The Wrong Shoes

The night before I was supposed to meet her parents, my girlfriend sent someone over with a pair of custom leather shoes.

I looked down at my prosthetic leg and told her it was over.

The male secretary she sent to deliver them dropped to his knees the moment she walked into the house.

It was my fault, Mindy. I got the size wrong. It's only natural for Zane to be angry with me... he sobbed.

My girlfriend didn't even hesitate. She hurled the heavy shoe at me with everything she had.

"So what if they're a little tight? You're in a wheelchair anyway! It's not like you're actually walking!"

She helped her secretary up and stormed out with him, her face full of disgust.

But by the time she came back to the house, I was already gone...

1.

"Sir, please don't blame the Vice President. It's all my fault..."

Levi West, Mindy's male secretary, suddenly hit the floor on both knees.

Outside, the click-clack of high heels grew louder as she approached.

Mindy Crawford appeared in the doorway, wearing a provocative red dress and a deep scowl.

She scanned the messy living room and shot a look of pure disappointment at me in my wheelchair.

I didn't say a word, but Levi couldn't stop talking.

"I got the shoe size wrong. Zane has every right to be furious with me..."

He looked up at her with puppy-dog eyes, begging for her protection.

Mindy marched over and picked up the custom shoe I had tossed near the door.

The next second, she slammed the hard leather against my thigh.

If you looked down my pant leg, you'd see nothing but empty space where my calf should be.

"Zane, for God's sake, it's just a shoe. You're in a chair. You don't even walk!"

She was saying it didn't matter if her secretary forced me into shoes that didn't fit.

Her words felt like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.

"You expect me to meet your parents wearing shoes that are crushing my feet?" I asked, my voice cold.

"Just deal with it. These were custom-made in Italy and took three months to arrive."

"There's no way to get another pair by tomorrow," she added, her voice dripping with impatience.

It was obvious she hadn't checked on the order even once in three months.

She trusted her secretary completely, but expected me to just keep compromising.

"In that case, I don't think there's any point in meeting your parents."

"Are you serious, Zane? I'm buried in work every day, and I finally carved out time for this."

She curled her lip in a sneer. "Then again, Levi and I are actually busy. You just sit around the house with nothing but your own thoughts."

I tried to protest. "Just because I'm not at the office doesn't mean I'm doing nothing!"

Mindy cut me off. "Aren't you? No one is perfect. Levi works under insane pressure."

"If you think he's so bad at his job, why don't you get out of that chair and take his place!"

She was shouting now, pointing a finger right in my face.

I couldn't believe how close she had become with her secretary.

To her, Levi was her perfect partner. I was just a useless, oversensitive burden.

"Calm yourself down. Just squeeze into the shoes and stop acting like a spoiled brat."

With that, she grabbed Levi's arm and led him out.

I pulled out my phone and sent one last message. "Mindy, we're done. Let's break up."

She replied almost instantly. "Zane, stop acting like a child. You're breaking up over a tantrum?"

"Look around. Besides me, who else would ever want to be with a useless cripple like you?"

2.

Mindy's words were like needles stabbing into my heart.

The people who know you best always know exactly where to strike to cause the most pain.

She knew how much losing my leg haunted me, yet she chose to use it as a weapon.

If it weren't for that accident, I would have been competing on the world stage by now.

Mindy and I had met back at the elite sports academy.

She was the darling of the gymnastics team, and I was the most promising sprinter.

We fell for each other hard, but the academy had strict rules against dating.

We had to keep our romance in the shadows, meeting in secret whenever we could.

Because of her training, she was always hungry. I used to climb over the school fence to buy her food.

I remember that night clearly. The moon was bright.

I hopped over the iron gate and caught Mindy as she jumped down.

We hadn't walked more than a few steps when someone hit me from behind.

When the agonizing pain finally woke me, I was lying in a pool of my own blood.

Mindy was there, sobbing so hard she couldn't speak.

She pointed at my leg, her face drenched in tears.

It turned out one of her obsessed fans had figured out our secret.

The guy was unstable and had been waiting for us on that secluded path.

Right in front of Mindy, that monster used an axe to hack off my lower leg.

She had collapsed into my arms, apologizing over and over.

"Zane, I'm so sorry... if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be hurt..."

My career as an athlete ended that night.

After the surgery, she stayed by my bedside, her eyes swollen from crying.

I wanted to scream, but the shock was too deep. Representing my country had been my only dream.

"Zane, I'll never leave you, no matter what," she whispered. "You're all I have."

She quit gymnastics after that. I took over my family's shoe factory.

Together, we turned it into a massive corporation.

Eventually, she told me I should step back and let her handle the stress.

"Once the company is stable, we'll get married," she promised.

I waited ten years for that stability.

The boy who lost his leg and his dream had spent a decade losing his soulmate, too.

Mindy didn't love me anymore, and I shouldn't expect her to stay with a broken man.

It was time to put an end to this chapter of my life.

3.

I moved out that same night. In my new apartment, I turned on the TV.

The news was reporting on our company's latest product launch.

Mindy was walking through a crowd of reporters, holding Levi's hand.

She was wearing the white dress she was supposed to wear to meet my parents.

She looked stunning, a radiant smile on her face.

"Thank you all for coming to our 'One True Love' collection launch," she told the cameras.

The theme of the launch was eternal devotion.

And there, on her secretary's feet, were the unique shoes meant for me.

They fit him perfectly. Seeing them on Levi made my chest tighten.

"Vice President, we heard there's a very special pair of shoes in this collection," a reporter shouted.

Levi stepped in front of her protectively. Mindy laughed and gave him a playful tap.

"Oh, stop it, Levi. They're just doing their jobs," she teased.

Then, she began her presentation. "I commissioned a master shoemaker to craft these."

"My initials are engraved inside. They are a gift for my boyfriend, symbolizing our love."

The reporters gushed about the romance between the CEO and her devoted assistant.

I couldn't wrap my head around it. When did I get replaced in our own story?

She wasn't careless. She was just pouring all her care into her favorite secretary.

I didn't cry the night my leg was taken. I didn't cry when the factory almost failed.

But watching Mindy hold Levi's hand on national television, I finally broke down.

The broadcast ended as evening fell. Suddenly, my phone buzzed with photos.

It was Levi. He sent pictures of him having dinner with Mindy's parents.

They looked like a happy, complete family. I was just a ghost, an outsider looking in.

The shoes weren't just a mistake; they were a warning for me to get out of the way.

I started to laugh, my vision blurring with tears.

You can't force a heart to love you. I typed back a single word: "Congratulations."

Mindy called me a few minutes later, her voice full of anger.

"How old are you, Zane? Disappearing like a child?"

"I couldn't find you, so I had to ask Levi to pretend to be my boyfriend. Are you happy now?"

I didn't have the energy to argue. "Mindy, I don't care who you're with. We're over."

4.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

"So you're really going through with this? Fine."

"But if we're done, you need to sign over all your shares to me."

"Be at the board meeting tomorrow. Don't be late." She hung up instantly.

That factory was my father's life's work. I had to face her.

The next morning, my assistant, Leo, pushed my wheelchair into the conference room.

Mindy was already there, waiting like a predator.

"Good. You actually showed up. Just sign these papers," she said, acting like it was a chore.

She signaled Levi to bring the contract to me. I glanced at it before ripping it into shreds.

Mindy slammed her hands on the table. "Zane! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I tossed the scraps of paper into the air.

"Why would I give them to you? I am still the CEO of this group."

"This company belonged to my father. You're not stealing it from me."

Mindy stopped pretending to be civil. She turned to the other board members.

"Gentlemen, look at him. Zane is a cripple. He doesn't even have feet, yet he wants to sell shoes."

"Customers will laugh us out of the industry if he stays," she sneered.

I tapped on the table to cut her off. "Enough. You don't need feet to understand quality."

"And have you forgotten exactly how I lost my leg in the first place?"

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Don't try to use that against me. It's your own fault you got hurt."

I couldn't believe those words came out of her mouth. Every good memory I had of her shattered.

"It doesn't matter if you won't sign," she laughed, pointing at me.

"I bought out the other board members. I own more than you now."

She looked around the room with victory in her eyes.

"Everyone, let's vote. All those in favor of firing Zane Sterling, raise your hands."

Every single person at the table raised their hand. I was being kicked out.

"Leo, did you see that? I'm fired," I said softly to my assistant.

"Now take your boss and get the hell out of here," Mindy commanded.

Leo started to push me out, but I grabbed the wheels to stop him.

"Remember this, Mindy. I built this company, and I can tear it down just as easily."

"Just you wait and see."

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