Husband Stole My Surgery Fund for His Sweetheart; He'll Atone

Right before I could pay for my retinal detachment surgery, my husband transferred every last dollar out of my account.

All because his childhood sweetheart's flower shop would be repossessed by the landlord that very day if she didn't renew the lease.

Your vision's a little blurry and now you need surgery? Since when did you get so delicate?

"You're my wife, I know, but I can't just stand by and watch her lose years of hard work."

His sweetheart was frantic on the other end of the line.

"The shop can reopen later. Give her the money for surgery first."

"I really don't need you making this decision for me."

The doctor warned him too.

"She has a detached retina. She needs surgery as soon as possible."

"If she misses the window, it could cause permanent vision damage."

He sneered.

"It's not that serious. A few more days won't make her go blind."

"If the shop's gone today, it's gone for good. The surgery can just as easily be done next week."

"Don't try to scare me. We've been married five years. Whether she's using her health to force me to cave, no one knows better than I do."

Later, I missed the window for surgery.

My right eye went permanently blind.

And I set the signed divorce agreement in front of him.

The man who said a few more days wouldn't make me go blind ended up on his knees, begging to be the eyes I'd have for the rest of my life.

The clerk handed the card back to me.

"Insufficient funds. Please use another card."

The three hundred and twenty thousand dollars in my account had been transferred to Boyd Donaldson's.

That was every cent I had access to.

I braced myself against the counter. The dark shadow in my right eye spread another ring wider.

"That was my surgery money."

"Your money?"

He gave a short laugh.

"Five years of marriage, eating off the Donaldsons, living off the Donaldsons, and you're really going to split hairs about whose money it is?"

The doctor took my phone.

"Mr. Donaldson, your wife's retina has already detached. She has to be admitted today."

Boyd didn't budge.

"Your hospital will say anything to make a buck."

"She's still on her feet. How serious can it be?"

The doctor held back his temper.

"She could go blind at any moment."

I could hear Violet Gilbert crying over the phone.

"Boyd, give the money back to Davina James."

"If my shop closes, it closes. I can't be the reason her eyes don't get treated."

Boyd's voice softened.

"Don't cry. This isn't yours to give up."

Violet sniffled twice.

"But that's Davina's money."

"She married me. Her money is the Donaldsons' to manage now."

I gripped the phone tighter.

"Transfer the money back."

Boyd paused for two seconds.

"First you agree to drop the complaint against Violet's flower shop."

That complaint had nothing to do with me.

The landlord had found out Violet had illegally altered the fire escape and ordered her to fix it within a deadline.

She'd pinned the blame on me.

"I didn't report her."

"Still pretending?"

Boyd dropped his voice.

"Besides you, who else can't stand to see her doing well?"

The pain in my right eye bored into my temple.

I crouched down, my knees pressed against the front of the payment counter.

A nurse came over to steady me.

By the time Boyd got there, Violet was still on the phone, pleading with him.

"Hurry and get Davina into surgery. I don't want the shop anymore."

"Shut up."

Boyd hung up and switched off his phone.

He grabbed my arm and hauled me up off the floor.

"Violet's already backed down. How long do you plan to keep making a scene?"

"Pay for it, and I'll be admitted."

"You've got the nerve to threaten me with your surgery?"

He dragged me toward the door.

I grabbed the doorframe.

"The doctor said it has to be done today."

"The doctor farts and you treat it like gospel?"

He pried my fingers loose.

The right side of my face slammed into the glass doorframe.

A tearing pain shot through my eyeball.

I bent over, my body shaking beyond my control.

The nurse threw herself in front of him.

"She just hit her eye. She needs emergency care right now."

Boyd shoved the nurse aside.

"What kind of woman my wife is, I know better than you."

"She's an expert at faking illness to force people to give in."

The doctor chased after us.

"If you take her away today, the damage may be beyond repair."

Boyd stuffed me into the car.

"Next week I'll bring in a specialist from overseas."

"You just want me revolving around you, don't you? Fine, I'll give you that."

I cupped my hand over my right eye.

He glanced at me and tossed me a pack of tissues.

"Wipe it up."

"Don't get blood on my car."

Boyd dumped me on the living room floor.

My back hit the leg of the table, and my phone slid under the couch.

He stood in the doorway, watching me.

"Until Violet's renewal is done, you don't go anywhere."

I braced against the table leg and pushed myself up.

"I'm going to go blind."

"Still not done with the act?"

He locked the door from the outside.

"The day you admit you were wrong is the day I let you out."

The car pulled away and faded into the distance.

I felt along the wall to the bedroom. Less than half the vision in my right eye was left.

With every step, the dark spread wider.

I dug the backup phone out of the bottom drawer.

It didn't have the tracking app Boyd had installed on my other one.

I texted Alberta Fox.

"Lend me eighty thousand, wire it straight to the hospital account, then call me an ambulance."

The message went through.

Alberta called right away.

"Where are you? Did Boyd touch your money?"

"Don't ask. Just call the ambulance first."

"I'm on it."

She hung up and sent a screenshot of the transfer.

The bank page was still loading when Boyd's call cut in.

The backup phone only had one old SIM in it.

The moment the call connected, the network dropped.

I ended it.

He called again.

The ringing didn't stop.

I put it on speaker and set it on the table.

"Say what you have to say."

"Alberta can't save you."

Violet's voice came from beside him.

"Boyd, don't do this to Davina."

He ignored her.

"I just notified the Fox family's business partners. Anyone who dares give you money, the Donaldsons pull their projects."

"The transfer from Alberta's account, I already had the bank reverse it."

Alberta texted.

"I'm bringing cash. Wait for me."

I sent her the address.

The message tried and tried and never went through.

Boyd laughed on the phone.

"Still looking for someone to back you up?"

"You steal the money that would save my life, and you've got the nerve to laugh?"

His breathing turned heavy.

"That was money I gave you."

"I chose to use it to save Violet's shop. You don't get a say."

"The card's in my name. That money was mine before we married."

"You married into the Donaldsons. Since when is there yours and mine?"

He tapped the phone.

"Besides, those junk paintings of yours, how much are they even worth?"

I pulled up the emergency call screen.

He spoke again.

"Building management already has my orders."

"No one gets into the villa unless I say so."

"If Alberta shows up, I'll have security throw her out."

I dialed the emergency line.

The phone was down to three percent.

The call hadn't connected before the screen went dark.

I found the charging cable.

The plug knocked against the edge of the outlet, over and over.

The vision in my right eye had shrunk to a single point of light in the center.

Pounding came from the door.

"Davina, are you in there?"

It was Alberta.

I steadied myself against the wall and moved toward the door.

"Alberta, I'm here."

But a guard's shout answered from outside.

"Mr. Donaldson gave orders. No one is allowed in."

"Get out of the way, she needs surgery."

"Ms. Fox, if you force your way in again, we'll have no choice but to call the police."

The footsteps and the arguing slowly faded away.

My hand pressed flat against the door.

The point of light in my right eye began to close in.

The phone rang again.

Boyd had sent a voice message.

"Stop making trouble."

"Is admitting you were wrong really that hard?"

I reached up and deleted the message.

The next second, the last of the light in my right eye was gone.

For three days, Boyd didn't come back.

Building management pushed bread and water through the gap under the door each day.

I asked to borrow a phone.

The person on the other side of the door said only one thing.

"Mr. Donaldson won't allow it."

At noon on the third day, the lock rattled.

I gripped the stairs and started down.

My left eye could still make out shapes. On the right, there was only darkness.

My foot missed the step, and I tumbled down at the turn.

My forehead struck the edge.

Blood ran into my left eye and blotted out the sight in it.

Violet let out a scream.

"Davina, how did you fall like this?"

She reached out toward me.

Boyd caught her hand.

"Don't touch her."

"She'll do anything to force me back."

He was holding a flyer for the flower shop.

It was printed with a photo of Violet and him together.

I wiped the blood from my left eye with my sleeve.

"Take me to the hospital."

Boyd tilted my chin up.

"First explain why you sent Alberta to make a scene at the shop."

"She came to the hospital to find me."

"Liar."

Violet crouched two steps away.

She didn't touch me, just covered her mouth and cried.

"Boyd, Alberta smashed my vase yesterday, and called me a mistress."

"If Davina hates me, I can leave."

Boyd pulled her back up.

"Leave? Why would you leave?"

"The one who owes an apology hasn't said a word yet."

He looked down at me.

"Tomorrow is the grand opening of Violet's shop."

"You'll greet the guests at the door, then cut the ribbon for her."

"I do that, and you'll take me for the surgery?"

"Apologize first."

I braced on the railing and got to my feet.

"I didn't wreck her shop."

Violet jumped in at once.

"That's right, Alberta did all of it herself, it has nothing to do with Davina."

The more she made excuses for me, the darker Boyd's face grew.

"Without you egging her on, why would Alberta go after Violet?"

I wiped the blood off my forehead.

"How do you want me to admit it?"

"In front of every guest, bow to Violet."

"Then tell them she and I are completely innocent."

I looked at the photo on the flyer.

Boyd's arm was around Violet's waist.

"Innocent, the two of you?"

"Cut the snide remarks."

He slapped the flyer against my chest.

"Violet doesn't want outsiders getting the wrong idea, that's the only reason she's giving you this chance."

"Don't throw away kindness when it's offered."

The ache swelled in my right eye again.

I gripped the handrail and waited for it to pass.

Violet stepped half a pace closer.

"Davina, don't push yourself."

"If it's hard for you, I'll have someone help you stand."

I looked at her hand.

On her ring finger was the emerald ring Boyd's mother had left behind.

That ring had been kept in our safe.

"Where did the ring come from?"

She hid her hand behind her back at once.

Boyd moved to block her.

"I let her borrow it for one day."

"A worthless ring, and you're going to make an issue of it?"

It was the thing he'd promised, when he proposed, to leave to me.

I took the wedding ring off my hand and set it on the table.

"Fine. I'll go."

Boyd glanced at the wedding ring.

"Using divorce to scare me again?"

I didn't answer.

He snatched up the ring and forced it back onto my finger.

"Behave yourself tomorrow."

"When the ceremony's over, I'll take you to the hospital."

I looked down at the ring.

He'd wrenched it on hard enough to cut a line of blood into the base of my finger.

Violet took his arm.

"Boyd, Davina already agreed, don't be harsh with her."

She turned to me, the corner of her mouth lifting.

"There'll be a lot of people tomorrow."

"You be sure to keep your footing."

On the day of the grand opening, Boyd had someone put sunglasses on me.

The wound on my forehead couldn't be hidden, so he had the makeup artist cover it with layers of powder.

I stood at the flower shop door, repeating one line like a machine.

Welcome.

Guests asked about my eyes.

Violet jumped in to answer.

Davina didn't sleep well last night. Boyd feels for her, so he let her wear the sunglasses.

She hung on Boyd's arm and accepted the congratulations.

Someone recognized me.

Why is Mrs. Donaldson standing at the door greeting guests?

Boyd took the question.

She ruined Violet's flowers. She's here to make up for it.

Laughter came from a few mouths.

I didn't take off the sunglasses.

Violet handed me a pair of scissors.

Davina, stand on my right in a moment.

Don't say I stole your spot again.

I didn't take them.

Stay away from me.

Her hand stopped in midair.

Tears fell after.

Boyd grabbed my hand and shoved the scissors into it.

Violet's giving you a way out, and you're still making that face?

After the ribbon was cut, a server wheeled over the champagne tower.

I was about to step back.

But Violet linked her arm through my right one.

Davina, let's get a photo together.

I flung her off.

She let herself fall into the corner of the table.

The whole champagne tower came down.

The glasses smashed on the floor, and shards sprayed toward my face.

A piece of glass drove into my right cheek.

The sunglasses were knocked off by a falling glass too.

I raised a hand to shield my right eye, and my palm was soon soaked with blood.

Violet collapsed into Boyd's arms.

Her palm had only a single scratch.

Boyd cradled her hand and roared at me:

You can't even stand up there without hurting her?

With this many people watching, you still dare to push her.

I pulled the glass out of my cheek.

She threw herself into it.

Violet shook her head.

I lost my footing. It had nothing to do with Davina.

Boyd pressed a tissue to her wound.

You, be quiet.

She's about ready to walk all over you, and you're still protecting her?

I threw the glass in my hand down at his feet.

Take me to the hospital now.

A scratch like that deserves a hospital?

He hauled me by the arm toward the back of the shop.

Go in there and think about what you did.

You come out when you're willing to apologize to Violet.

I wrenched my arm free.

Boyd, you promised you'd take me for the surgery once the opening was over.

You wrecked the opening, and you still have the nerve to set terms?

He pushed open the door of the storage room.

I turned and grabbed the handle.

He pried my fingers loose and shoved me inside.

No telling if that eye's blind, but your heart sure is black.

The iron door locked.

The fluid running from my right eye soaked through the gauze.

I banged on the door a few times.

Outside there was only music and applause.

I pressed the emergency call button on my watch.

The location went to Alberta.

Ten-odd minutes later, there was a pounding at the door.

Alberta was shouting my name.

By the time the iron door opened, I couldn't stay on my feet.

She held me and called for the paramedics to bring a stretcher.

When I woke again, the doctor was tending to the wound.

He stood by the bed holding the test results.

The right eye has already

I asked him:

Can it still recover?

The doctor didn't dodge it.

There's no chance of regaining sight.

He dialed the emergency contact and put it on speaker.

On Boyd's end, someone was still giving a toast.

The doctor cut him off.

Mr. Donaldson, your wife missed the best window for surgery.

And she took another blow on top of it.

This eye can't be saved.

From the other end of the line came the sound of a cake knife hitting the floor.