I forced the corners of my lips upward and slipped my hand from his, casual enough not to raise suspicion.
"Just something small. Nothing worth troubling you over."
Only moments ago, I had believed I was the luckiest woman in the world.
A husband who didn't resent me for my blindness. Tender and attentive in every way.
After three years of acupuncture and careful conditioning, my body had finally cooperated, and I was carrying our baby.
But now I saw it for what it really was: a cold, hollow lie.
Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.
Dominic noticed the shift in my mood immediately. He fumbled to wipe my cheeks dry.
"Sweetheart, are you hurting somewhere?"
I fought to contain the ache splitting open inside my chest, my voice cracking.
"Dominic, the driver who caused the accident... he really went to prison, didn't he?"
He kissed the shell of my ear, his voice low and coaxing.
"Of course. Anyone who hurts my wife doesn't get an ounce of mercy from me."
My nails dug crescents into my palms. I wanted nothing more than to rip that mask off his face and scream every question burning inside me.
He had told me Stephanie Fox was his late mentor's orphaned daughter, that he only thought of her as a little sister.
He would never betray what we had.
But the moment Stephanie moved in, Dominic used her blind right eye and her fear of the dark as an excuse to move me out of the master bedroom, the one with the best light in the house.
He had forgotten.
Back when he was first starting his company, thugs came looking for trouble. I shielded him and lost an eye for it.
My vision had been weak ever since. The moment daylight faded even slightly, the world dissolved into nothing.
After I moved to the smaller bedroom, I was constantly stumbling, my body mottled with bruises.
So his heart had already started to stray, even back then.
That was why I had to take my eyes back. It was the only way I could protect my baby.
Dominic warmed my hands and feet, then had Josephine make me a bowl of my favorite lean pork congee.
He fed me himself, spoonful by spoonful. I couldn't taste any of it.
Light footsteps echoed down the hallway.
At the same time, a cloying wave of perfume hit my nostrils.
The man beside me inhaled sharply, his breathing turning heavy with unmistakable desire.
I reached toward the source of the scent and asked him on purpose.
"Dominic, did someone come in?"