Moments later, Austin pushed Ruby away. His face darkened as he muttered something to her.

Ruby was reluctant. She protested in soft voice and her eyes reddened but Austin still forcefully dragged her outside. That was until she took off the bathrobe.

As soon as the bathroom that draped over her shoulder slipped off, a set of provocative lingerie was revealed. Seeing this Austin froze. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly and his gaze was clouded with desire.

With a fierce urgency, he kissed Ruby hard, hauled her by grabbing her waist and carried her toward me.

“Baby,” he said. "The company just called. I have an urgent meeting to attend. You rest for a while, okay? Once I’m done, I’ll come back and spend time with you.”

Before I could respond, he turned and hurriedly headed upstairs with Ruby in his arms.

Ruby clung to Austin's waist and her eyes brimming with smug triumph as she cast a defiant glance at me.

It wasn’t until their figures disappeared at the top of the stairs that I slowly withdrew my gaze.

He had promised to take care of me. Yet, here he was, he was the one who left me alone on the couch while whispering sweet nothings to another woman.

I took out my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart. The call immediately picked up by someone at the other side of the line. He asked, "Sally Miller?"

“It’s me,” I replied softly. I pursed my lips and asked, "Didn't you call me three days ago? And, do you remember that you mentioned a planetary research project that needed my involvement? Well, I’ve thought it over and I’ve decided to join you.”

There was a long pause on the other end before my professor’s excited voice could be heard. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. "This project was your brainchild back in the day. No one is more suited to lead it than you. However, … I heard you’re getting married soon. This project will require at least three or four years of isolation. Are you really ready for that?”

I went to turn off the music. Without it, the sound of a man and a woman having intercourse could be heard vaguely from upstairs.

I smiled bitterly as tears streamed silently down my face. Then I said, "I've made up my mind, Professor. There is no marriage."

After I ended the call, I turned the music on.

My favorite piano composition sounded and gradually I drifted to sleep. I did not know how much time had passed before I was startled awake by the sound of muffled gasps.

When I opened my eyes, I was met with Austin's lust-filled gaze. At that moment., I felt as though a taut string in my mind snapped completely.

I had never imagined Austin could stoop so low like this. While I was sleeping, he actually took this moment to make love with Ruby right in front of me.

Ruby's trembling hand covered her mouth tightly and her whole body was trembling violently with pleasure.

Then Austin's eyes met mine. His face turned tense suddenly. However, in the next instant, he seemed to regain his composure and resumed his shameless acts with renewed fervor.

How thrilling it must be for him to cheat in front of your fiancée. It was so thrilling this way.

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously as I lowered my gaze

“Waiting for my precious baby to wake up, of course,” he replied smoothly. “After all these years, I can never get enough of you.”

"Really?" I asked.

I let out a faint, mocking laugh. Beneath the covers, my hands clenched into fists so tight my nails dug into my palms. It was the only way to suppress the overwhelming urge to confront him.

However, it was not the right. It was not enough. If I exposed him now I would be too easy for him. I wanted Austin to suffer, to fall into despair. I wanted him to spend every single day of his remaining life consumed by regret and haunted by these memories.

“Of course, baby. We’ve been together for so long. You know how much I love you, don’t you?” he said.

It was so hilarious. The man could profess his love for me while there was another woman lying underneath him. Was this his idea of love?

I didn’t respond. I simply leaned back against the couch and quietly observed the two of them. Apparently, my presence added to their thrill. That was because just minutes later, they were done.

Ruby rested in Austin's arm. Her eyes filled with love and her fair neck was adorned with a trail of crimson marks. Among the hickeys, a striking blue agate necklace caught my eye.

It was the same necklace that was specially custom-made for me by Austin. He told me that it was one of the kind. It was a unique necklace that could match the unique Sally.

However, now, that one of a kind” piece dangled on someone else’s neck, just like his feelings for me. The faithfulness that he once had for me had gone.

Under Austin’s firm warning, Ruby reluctantly retreated upstairs. He then sat beside me and pulled me into his arms from behind.

"Why are you so quiet, Baby?" Austin asked. "Are you feeling unwell? Or just upset? Tell me, your husband, won’t you?"

I lifted my gaze and locked eyes with him.

Noticing how sharp my gaze was, for a fleeting moment, I caught panic flashing in his eyes. He then waved a hand in front of me, testing my reaction. When I remained motionless, he sighed in relief.

"If one day I left you, what would you do?" I asked softly.

Panic gripped him again. He seized my hand tightly, his palm damp with sweat.

"Why are you asking this? Did I do something wrong? Are you upset with me?" he asked. “Don’t think like that, okay? I can’t live without you ...."

The panic in his voice, the unease in his expression and the worry in his eyes seemed genuine. However, I had seen with my own eyes that he and Ruby had sex in front of me. Was it really that hard to stay loyal to someone you love?

A sudden chime broke the tension. Austin’s phone vibrated on the table.

Instinctively, my eyes shifted to the screen. A message notification popped up, the sender was saved as “Ruby Baby.”

[Haven't you succeeded coaxing that blind woman yet? I'm dying to see you.]

My chest tightened as my gaze lingered on the next two images. It was a photo of Ruby sprawled provocatively on our bed. She was clad in scanty lingerie, her poses both suggestive and shameless.

Austin’s expression darkened, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly as he swiftly tapped out a reply.

[Impatient, aren’t you? Don’t worry, babe. Your husband will be there to satisfy you soon.]

Her response came almost instantly, accompanied by a playful emoji.

[What we did earlier was so exciting! When she opened her eyes, I almost couldn’t hold back!]

[You’re so bad ... What if she finds out?]

Austin glanced at me and he murmured with affection, “My precious baby,” before resuming his typing with an indifferent expression. [What’s there to fear? She’s been blind for six months. Every potential retina match that’s come up? I’ve made sure it never reached her. Let her stay blind forever and we’ll keep this going. Isn’t it exciting?]

The next message came quickly. [What if she finds out about this someday?]

He paused for a brief second before kissing my forehead. His lips lingered there as he typed his reply. [As long as she stays blind, she’ll never leave me. Ever.]

I froze. A chill surged through my veins and my body became cold and I trembled.

Is this truly the man I’d loved for five years? The one who used to look at me like I was his entire world? The man who would get panicked over a mere scrape on my hand?

He must have forgotten about the fire six months ago. That day, I’d used every ounce of strength to shove him to safety, only to be trapped inside myself and burn my eyes.

That same day, he knelt by my hospital bed, his tears falling freely as he gripped my hand. He’d sworn, with a fervor that shook me, that he’d do everything possible to find me a compatible retina donor.

However today I found out that he had stopped all opportunities for me to regain my sight back. He did that just for him to have a more exciting affair. He even wanted me to stay blind forever. It was truly socruel.

After dinner, Austin took me back to my bedroom. Actually, it was a guest room. He had lied to me saying that it was our bedroom He even had rearranged the guest room to resemble our bedroom.

It seemed I had been living in this room for almost six years I had been blind. As for the true bedroom? It was very likely it had a beautiful woman waiting for him now.

After I got on the bed, as usual, Austin wrapped his hand around me and patted my back gently. His voice was low, warm and filled with affection as he murmured my name over and over.

I opened my eyes and stared at the soft glow of his phone screen. One dirty and lewd word after another on it had turned my perception of this man upside down. The sight was so disgusting and dirty that I had to push down the bile in my throat.

Refusing to look at it anymore, I just closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. After a few moments, he called my name twice. When I didn’t respond, he crept off the bed and left the room quietly.

Once the door clicked shut, I opened my eyes. I looked at the closed door and pondered for a while, then like a masochist, I silently followed him.

I saw Austin enter a bedroom and through the closed door, I could hear muffled voices.

"Mr. Sanders, you left your blind wife to come here again. Won’t she get mad if she finds out?" Ruby's sweet voice sounded.

“Slut! Didn’t you beg me, your husband, to come?” Austin’s voice was low and mocking.

Then came the rustling of clothes and heavy breathing from inside. Then I heard Ruby gasping and said, "Hubby, let go of the blind woman's room again, okay? I want to feel some trill tonight."

“Not tonight," answered Austin.

Ruby purred, “Why not? Don’t you like it? You get so worked up when you see her face while we’re doing it.”

“She just had a miscarriage,” Austin replied, his tone growing impatient. “I didn’t give her the sleeping pills tonight. She’ll hear us if we go in there.”

“Hmph. Then you owe me some extra tonight to make up for it .…”

The ambiguous sounds inside continued, but I was already frozen in place like a puppet that had lost its soul.

I remembered that Austin always coaxed me to drink the glass of milk that he brought every night. Though he told me it was for my health, in reality, it was for him to be able to make his affair more exciting.

I stumbled back to the guest room in a daze. The phone on the nightstand buzzed incessantly as messages kept pouring in.

The phone was set to blind mode so when I unlocked the screen, the blind-assistance mode read them aloud automatically.

It was a series of audio messages. In the first message was Ruby's high-pitched moaning in ecstasy and the man who had always been calm and introverted in front of me sounded like a wild beast that had gone mad. He spites out those harsh and hideous words that I had never heard before.

"Sally, did you hear that?" said Ruby. "Your husband is incredible. He’s driving me crazy!”

"Hubby, who do you love more? Do you love me more or her?"

Austin's voice was tinged with laughter as he answered, "Of course I love you more. Say … what's the point of always comparing yourself to a blind woman? She's like a dead fish in bed …."

Big drops of tears smashed on the screen, I fumbled furiously, trying to turn off the sound, but their voices became clearer and clearer in my head—every single one of them.

My stomach churned violently. Barefoot and shaking, I staggered to the bathroom, clutching my chest as I dry-heaved over the sink.

That night stretched on endlessly.

The murmur from the bedroom next door did not stop until dawn and I lay wide awake as I stared into the void. My tears kept flowing silently.

In the morning, Austin went to work with Ruby at his side.