Worse, his fractured right leg hadn't been set in time. Combined with the dislocation from being dragged, it healed poorly. He would walk with a limp for the rest of his life.
As I passed his room, shouting erupted from inside.
"Dad! Mom! Give her the money! I promised her!"
Derek's voice was hoarse, desperate.
"Are you insane?" Vincent's roar shook the walls. "That woman is a street rat! She's not a student! The university checked—there is no 'Chelsea' in the Forensic Science Department!"
Vincent sounded broken. Despairing.
But Derek refused to listen.
"Liar! You just look down on her because she's poor!"
"She is my savior! The love of my life!"
"I lost her once and regretted it for a lifetime. I won't let go this time!"
He screamed, eyes red and manic.
"You bastard! You'd throw away your hands, your education, everything—for a delinquent?"
"So what if my hands are gone? I don't need to be a surgeon to live! As long as she's here, I can start over!"
"Fine. Fine!"
Vincent let out a cold, incredulous laugh.
"You have so much backbone? Good. As of today, I have no son. I'm freezing all your accounts. You're on your own."
"Freeze them! Keep your stinking money!"