When Lily Rosenfelt is eight months pregnant, Zeke Connolly brings home the woman he truly loves—Sophie Cruz, who's also eight months along.

To give Sophie and the baby the recognition they deserve, he goes public with a statement saying that he and Lily are already divorced and that he'll be marrying Sophie soon.

Thinking Lily is still blind, Zeke tricks her into signing the divorce papers. He even sleeps with Sophie in his own villa. What he doesn't know is that Lily has long regained her sight.

When she and Sophie fall down the stairs together and Zeke, without a moment's hesitation, chooses Sophie, something in Lily breaks. She buries her love for him along with their child.

It's not until she's truly gone that Zeke starts to panic.

"Mrs. Connolly, I've finished your check-up," said the doctor, Owen Aldinger. "Your health has been poor from the beginning, so carrying the baby this far hasn't been easy. But these last two months are critical.

"You'll need to take extra care, or you might lose the baby."

"I understand. Thank you, Dr. Aldinger."

Lily Rosenfelt bowed her head. Her gaze drifted to her swollen belly. A hollow ache unfurled in her chest.

"Oh? Mrs. Connolly, you've regained your sight?"

Owen had only just noticed. He looked genuinely pleased.

"Yes. My vision started to come back during my last check-up. The doctor said it might be the pregnancy hormones."

"That's wonderful news. Mr. Connolly must be overjoyed. Why didn't he come with you today?"

She hadn't told Zeke Connolly yet. She wasn't sure he'd even be glad to hear it.

She offered a faint smile. "He's busy."

He was with the woman he loved most—Sophie Cruz. Of course, he didn't have time to bring her to a prenatal checkup.

She unfolded the white cane in her hand and stepped out of Owen's office. As she moved through the hospital lobby, Zeke's interview flickered across the television screen.

"Sophie isn't carrying some illegitimate child. She's carrying my baby. The two of us have been together for a long time."

The host looked intrigued. "But Mr. Connolly, isn't it true that you've been married for quite some time?"

"Yes, but the divorce is finalized. I'll be marrying Sophie soon and giving her the recognition she deserves."

"Congratulations to you both. Wishing you two a healthy baby soon."

Zeke and Sophie leaned in. Their smiles were tender and identical for the cameras.

"Thank you," they said.

Lily looked up. Her eyes were fixed on the screen. Zeke was standing with Sophie close in his arms. Sorrow welled in her eyes.

"Zeke really is devoted! He actually divorced his wife for Sophie."

"I heard he never loved Mrs. Connolly at all. He never once brought her on TV. They were married for five years, and the moment Sophie came back, he left her. Honestly, Mrs. Connolly's situation is just heartbreaking."

"I heard Sophie got pregnant after someone assaulted her overseas. Is that even true?"

"It has to be false. But even if it were true, a man who truly loved her wouldn't hold it against her. He'd be devastated. Didn't you see the way Mr. Connolly looked at her?

"If I were Mrs. Connolly, I'd have left him a long time ago."

The scene flickering across the screen almost physically hurt Lily's eyes. She heard the voices of those around her. One by one, their statements landed like knives in her chest.

She stood motionless, watching and listening, as tears slipped soundlessly down her cheeks.

Zeke had brought Sophie home a few days ago. She was eight months pregnant, just like Lily.

After surviving an assault overseas, Sophie had returned carrying a child. She didn't even know who the father was. To shield her from disgrace, Zeke had publicly claimed the baby was his.

Lily was pushing her body to the edge, doing everything in her power to bring their child into the world. And yet, he was telling everyone that they were already divorced.

She had given him so many years of her life. In the end, it felt as if all her love had been poured down the drain. If he wanted a divorce so desperately, she'd give him exactly what he asked for.

Lily drifted back to the villa, barely feeling the ground beneath her feet. As she crossed the threshold, the maids' whispers fell silent.

"Stop it. Mrs. Connolly's back. Turn off the TV."

"What a tragedy. Thank God she's blind. Otherwise, this would've shattered her."

"Welcome home, Mrs. Connolly."

A maid stepped forward to help, but Lily didn't respond. She stood rooted in place. Her gaze was fixed on the darkened television screen. She stayed unmoving, and time seemed to be moving more slowly.

Lily lost her sight trying to save Zeke. Since she was ten, her heart had quietly belonged to him, though he only had eyes for Sophie.

Five years ago, Sophie and her whole family had migrated abroad. Heartbroken, Zeke drank every day to dull the pain.

One day, on his way home, he nearly stepped into the path of a car. Lily rushed out and shoved him to safety. He was left unharmed, but she lost her sight.

Later, Zeke was forced to marry Lily.

Her parents had confronted him. "Lily's been in love with you for 15 years. Now, she's blind because of you. You have to marry her."

The Connollys delivered their own ultimatum. "Marry Lily, or don't bother coming home!"

In the end, he yielded and brought Lily home as his wife.

After the wedding, Zeke carried out his duties as a husband.

At first, he kept his distance from Lily, offering little more than the bare minimum. But with time, he began choosing gifts for her on every holiday.

They moved from long, uneasy silences to nights spent talking until dawn, losing themselves in conversation.

Just as things had begun to mend, Zeke's mother, Erica Blauner, drugged his food, driven by a desperate longing for a grandchild.

That night, Lily conceived. But Zeke believed she had deceived him into bed, and from that moment forward, he turned cold and withdrawn.

A few days earlier, Lily had woken to find the world returned to her—shapes, light, and color. Overwhelmed with joy, she rushed to the hospital for a check-up.

The doctor explained that her vision had likely returned due to the effects of pregnancy hormones. She could hardly wait to tell Zeke that she had regained her sight.

But when she arrived home, breathless with hope, she stepped through the door to find Sophie seated on the couch, sipping from a glass of water.

Zeke was beside her. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders. His voice was low and tender as he said, "Take your time."

Lily had never heard him speak to her that way.

In just five days, he had all but forgotten the blind wife he'd left behind. Sophie had taken hold of both his heart and his mind.

"Are you feeling worn out after the interview?"

"Don't worry. I just got a little tired from sitting for too long." Sophie leaned into Zeke's chest.

Lily remained standing in the center of the room, as if invisible to them.

Catching the scent of something in the air, Zeke asked. "Rhonda, what's simmering in the kitchen?"

"Ms. Erica had someone deliver truffles to be made into broth. She said they're meant to help with Ms. Lily's recovery," the maid, Rhonda Miller, replied.

"Bring it here for Sophie," Zeke said.

"But Ms. Erica sent it for Ms. Lily. There's only one serving!" Rhonda protested.

"I said, give it to Sophie. Are you deaf? She's weak, and the baby growing inside her is small. She needs the nourishment."

He threw a glance in Lily's direction. "She hardly eats as it is. She's always wasting food. From now on, anything my mom sends goes straight to Sophie."

Lily's body shook, and her fists tightened at her sides.

She could scarcely eat. From the beginning of her pregnancy, unrelenting waves of nausea had left her retching, day after day. Where other women put on weight, she had shed nearly five pounds.

Erica had noticed and, moved by concern, sent nourishing food in hopes of helping. But to Zeke, every bit of it had been wasted by Lily.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Zeke. After all, it was from Ms. Erica, and she wanted Lily to have it," Sophie said. The words were wrapped in a softness too deliberate to be real.

Zeke gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and spoke gently. "It's fine. You'll be my mom's future daughter-in-law. What is there to be afraid of? And besides…"

He looked up and glanced briefly at Lily. "Lily won't mind."

"Thank you, Zeke. You always take such good care of me," Sophie said, tilting her face upward to brush a quick kiss against him.

They assumed Lily couldn't see a thing, but she could.

"Yeah. I don't mind. Do as you please, Ms. Cruz," she said.

She looked away, then made her way up the stairs. She'd barely taken a few steps when Sophie's voice rang out behind her.

"So, when are you going to bring up the divorce with Lily?"

"Very soon. Don't worry. I'll get her to sign the divorce papers. I'll marry you, I swear."

Lily stopped in her tracks. Her heart slammed against her ribs so hard that she could feel the ache as if it were flesh and bone. She'd laid her entire heart in Zeke's hands, and he'd crushed it because of someone else.

The disappointment she felt in him ran deep, leaving nothing untouched.

That night, Lily and Zeke lay in bed with their backs turned to each other. Silence stretched taut between them. Her belly had grown so large that it left her breathless more often than not.

She shifted uncomfortably, turning to her other side, on the verge of asking Zeke to hand her the oxygen canister. When it got this bad, breathing through it was the only relief.

But as she rolled over, she caught sight of him leaning against the headboard. The glow of his phone was lighting his face, and his fingers were busy tapping out messages to Sophie on WhatsApp.

They were deep in a cheerful exchange. His smile cut clean through her.

She didn't know what they were talking about, only that Zeke suddenly looked down and glanced her way.

Lily shut her eyes at once, pretending to sleep. A moment later, she heard the soft click of the light switch, then the creak of the bed as he got up.

He thought she was blind, that she couldn't see anything at all. It was the only reason he dared to be so brazen.

Once he left the room, Lily rose too and followed him.

Sophie's bedroom door stood slightly ajar.

Lily stood outside the door, watching. Inside, Zeke was gently rubbing stretch mark oil onto Sophie's belly. He was entirely focused.

As he continued, Sophie sat up abruptly and kissed him on the lips.

Zeke caught her hand. His breath caught. "Sophie, don't. You're pregnant."

"It's okay, Zeke. The doctor said it's safe in the third trimester, as long as we're careful."

She slid down the strap of her nightgown. "Don't you want me, Zeke? All those five years I was abroad, I thought about you every single day. I missed you so much it hurt.

"If I hadn't slipped out that night to come back and find you, I never would've been—"

As Sophie spoke, her voice broke, and tears traced silent lines down her face.

Zeke leaned in and kissed the tears from her skin. His gaze was filled with pity and tenderness. "That's enough, Sophie. I'm sorry. Don't worry. I'll make it up to you."

Desire sparked between them. No longer able to resist, they gave in utterly. Their bodies were tangled together on the bed.

Lily stood rooted at the door. One hand was clamped over her mouth as tears slid through the gaps between her fingers.

She could scarcely believe what she was seeing. The man she had loved for 15 years, her husband of five years, lay with another pregnant woman, while she herself was eight months pregnant with his child.

She shook her head, backing away in disbelief. Her shoulder grazed the flowerpot by the door. It gave a muted rattle, bringing Zeke to an abrupt halt on the bed.

"What was that?"

"What are you so afraid of? You think it's Lily? Have you forgotten that she's blind? Even if she made it all the way here, she wouldn't know what we're doing!"

"But…"

Zeke's voice trailed off. He gave a reluctant nod, his eyes drifting toward the doorway where darkness gathered thick and still, a quiet ripple of unease tightening across his chest.

Lily couldn't see, but she could hear. And if she had heard everything, would it have broken her?

"Zeke, what are you thinking about?" Sophie turned his face toward her, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "Is it Lily? You're not allowed to think about her."

She reached up and kissed him again.

Zeke felt as if he'd lost his mind. Why was Lily in his thoughts now, in the thick of this? If she hadn't manipulated him into sleeping with her that night, she wouldn't be carrying his child.

That night, Lily hadn't even remembered how she'd made it back to her room.

Her belly throbbed with pain. She reached for the medication her doctor had prescribed, took a single pill, and only then did the ache begin to ease.

Her mind was set. Once the baby came, she would leave Zeke. There was nothing left inside her for him.

All she wanted now was to deliver safely. After that, she would file for divorce and leave with nothing but her child.

…

The next morning, Lily came down for breakfast.

Rhonda quietly set the truffle broth, once meant for Lily, at Sophie's place. Before Lily, she placed a plain bowl of broth.

They all believed she wouldn't know. The blind couldn't see, and surely taste alone wouldn't betray the switch.

Lily said nothing. She ate a few spoonfuls in silence, then lowered her spoon and left the rest untouched.

"Good morning, Lily. You're up early, aren't you?"

Sophie came down the stairs and eased into the chair beside her at the dining table. Her voice was laced with a barbed kind of amusement.

"Unlike you, I can't manage mornings like this. The night really drained me, and by morning, it felt as though my whole body had come undone. It took all I had just to drag myself out of bed."

Lily's gaze settled on Sophie's neck, where red hickeys bloomed, absurd in number.

They spoke for themselves. There was no mistaking how wild things had gotten with Zeke in that bed the night before.