Chapter 1

Seven years after I went blind, Ethan Vance rolled the calendar on the wall and the date on my phone back by an entire month.

He even bribed our live-in housekeeper, Martha, having her repeat the same lie to convince me that my birthday was still a month away.

Coincidentally, he had to take a month-long business trip abroad. He claimed taking a blind woman along would be too inconvenient, promising me an unforgettable birthday the moment he returned.

It was already unforgettable.

While doing his laundry, I found two passports in the inside pocket of his jacket.

Running my fingers over the embossed letters on the second passport, I traced the name: Chloe Sterling.

The girl who had thrown sulfuric acid in my face seven years ago, burning away my corneas.

Quietly, I put the passports back and tossed the jacket into the washing machine. Before I could hit start, Ethan’s hurried footsteps echoed behind me.

"Autumn! Leave the chores to Martha. You shouldn’t be straining yourself."

"Come on, let me help you out to the balcony. Get some sun, finish that new audiobook, and you can tell me all about it later."

I couldn't see, but my hearing was razor-sharp.

I heard the rustle of fabric as he quickly fished the jacket out, felt his quiet sigh of relief when his fingers touched the passports, and then let him gently guide me to the terrace.

Gentle music began to play through the speakers, followed by the next chapter of the audiobook.

Ethan always knew what stories I liked. Every book he chose pulled me in completely. His meticulous, tender care often made me forget I was disabled. For years, I had felt unimaginably blessed.

But in the end, I was still blind.

Useless. Trapped in this luxury penthouse like a caged bird. I had always known that no matter how much Ethan loved me, one day he would grow sick of it.

Yet now that the day had arrived, my mind was a chaotic mess. I had no idea how to face his web of deceit.

Feeling the subtle tremor in my fingers, he squeezed my hand tightly. "What's wrong, Autumn? Are you not feeling well?"

"Ethan... don't go. Stay with me tomorrow, okay?"

Tomorrow was my real birthday. It was also our anniversary. He had no idea how much that date meant to me. He couldn't fool me.

His grip tightened. "Be good, Autumn. If I don't leave tomorrow, I won't finish my work in time for your birthday next month."

Right on cue, his phone buzzed. He let go of my hand instantly and stepped away, answering it in a hushed, urgent voice.

A dried leaf drifted down, landing in my open palm. Brittle and stiff. With a gentle squeeze, it crumbled into dust.

My name is Autumn. I was born on the first day of fall.

My parents gave me a poetic name, but they never gave me love.

My father took Ethan in out of an old debt to a fallen army buddy. But money was always tight, and when my younger brother was born, Ethan and I were cast aside. We became each other’s lifeline.

Whenever the neighborhood kids mocked my ragged clothes, Ethan fought them tooth and nail.

When my parents demanded he drop out of school to work and support my brother, I threatened to end my life until they let him go to college.

He was brilliant, devastatingly handsome, and naturally drew people in. In college, the richest, most obsessive girl pursuing him was Chloe Sterling. But no matter how relentlessly she threw herself at him, Ethan remained ice-cold. He would hold my hand in front of everyone and say:

"Autumn is the only girl in my heart."

Chloe had laughed like a lunatic. "If I ruin her, will there finally be room for me?"

Ethan stepped in front of me, his voice deadly. "If you touch a hair on her head, I’ll kill you."

Chloe wasn't afraid. Her father was a powerful billionaire. Brazen and psychotic, she cornered me with concentrated sulfuric acid, aiming straight for my face.

Ethan threw himself over me, shielding most of the blast with his own body. But the acid splashed into my eyes.

The darkness swallowed me. I became blind.

Yet Ethan never left. He treated me like fragile porcelain, pulling me back from the brink of suicidal despair. Still, deep down, I was always terrified. Terrified of the day he would grow exhausted and fall in love with someone else.

I wouldn't have blamed him. Over the past seven years, he had built a massive business empire from scratch. He deserved someone whole. Someone better.

So when this day finally came, I thought I was ready to let go.

What I couldn't comprehend was... why Chloe?

It could have been anyone. Why her?

Ethan had sworn to me that he had put Chloe in prison, that even after she got out, he would make her life a living hell!

Why was her passport tucked against his chest?

What were they doing flying abroad together—something so urgent he couldn't wait a single extra day, something that made him concoct such an elaborate lie?

"Autumn, I've instructed Martha to stay by your side around the clock this month. Be good and wait for me at home, okay? Call me if anything happens. No matter how busy I am, I’ll answer on the first ring."

Ethan leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. Before I could speak, his hurried footsteps were already fading away.

The crushed leaf ground into the lines of my palm, leaving a dull, silent ache.

"Ethan!"

I couldn't help calling out, my voice cracking. "Just one day... Can't you stay just one more day?"

His footsteps paused. But only for a second.

"Listen to me, Autumn. Be good."