Are There Discussion Guides For Unfit Parent: A Disabled Mother Challenges An Inaccessible World?

Elise Stanton has one dream: to study medicine. When she earns a coveted spot in medical school, her future seems bright—until her parents present her with an ultimatum. The only way they’ll pay her tuition is if she marries Alejandro Mendoza, the disabled heir to a powerful family. “Marry a stranger for money? Is that the price of my freedom?” Elise protests, her voice trembling with frustration. “Clara gets her luxuries handed to her, but I have to sell my life to pursue my dream?” In her family’s eyes, she is always second-best, a shadow to her younger sister, Clara. Left with no other choice, Elise agrees to her parents’ condition. Then she meets Alejandro Mendoza. Confined to a wheelchair, Alejandro is bitter and guarded, his piercing gaze a wall against the world. But when Elise examines his condition, her sharp medical instincts kick in. “The doctors had a wrong diagnosis,” she insists. “Your condition is reversible.” Alejandro narrows his eyes. “Why are you doing this? What do you want?” Her answer is simple: “I’ll help you recover, and when you can walk again, this marriage ends.”

Once a powerful heir, admired for his wealth, charm, and success, he had everything anyone could dream of until a tragic car accident changed everything. Now, confined to a wheelchair, he’s no longer the man people once adored. Instead, he’s a target for mockery, a fallen CEO who is left in the shadows, abandoned by those who once worshipped him. She, the neglected daughter of her family, has spent her life in the shadows, overshadowed by her perfect sister. Her family’s indifference fuels her determination to escape, and a chance contract marriage becomes her way out. Neither family cares about their opinion; this marriage is simply a means to an end. In a dimly lit room, the disabled CEO glares at her, "What do you want from me, woman?" She crouches beside him, her gaze focused on his injured legs. "Do you know your legs can be healed?" Unbeknownst to him, she is not just his wife, she is his redemption. With her help, his body heals, his confidence returns, and his rise to power begins anew. As the world watches in disbelief, the disabled CEO becomes the man they thought they had lost forever. Women once again chase after him, but there’s one thing they don’t know he is already devoted to his wife, the woman who stood by him through it all. "Sweetheart, meeting you was my greatest fortune," he whispers, gazing at her with love and gratitude.

Roxanne never expected her father would sell her out to be a disabled man's wife, instead of her step-sister, Reina. Heartbroken and threatened with her brother's treatment, Roxanne discovered Reina had seduced her fiancee and got pregnant for him. Hurt and escaping from home, she ended up at a bar and made one of the greatest mistakes of her life but it later turned out to be worth it, as the entire thing was a big misunderstanding. Her husband-to-be wasn't disabled, it was something more. He was the perfect man and Reina grew to regret her decision, to forsake the privilege to be his bride. As he helped her raise up, Roxanne discovered a heart-shattering truth her father was hiding from her.

When my daughter, Ruth Jensen, says for the tenth time that she wants a different mother, I don't get angry. I just calmly ask her who she wants instead. She blurts, "Vivian." She means Vivian Green, her tutor… and also the woman my husband has never been able to forget. At Ruth's birthday party that day, she even openly thanks Vivian, saying Vivian takes care of her like a mother. Looking at Ruth's young, innocent face, I finally understand that she doesn't like me. So, I stop caring for her and my husband the way I used to. Instead, I turn around and join a classified national project. Rather than wasting time on people who aren't worth it, I'd be better off serving my country!

My mom is terrified of being laughed at by others the most. Whenever the holidays are here, she will keep repeating one sentence to me—"Don't go around embarrassing me." When my relatives gather around and chat with each other, I accidentally knock a fruit platter over. Mom drags me over and slaps me on the spot. At the holiday feast, I grab extra pieces of steak for myself. Mom responds by kicking my chair over. When it's time for the holiday gifts to be distributed, my aunt, Gabriella Hall, has miscalculated the number of children present among the family. So, she has prepared one less gift for the occasion. Mom doesn't hesitate to kick me out of the apartment, leaving me shivering in the cold corridor in just my indoor clothes. The icy winds chill me to the bone. I keep slamming my palms on the front door while screaming and crying my apologies at Mom, and yet she remains unmoved and silent. Instead, she turns to face Aunt Gabriella with an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm really sorry. I didn't raise my daughter well. It's only fair that you ridicule me." What Mom doesn't know is that I get triggered whenever I hear the word "ridicule" thanks to her so-called parenting lessons. Whenever I hear that word, I want nothing more than to hurt myself uncontrollably. So when I hear the word "ridicule" coming out of Mom's mouth through the front door, I turn on my heel quietly and begin making my way toward the bridge next to the neighborhood that's plunged into darkness. The moment I jump from the bridge, the only thought I have is, "Mom, no one will ridicule you because of me this time."

Mom has extreme mania. Dad was murdered when I was eight, and I went blind while trying to save Mom. I became her only family and weakness. Anyone who makes fun of me for being blind has their eyes gouged out; anyone who disrespects me is sliced and diced before being fed to the dogs. Later, Mom turns into a she-devil with a hundred-billion-dollar net worth. Everyone in Gristport fears her, but she treats me like a princess. The whole city knows not to offend Eleanor Heinrich's daughter. She scours the world for the best optometrists to treat my eyes. On the day I regain my vision, I hear about Mom finding her birth daughter. She says, "You'll soon have a sister who loves you very much, Sienna." I hear that my sister has been through a lot since childhood and is introverted. I prepare many gifts for her, even wanting to give her the pendant Dad gave me. Yet she instructs her people to take me to a deserted roof. "You're nothing but a faker who stole my place in life! I'm going to slice your tongue—let's see how you can continue lying to Mom when you can't speak!" She shatters the pendant, gouges my eyeballs out, slashes my tongue, and has several men torment me to death. Lastly, she includes my eyeballs as decorations in a bouquet and brings it to Mom. "This is a gift I've prepared for your birthday, Mom. Do you like it?"