Chapter 2

The next morning, Adrian acted as if nothing had changed.

He kissed my forehead before leaving and reminded Iris to behave.

His loyalty stayed at eighty-seven percent.

I said nothing.

By noon, several cars pulled into the courtyard.

A few minutes later, a woman’s heels clicked across the marble floor.

Adrian entered my sitting room.

“Vivienne, I brought someone to meet you.”

“Who?”

“A doctor.”

A woman stepped forward.

“Mrs. Caruso, I’m Dr. Serena Vale.”

Her voice was soft.

Young.

Confident.

“I’ve reviewed your medical records,” she said. “Your condition is serious, but I don’t believe it’s hopeless.”

My hand tightened around the armrest.

“What do you mean?”

She sat across from me.

“The nerves in your leg are damaged, but there is still activity. Your optic nerves were injured by the toxin, but there may still be a chance.”

My heart began to pound.

“Are you saying I could see again?”

“I’m saying we can try.”

For three years, doctors had told me to accept reality.

I would never see again.

I would never walk normally again.

Being a plus-size woman had never made me feel trapped inside my body.

Losing control of it had.

I missed choosing my own clothes without someone helping me.

I missed walking into a room without hearing a wheelchair first.

I missed standing beside my husband instead of being positioned beside him.

Now Serena was offering me something I had stopped allowing myself to want.

Adrian knelt beside me and took my hand.

“I told you I would never stop looking.”

I turned toward him.

Eighty-seven percent.

“If she can help, I want to try.”

Serena smiled.

“Then we’ll start today.”

She examined my eyes and tested the sensation in my right leg.

Then she prepared several injections.

Her hands were careful.

Her questions were professional.

If I could only hear her, I might have trusted her.

But I could see one thing she did not know I could see.

The number above her head.

Sixteen percent.

I stared at it.

She had met me less than an hour ago.

Yet her loyalty was already lower than most strangers.

“Does that hurt?” she asked.

“No.”

“You’re staring at me.”

I smiled.

“Habit.”

Serena laughed.

“I forgot you can’t actually see me.”

“No,” I said.

“I can’t.”

Not in the way she meant.

After the treatment, Adrian walked her toward the hallway.

Their footsteps stopped outside the door.

Serena lowered her voice.

“You didn’t tell me she was this calm.”

“She’s always been like that.”

“She trusts you.”

A pause.

Then Adrian said, “She should.”

Serena laughed softly.

“You say that like you deserve it.”

“Careful.”

“Or what?”

Silence.

Then I heard it.

A kiss.

Soft.

Brief.

My fingers tightened against my dress.

A few seconds later, Serena’s heels moved away.

Adrian returned.

He smelled faintly of the same perfume I had found on his jacket.

Sweet.

Floral.

He sat beside me.

“How do you feel?”

“Fine.”

“Serena is good.”

“So you know her well?”

He paused.

“She has a strong reputation.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.”

His hand closed around mine.

“Vivienne. She’s your doctor. That’s all.”

The number above his head flickered.

Eighty-seven.

Eighty-five.

Then eighty-two.

Five points.

Just from talking about her.

I smiled.

“I didn’t say anything was wrong.”

Adrian relaxed.

“Good.”

That evening, Serena brought several bottles of medication.

“These should help reduce inflammation and encourage nerve recovery.”

“How often?”

“Twice a day.”

I reached for one bottle.

She immediately moved it closer.

“I’ll organize everything for you.”

“How thoughtful.”

“It’s my job.”

That night, I sat alone with the medicine.

I used my phone to scan each label and let the screen reader read the names aloud.

I memorized the drugs.

The dosage.

The manufacturer.

If Serena truly could help me walk again, I would give her a chance.

But I was not going to trust it blindly.