier that he could be helped too she thought in horror why that he wouldn't have spent the money on this girl he would have spent it on himself edward noticed that something was going on with his mother she suddenly remembered
her urgent business and began to get ready to go home on the way home he asked her why she did not seem happy for bella at all edward's son how could i be happy if you gave money to the girl that you could have spent on your treatment but mom you said i didn't have a chance didn't you i just didn't want to upset you i didn't know you could earn that much edward was stunned once home he locked himself in his room and cried for the first time in a long period no he didn't
regret helping bella but if he had found out sooner he would have found a way to help them both edward gradually calmed down and pulled himself together now he knew what he had to do next in the morning edward told his mother that they should immediately move to another city since there were limited opportunities for development here the woman agreed and while bella was undergoing treatment edward and her mother sold the apartment and left town after moving ever decided to cut off communication with bella and he did not want the girl to continue contact with
him out of pity she would now begin a different full life victoria was on her way to a meeting with her friend in a few days they were going to go to work for the first time and she was very happy that both of them were hired by such a large i.t company unlike her friend victoria had no intention of learning the ins and outs of the business or of working her way up the ladder she believed that the most important thing was to make the right connections especially with men but her friend had a
different opinion victoria loved her of course but considered her terribly tedious because she always managed to get her to hang out with great difficulty they had agreed to meet at the mall and victoria was sure that at this moment her friend was probably choosing some depressing outfit for her work victoria on the other hand had preferred things bright and expensive and could afford it because her father provided for her completely she could not have worked her father insisted he believed that a grown-up educated woman either have to work herself or be supported by her husband
victoria was in no hurry to get married so she didn't argue especially since her father promised to buy her an apartment if she could get a proper job it meant complete freedom which victoria wanted so much and she was ready for anything she was lucky that they were accepted together with her friend because she had a much better understanding of everything and victoria planned to ask her for help on occasion when she arrived at the mall victoria pulled into the parking lot and rushed to the only free space but when she drove closer she saw
a man in a wheelchair there the young woman became angry and got out of the car you got a cool car victoria said mockingly pointing to the wheelchair just park it over there at the very beginning of the parking lot there are spaces for the wheelchair excuse me i'll be right out i dropped my keys and i can't pick it up the woman saw the keys on the pavement under the front tire but she didn't even think to help she grunted got in her car and went looking for another spot edward sighed he couldn't stand
people like her now he would have to find someone else and ask he didn't dare get up for the keys himself the surgery and rehabilitation were long behind him but the doctors had reassured themselves and forbid him to stand on his feet for another week soon he would walk and live a new life but at first things were not so positive because of the time that had passed no one wanted to take him to surgery his mother cried and kept reminding him that if he hadn't given up that money he wouldn't have lost so much
precious time and the treatment would have been easier and so he needed a second surgery and then a third edward thought about this often and realized that he would have done the same thing anyway all these hardships helped him become really strong they have nurtured a sense of purpose a tremendous work ethic and faith in himself he never imagined that being disabled he could build an internet marketing company that would be so successful most of his staff had never even seen him or heard of his problem and his top managers with whom he dealt directly
were discreet about it edward didn't want people to know about his problem because he wanted to avoid any sympathy or ridicule but the surgery changed everything and now edward was going to show up at the office in person starting with the opening of a new department in a couple of days a man passing by handed him the keys and edward heartily thanked him he flicked a button and the car next door blanked its headlights edward easily threw his body on the seat folded the wheelchair and dashingly sped off he had been driving for a month
already and he loved it just a little longer and he would be back to a normal life again on the day of the opening of the new department edward arrived early at the office he did not want to take any chances yet so he took a seat at his desk in the conference room while no one's there now everything was ready for the staff meeting to begin victoria and her friend had already arrived at the office they were told the department was new and that in half an hour the head of the company would introduce
them at the meeting and answer all their questions victoria perked up it was not for nothing that she had prepared herself and put on her shortest and tightest dress the young woman planned to take a place in the front row and attract the head's attention with her shapely legs and thus ensure her future career growth her friend only laughed when she heard about this plan victorio what if he's older than your grandfather and he does not care about your knees oh why are you always spoiling my mood and you're dressed like a nun again i
came here to work not to show my legs to the boss victoria didn't expect any other answer after a little chatting with the other employees she had already found out that the leader was a young man in his 30s unmarried and had recently arrived in the city victoria encouraged grabbed her friend by the hand and pushing everyone on the move managed to take a seat in the front row as soon as everyone had taken their seats the young man at the table averted his eyes from his papers and began to speak and victoria was horrified
to recognize him as the man from the parking lot whom she had not helped with the keys she feverishly began to think what she should do now how she could better apologize and make amends for the situation suddenly she turned to her friend and froze she was sitting there with a pale face and tears rolling down her cheeks what is wrong did something happen the girl stared silently at the one who was now speaking then she jumped up and ran out of the room victoria first wanted to run after her friend but realizing that she'd
risk losing her job remain seated when edward began the meeting he looked around and noticed in the front row the very same woman who had sassed him in the parking lot yeah the world is happened such as small he saw the impression he was making on her and almost laughed he even thought he'd have to teach her a lesson so she wouldn't want to insult other people for a long time but suddenly his gaze slipped next to her and edward saw another woman who was looking at him with huge eyes there was something familiar in
those beautiful eyes and he even faltered for a second he continued his speech only when she cried he recognized her it was bella edward struggled to keep talking but when bella ran out of the hall edward decided to interrupt the meeting people began to disperse to their places of work and victoria was very surprised when the personal assistant of the boss came up to her and asked her to go to his office the woman was pleased now she would have the perfect opportunity to make amends she entered the office gracefully swaying her hips but caused
only a sneer on edward's face the woman sat down on the edge of her desk and began to apologize for the incident in the parking lot but everett said he only wanted bella's address victoria did not want to talk about bella but edward insisted and she had nothing to do but dictate the address after which the assistant chief literally pushed her out the door bella sat at home on her bed and sobbed her mother tried to find out what was wrong but she only started crying harder so she cried only once when they returned to
the town after surgery and found out that edward and his mother had disappeared without a trace changing the phone number not even leaving a goodbye note the doorbell rang unexpectantly mrs jenkins opened the door and groaned in front of her stood a worried edward he leaned on a cane and in one hand was a bouquet of flowers everett gave the astonished woman the bouquet and quickly walked into bella's room he knew about bella's childhood crush and even then he wanted her to meet a normal guy but today he realized that she's still remembered and probably
loved him a few months later edward and bella had their wedding at first victoria didn't even want to go to the wedding because she thought her friend had taken her place but then she became interested in edward's friend a companion and agreed edward warned his friend about victoria's character but he decided to try to fix it edward doubted but he did not argue and wished him luck he stood and watched as bella walked towards him in a white dress and realized that life is really good he had his own business his beloved wife and soon
there would be a new member in their family but for now it was only his and bella's secret
