A man leaves his wife after she’s crippled in an accident. He sells their home with her in it, but six years later they meet again and he is stunned by her transformation.
George Morley decided to sell his house six months after his wife Megan nearly died in a terrible car accident. Megan had survived but suffered terrible injuries to her spine, and her medical insurance would soon run out.
George decided to have a talk with his wife just hours after he put his house on the market. “Megan,” he said. “As you know I’ve been a good and faithful husband these last ten years, but now I think it’s time we parted ways. I want a divorce.”
Six months after his wife was crippled in an accident, George Morley asked for a divorce and sold his house.
Megan clutched the armrests of her wheelchair and stared at her husband with huge frightened eyes. “Divorce? But I don’t understand!”
“Oh it’s very simple,” George said calmly, “I’m divorcing you and selling the house, which, you will remember, was reserved from any share in case we did get divorced since I inherited it from my grandparents.”
“I thought…I thought you loved me!” whispered Megan.
“Oh, I did! But you must understand,” said George in his most reasonable voice, “Your recovery is bound to cost hundreds and thousands of dollars and I’m not about to lose everything I’ve got on you!”
Megan was injured in a terrible car accident.
“But where will I go?” asked Megan, “What will I do?”
No matter how hopeless things seem, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’m afraid that is entirely up to you!” George said briskly. “The prenup you signed gets me off the hook on alimony unless I cheated — and I didn’t. So I’m afraid you are on your own. You can stay in the house another month or so, then you have to go. Goodbye, Megan,” George said. “I wish you all the best.”
He walked out, while Megan wept. For him, it was the end of an episode in his life, and he was looking forward to some exciting changes, but for Megan, it was the end of a dream.
The doctors saved her life but they said she might never walk again.
She had truly believed that George had loved her, just as she had loved him. She never imagined that he would abandon her at the worse moment of her life when her own body was failing her and he was all she had to lean on.
“What will I do?” she asked the empty house. “How will I live?”
In order to leave the house free for the real estate agents who were showing the property to prospective buyers, Megan moved into the tiny servants’ quarters at the back of the house.
Two months later, the house was sold, and the agent told Megan she had a week to move out. Megan had reached out to every friend, asked for help from associations, but every door was slammed in her face.
When Megan’s insurance started to run out, her husband asked for a divorce.
All she had was that tiny bedroom at the back of the house that was no longer hers. She asked a neighbor’s gardener to help her move her few belongings out in his van, but he could only do it on Saturday.
“Maybe I can lay low two more days, and the new owners won’t even know I’m here!” Megan thought.
The next day, Megan heard the ruckus as moving vans started arriving and people carried boxes and furniture around in the house. Once in a while, she’d hear a man give orders, but there was no woman’s voice.
Megan was as quiet as a mouse, and no one came near her humble little room. That night she heard someone go into the kitchen and a man humming an old Frank Sinatra song.
This must be the owner, she thought, having a snack. She leaned closer to the door, and before she knew it her wheelchair had tipped over with a terrible noise. The kitchen door opened and a man stood there looking down at her.
“What?” he gasped, then he was kneeling by her side and gently lifting her from the ground. He carried her inside into the lounge and settled her into the sofa. “Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m so sorry!” Megan said. “I meant to be gone, but Fernando can only fetch me and my things on Saturday…”
“You lived here?” the man asked.
“It was my husband’s house,” Megan said, and tears rose to her eyes. “He divorced me…” she gestured at her legs, “after my accident. I have nowhere to go.”
“What’s your name?” the man asked. “I’m Clifford, by the way…”
Megan smiled. “I’m Megan, and I’m so sorry to intrude on you like this.”
“Listen, Megan,” Clifford said smiling, and Megan noticed that he was a very handsome man in his mid-forties, “I want you to stay. This is a big house for a man alone, and I’m a terrible cook.
“You’d be doing me a favor!”
Megan agreed, and Clifford insisted that she move back into one of the big bedrooms in the house. He also paid for her physiotherapy and made sure that she never even saw her medical bills.
Every evening, Megan and Clifford would have dinner together and they would often stay up all night talking about anything and everything. Without realizing it, little by little they were falling in love.
Finally, one lovely day, Megan took her first steps! She was recovered, and afraid that she would be leaving, Clifford told her about his feelings and asked her to marry him.
The two were married in a quiet little ceremony, and it was beautiful and intimate. Their few guests were amazed to see a couple so in love.
Clifford’s and Megan’s greatest dream was to have a family. Unfortunately, Megan’s accident meant that conceiving might be difficult, but they were both prepared to accept God’s will, and maybe even adopt.
Their fourth wedding anniversary came around and Megan decided they would go out to dinner. She booked a table at their favorite restaurant and asked Clifford to meet her there. Megan put on her most beautiful dress. She knew she was glowing with happiness, and looking her best.
Megan walked into the restaurant and saw Clifford sitting at their table. She waved happily and was about to walk towards him when a voice said, “Megan? Is that really you?”
Megan’s blood ran cold at the sound of that familiar voice. She turned around and found herself face to face with George Morley, her ex-husband, the man who had abandoned her.
“George,” she said coldly. “What is it that you want?”
“You…you LOOK great!” George mumbled, and Megan realized that he was very drunk. “And you can walk…”
“You don’t look so good,” she replied, and it was true. George’s face was flabby and swollen, and his hands shook. “What happened to you?”
“After we divorced…These last six years, I lost my luck,” George whined. “You were my luck, Meggy…”
“You abandoned me, George,” Megan said coldly. “That was MY good luck. I’ve never been happier!”
Megan looked him in the eye and smiled. “My poor, poor George!” she said, then turned to the restaurant’s host and said, “Please put Mr. Morley’s dinner on my bill, and please see he takes a taxi home.”
Then she carefully pried George’s sweaty, fat fingers from her arm and walked away. As she arrived at their table, Clifford got up to greet her and she smiled at him radiantly.
“Darling, you look wonderful!” Clifford smiled. “Who was that strange man talking to you at the door?”
“He’s part of the past, my love,” Megan replied. “But tonight I want to talk about the future! I have wonderful news: we are having a baby!”
