Chapter 4

Molly had been waiting outside the hospital room. When she saw Preston come out, she came over, looking all pitiful. "Preston... I'm sorry. I went too far this time."

Preston was still pissed. He shot Molly a look. "I don't care what you do normally, but if you hurt Kendra again, don't blame me for not holding back."

Molly nodded, looking all sweet and obedient. "I know I messed up, Preston. I promise I won't do it again. Will you stay with me tonight?"

Preston saw Molly on the verge of tears and couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh. He just let out a heavy sigh.

I could clearly hear Molly's laughter drifting in from outside the door. I closed my eyes.

I swore inwardly that I would never turn back for Preston from this moment on.

Three years of blindness was the price I paid to see what he really was.

I calmly took out my phone and called my lawyer.

"I need you to draft the divorce papers," I said.

The next day, Preston showed up in my hospital room right on time.

He was holding a freshly made peach pie. "Kendra, I noticed you haven't been eating much lately, so I brought your favorite peach pie."

I glanced coldly at the peach pie in his hand and looked away. "Just put it there."

After Preston left, I tossed the peach pie straight into the trash.

I lifted my head, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall.

I couldn't help but think Preston really had a bad memory.

He forgot I was allergic to peaches. Last year on my birthday, I accidentally ate some peach cake, and he rushed me to the hospital.

He held my hand and promised, "Kendra, I'll never let you eat peaches again."'

Yet today, he handed me a peach pie himself.

As luck would have it, the day I left the hospital, the rain was coming down in sheets.

Raindrops drummed against the ground, and the cold made me shiver, my shoulders instinctively hunching up.

The phone line was busy, just that endless beeping.

It was already the ninth time I'd tried calling Preston.

At first, he'd tried to reassure me, telling me to wait a little, but now he wasn't even answering anymore.

"Hello? Kendra, sorry. I've got something going on here..." Preston finally picked up.

I looked up at the rain pouring down, my clothes drenched, and asked in a chilly tone, "So, what's keeping you so busy?"

Preston hesitated. "Kendra, I..."

I let out a cold laugh. "It's because of Molly, isn't it? That's why you can't even say it."

Preston paused for a second, clearly flustered, and started begging, his voice all frantic. "Kendra, she's my secretary. She fainted. I can't just leave her like that..."

So he just left me, his own wife, who had just gotten out of the hospital and couldn't even see, all alone.

I wanted to scream at him, only to find the words stuck in my throat, and I swallowed them back down.

I let it go.

"Didn't you promise you'd move her away?" I asked, struggling to keep my tears from falling.

"Kendra, I'm sorry. Can I explain everything when I get back?" Preston said, sounding guilty as hell.

He squeezed his phone tighter, another wave of guilt crashing over him.

Hearing Preston's voice, my heart turned cold.

I wiped away my tears and hung up with hesitation.

I thought back to how Preston used to be back when we were in school.

It was another rainy day just like this one. I was sitting in the hallway, watching my classmates leave for home one after another.

I waited there for what felt like forever, until Preston finally came dashing over with an umbrella and pulled me into a hug.

He was drenched, but he still took off his warm jacket and wrapped it around me. "Kendra, no matter what happens, I'll never let you stand in the rain by yourself."

But everything had changed.

Dragging my suitcase, I checked myself out of the hospital and stepped out into the pouring rain, all alone.

People hurried past, the rain making the streets feel deserted and lonely.

I had barely taken a few steps in the downpour when someone suddenly pulled a sack over my head.

"What do you want from me?" I yelled, panic rising in my voice. "Let me go..."

I kept demanding answers, but nobody replied. Instead, someone shoved a strip of fabric into my mouth, cutting off my cries.

They hauled me into some abandoned warehouse and jammed something in my ears so I couldn't hear a thing.

"Strip her!" I heard Molly's voice right by my ear.

The sack was ripped off my head, and I saw Molly's face.

She was smoking, her face hidden behind a cloud of smoke.

Molly fumed. "If it weren't for this bitch, Preston wouldn't have yelled at me!

"Go ahead, just take her clothes off. She can't see, and with her ears blocked, she won't even know what's happening to her."

A few thugs rushed over, stripped me, and shoved me into a corner.

Tears filled my eyes as I clung desperately to the last scraps of my clothes, crying and begging, powerless to stop them.

I couldn't stop the tears. They just kept coming, blurring everything in front of me.

Flashes of white light kept going off as someone's phone camera pointed right at me. Molly's laughter was sharp and cruel, echoing in my ears.