Darcey’s POV

I got into the back seat without a word.

As if afraid I might misunderstand, Alexis explained, “Darcey, Yasmine’s about your age. You two have similar taste, so I asked her to help pick out the ring.”

Taking advantage of the fact that I was “blind,” Yasmine leaned closer to him, her fingers slipping over to idly play with the hand he wasn’t using to steer.

“Darcey, I really envy you,” she said sweetly. “You have a fiancé who loves you this much. He’s even this attentive when choosing a wedding ring.”

Their movements were subtle, practiced.

It clearly wasn’t the first time they had flirted right in front of me.

A dull ache spread through my chest, but my expression didn’t change.

“You have plenty of admirers,” I said evenly. “If you want to get married, there’ll always be someone lining up to pick out a ring for you. There’s no need to envy me.”

Her smile stiffened for a fraction of a second before returning.

“When would I even have time to get married?” she said lightly. “I’m about to compete for principal dancer.”

She paused, as if suddenly realizing something.

“Oh, did I say the wrong thing?” Her voice softened with feigned concern. “Darcey, I’m sorry. Did I touch a nerve?”

Before I could respond, Alexis reached out and gently patted her hand in reassurance.

“Don’t overthink it,” he said calmly. “Your sister isn’t that fragile. She won’t mind.”

My heart still lurched despite myself.

There was a time I would have fallen for exactly this.

Back when I first lost my sight, everyone thought I was finished.

He was the only one who held my hand again and again, telling me, “Darcey, you won’t stay down forever. You’ll stand on that stage again.”

Back then, I thought he understood me, believed in me, and held me together.

Now, every word felt like a fucking joke.

The car stopped in front of a jewelry store.

The moment we stepped inside, Yasmine became noticeably more animated.

“This one’s pretty.”

“Oh, this one’s nice too.”

She picked out several rings in a row, but never once placed one in my hand. Instead, she slipped them onto her own fingers, turning her wrist under the light, then lifting her hand toward Alexis.

“Alexis, does this look good?”

He answered her with patience.

At first, he still glanced at me out of habit. But when he saw my blank expression, like I truly couldn’t see anything, he gradually relaxed.

He reached out and lightly patted her head, his voice soft.

“Take whichever one you like.”

The indulgence in his tone was barely concealed.

The sales associate smiled at me.

“Oh, so you’re here accompanying your younger sister and her fiancé to pick out rings?”

Yasmine immediately waved her hand with a laugh.

“No, no. My sister can’t see, so I’m helping her and my brother-in-law choose.”

When she said “brother-in-law,” she enunciated it just a little too clearly.

The sales associate hesitated, then gave an awkward smile.

“In that case, would you like to try one of our new designs? It was just created by the well-known designer Windy.”

“It’s very beautiful and one of a kind. I think you’ll like it.”

She took out the ring and was about to help me try it on.

But Yasmine’s hand reached out first.

“I’ll try it.”

She slipped the ring onto her own ring finger, then raised her hand toward Alexis.

“Alexis, look. Does it suit me?”

The sales associate couldn’t help but murmur,

“Isn’t it usually the bride who tries it on for the groom? It’s not like the groom can’t see…”

The words struck like a needle.

Yes. The groom could see.

It was just that the person he wanted to look at had never been me.

Alexis cleared his throat lightly and turned to me.

“Darcey, do you want to try it?”

Before I could answer, Yasmine had already taken the ring and walked over.

She stood close enough for me to clearly see the undisguised malice in her eyes.

I instinctively tried to pull back, but she had already grabbed my hand.

“Darcey, let me put it on for you.”

The next second, she forced the ring onto my finger.

The size fit her perfectly.

On me, it was too small.

The sharp edge scraped against my skin instantly. Pain shot through my finger, and I flinched, reflexively shaking her off.

I hadn’t used much strength.

But she let out a sharp scream and fell backward dramatically.

“Ah!”

At the same time, the ring was dragged off with her movement, scraping hard across my finger.

A thin line of blood split open immediately.

But Alexis didn’t even notice.

All he saw was her falling.

“Yasmine!”

His expression changed instantly as he rushed to check on her. After confirming she wasn’t hurt, he turned on me, anger flashing in his eyes.

“Darcey, what the hell are you doing? She was just trying to help you pick a ring. Why did you push her?”

His voice was sharp, urgent.

“What if she hurt her leg? She has a competition coming up!”

My finger was still bleeding.

He didn’t even glance at it.

Yasmine leaned weakly against him, her voice trembling with grievance.

“Alexis… forget it. This is my fault. It seems like my sister still doesn’t like me. I shouldn’t have tried to help her with the ring.”

She lowered her head.

“If I got hurt and couldn’t dance anymore, maybe my sister would feel a little better.”

Darcey’s POV

“Apologize,” he said.

Every word was sharp, leaving no room for argument.

“Darcey, apologize to Yasmine,” he ordered.

I froze in place, feeling the blood drain from my body.

I was the one who had been hurt.

Yet I was the one forced to bow.

I forced myself to speak.

“The ring didn’t fit. She was going to put it on me anyway. I just pushed her, and she fell herself!”

“Enough!” Alexis snapped.

His face was dark as iron.

“Are you seriously trying to accuse Yasmine? She’s about to compete for the top spot. How could she possibly hurt herself just to frame you?”

“Or are you just jealous that she’s about to become the ballet company’s lead and want to ruin her?”

I almost laughed at how ridiculous that was.

I would never be jealous of a thief.

“I’m not jealous of someone who’s clearly less capable than me,” I said coldly.

“Darcey!” he roared.

His anger and his blatant defense of Yasmine were impossible to miss.

Even though I’d known all along that his love for me had been an act.

Even so, seeing him protect Yasmine without hesitation, while withholding trust from me, made my chest ache as if it had been ripped open.

Alexis lowered his head toward Yasmine, his voice soft.

“Where does it hurt, Yasmine? Tell me,” he asked.

Yasmine pressed her lips together, speaking quietly.

“My hand hurts a little,” she said.

Her fingertip was only slightly red.

But Alexis immediately turned to me with a stern expression.

“Darcey, this behavior of hurting someone out of jealousy must be punished,” he said.

My heart sank as he pulled a pen from his suit pocket and handed it to Yasmine.

His voice was frighteningly cold.

“Yasmine, poke the finger that hurts on her,” he said.

“Only when she feels the pain will she understand that bullying is wrong.”

I froze, unable to believe what I was hearing.

I turned to leave, but it was too late.

With Alexis’s help, Yasmine caught my wrist, looking hesitant.

The next moment, the pen jabbed toward my ring finger.

But just before it touched me, her hand twisted suddenly.

“Ah!”

The pen plunged straight into the center of my palm.

Pain exploded instantly.

I couldn’t control my scream.

My entire palm was shredded.

Yasmine seemed terrified, letting go and stepping back with tears.

“I’m sorry… I was scared, and my hand shook…” she sobbed.

Alexis clearly didn’t expect this to happen.

There was a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, but Yasmine had already supported me first.

On the surface, it looked like she was helping me.

But from an angle Alexis couldn’t see, her sharp nails dug into the bloody hole in my palm.

Pain ripped through me, leaving me voiceless.

All the hate and anger I’d held back finally exploded.

I swung my hand and slapped Yasmine across the face.

Alexis’s face went pale.

“Darcey! Are you crazy?!” he yelled.

He shoved me hard.

I stumbled and slammed into the glass display case in the jewelry store.

With a crash, the glass shattered instantly.

Sharp fragments cut into my back, arms, and legs, exploding with pain.

Blood soaked my clothes quickly.

I trembled from the pain.

Yasmine’s eyes flashed with anger.

She dove into Alexis’s arms, pretending to be pitiful.

“Alexis… I just wanted to check her wound, but she suddenly hit me…” she said.

“Maybe she’s frustrated from being blind for so long… and took it out on me.”

“I’m fine. But what if she goes crazy at the wedding and hurts someone?”

Alexis’s face darkened completely.

He looked at me as if I were insane.

“Darcey, your mind is twisted,” he said.

“Since you’ve lost control, a psychologist will treat you.”

Yasmine spoke softly.

“Sis still has dances to choreograph. Maybe… bring the doctor home?”

Just like that, they decided my fate.

That day, the psychologist Alexis hired moved into the villa.

The “therapy” was nothing but needles, intimidation, and humiliation.

Any resistance was met with hair-pulling and slaps until I submitted.

The scars I had from my breakdown after losing my sight…

Were treated as sins by the psychologist.

He ground off the skin layer by layer with a file.

The raw flesh burned with pain.

I was sweating cold, pinned down, unable to move.

Until the old scars were covered in fresh blood, leaving a red, blurred mess of skin.

Only in the dance studio, while choreographing, could I escape him.

I practiced with hatred, pushing myself to the limit.

I choreographed dances for Yasmine by day and my own by night.

Only in the bathroom could I secretly contact my lawyer for a moment.

Three days later, I had lost a lot of weight.

The old scars were gone, replaced by countless fresh needle marks and bruises.

Alexis hadn’t come home in days.

Meanwhile, Yasmine’s social media was updated every day.

Trying on wedding dresses, choosing flowers, checking the venue, setting up decorations.

In every photo, Alexis was by her side.

They were brazenly preparing their final revenge, knowing I “couldn’t see.”

Of course, I was preparing, too.

That night, Alexis finally returned.

He stopped in his tracks, clearly surprised at how much weight I had lost in just three days.

A flicker of pity crossed his eyes.

He walked over and held me in his arms.

“Why have you gotten so thin?” he asked.

I said lightly, “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

His body stiffened with concern.

The next moment, he kissed me.

The kiss was soothing, but I resisted with all my strength.

He thought I was sulking and hugged me tighter, helpless.

“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t think he would be so harsh on you,” he said.

He handed me a glass of milk.

“Drink some milk to calm down. Tonight, I’ll be with you, okay?”

Seeing the milk, I realized immediately what he wanted.

He was trying to get that idiot Christoph to “comfort” me in bed for him again.

I refused immediately.

“I’m not feeling well. You don’t need to stay tonight,” I said.

Alexis frowned, clearly thinking I was throwing a tantrum.

He took a sip of the milk. Next thing I knew, he was fucking forcing it into my mouth.

Darcey’s POV

As my consciousness slowly sank, I heard Alexis curse in a low voice by my ear.

“Fuck! If that idiot hadn’t gotten a taste for women and started clinging to me every damn day, threatening to tell my mom if I refused, I wouldn’t have had to go this far.”

I bit down hard on my tongue, forcing myself to stay awake.

The door opened, and Christoph walked in.

Before, when I couldn’t see, I could never tell them apart, but now that my vision had returned, I could easily see the difference.

Standing by the bed, there was nothing foolish or vacant in Christoph’s eyes.

My pupils shrank suddenly.

So he had been pretending all along.

Christoph had been brought into the Bersteins by Alexis’s mother and had grown up dependent on them; in order to survive, he played dumb and acted like a fool, but in reality, he coveted everything: the Bersteins’s inheritance, Alexis’s position, and even Alexis’s woman.

Maybe because he thought I still couldn’t see, he didn’t even bother pretending anymore.

He lunged forward and shoved me down onto the bed.

My whole body trembled as fear and hatred exploded in my chest at the same time.

“Get the hell off me!”

I struggled with everything I had, but my strength was nothing compared to his.

Christoph’s grip was like iron as he pinned my wrists down, his movements rough and unrestrained.

No. I would rather die than let them keep trampling me like this.

The moment he lowered his head, I suddenly lifted my leg and kicked him hard between the legs.

He let out a sharp scream and doubled over instantly.

Before I could react, a heavy slap crashed across my face, sending me straight to the ground as a ringing filled my ears.

Then I felt a warm flow spreading between my legs.

I froze completely, my mind going blank.

Christoph looked down at the blood rapidly spreading beneath me, then rushed to the door and yanked it open, instantly switching back to that stupid, panicked act as he shouted, “She’s bleeding!!”

Alexis rushed in, and the moment he saw the blood on the floor, his expression changed drastically.

Soon after, the sound of an ambulance filled the air, and I was lifted onto a stretcher.

When the test results came out, I felt like I had been struck by lightning.

I was pregnant.

There was no joy, only a wave of nausea so strong it made me want to throw up.

Alexis’s reaction, however, was completely different; when he realized the child might be his, a trace of excitement actually surfaced in his eyes, while Christoph also showed a flicker of surprise, clearly convinced that the child must be his.

Each of them calculating their own interests, Alexis sent Christoph away and then pulled me tightly into his arms, saying, “Baby, I’m so happy. We’re actually having a child.”

He had no intention of getting rid of it; I had been with him long enough that he was used to me, and if the child turned out to be his, then after the wedding, even if he wouldn’t marry me, he could still keep me by his side as a lover.

I simply looked at him coldly.

Happy?

Had he been acting for so long that he actually started believing his own bullshit?

In just two days, he would completely discard me, yet here he was, still playing the role of a loving husband.

It was disgusting.

He even made a video call, saying, “Dad, I have some good news.”

When the screen lit up, I saw my adoptive father for the first time since my vision returned, and my breathing stopped instantly because his body was covered in dense burn scars, ugly and horrifying, all of it caused by Alexis.

Tears fell silently as the hatred in my chest grew even stronger.

“What’s wrong?” my father asked in panic. “Lingling, are you feeling unwell?”

Alexis also froze for a moment, frowning slightly as he looked into my eyes, as if he had briefly thought I could see.

I forced myself to act as if I still couldn’t see and squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying as I said, “Dad, I’m pregnant… Are you happy?”

He smiled and said, “Of course, I’m happy.”

But the hatred inside me burned even more fiercely.

Alexis, I will make you suffer more than I ever did.

After ending the call, he casually asked, “By the way, is your choreography finished? Will the pregnancy affect your dancing?”

Just a moment ago, he had been talking about how happy he was, and now he was already worried about whether my pregnancy would delay the choreography. He was worried that it would affect Yasmine’s competition.

I clenched my teeth and said, “It’s almost done.”

His voice softened again to an almost gentle degree as he said, “That’s good. You can finish it while it’s still early, and then perform it at our wedding.”

That night, after we returned to the villa, Alexis went to take a shower, and the moment I heard the water running, I immediately got up, walked to the study, and opened his safe.

The password was something he had entered in front of me these past few days; he thought I couldn’t see, so he never bothered hiding it.

I took photos of all the documents, sent them to my lawyer, and then carefully put everything back in place, though the tightness in my chest didn’t ease.

I walked into the back garden, where the pool reflected a cold light under the moon, and the child inside me had appeared so suddenly that I didn’t even know how to deal with it.

Before I could sort out my thoughts, I noticed that Yasmine had appeared at some point; thinking I couldn’t see, she quietly approached me, her gaze falling on my stomach as her expression twisted for a brief moment.

Earlier, when she tried to get close to Alexis, she must have realized something was off, especially when she saw that he actually showed concern for the child, and with how perceptive she was, she immediately understood that Alexis had slept with me, which meant the child wasn’t necessarily Christoph’s. It could very well be Alexis’s.

“If it can’t be confirmed… then maybe it shouldn’t exist at all,” she murmured softly, her tone turning resolute as she stepped closer to me.

“Help! Someone help!”

Now that my vision had returned, I was no longer going to let her do as she pleased, so I immediately shouted for help.

Her expression changed, clearly not expecting to be exposed, but in the next second, she suddenly smiled.

“In that case, let’s see,” she said softly, “between you and me, who Alexis will choose.”

As soon as the words fell, she gave up trying to push me into the water and instead suddenly threw herself backward with a splash, she fell straight into the pool.