Part 1Her First Love Put Me in a Coma, Now My Heart is Locked Away.

The night before our wedding, my fiancée's high school sweetheart, Chad, slammed into me while driving drunk. He stalled on calling for help, and by the time they got me to the hospital, the doctor said I was in a coma, maybe never coming back.

My bride-to-be, Brittany, wearing her wedding dress, became my wife in front of a courthouse clerk, vowing to get to the bottom of everything and make sure I got justice. They all told me the driver, Chad, was brain-dead in the next room, and I believed them.

Until I accidentally heard Chad and Brittany getting it on in the next room.

"Thank God for you, or the Baker family would never have let a nobody like me take your place."

"He'll never know he was the real Baker all along, and our kid will inherit everything. Mom and Dad even helped things along during the surgery to make sure he stayed out of it! The Baker and Sullivan fortunes will be all ours."

Brittany finished with a sloppy kiss.

The marriage I thought would save me was a joke from the start. I don't want this kind of toxic "love."

* * *

Daylight broke before the rustling from next door finally stopped.

"How was it? Better than that pretty boy, Shawn, right?"

"Stop it!"

Their teasing cut me like knives, suffocating.

The sounds of their "good time" had gone on all night.

I bit down so hard I cracked a tooth, blood filling my mouth. Pain shot through me.

The wife who promised justice was in another bed, pleasuring the guy who put me here.

And the parents I'd called "Mom and Dad" for 25 years? Part of the con. They messed with my surgery to put me in this coma and tricked their own daughter into marrying me.

That way, when I died, she and her bastard kid could take everything.

A carefully planned death trap. Nice work.

The door creaked open, light footsteps coming in – Brittany.

"I told you not to worry. He's in a coma, he can't hear anything." Chad said, doubt in his voice.

"It's weird, I could have sworn I heard something in here."

The room went quiet, but I knew they were still there.

Then, a jolt of pain exploded in my leg.

I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

Brittany stabbed my leg three times with scissors.

"Now do you believe me?"

Chad pulled Brittany onto the bed next to mine, whispering.

"I feel better now that I tried it."

"Are you crazy? Shawn's right there!" Her voice was a mix of fear and excitement.

Chad chuckled. "He's just a vegetable. Don't you think having him so close adds to the excitement?"

Brittany lost it. Heavy breathing.

The bed started to creak, a steady rhythm.

The sound of their sloppy kisses and the hospital monitors beeping created a sick contrast.

Shock and hate choked me. They were doing this right next to me...

My mom burst in, then left immediately.

"Seriously, couldn't you find somewhere with more privacy?" She said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

My nails dug into my palms, the pain keeping me sane.

My mom barged in again, telling them to get to the doctor's office in a panic.

Once they were gone, she picked up the scissors, still dripping with blood.

She shoved them deep into my thigh.

Brittany and Chad returned, sounding casual.

"We just tested it, Mom."

My mom asked, "Did you notice anything unusual?" Her hand didn't stop moving, repeatedly yanking the IV in and out of my vein.

My veins were a mess of scar tissue. I wanted to scream, "Why?"

Had the last 25 years been a lie?

But I knew it was pointless.

"The doctor said his brain activity is high. Maybe it's a last surge, maybe he'll wake up."

I tensed.

My mom said, cold as ice, "We can't let that happen."

"Get the doctor to give him something to knock him out. He's resistant to anesthesia."

"We'll see if he's faking or really in a coma."

She'd always spoken to me with such tenderness, now she was my enemy.

I laughed inwardly.

The doctor slowly injected the drug, the coldness snapping me even more awake.

I gripped the sheets, knuckles white, heart racing.

Then, my mom and the doctor's conversation came through clearly.