Chapter 1

I married Eugene Thorne, concealing my identity as the heiress to one of Boston's most prestigious families.

But fate had other plans. The day before our wedding, I was involved in a devastating car accident.

When consciousness finally returned, I found I was blind.

Through the darkness, I overheard a conversation between Eugene and his assistant.

"The situation is contained, Mr. Thorne. However..." There was hesitation in his assistant's voice.

"Miss Victoria was renowned for her paintings. After the corneal transplant, she'll never create art again. How will she cope?"

"She's resilient, unlike Claire. Claire..."

His voice softened with an tenderness that pierced my heart.

"She needs her sight. I'll ensure Vic's taken care of forever, but Claire..."

He exhaled sharply. "I can't lose Claire."

The silence that followed was deafening until Eugene spoke again.

"Have the doctors perform a hysterectomy as well. Claire's fragile enough - seeing me have a child with Victoria would destroy her."

"But sir," his assistant protested, his voice thick with sympathy, "She's been devoted to you since she was eighteen..."

"Enough. Just execute my instructions. No questions."

A glacial chill spread through my body, leaving me trembling uncontrollably.

The cruel truth emerged from darkness:

my beloved husband had fallen for Claire Bennett, the struggling art student whose scholarship I'd personally funded.

He was willing to sacrifice my future, my dreams, everything I had, for her sake.

If he thought he could destroy me without consequences, he would learn how badly he had miscalculated.

......

Footsteps echoed through the sterile hospital room.

I forced myself to remain still, maintaining the facade of unconsciousness.

"Mr. Thorne," the doctor's voice wavered, "Miss Victoria just underwent the corneal transplant.”

“Her body is extremely weak. Performing a hysterectomy now could put her life at risk. I strongly suggest we wait until—"

"I don't pay you for suggestions," Eugene's voice cut through the air like steel.

"This is an order, not a discussion. However," his tone dropped dangerously low, "if anything happens to Victoria, you understand the consequences."

"Yes, Mr. Thorne,"

I felt Eugene's fingers brush against my cheek, their warmth searing my skin.

"Victoria, darling, it will all be over soon.”

“Don't worry, I'll always be here to protect you. I love you, my sweet."

My body betrayed me with an involuntary shiver. A tear slid down my cheek, and I sensed Eugene straightening up beside the bed.

Noticing my impending consciousness, his voice transformed into ice.

"Doctor, prepare for surgery immediately. It must be completed before she wakes."

Terror forced my eyes open, but there was nothing - just an endless void of darkness. My hands flew up, grasping desperately at the darkness as panic seized my throat.

"I... I can't see! Why can't I see anything?"

"Shh, darling." Eugene's arms enveloped me, his chest solid against my cheek. His fingers stroked my hair with practiced gentleness.

"There was an accident, but don't worry. The doctors say this is temporary." His voice dripped honey-sweet poison. "I'll take care of everything."

I felt him shift, probably nodding to the doctor.

"You need to stay calm, sweetheart. Let's get you some vitamins to help with recovery."

If I hadn't awakened early enough to overhear their conversation, I would have believed every word.

But now I knew the truth - his "vitamins" were sedatives, meant to keep me unconscious while they stripped away my future.

I clutched Eugene's arm desperately, my head shaking as tears choked my voice.

"No... please, Eugene," my voice cracked like thin ice. "No more injections. Take me home... can't we just go home?"

The needle's sting was swift and merciless, a serpent's bite against my skin. As consciousness began to blur at the edges, Eugene's voice floated above me.

"Sleep now, my love. Everything will be better when you wake."

Tears slid silently down my cheeks, and though the sedative was numbing my body, my heart continued to bleed.

In the encroaching darkness, memories shimmered like heat waves - Eugene at eighteen, his sculptured face twisted with anguish as he sat beside my hospital bed.

His eyes had been rubbed raw from crying, cursing my foolishness for taking that blade meant for him.

How young we'd been, how blindly in love.

His young voice echoed through my fading consciousness:

"I swear, Victoria, no one will ever hurt you again."

Oh, the bitter irony - the man who'd sworn to be my shield had become my executioner.

When consciousness returned, I was a hollow shell of myself - stripped of sight, love, and the possibility of motherhood.

Opening my unseeing eyes, I found myself alone in the silence, broken only by my shallow breathing.

Then, muffled voices drifted through the walls - a heated discussion between a man and woman.

"I need to see her!" Claire's voice trembled with what seemed like genuine distress.

"Victoria saved me from poverty. Everything I am today, I owe to her. You can't stop me from—"

"Claire, darling." Eugene's voice transformed, softening like butter in the sun - a tone I'd once believed was reserved for me alone.

"Your sight has only just returned. The doctors are adamant about your rest. Victoria is well cared for, I promise."

My fingers twisted in the sheets as realization struck like lightning.

Claire had been blind? When? How had such a crucial detail escaped my notice?

Chapter 2

A sudden sharp pain shot through the back of my hand as the needle jabbed roughly into my skin. I hissed involuntarily.

"God, stay still, please!" The nurse's voice carried the sharp edge of barely contained contempt.

She increased the pressure deliberately, turning what should have been a routine procedure into a warning.

"Just my luck," she muttered venomously. "Everyone else gets to fawn over precious Miss Bennett alongside Mr. Thorne, while I'm stuck here with the blind charity case."

Her bitter laugh scraped against my nerves. "If Miss Bennett could put in a good word for me with Mr. Thorne, I wouldn't have to deal with pathetic patients like—"

The sound of shattering glass violently interrupted her tirade.

"Who dares—"

Her voice transformed from anger to terror. "Mr... Mr. Thorne! I... I didn't realize..."

"Get. Out." Eugene's voice filled the room, the temperature seemed to drop with each syllable.

"If I ever see your face in this hospital again..."

The threat hung in the air like frost, leaving the nurse's panicked footsteps echoing down the corridor in her wake.

Familiar arms enveloped me, and I felt Eugene's body trembling slightly against mine.

"Victoria, my love, I'm so sorry," his voice cracked with what seemed like genuine remorse. "I should have been here sooner. I never meant for you to be treated this way. I'm so sorry..."

A bitter smile twisted my lips. Such righteous anger over a rough nurse, while he orchestrated the surgical theft of my future.

Yet he held me tighter, as if he could somehow protect me from the very pain he'd inflicted.

"Take me home," I whispered, feeling his warm breath stir the hair at my neck. "Please... I can't stay here anymore."

His lips brushed against my temple. "Soon, darling. After the doctors check you over, I'll take you home myself."

What Eugene failed to realize was that "home" held a different meaning for me - not his luxurious estate, but the towering Montgomery mansion in Boston.

Memories flickered through my mind: the family power struggle that forced my father to hide me in Eastbrook, though even there, danger found me.

That rain-slicked night in the alley, lightning illuminating Eugene's face as he stepped between me and the blade - my dark knight in designer armor.

In that moment, I fell into the cliché of love at first sight.

We ended up at the same university, becoming the couple everyone envied - young love personified, turning heads wherever we went, inspiring envious whispers and dreamy sighs.

That's when Claire entered our story. My heart ached seeing her survive on food bank donations, her artistic talent withering in poverty.

I became her patron, never suspecting I was nurturing the seed of my own destruction.

Her gratitude seemed pure then, crystalline tears in earnest eyes as she hugged me, promising eternal friendship.

We became inseparable, the wealthy benefactor and her gifted protege.

How exquisitely blind I'd been, missing the subtle signs - the lingering glances, the charged silences, the carefully orchestrated "accidental" meetings.

Eugene's fingers traced my jawline now. "Victoria, my love, let's have our wedding tomorrow as planned. I can't wait to make you Mrs. Thorne."

The wedding I'd once dreamed of now loomed like a nightmare. "No," I whispered.

His hands stilled, surprise evident in his voice.

"Sweetheart," he coaxed, uncharacteristically patient. "Everything's perfect. No one will dare whisper about your... condition. Claire's volunteered to be your maid of honor."

"And Dempsey Montgomery himself will officiate - Boston's elite patriarch himself. Remember? I promised you the grandest wedding imaginable."

My fingers clutched his sleeve at my brother's name.The Montgomerys remained blissfully unaware of my life in Eastbrook, of my engagement to Eugene.

I'd severed ties after refusing an arranged marriage to some blue-blooded heir, choosing love over duty.

Bile rose in my throat imagining Dempsey's face when he saw me - his proud sister, now a blind puppet in someone else's play.

Suddenly, a weight fell against me, accompanied by a sickeningly sweet voice:

"Victoria!"

Claire's arms wound around me like python coils. "I've been so worried! Let me be your eyes now, I'll take care of you forever..."

Chapter 3

"Don't be ridiculous." Eugene's interruption carried a whisper of unease beneath its authority.

A slight tremor in his usually steady voice betrayed him. "Victoria's blindness is temporary."

Claire adjusted her performance seamlessly, her head settling against my shoulder with practiced innocence.

"Oh, silly me," she cooed. "Maybe tomorrow Victoria's sight will return, and she'll be the most radiant bride Eastbrook has ever seen. I'm just so thrilled for you, dear sister."

That's how she'd always fooled me - with her perfect performance of wide-eyed innocence.

After the assistant delivered my wedding gown, Claire orchestrated our solitude with expert precision.

The air in the room changed, growing heavy with malice.

"Victoria, this dress you designed - it's exquisite. It's stunning." A pause, followed by the sound of fabric rustled between her fingers. "Though it's rather large on me..."

The sound of ripping silk shattered the hospital room's sterile quiet.

"A blind bride in couture?" She laughed softly. "The hospital gown suits your new... status better."

Tears splashed, and suddenly my eyes erupted in white-hot agony.

I tried to scream but no sound emerged. My trembling hands reached up instinctively to wipe away, but Claire's grip locked around my wrists.

Her lips brushed my ear, warm breath carrying words cold as ice. "Poor, sweet Victoria. Did you really think it was the accident that stole your sight?"

"One casual comment from me, and Eugene harvested your corneas for my benefit. The irony? I didn't even need them. Even a stray wouldn't want them."

Her grip tightened painfully. If you're truly as clever as everyone claims, you'll vanish quietly. After all..."

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"Imagine what Eugene might do if I mentioned that you've become a... liability."

The tears burning my eyes was nothing compared to the inferno consuming my heart.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Claire roughly wiped away the evidence from my face. She grabbed my hand, forcing it high in the air.

"Crack!" The sound of palm meeting cheek ricocheted off sterile walls. My palm stung from the self-inflicted slap she'd orchestrated.

Before I could process what was happening, a violent force slammed me backward. My head cracked against the wall, leaving my ears ringing with a high-pitched whine.

"Victoria!" Eugene's voice exploded with fury. "Have you lost your mind along with your sight? How dare you assault Claire in her delicate condition!"

Though I couldn't see his face, the rage in his voice told me everything. In seven years together, I'd never heard such unbridled fury from him.

The careful mask of devotion had finally slipped.

His voice loomed over me, dripping with menace. "Apologize to Claire. Now. Or tomorrow's wedding is cancelled."

He knew exactly how to hurt me. For years, I'd dreamed of walking down the aisle to him, of becoming Mrs. Thorne.

Now he wielded that dream like a dagger, twisting it deeper into my heart.

Just as he expected, I lowered my head in false contrition, though the caustic tears still burning my eyes made every movement agony.

My voice quavered - not from remorse, but from pain and carefully contained rage.

"I'm sorry, Claire."

Eugene's footsteps retreated toward the door. "Someone will collect you at eight tomorrow morning."

What he didn't know was that tomorrow's wedding wouldn't be a celebration - it would be my escape.

The day I would finally disappear from his life.