Chapter 1

Ten years ago, in a terrible car accident, I donated my corneas to save my brother, leaving me completely blind.

Ethan knelt by my hospital bed, vowing to be my eyes forever, to protect me my entire life.

But when he achieved success and married the heiress of a prominent family, he stood by and watched as his fiancée snapped my cane — my lifeline — and then threw me, dressed in only a thin shirt, into a blizzard with temperatures dropping to twenty below zero.

"A blind girl like you is just bad luck. Die out there, and good riddance!"

Later, I truly "died" in that blizzard.

Yet, my brother went insane. He gouged out his own eyes and knelt before my tombstone, banging his head until it bled.

But he never knew that I had long since changed my name, walking hand-in-hand with Lucas Thorne, the scion of the city's most powerful family, watching Ethan coldly as he begged like a dog.

The shattering sound of a champagne tower toppling was jarringly loud in the luxurious ballroom.

A powerful force shoved me to the ground. My knees slammed hard against the marble floor, and shards of glass instantly pierced my dress, digging into my flesh.

The excruciating pain made me gasp.

Before I could even grope my way up, a sharp, aggrieved female voice exploded above me:

"Elara! Are you insane? No matter how much you resent me, you can't deliberately push me at my engagement party with Ethan!"

It was Briar Stone, my brother Ethan's fiancée, the heiress of the powerful Stone family.

The previously noisy chatter in the room instantly died down. Countless contemptuous gazes seemed to solidify, pinning me, the blind girl, to the spot.

"I didn't..." I shook my head frantically, my hands fumbling on the glass-strewn floor. "Briar, I was just standing in the corner. You're the one who suddenly walked into me..."

"Are you implying I'd fake an accident in a multi-million dollar designer gown just to frame a blind person like you?"

Briar sneered, her high heel grinding down hard on the back of my fumbling hand, pressing with all her weight.

I cried out in pain, cold sweat instantly soaking my back.

"Briar, what's wrong?"

A familiar, deep male voice cut through the crowd.

Hearing that voice, I felt like I'd found a lifeline. Enduring the searing pain in my hand, I looked up towards the sound and called out, "Ethan! Ethan, I didn't push Briar, I really didn't..."

Ethan's footsteps stopped in front of me.

The air was eerily silent.

After a long while, I didn't receive the embrace of the brother who used to shield me from all harm and malice.

Instead, I only heard Ethan tenderly pulling Briar into his arms, his voice dripping with affection: "Briar, are you hurt anywhere?"

"Ethan, my wrist hurts so much, and my dress is ruined," Briar whimpered, feigning tears. "I know Elara doesn't like me, that she feels I stole you away. But today is our engagement, how could she humiliate me in front of so many guests..."

"Elara."

Ethan's voice turned cold, carrying an unfamiliar disgust and distance.

"Apologize to Briar."

My body stiffened, and I stared wide-eyed with my unfocused gaze, unable to believe it.

"Ethan, you'd rather believe her than me?" My voice trembled. "I can't see. I can't even tell directions. How could I have pushed her?"

"Enough!" Ethan cut me off sharply. "Haven't you made enough of a scene? Briar comes from a distinguished family; if you hadn't deliberately caused trouble, why would she fall? You've always been willful since childhood, have you forgotten even your basic manners now?"

The word "manners" struck my heart like two sharp knives.

Ten years ago, to drag him out of the mangled car, I missed the critical rescue time and lost my sight.

Later, to save his eyes from festering, I secretly donated my corneas to him.

The day he regained his sight, he held me, crying hysterically, swearing that even if he had to beg on the streets for food, he would treat me like a princess for the rest of his life.

But now, this man, who was seeing the world through *my* eyes, was trampling my dignity underfoot, in front of everyone, all for another woman.

"Ethan, let it go. After all, she's disabled. People who don't know might think I, a normal person, am bullying her." Briar feigned generosity with a sigh, but her tone was full of condescension.

"No, mistakes must be punished." Ethan looked at me coldly. "Elara, kneel down and apologize to Briar. Otherwise, you won't leave this door today."

Whispers of mockery spread among the guests.

"That blind girl is so ungrateful. Mr. Hayes has supported her for so many years, and she still dares to cause trouble at the engagement party."

"Exactly, she's just a dead weight, does she really think she's the Hayes family heiress?"

I knelt on the floor covered in glass shards. Blood flowed from my knees and the back of my hand, staining my cheap white dress.

My eyes burned with a raw ache, but I bit my lip hard, refusing to let the tears fall.

Because Ethan once told me he hated it when I cried, saying it was like I was using my disability to manipulate him.

I fumbled, slowly bending down, pressing my forehead against the cold, biting marble floor.

"I'm sorry, Briar. It was my fault."

Every word, laced with blood and tears, shattered my decade of sacrifice and illusion into a million pieces.

I heard Briar's triumphant chuckle.

And Ethan, he just coldly dismissed me with a single line: "Someone, take her back to her room and lock her up. Don't let her embarrass us again."

Two security guards roughly grabbed my arms, dragging me out of the ballroom like a sack of potatoes.

The moment the doors closed, I heard the cheerful music resume inside, along with Ethan's gentle toasting voice.

The brother who used to hold me all night, singing to me when I had nightmares, was truly dead on this glamorous, perfumed night.

The Ethan now was the high and mighty CEO of Hayes Industries, a rising star who needed the Stone family's investment to solidify his position.

And I was merely the ugliest blemish on his perfect life.