Chapter 4

Eva quickly covered her right eye, the one that had been operated on. Her tears started flowing instantly. "I'm sorry, Charlotte.

"I just had surgery, and my vision is still blurry. I swear I didn't do it on purpose."

I stared at the mess on the table, pointed at the door, and said in an icy voice, "Get out of here."

Lucas's gentle expression vanished in an instant. He stood up, instinctively shielding Eva behind him, his brows furrowing tightly.

"Charlotte, that's enough," he said, his voice barely holding back his anger. "Eva came here to bring you juice because she cared about you. So what if the documents got wet? You can print another copy.

"You're usually calm. Why are you being so irritable now?"

Hearing him call me irritable hit me like a slap in the face.

How was printing another copy possible? If I had to rush it, the print would be so small, and with only my left eye barely functioning, there was no way I could read it.

If I hadn't memorized the key terms in advance, there would be a major translation mishap at the afternoon meeting.

Through my blurry vision, I saw Lucas's silhouette. He was shielding Eva tightly from me.

He was an ophthalmologist. He knew perfectly well that someone with optic nerve atrophy shouldn't be emotionally agitated. But he still didn't hesitate to side with Eva, the one who messed things up for me.

"Fine. I'm the one being unreasonable." I nodded, my voice surprisingly calm. "Take her and get out."

Lucas was stunned by how cold I was. With a grim face, he grabbed Eva, who was still sobbing, and stormed out, slamming the door behind them.

Once the door slammed shut, the lounge fell into dead silence.

I fumbled to pick up the expensive special-effect eye drops on the table and tossed them into the trash can along with the photo frame beside it, which held the engagement picture of Lucas and me grinning brightly.

The sound of the glass shattering never sounded so good.

*****

I got through the full interpretation for the afternoon meeting relying on fragmented memories and agonizingly difficult blind listening.

By the time it was over, my back was drenched in cold sweat.

That evening, Lucas didn't ask how my work had gone that afternoon. Instead, he pulled the whole "let's keep the family together" card and dragged me to the City Grand Theater.

He said, "Amy's here too. Let's go watch Eva's final performance and clear up all the misunderstandings from before.

"We're family. There's no need to let things get so tense."

My left eye was barely able to sense any light. Sitting in the packed family section, the stage lights were nothing but a harsh, blinding white haze in my vision.

Eva, who was using the cornea that had once belonged to me, basked in everyone's applause under the spotlight.

Lucas sat beside me, his gaze fixed firmly on Eva up on stage.

Halfway through the show, the electrical wiring in the theater ceiling suddenly exploded with a loud crackle.

There was a burst of flame, and the entire venue was swallowed by total darkness.

People started screaming in panic, while the shrill sound of the smoke alarm filled the hall.

Darkness was the thing I feared most in my life.

Three years ago, in those days right after the car accident took my sight, I spent every day shaking in that endless darkness.

Instinctively, I reached for Lucas's arm.

But as soon as my fingers touched his sleeve, he yanked his arm away without hesitation.

The force was immense, nearly knocking me off balance.

"Eva, don't be scared. Keep the smoke out of your eyes. I'm coming for you!" Lucas's voice echoed through the darkness, raw with panic and anxiousness.

Then he quickly said to me, "Charlotte, stay here. I'll come get you as soon as I get Eva into the ambulance."

He left me without a second thought. His hurried footsteps pounded toward the stage.

The panicked crowd began surging toward the exits.

I was standing there when someone crashed into me out of nowhere, knocking me down onto the cold, hard steps. My knee exploded with pain.

Someone barreled past me, their foot coming down hard on the back of my hand.

The red glow of the emergency lights was faint, but I recognized Amy's voice. "Why are you running around, you blind girl? Don't blame anyone if you get trampled."

All around me, people were shoving and screaming, the air thick with the stench of burning.

I lay there on the ground, slowly opening my eyes.

The last bit of light I could see with my left eye was snuffed out by pure terror and despair.

My whole world was swallowed by absolute darkness.

I was completely blind.