Chapter 4

When we got home, Theresa threw herself into dramatic sobs.

I stayed in my room, unwilling to face her, until Chester arrived with a first-aid kit to help me treat my wounds.

"Eunice, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well? What did the doctor say?" Chester asked gently.

I opened my eyes and let out a bitter laugh. "Would it even matter if I told you? Would you leave Theresa to be with me?" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Chester paused his careful cleaning of my cuts. "So, you're jealous," he observed with a faint smile.

I didn't answer him. Instead, I reached out and traced the shape of his smiling eyes. In that moment, he looked exactly like Ryan.

Chester wiped away the tears from my cheeks, his gaze softening. "Eunice, let's not fight anymore," he murmured.

For a brief moment, I almost agreed.

Then he continued, "Why don't you stay somewhere else for a while? Theresa's been emotional lately, and she needs my attention right now."

A tear rolled down my cheek and fell onto the back of his hand.

His expression shifted for a moment before he pulled me close and sighed. "Eunice, just be good, okay?"

I decided to let everything end here. That very day, I went out to look for a new apartment.

But when I got back that night, all I saw was my suitcase sitting alone by the door. The keypad code had been changed—I was locked out.

I rummaged through the jumbled mess inside the suitcase, but the bracelet Ryan gave me was nowhere to be found.

I took a deep breath and tried calling Chester, but he didn't pick up. But his social media had been updated just three minutes earlier.

It was a photo of Theresa asleep on his shoulder. The caption read: [The one who insisted on seeing the stars is now sleeping like a baby.]

The comments were all saying how perfect they looked together. I, the real wife, should really take the hint.

So I called someone else.

Before long, the security guard showed up with tools and pried the door open for me.

It only took one afternoon for the whole house to feel like a different world.

The sweet orange scent in the house had been replaced by the lily fragrance Theresa loved.

That scent used to fill every corner of my life during our first year of marriage.

All the paintings of me in the drawing room were gone, as if they'd never existed.

When I walked into the master bedroom, I saw the seductive silk nightgowns in the closet and the luxury products covering the dressing table. It felt surreal, like I'd stepped into a stranger's room.

I had locked the bracelet away in the cabinet under that dressing table.

I entered the password and emptied the cabinet, searching through everything, but I couldn't find the small locked box.

Refusing to believe it was gone, I turned to the dressing table and searched through everything on top, but my search was futile.

That bracelet was my good luck charm, the final gift from Ryan. And now, I'd lost it.

*****

Everything fell apart the year I turned eighteen.

That was the year my parents' marriage collapsed. Then, my father's mistress conspired with others and cleaned out all of his money.

My father jumped to his death, and my mom left me for good in the bathroom at home.

Later, debt collectors found me. They beat me so badly that I lost my sight and any chance of returning to the stage. It was in the hospital, when I was recovering, that I met twenty-year-old Ryan on the rooftop.

The wind roared across the rooftop that day. I remember spreading my arms, feeling like it could just lift me up and carry me away.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm in a panic. "Wait! I broke my leg. Could you help me get downstairs?"

I saw right through his act. "I'd rather stay here and enjoy the breeze."

"Then I'll stay with you. My leg actually feels much better now," he said.

*****

Ryan just couldn't take a hint. No matter how cold I acted, he'd stick around and refuse to leave me alone.

He knew I couldn't see, so he'd chatter constantly by my ear.

He'd go on about bugs found in the cafeteria veggies, the stray cat that had grown fat from everyone's feedings, the heavy snow falling outside the window, and how beautiful life could be if I just didn't give up.

He even had another bed moved beside mine just to talk to me more easily.

When his presence became too much, I would ask, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

He handed me some freshly washed strawberries. "It gets lonely recovering alone," he said with an innocent smile. "Besides, keeping you company is important too."

Then he grinned as he continued, "I've got a new story for you today. Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Little Red Riding Hood..."

At the time, I just remained silent.

Ryan became like sunlight streaming into my suddenly bleak world.

After I got used to having him around, I asked, "Are you nice to me because you pity me?"

He just smiled and ruffled my hair, ignoring the question. "I'm simply holding onto my light."

Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, more than half a year had gone by. The debt collectors never came bothering me again.

I found myself looking forward to seeing Ryan each day.

By the time winter rolled around, we'd become a couple.

Even though I couldn't see, my world remained vibrant and beautiful because Ryan was the one who let me see it all.

For his birthday, I decided to dance for him as a special gift.

My mother always said I was most beautiful when I danced. And now, dancing was all I had left.

I kept falling down and picking myself up, over and over again.

When Ryan found me, he pulled me into his arms, his tears feeling cool against my neck.

I could tell he was feeling sorry for me again, so I hurried to comfort him. "Don't cry. I'm strong. It doesn't hurt at all."

"Eunice, things will get better. I promise," he said.

I smiled through my tears. I trusted him—things would get better.

The doctors told me I could regain my sight with a cornea transplant.

Though they warned that donors were rare, I still held onto hope.

Then a sudden car accident wrecked everything.

On his birthday, I got the news that the one I loved was gone. At the very same moment, I got the call that a cornea was available.

That was when I understood. He had arranged this final gift for me.

The bracelet was his childhood treasure, but it became his last birthday present to me.

He once said, "People always said I was born lucky. Now I want that luck to watch over you and bring you happiness too."

Back then, I believed I'd finally grabbed onto hope. I didn't realize I was actually stepping into my deepest despair.

Though my vision had returned, my world remained completely dark.