A Bright Future

I called Rio.

I asked her to help me book a flight.

"You're just going to let him off like that?"

I heard Rio's cold voice from the other end of the line. I froze for a long moment, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"You know... even now, after he's lied to me, insulted me, and hurt me, what still lingers in my mind is how he looked when we first met—clean, quiet, and distant."

My teeth bit down hard on my lower lip, until the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

The craziest revenge I could carry out... was to leave alone, dragging this broken body with me.

"Am I pathetic?"

Rio didn’t answer right away. After a long silence, a deep sigh came through the receiver.

"Hold on for two more days. I’ll arrange everything for your departure."

After hanging up, I slumped to the ground and sat there for a long time.

I couldn’t see the light outside fade from day to night.

At dinner time, Anthony came upstairs and walked into my room on his own.

"Nina, I know it’s hard to accept losing your sight. But we’re about to get married. Can you try to be happy?"

He gently pulled me into his arms and patted my back again and again.

I knew this was Anthony’s way of making peace.

Every time I got upset before, he would do this.

But now, I knew he was just putting on an act.

After acting for so long, it was time for the curtain to fall.

I gave him a soft smile, and he left the room reassured.

Anthony planned the wedding on a grand scale.

The venue was a church near the university we went to.

It was the place I had once dreamed of walking down the aisle with him, hand in hand.

On the wedding day, he brought Indya to the house to pick me up.

When he opened the door, all he saw was the wedding dress I had taken off.

For a moment, Anthony panicked, but quickly forced a smile and called toward the bedroom.

"I'm here to pick you up, Nina. I know you can’t see, so stop messing around. I’ll just take you straight there."

The room was eerily quiet.

Only then did Anthony realize something was wrong, and he frantically began searching the bedroom.

Everything was still in place, not even a single piece of clothing missing—except for me.

"Nina, stop playing around. Don’t hurt yourself."

He raised his voice, but silence was the only reply.

"Nina! Will you stop it already? Everyone’s waiting for you!"

He began to lose control. Indya instinctively reached out to hold him, but he shook her off.

"Nina! Our schedule will be delayed if you keep this up! Didn’t you always want to marry me?"

His voice started to tremble, tinged with a barely noticeable panic.

At that moment, I was already boarding the plane with the help of the staff.

Anthony slumped down on the stairs in defeat, while Indya clung to his arm.

"Anthony, if she’s gone, let her go. I can still go through with the wedding in her place. We can’t let the Jackson family become a laughingstock, can we? Besides, we were always in love. I was supposed to be the bride in the first place..."

Anthony stared blankly ahead, lost in thought.

"Nina can’t see... where could she go? What if she trips or gets hurt? Did she find out something? Nina loves me so much... she wouldn’t leave me that easily..."

Maybe my recent behavior had been too strange. Compared to those happy days preparing for the wedding, I seemed like a completely different person.

Back then, Anthony thought I just hadn’t gotten over the trauma of going blind.

But now, looking at the empty room, it felt like the truth was on the verge of bursting out.