Editor: Henyee Translations Mrs.
Lowell shot Mason a cool look, a silent warning hidden in her eyes.
Mason ignored it and said, “I’d like to speak with Miss Grant alone.” Now that he had said it so plainly, there was little Mrs.
Lowell could do.
She knew exactly what her son intended.
Most likely, he wanted to scare the girl away himself.
If only he were this determined about other things.
Suppressing a sigh, Mrs.
Lowell maintained her composure.
“It seems Mason would like some time to get to know Claire better.
Isabelle, why don’t we step outside for a while?” When Isabelle had addressed Mrs.
Lowell in this sweet way earlier, it had been out of her sheer eagerness to secure the marriage.
Yet Mrs.
Lowell’s response, however, carried a different meaning.
It was a reminder to Mason, a warning not to change the outcome she had already decided upon.
Isabelle was delighted.
She had expected Mrs.
Lowell to be furious after Claire’s outrageous claim about Northgate University.
Instead, the woman seemed remarkably tolerant.
“Of course!” Isabelle said brightly.
“The young people should have some privacy.” She patted Claire’s shoulder before leaving, as she said with a warning tone, “Take good care of Mason, Claire.
He’s your fiancé now.” Claire lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea, and a faint smile touched her lips.
She couldn’t stand Isabelle.
But hearing Mason referred to as her fiancé…
That made her unexpectedly happy.
Only after the door closed behind the two women did Mason finally speak.
“My legs are permanently damaged.
There won’t be any miracle recovery.” His voice was low and rough, carrying the hoarseness of someone who rarely spoke.
But Claire understood that he was reminding her what kind of marriage she was getting into.
Claire looked up at him with a pair of crystal clear eyes, “Okay.
And?” Mason paused.
The simplicity of her response caught him off guard, and his throat tightened.
There were things he hated discussing more than his injuries.
Things that left him feeling humiliated every time they were spoken aloud.
Yet he forced himself to continue.
“I’m not a complete man anymore.
I can’t give you happiness, and I can’t give you the life most women want.” His mother wanted him to marry for the sake of appearances, for the company, for the rumors.
But none of those reasons justified trapping an innocent woman in a hollow marriage.
Marrying him meant getting her marriage and happiness ruined.
His life was already ruined, and there was no reason to ruin hers as well.
Instead of responding, Claire stood and walked around the table.
Mason instinctively looked up.
Ever since the accident, everyone stood over him.
But Claire stopped in front of him and slowly crouched down.
Now they were eye level.
For the first time in months, Mason wasn’t looking up at someone.
“Can I feel your leg?” she asked.
Her tone was completely sincere, and there was neither filth nor pity in her eyes.
She asked the question as naturally as if she were talking with a normal person, not a cripple, unlike everyone else, who barely dared touch the topic of his injury.
Since the accident, everyone around him had treated him like a fragile object.
Their pity was hidden behind careful smiles and forced optimism.
No one mentioned what had happened, and no one mentioned what he had lost.
Yet every glance reminded him of the same thing, ” You’re broken.
You’re no longer the man you used to be.
You are crippled on legs, and as a man too!” As it was known to all, a person with crippled legs often had problems with other problems below the waist.
And he was none other than this.
The rumors outside had only made it worse, and they speculated about what he could and couldn’t do.
Those rumors caused more damage than reality, suffocating him constantly.
Mason stared at Claire with his dark, bottomless eyes, “Do you even know what you’re asking?” Claire nodded and calmly said, “I do.” Something about her felt strangely familiar, though they had never met before.
It was a feeling that he couldn’t explain.
Before he realized it, he found himself saying, “Fine.” A smile immediately appeared in Claire’s eyes.
For a brief moment, Mason was distracted by it.
Then her fingers rested lightly on his knee, and he watched her hand move, yet he felt nothing.
He watched as her fingertips traveled slowly upward, testing different areas.
Normally, people would believe that she was flirting with him.
But Mason was not normal.
He was crippled from the waist down and had no feelings for any of the touches.
When she reached his thigh, she poked it and looked up at him, “Can you feel that?” Mason shook his head.
Claire continued her examination.
Just as her hand moved higher, Mason suddenly caught her wrist and said, “What are you doing?” His voice came out sharper than intended.
Claire laughed softly and let him move her hand away without resistance.
“Mason, I want to help you.” A bitter smile touched his lips.
“Help me with what?” “I want to cure your problem and help you recover.” The words landed like a thunderclap.
Those words exploded as if a bomb had been sent off on the plain ground.
The certainty in her voice was so absolute that, despite himself, a tiny spark of hope flickered inside him.
But it vanished almost immediately.
Countless specialists had examined him, and countless experts had told him the same thing: there was no hope for him.
And yet here he was, nearly believing a stranger.
“Are you aware that it is a cruel joke for a cripple?” He would have preferred mockery; at least mockery was honest.
As he thought about this, he pushed away the grip on her.
“I’m serious about this.” She had come to Norbright for him, and there was no chance she would back down now.
Mason studied her with a cold look, “Why do you want to help me?
And what makes you think you can do that?” Claire hesitated.
So he really didn’t remember her.
“Do you remember what happened in Astorian Greektown?” Mason was certain he had never met her before.
A woman as good-looking as Claire wasn’t someone people forgot.
Slowly, he shook his head.
“I’ve been there many times.
I’ve never seen you.” Claire sighed inwardly.
Just as she suspected.
The accident must have affected more than his legs.
Without reviewing his records, she couldn’t be certain.
But how could someone have forgotten her, whom he had courted before?
Perhaps memory loss suddenly seemed like the most likely explanation.
“Mason.
I can’t tell you exactly what’s wrong yet.
I need to see your medical records first.
But could you stop trying so hard to push me away?” Mason fell silent with eyes on her.
Mason, who had always been so determined to turn down people, hesitated for the first time in his life when he met her crystal, piercing eyes.
A long moment passed, and then he heard himself say, “Okay.” After a pause, he added, “If you really can cure my legs, the Grant family can have anything they want.
I can’t marry you like this.
If the marriage comes true, you’ll be a widow in all but name.” Claire froze.
Then her eyes drifted downward toward his lap.
“You mean…” The brief glance hit Mason harder than any insult.
Heat rose up his neck when he met her beautiful eyes.
And in a very long while, he felt the overwhelming urge to disappear.