"Payment Successful."

 Elise's fingers hovered over the keyboard, her eyes glued on her laptop screen that displayed the confirmation page. 

 This was what she wanted, and she was supposed to be excited. Yet, as she stared at the screen, an unfamiliar feeling of emptiness washed over her.

 She had just committed herself to a contract that would hand over her future to a man she didn't know, all to get her admission secured. The thought made her stomach churn. Was this even the right choice?

 Elise let out a long, shaky breath, and as sad as she was, she couldn't ignore the part of her that knew the sacrifice was worth it. The opportunity to become a doctor was something she'd worked for her entire life. She couldn't afford to back down now. Still, the odds seemed like it was against her. 

 A thought came to her mind and she ran to her socials, typing Alejandro Mendoza into the search engine. Curiosity gnawed at her. What kind of man was he? Why would he marry someone that he didn't know? Her eyes moved through profiles, but nothing useful came up. She tried different variations of his name and checked any links, but there was still nothing.

 Elise sighed, clicking on what seemed like a promising profile. But before the details could finish loading, she heard a voice from outside her room.

 "Elise, come down to the living room," her mother called.

 A knot tightened in Elise's chest. She clicked off the screen and then turned away from her laptop. What could it be now?

 Elise sighed, then dragged herself to the living room surprised at the 'visitors' she saw there.

 There, in the center of the room, was the man her mother introduced as her husband-to-be, Alejandro Mendoza. He was in a wheelchair, his face settling in a frown. A few other people who Margaret introduced as his family, the Mendoza were there also. 

 Elise's eyes widened as she looked at Alejandro. Was her parents aware that they were marrying her off to a disabled man?

 Instantly she turned to them, only to meet that same patronizing smile they always gave her when they thought they were doing something for her 'benefit' when in fact, they only saw her as a commodity to trade. 

 She glanced at Alejandro again. Undoubtedly he was a fine man. But his state and the arrogance in his face? It now made sense to her that he would want to get involved with a woman he knew little of. 

 Margaret turned to Elise with a smile, "We'd finalize the marriage plans, and you'd be taking care of him as your husband."

 Elise nodded. She had accepted it herself, so even as she wasn't comfortable with the arrangement, there was no point showing it.

 The tension in the room grew thick when her mother ushered them to go outside. "You two should step outside and get to know each other a bit more."

 They did not argue and as soon as they were out on the porch, Elise breathed in relief. 

 Alejandro rolled his chair over to the railing, his gaze fixed somewhere in the distance. "Let me guess," he muttered, his voice cool. "Your parents didn't tell you what this was about?"

 Elise blinked, taken aback by the sudden directness of his statement. "I'm sorry?"

 He turned his gaze toward her, his eyes sharp and challenging. "You're here because they're paying you to be my caretaker, because I can't see you as my wife. How much are they paying you ?"

 Elise's chest tightened and she looked at him with a frown. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

 Alejandro scoffed, pushing his chair slightly forward. "Come on, no one would marry a crippled man unless there's something to gain. You think I'm stupid?"

Her eyes flashed in irritation. "My parents did not pay me anything to marry you. I mean, I did it for money but it has nothing to do with you. I only agreed to this because I needed twenty thousand to pay my school fees."

 Alejandro's face twisted in disbelief. "So, you're willing to sell yourself for twenty thousand dollars? How noble of you."

 Elise's lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "Call it what you want. If I had a choice, I won't ever agree."

 He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, right. No woman in her right mind would ever want to be with someone like me. Not when they can show off some perfect, healthy guy, with the world at his feet. But hey, you're probably just looking for a way out of your crappy life, and I'm the perfect ticket, aren't I?"

 Her patience was wearing thin, but she stood her ground. "You don't know anything about me. So stop accusing me of things that aren't true. I didn't ask for this. You and your family made this deal with mine. I agreed because my parents gave me a condition. That's all. No more, no less."

 He stared at her for a long moment, his jaw clenched in frustration, but he didn't say anything further. The tension between them was suffocating and Elise didn't want to stay back anymore.

 She turned on her heel, making her way back inside. "You're right about one thing. I needed a way out of my crappy life, so I agreed to this. But don't accuse me of anything else."

 Back inside, her parents were deep in conversation with Alejandro's family, discussing the terms of their 'marriage.'

 "We don't need a big wedding," her father said, leaning back in his chair, and looking at Alejandro's family with a smug satisfaction. "It's wiser to keep things simple, just sign the papers. We'll arrange the rest later."

 Elise felt a rush of disgust. Her father was already treating her like property, and it made her want to yell at him. But she didn't. She remained silent.

 Alejandro's family seemed agreeable to the plan, but Elise noticed the subtle discomfort in Alejandro's eyes. Her mind wandered through many things, the reality of her situation settling on her.

 She stood up abruptly, heading for her room as she needed a moment to breathe. Her laptop was waiting for her on the desk, and surprisingly the profile she had been looking for was on display. 

 "Alejandro Mendoza."

 She sighed. Earlier, she wanted to know who he was, but now, it seemed irrelevant. The curiosity she'd had about Alejandro had disappeared.

 She closed her social media tabs, preparing to focus on her studies. But then, a thought hit her like a bolt of lightning.

 "Nerve compression and paralysis."

 Without thinking, she opened her browser and began typing. Whatever this man's story was, she needed to know more. This wasn't just about money anymore. It was about understanding what she was truly walking into.

 With a smile on her lips, Elise stared at the screen as the information popped up. What if her future could change from just this?

Elise leaned forward, her face illuminated by the glow of her laptop screen. The clock on the wall ticked past midnight, but she didn't notice. Her browser was cluttered with tabs, each one opened to medical research papers, forums, and videos on nerve damage and paralysis. She tapped her pen absently against her notebook, which was now covered with frantic scribbles and underlined phrases.

"Come on, there has to be something," Elise muttered to herself, scrolling past another dense medical article. Her eyes moved back to her notes, where she had scrawled the words nerve compression. She tapped her pen faster. "It's not impossible. It can't be."

Her mind raced as she replayed the moment she saw Alejandro's leg twitch. It had been faint, almost not there, but it was. She'd thought little of it at the time, but now it seemed very important. "If the nerve was completely severed," she whispered, "there'd be no movement at all. Right?"

She opened a new tab and began typing furiously. "Nerve regeneration after paralysis," she murmured as she hit enter. The search results loaded, and Elise skimmed through them, her eyes darting from title to title. Some articles seemed promising, others not exactly, but she clicked on anything that might give her an answer adding more scribbles to her notebook. 

"This has to mean something," she muttered, as she flipped through a medical journal PDF. "Twitches indicate residual activity. Compression... that's reversible. But how?" She chewed the end of her pen, staring at the screen as if willing to give her the breakthrough she needed.

A notification pinged from her email, pulling her briefly from her research. She ignored it, refocusing on the data in front of her. Hours passed but she stayed behind her laptop searching for answers. Case studies, rare diagnoses, and unconventional treatments began to form a jumble of possibilities in her mind. She needed this to work, it was her only way to free herself. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Elise sat back, her eyes burning from the screen as she smiled.  She'd found enough to be certain of one thing: Alejandro's condition wasn't untreatable though how his body responded to the treatment was entirely what she had no control of. 

She closed her laptop with a satisfied sigh and grabbed her phone, scrolling through her contacts until she found the number Alejandro's family had provided. Her thumb hovered over the call button, but she hesitated. What if he didn't believe her? What if she was wrong? Regardless, She pushed the doubts aside and hit the dial icon.

The phone rang twice before a gruff voice answered. "Hello."

"It's Elise," she replied, her voice steady despite her nerves. "The girl that you are getting married to." She knew that introduction was not important but she continued, "I need to talk to you. It's important."

There was a pause on the other end. "What could be so urgent?" Alejandro's voice came. 

 "It's about your condition," Elise replied. "I think there's a chance it can be treated."

Another pause followed, longer this time. When Alejandro finally spoke, his voice was cold. "Are you serious? Is this some kind of joke?"

"I'm not joking," she said firmly. "Just hear me out. Can we meet? Tomorrow? At the park near the library?"

"Why should I waste my time?" he snapped.

"Because I don't have so much time to play around also, and I wouldn't be calling you if I wasn't sure," Elise snapped.

Alejandro let out a sharp breath. "Fine. Let's meet tomorrow at noon. If you're wasting my time, you'll regret it." He hung up before she could respond. 

Elise hissed as she stared at the blank screen. For someone who was in the same situation as her, he was such a rude man. 

The next day, Elise arrived at the park early, clutching her notebook tightly. She sat on a bench near the fountain, her eyes scanning the path for Alejandro. Her heart pounded as she rehearsed what she would say.

At exactly noon, he appeared, wheeling himself along the cobblestone path. His expression was blank, but his eyes were sharp as they locked onto hers. "Well?" he said, stopping a few feet away. "I'm here. What's so important?"

Elise stood, meeting his gaze. "I'm glad you came. I've been doing a lot of research, and judging from my findings, I think your condition might have been misdiagnosed."

Alejandro's eyes narrowed. "Misdiagnosed?"

She nodded, flipping open her notebook to show him her notes. "When we met, I noticed something. Your leg twitched. If the damage to your nerves was irreversible, that wouldn't happen. It's a sign that there's still some activity. I think your paralysis is due to nerve compression, not severance."

Alejandro laughed bitterly. "A twitch? That's your groundbreaking discovery? Do you have any idea how many specialists I've seen? The best in the world, by the way. 

You think you know more than the specialists? They've already ruled that out."

"They were wrong," Elise shot back, her voice rising. 

"And ohh, you are right and I'm supposed to believe you." He mocked. "Do you even know the stress it takes to wheel from the parking area to this place? I shouldn't have listened to you in the first place." He flared. 

"You are not a doctor, neither have you gone through my files and you are blabbing that you have a solution." Alejandro gritted his fists, sweat beads already forming on his face. He was angry at himself and he blamed his desperation. If not, why would a girl who wasn't up to his social level embarrass him this way?

Elise was stunned as she looked at him. She could not exactly say that she understood what he was going through, but she wished that he'd listen to her at least. 

"I am sorry," Elise voiced out, "But I am so sure, please believe me. The doctors probably missed something," Elise said, her voice calm and convincing.

"They are humans and they're not perfect. I just feel they might have dismissed you because they're too focused on the usual treatments. But there are alternative approaches that they might not have considered."

Alejandro stared at her, she had managed to calm him down a bit. "And what makes you so sure?"

"Let me prove it," Elise said, pulling a small needle from her bag. "May I?"

He stared at her, then at the needle. "You're kidding."

"Just trust me," she said. "If you don't feel anything, I'll drop it. But if you do..."

With a resigned sigh, Alejandro nodded. Elise knelt beside his wheelchair and gently pricked his calf. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

There was a long pause before he spoke. "It's faint. But it's there."

Elise's heart leapt. "Exactly. That proves there's still some connection. Your nerves aren't completely dead. It's compression. I'm sure of it."

Alejandro frowned, his defenses starting to waver. "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

"Nothing," Elise said. "I just want to help. If I can prove this, there's no need for this marriage. You can walk again, and we can both move on."

He studied her for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Hmm. But if you're wrong..."

"I won't be," she said confidently, meeting his gaze.

For a long moment, Alejandro said nothing. Then, with a sharp motion, he wheeled closer to her. "Fine," he announced. "But I have conditions."

Elise frowned. "What kind of conditions?"

"We'd stay together in this marriage and you'd be my caretaker. If you heal me, then I'll let you go."

Alejandro didn't want his parents to force him on any other person as a way of 'helping' him and considering that Elise did not seem bad, he thought it best to keep her around. 

Elise nodded in response. His demand did not seem unreasonable and it was probably better than being a second-class citizen in her home. 

"We have a deal then."

Elise stood in the center of the room, facing her parents, who had strained expressions on their faces with her already packed box. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though they cared, but their words soon betrayed them.

 "Look at the situation we're in. We are so financially unstable that we had to agree to a marriage union just to save our family.

 We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't been so selfish," Margaret voiced out in disgust. 

 Elise's heart clenched. "What are you talking about? How is that my fault?" 

 Her father joined in, his tone dismissive. "You've always been a burden. We had to sacrifice so much to fix the messes you created. All the money we had to spend on Clara's treatments and medications, all the times Clara needed help, it was because you weren't capable of doing your part."

 Elise's hands balled into fists. "So you're telling me it is my fault that you spend millions on Clara's luxuries? Her designer clothes, her trips, and even the time she beat up a girl and you had to pay to cover it up?"

 Clara, who had been lounging on the sofa and scrolling through her phone, suddenly looked up. Her lips curled into a smirk. "Oh, here we go again. Elise, the jealous little bitch, always against my happiness."

 "This isn't about jealousy, Clara," Elise shot back. "You've been coddled and spoiled and now, I'm taking the fall for your financial mistakes."

 Clara's eyes glistened, and she let out a dramatic sniffle. "See, Mom? She's saying that you have pampered me and didn't raise me properly. She just hates me and that's what I've been telling you."

 Their mother turned to Elise, her face dark with anger. "How dare you? After all we've done for you? You ungrateful girl!" She raised her hand as if to slap Elise, but Elise stepped back, her voice firm.

 "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Elise said coldly. "I'm not just your daughter anymore. I am the wife of Alejandro Mendoza now. You should know better."

 Her mother's hand froze mid-air, and the room fell silent for a moment. Clara's stunned expression quickly turned venomous.

 "Wife of a cripple," Clara sneered, breaking the silence. "You're just taking my leftovers, Elise. Did you know the Mendoza family wanted me first? But I rejected them. You're like the dog they threw scraps to."

 Elise's jaw tightened, but her anger was immediately replaced with a smile."You can say whatever you want, Clara. Alejandro is more of a man than anyone you'll ever meet. Disabled or not, he's worth more than all the small 'boys' you parade around."

 Clara's smirk faded, and before she could make a comeback, Elise grabbed her box and walked out of the house without turning back. 

 It did not take long and she was in Alejandro's estate, only finding her way as a guard had come to pick her from her house.

 Her eyes looked over it, and it was massive. The type of house that Elise only saw in movies. And from the name that she had seen on a post outside, the estate belonged to just Alejandro and it was different from the main Mendoza estate. 

 It made Elise wonder how wealthy Alejandro was. 

 A maid helped her settle into her room after she met with Alejandro and as much as she felt a little bit of unease, the luxury she experienced made her temporarily forget all her worries. 

 It had been a week since Elise moved to join Alejandro and though he seemed cold on some days, his presence was much more tolerable compared to being with her parents who hadn't even called her to check on her. 

 One evening, she sat at the desk in her room, her laptop open as she tried to finalize her admission process. Logging into her student portal, her breath caught in her throat. The status of her application had changed to rejected. She stared at the screen, her disbelief turning into panic.

 "No, no, no," she muttered, frantically clicking through the options. She'd been so careful, so meticulous. 

 Was this a mistake? Maybe it was some glitch.

 Elise logged out of the portal and back in again and nothing had changed. It still showed that her admission had been rejected. Her anxiety rose. Elise read the text by the side of the rejection text and it showed that it was rejected because she applied for it. But she didn't! 

 Who could have done it?

 The only person who'd had access to her login details was Clara. Elise remembered the time her laptop had died, and she'd borrowed Clara's system to submit some documents.

 Tears welled up in her eyes as the realization sank in. Had Clara done this? Did her sister sabotage her dream, and why? Spite? Jealousy? Elise's chest tightened, and a sob escaped her lips.

 At that moment, the door creaked open, and Alejandro wheeled himself into the room. His expression shifted from curiosity to concern when he saw her tears.

 "What happened?" he asked, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

 Elise wiped her face hastily, embarrassed to be caught crying. "It's nothing."

 He frowned. "That doesn't look like nothing. Tell me."

 She hesitated but then poured out the story, from her rejected admission to her suspicion about Clara and how she wanted the admission from the start which was why they gave her the condition of marriage in the first place. Alejandro listened quietly, his hands resting on his wheelchair.

 "I worked so hard," Elise finished, her voice breaking. "And everything just disappeared. Like it was nothing."

 Alejandro gritted his teeth, he did not know what to say but Elise's family felt like a chore that needed to be taken care of. 

 He watched Elise cry, unable to offer any help at the moment. The way she was, melted his heart and it made him want to trample on everybody that caused her pain. 

 He could not yet, but he swore to himself that any other person who gave her a reason to cry would feel his wrath.