"Mom, Dad, please. I just turned twenty, can you please not force me into marriage?"
"I've been accepted by The Top top University, let me attend college!"
Megan Summers shed tears, grabbing her mother's arm, pleading not to be forced into marrying a fifty-year-old man with a limp.
Her mother disgustedly shook off her hand, "Now that you're blind, you still want to go to college? Aren't you ashamed? It’s disgraceful."
"You are so foolish, studying all the time, insisting on playing the hero and rescuing people on the roads. Everything we’ve saved has been spent on treating your eyes!"
"And this old man Chris Smith, he actually chose you, willing to pay a dowry of 200,000 dollars to marry you. Yes, he is a bit older and has issues with his legs, but he isn't bothered by your blindness, still willing to spend money to marry you. You should be grateful."
"When we receive this dowry, we can provide the down payment for your brothers’s house."
Upon hearing this, Megan Summers felt disappointed, her heart filled with despair. She bit her lip tightly. Tears were streaming from her eyes.
All the expenses during her hospital stay were clearly paid by a woman she had saved.
But her parents deceived the elderly woman out of a million dollars under the pretext of her surgery. Once they got their hands on the money, they forcibly discharged her.
Now, for the sake of the dowry, they wanted to push her to marry an old man with a limp, utterly disregarding her feelings.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but retort: “You got a million dollars from that old woman. Why not use it for my operation?”
“You only care about my brothers, I’m your daughter too, why do you treat me like it? You’re so unfair.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than she received a heavy slap across her face.
She staggered and fell to the ground, a burning sensation coming from her cheek.
Immediately following, the berating voice of her mother came from above, "You ungrateful girl, we raised you, fed and clothed you without you having to spend a penny, and yet you dare to question us, what an utterly unappreciative creature you are!"
"Such a waste of money, I despise..."
With a spit to the ground, her father, John Summers, complained, "Just looking at you infuriates me, go into the closet, and only come out when you’ve reflected on your mistake."
With that said, like picking up a small chicken, he grabbed Megan by the arm and threw her into the closet.
There was a loud bang as the closet door was slammed closed.
The closet, due to its lack of sunlight, was damp, cold, and pitch black.
But Megan was accustomed to the environment of the closet. Even if her eyes did not work, she could still avoid the mess in the room from the memory in her mind to prevent injury.
She stood up, slowly moving her feet, and sat down on the old wooden chair in the corner.
Remembering what happened recently, the tears once again fell uncontrollably.
That day, on her way to university registration, she rescued an elderly woman who almost had a car accident.
Because of the rescue, her eyes were injured, causing temporary blindness.
The doctor had mentioned that she could regain her sight through surgery, but her parents thought the surgery was too expensive. After blackmailing the old woman for a million dollars, they forcibly discharged her.
As a result, she became blind and could not go to school or even take care of herself.
Yet she has never regretted saving someone. The old woman was too old and a car accident, if not rescued in time, could be life-threatening at any moment.
Even though she was blinded for saving someone, but being able to save the old woman's life, she feels it was worth it.
At this moment, the aroma of food from the living room wafted into the closet. Shortly after, tender voices addressing the two sons filled the air.
"Mike, you are growing up now. You need to eat more, here, have another piece of meat."
"Jack, you too. You should eat more. Midterm exams are starting soon, you can't do worse than last time; at the very least you should aim for the tenth last position in the grade, right?"
Jack Summers was in the eighth grade, yet he consistently ranked last in his exams. All he seemed to know was how to eat, looking as plump as a pig.
Jack Summers retorted dismissively, "What does it matter if my grades are bad? All the money my sister will earn in the future will be mine anyway. Why should I bother studying hard when eating is so much easier?"
"Exactly, exactly, all the money in this house will belong to you and your brothers," Mrs. Summers replied, adding another piece of meat to her son's plate.
"Mom, why would you let Megan marry a fifty-year-old cripple? It's so embarrassing just to mention it," Mike Summers protested, the elder brothers.
His disagreement was not due to any affection for Megan, but rather, he was worried that this would spark gossip among others, which would affect his future marriage prospects.
Mrs. Summers responded with a cold snort, "What choices does a blind girl like her have? If Chris Smith weren't old and crippled, thus finding it difficult to get a wife, would he have chosen our blind Megan?"
"That wretched girl should take advantage of her youthful beauty and hurry up to get married. If it weren't for me arranging this marriage, who would be willing to pay a dowry of two hundred thousand dollars for a blind girl?"
"She really annoys me. Not only is she ungrateful, but she also dares to talk back to me and your father. What a ungrateful creature!"
Mrs. Summers didn't hold back on her cruel words. Every single word clearly reached Megan's ears.
Upon hearing this, Megan's heart turned as cold as ice.
She secretly resolved to escape, determined to leave this home where she could not feel even a bit of familial warmth. She couldn't let her future happiness be buried here.
Sometimes, she found herself wondering if she really was the biological child of her parents.
Why were her parents so good to her brothers, but so cruel to her?
From a young age, she had consistently topped her class and received scholarships every year. But all this money was eventually confiscated by her parents and spent on her younger brothers.
Her parents always dressed her brothers in branded shoes and clothes, while she had to wear old clothes and shoes discarded by relatives.
Due to this, she was often ridiculed at school for wearing secondhand clothes, which inflicted her with such self-doubt and shame that she couldn't lift her head up in front of her classmates.
Later on, she finally made it to university, using the tuition she had painstakingly saved up from countless part-time jobs, reporting to school without her parents' knowledge. However, on the way there, she encountered an old woman in a car accident. She severely damaged her eyes while trying to save the older woman, which led to permanent blindness and her current predicament...
Thinking back, she let out a deep sigh and asked herself, why was fate so cruel to me?
…
Hospital.
A sigh came from Grandma Lawrence, "Where has she gone? Did she silently leave the hospital because she couldn't bear the burden of the medical expenses?"
"I've already told them that I'll bear all the medical costs. How could they leave the hospital without leaving any contact number?"
Beside the hospital bed stood a tall man.
The man, wearing a crisp suit with sharp, handsome features and a cold demeanor, he was called Greg Lawrence. He is both the grandson of Grandma Lawrence and the CEO of the Lawrence conglomerate.
He had just finished his work and rushed back from abroad. As soon as he got off the plane, he headed straight for the hospital.
In a husky voice, Greg Lawrence pacified, "Grandma, don't worry. I've already asked someone to look into it."
"If not for that young girl saving my life, this old body of mine would be long gone."
"Greg, let me tell you, that girl is very pretty, with big, bright eyes, fair skin, and an adorable oval face, as pure and lovely as a rose."
"If that girl is of age, she'd be a suitable match for you. You're not getting any younger, it's time to find a wife and get married."
Greg is twenty-nine this year, he’s an individual of impeccable morals and maintains a chaste lifestyle, he still has never been in a relationship.
The Lawrence family is regarded as the crème de la crème within elite circles, their power reaching to the heavens. Thus, there have been numerous influential parties wishing to form marital alliances with the Lawrence family. However, Greg has all his focus on his career and has no interest in matters of marriage.
Greg furrowed his brows slightly, a trace of warning flashing in his eyes. "Grandma, this situation might not be as simple as you think."
The elderly Mrs. Lawrence rarely goes outdoors, and it was her first time experiencing a car accident, all too coincidentally saved by a passing young girl. This all felt a little too strange, right?
Furthermore, after the girl's family received one million dollars for medical expenses from the Lawrence family, they abruptly ran away.
This series of events was making people suspicious.
However, if the Megan family knew the true wealth of the Lawrence family and only asked for one million dollars, they might be filled with regret.
To the Summers family, one million already seemed like an enormous sum, but for the Lawrence family, it's just a drop in the bucket.
As the lifesaver of the Lawrence family, let alone one million, even if they asked for one hundred million, or one billion, the Lawrence family would readily paid it without batting an eye.
Old lady Lawrence understood her grandson. He was a smart man who had been dictating the business world for years, often dealing with treachery and deceit,
So he had strong vigilance and extremely profound thoughts.
"If you are still uncertain, then you should investigate this matter thoroughly. But I believe, that little girl is goodhearted."
Old Mrs Lawrence has lived to such an age and seen all kinds of people, so she has always been accurate in judging others. She has confidence in her own judgement.
The young girl has clear and pure eyes, she doesn't seem to be the type with ulterior motives at first glance.
After leaving the sickroom, Greg's eyes instantly turned icy.
He instructed his assistant beside him, "Investigate the origins of the car involved in the accident, as well as the young girl mentioned by my grandmother."
"Understood, Mr. Lawrence."
