I Married The Disabled Billionaire Then My Family Begged Me To Come Back Chapter 04
The Man Who Can Stand
Adrian Sterling, the man everyone says can’t feel his legs, shoots up out of the wheelchair.
Before I can move, he’s in front of me.
His hand closes around my throat. Hard.
He slams me back against the wall.
My back hits with a dull thud.
Adrian leans in, his eyes dark and deadly.
“Do you wanna die?”
I can barely breathe. My face burns.
My eyes drop to his legs. Strong. Steady. Standing right in front of me.
So I laugh.
“Huh… Mr. Sterling… Is pretending to be paralyzed fun?”
My voice comes out rough.
His pupils shrink. The veins on his hand bulge as his grip tightens.
“You saw something you shouldn’t have.”
His voice gets even colder.
“I could kill you right now.”
“Then tell everyone you couldn’t handle the shame and offed yourself.”
“The Hales won’t dare say a word.”
“Really?”
I’m almost choking, but the smile in my eyes only gets deeper.
I lift my hand with effort and tap his tense arm.
“Killing me is easy.”
“But if you kill me…”
“Who’s gonna heal your legs?”
His hand stops. I use that second to drag air into my lungs.
Then I keep talking.
“Your legs aren’t dead.”
“But the nerve damage is bad.”
“When you force yourself to stand, it hurts every night, doesn’t it?”
“Like bugs eating through your bones.”
“If you don’t treat it soon…”
“In six months, you really won’t be able to stand.”
Adrian stares at me.
For a split second, shock flashes in his eyes.
Tiny. Almost invisible.
But I see it.
“And that’s not all.”
I steady my breathing, look him straight in the eye, and put down my final card.
“Let’s make a deal.”
“I heal your legs, and help you hide the fact that you’re faking this paralysis.”
“You help me destroy the Hale family and the Cole family.”
“What do you say, Mr. Sterling?”
“Deal or no deal?”
His hand loosens a little.
Something dangerous moves through his eyes.
Interest. Amusement. Maybe both.
But he still doesn’t let me go.
Instead, he lowers his head.
His warm breath brushes my jaw.
He smells clean, cold, and expensive.
“Miss Hale is bold. And she knows a nearly lost form of acupuncture.”
“How interesting.”
His cool voice rolls through the empty bedroom, full of that knowing confidence, like he already had me figured out.
“If I’m not mistaken…”
“The one who shorted my rival’s stock overseas last month. The top operator in that underground hacker network.”
“Code name X.”
“That was you, wasn’t it?”
My body goes still. My back tightens against the wall.
“X” is my deepest secret.
Not even the Hales know.
They think I just grew up far away from them.
They have no idea I trained under a retired master who taught me more than they could ever imagine.
But Adrian Sterling knows.
The crown prince of Manhattan’s elite really lives up to his name.
Even “paralyzed,” his information network is terrifying.
Since my cards are already on the table, I stop pretending.
I meet his eyes and smile.
“So you already looked into me.”
“Tell me, Mr. Sterling. Are we working together or not?”
Adrian gives a low laugh. It rumbles in his chest.
Finally, he lets go of my throat.
His long fingers move to my collar.
Slowly, calmly, he straightens the shirt he just messed up.
“Deal.”
His dark eyes lock on mine.
The corner of his mouth lifts.
“Miss Hale, we’ll work very well together.”