Chapter 1

On our wedding day, Caden Boone got into a car accident.

My groom lost his sight.

For two years, he was irritable—refusing to let me mention marriage, yet breaking down in my arms late at night.

"Let's wait until I can see again," he'd whisper. "I don't want to be your burden."

So for him, I announced that our wedding would be postponed indefinitely.

Then one day, while at a hotel for a business meeting, I passed by a private room and heard a voice I knew by heart. "Baby, whenever you want to get married, I'm all yours."

Through the crack in the door, I saw Caden—my supposedly blind fiancé—looking tenderly at another woman, being so affectionate like they were already married.

Later, on the day I married Tyler York, Caden stood in the pouring rain, reading a long letter of repentance.

When he begged me to come back, I was slipping the ring onto Tyler's finger.

When a friend teased me about the lovesick and soaking wet Caden, I smiled faintly.

"Probably just another performance of his," I said. "Doesn't matter anymore."

*****

"Sorry, could you give me a few minutes?" I said to my business associate, giving an apologetic smile.

My attention was drawn to the private suite.

There was Caden Boone—who was supposedly blind, his eyes shining as he gazed at the woman sitting across from him.

Before he lied to me about being blind, it had been a long time since I'd seen that loving look in his eyes.

The passion and thrill of youth had faded away.

His gaze toward me now held only indifference and a cold emptiness.

That car accident stole his sight and ruined my wedding day.

Wearing my wedding dress, I kept falling onto the muddy road, tears streaming down and ruining my makeup, making me look a mess.

By the time I got to the private hospital, Caden's eyes were already bandaged.

The bloodstain on the bandage was like a knife cutting straight through my heart.

The twenty-three-year-old Caden reached out to me, tears streaming as he asked me to hold him close.

"Gwen, what should I do? I can't see you anymore," he cried.

The awkwardness of having no groom at the wedding disappeared completely.

In spite of all the gossip swirling around me, I announced to our circle that the wedding was postponed.

As for when it would happen, the date remained up in the air.

Since the accident, Caden grew irritable, starting to smash things around in frustration.

"It's so dark. Am I really going to spend my whole life like this?" Caden muttered.

Caden started, "If we hadn't rushed into the wedding, maybe I wouldn't have..."

Every time he got to that point, his voice would catch just enough, nearly breaking into a sob.

"Gwen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm just hurting so much," he said.

Every time I heard him say those things, guilt surged through me.

I was the one who pushed for marriage, desperate for some kind of assurance.

After all, I was five years older than Caden.

If I didn't get married before I hit twenty-eight, my family would make me go through with an arranged marriage.

When I told him that, Caden held me all night, thinking, and finally, he said yes.

I always blamed myself for what happened. If I hadn't pushed so hard for the marriage, would Caden have ever gotten into that accident?

But now, everything I thought I knew turned out to be a lie.

The private suite was filled with the same buddies Caden always spent time with.

Every time he went out, I handed him over to them without a second thought, sure they'd keep him safe.

But I was just making things easier for them all along.

The woman was young and they called her Bridget. She couldn't have been older than twenty-one.

She and Caden were wearing matching couple outfits, looking way too perfect together.

No wonder his buddies kept bringing him new clothes. I bet they got a thrill out of sneaking all this past me.

"Caden, what about Gwen?" one of his friends asked.

"Relax, she won't figure it out. Even if she does, I've got a backup plan," Caden replied.

"Man, you're a master at this. Gwen's never gonna be able to leave you, not in this lifetime," another friend joked, grinning.

Bridget, curled up in Caden's arms, pouted cutely.

Caden immediately frowned.

"That's enough. We're out to have fun, so don't mention her and kill the vibe," he said, impatient.

I tore my gaze away, focusing on the contract in my hands.

For the last two years, I pretty much handled everything for Caden—meals, clothes, daily routines, the whole deal.

The Boone family said it was all my fault he lost his sight, so I owed it to him to make up for it.

My parents claimed I didn't have what it took, and if I couldn't handle this mess, how would I ever be good enough to run the Copeland Group?

So I worked myself to the bone, even drank until my stomach bled—never breathed a word about it.

I kept telling myself, one day Caden would be cured.

If he never recovered, I'd be by his side for the rest of my life.

But now, the truth had finally come to light.

As I shook hands and sealed the deal with my business associate, I struggled to keep up the polite smile.

The bitterness inside me gnawed away, slowly consuming every inch of my heart.

As I walked past Caden's private suite, their riotous party was still in full swing.

I dragged myself home, kicked off my heels, and my stomach churned with pain.

I started taking stock of the so-called "home" Caden and I shared.

I'd padded every piece of furniture with cushioned bumpers, always trying to make things easier for him.

All those machines and gadgets I bought—hoping to help Caden see again—sat in the corner, gathering dust. His custom cane, the one I had specially made, stood by the door, untouched.

Everywhere I looked, there were signs that my lover was—supposedly—blind.

Was this all just some kind of dream?

Well, if it was, then I guess it was time to finally wake up.

I pulled out my phone and dialed my dad.

"Send me the list of marriage candidates you gave me before. I'll pick one out," I said.

"Gwen, you've finally come to your senses," my dad said.

Hearing my dad's relieved laughter, that sharp ache in my chest just kept growing—almost suffocating.

Since Caden was so unwilling to marry me, then I was done with him too.