A Bright Future

"Nina, I know you're upset about losing your sight. Don't bottle it up—you can say whatever you want to me."

I was the one who had lost my eyesight, yet Anthony seemed even more devastated than I was, putting on such a performance it made me sick.

I smiled at him.

"I'm not upset, Anthony. It's not your fault."

"After we get married, you can quit your job and enjoy life peacefully at home. We'll have a few kids. Even if you can't see, I'll still make you happy."

So, he had already planned out my entire retreat.

There was a noise at the door, and I instinctively turned my head—but I couldn't see anything.

"You must be Nina, right?"

It was a familiar female voice.

"I'm Indya, Anthony's friend. I came to visit you."

My hand, holding the cup, tightened slightly.

"I heard you lost your sight in an accident. I was once blind too. I understand what it feels like to struggle in the dark."

She suddenly grasped my hand, and in the darkness, I could feel her smiling boldly and triumphantly.

"But luckily, I was fortunate. I received a donation from a kind person and have regained my vision. I'm sure you will too."

I couldn't see Indya's face, but I could easily imagine the smug expression she must've worn at that moment.

Indya moved close to Anthony and sat directly on his lap.

"What are you doing?"

I heard Anthony's voice, low and strained, followed by the rustling of fabric.

I pretended not to hear anything, staring blankly ahead with a stiff smile.

Indya grew bolder, pressing her lips to Anthony’s.

"Don’t be scared—she’s blind. She can’t see a thing."

They whispered and tangled in front of me.

Finally, Indya adjusted her dress, and Anthony helped her out of the ward.

I groped around for my phone and asked the voice assistant to call my best friend.

"Rio, help me get in touch with a hospital overseas. My corneas were taken and donated."

Rio Jenson didn’t have time to ask what happened before she began helping me search for matching corneas abroad.

I contacted a lawyer to draft a divorce agreement and asked him to inspect the car I had driven.

As expected, Anthony had tampered with the brakes.

Holding the maintenance report in my hands, I didn’t know whether to call him heartless—or just terrifyingly devoted.

To help Indya regain her sight, he was willing to sacrifice my life.

Our wedding had been delayed by a week due to my eye condition. Anthony even invited Indya to be my bridesmaid and had her stay at our home.

"Indya has experience being blind. It'll be easier if she helps guide you on the wedding day."

I ignored him and made my way upstairs, feeling along the banister, heading to rest.

I sat by the bed, thinking about the years I’d spent with Anthony.

Even now, I still didn’t understand how he could treat me so cruelly. He and Indya had grown up together—were my seven years with him just a lie?

I had met Anthony in university. At that time, Indya was already gone from his life.

He always ate alone, attended classes alone—he was notoriously aloof.

It was Calum who helped bring us together.

At first, Anthony had been indifferent toward me. His shift in behavior had been sudden, like he had fallen in love overnight.

We got together naturally.

One day after we started living together, Calum came over heartbroken, drinking himself into a stupor in our living room.

While Anthony went downstairs to take out the trash, Calum suddenly leaned close to me.

"Do you know the best way to get over a breakup?"

I brushed him off, thinking he was just drunk and talking nonsense.

"What is it?"

"Fall in love with someone who looks just like her."

After saying that, he collapsed on the couch and passed out. Back then, I hadn’t taken a drunk man’s words seriously.

But looking back now, it was the truth slipping out.

I had just been the stand-in—the medicine to help Anthony heal.

I fumbled through the drawer on my nightstand and pulled out a metal box. Inside were all the love letters Anthony had written to me over the years, along with tickets from trips we had taken.

Then, I lit a candle and tossed it into the box.

Thick black smoke billowed out immediately, and I began to cough from the choking fumes.