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.

Darcey’s POV

“Yasmine!”

Alexis’s eyes went bloodshot, and without a second of hesitation, he dove straight into the water to save her.

Within moments, Yasmine was carried back onto the shore, soaked from head to toe, crying like she’d been wronged.

“Alexis, I was just worried my sister couldn’t see the path near the pond, so I wanted to remind her to be careful.”

“Who would’ve thought she’d suddenly go crazy and shove me into the water?”

Alexis’s face darkened in an instant, terrifyingly cold.

“Darcey, looks like three days of ‘training’ and treatment didn’t fix what’s wrong with you.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll teach you myself.”

He grabbed me without warning and shoved me straight into the pond.

The freezing water swallowed me whole in a second.

I struggled desperately, but every time I managed to grab onto the edge, Alexis stomped on my hands like he was trying to crush them.

“Apologize to Yasmine.”

“You don’t get out until you admit you were wrong.”

“I didn’t—” I tried to explain.

But the water rushed into my throat, choking me before I could finish.

I finally fought my way back to the surface, trying to speak again.

Right then, Yasmine suddenly frowned.

“Alexis… my foot really hurts.”

His expression changed instantly, all the anger gone, replaced with panic.

“Where does it hurt?”

“I think I twisted it just now…”

His face tightened, and he immediately picked her up.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.”

I dragged myself onto the shore, my body trembling, blood pooling beneath me, and called out weakly, “Alexis, my stomach hurts so bad… please call an ambulance… don’t leave…”

Even if I hated this child’s existence, some instinct in me still wanted to protect it.

Alexis hesitated for a split second when he saw the blood on me.

But the moment Yasmine whimpered again, he forgot about everything else.

He said he would have a doctor check on me later, then turned around and left without another glance.

My hands shook as I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

“J-Jules, can you come pick me up?”

The person on the other end agreed immediately.

I didn’t dare wait near the villa, so I forced myself to walk out the gate, step by step.

A Rolls-Royce stopped in front of me not long after.

Right before I passed out, I vaguely saw a tall man step out of the car and catch me in his arms.

The baby didn’t make it.

I lay in the hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, my face completely numb.

Jules stood by the bed like he had a thousand things he wanted to say, but in the end, he only murmured, “Focus on recovering. On the day of the chief selection, I’ll be the first one to bring you flowers.”

He turned to leave, but I grabbed the corner of his shirt.

I hated asking anyone for help, but right now, he was the only one I could rely on.

“Can you take me away the night before my wedding?” I asked.

“Why not leave now?” he countered.

“I still haven’t gotten the evidence I need,” I said.

He agreed.

I stayed in bed for two full days.

On the third day, I was finally able to get up.

When I reached the hallway, I overheard a couple of nurses whispering in the corner.

“I heard a ballerina was admitted to the next department a couple days ago.”

“She only had a mild fever, but every specialist in the hospital came to consult.”

“I heard her boyfriend stayed by her side the whole time.”

“Meanwhile, the pregnant woman in our ward miscarried, and she doesn’t even have a single family member with her.”

“That’s just sad as hell.”

I let out a quiet, self-mocking laugh and walked over to the water dispenser to pour myself a cup.

I no longer had any expectations for Alexis.

Hearing how carefully he treated Yasmine didn’t stir anything in me anymore.

To him, neither I nor my child meant even a fraction of what Yasmine did.

The files I sent to the lawyer had already gotten a solid response.

It was time to close the net.

At the same time, on the other side of the hospital, Alexis had just walked out of Yasmine’s room when his gaze suddenly froze.

That person just now… looked a lot like me.

But the next second, he shook his head.

That’s impossible.

Darcey is blind.

She can barely walk without help.

There’s no way she could calmly pour water and walk back to her room like that.

Just as I returned to my room, Yasmine sent me a video.

In the video, she was pressed up close to Alexis, her neck covered in obvious hickeys.

A voice message followed right after.

“Hey, blind girl.”

“If only you could see.”

“Then you’d see all the marks Alexis left on me.”

She let out a soft, venomous laugh, dripping with smugness.

“I suggest you record the dance you choreographed today and send it to me.”

“Don’t try anything clever.”

“Otherwise, I’ll have Alexis throw your blind ass into a nightclub, and while we’re at it, we’ll kick your useless dad right out of the hospital.”

She was getting desperate.

The chief selection was the day after tomorrow, and she still didn’t have my choreography.

I closed my eyes, and the memory of my adoptive father’s burn scars made my chest ache.

Yasmine had no idea I had already arranged for him to be transferred somewhere safe.

She still thought she could threaten me with him.

But that’s fine.

She wants the dance.

I’ll give it to her.

I went back to the villa’s dance studio and performed the piece I prepared for her.

Not long after, Alexis pushed the door open, a strange hint of anticipation in his voice.

“Wife, the wedding is tomorrow.”

“You haven’t tried on your dress yet. Do you want to put it on today?”

I didn’t understand what kind of act he was putting on now.

“It doesn’t matter. I can’t see anyway, so what’s the point?” I said flatly.

He frowned, noticing something was different about me.

I used to cling to him.

If he didn’t come home for a few days, I would panic and call him nonstop.

But these past few days, he hadn’t contacted me at all.

And I hadn’t reached out once.

Something about that made him uneasy.

Right then, his phone buzzed, and he stepped aside to answer it.

A friend’s voice laughed on the other end.

“Bro, we’ve got a gift prepared for your wedding tomorrow.”

I quietly stepped aside and started recording on my phone.

The voice continued, “Tomorrow, we’re bringing that idiot Christoph to the wedding.”

“We’ll have him call Darcey his wife in front of everyone, then guide him to kiss her right there.”

“Everyone will think she’s been screwing around with a retard.”

“You’ll walk away clean as hell.”

My whole body went cold, but they weren’t done.

“And we’ll find a way to break Darcey’s legs.”

“She won’t be dancing ever again, and Yasmine will be the only ballet genius left.”

My hand was shaking so badly I could barely hold the phone.

Just how much do they fucking hate me?

How far do they need to go to feel satisfied?!

Alexis seemed hesitant for a moment, but in the end, he said, “Fine, but don’t hurt her stomach.”

The person on the other end sounded shocked.

“No way, bro. Are you actually catching feelings for the blind girl?”

Alexis immediately denied it.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I just don’t want her miscarrying at the wedding. That’d be bad luck.”

I stopped the recording before they finished and went back to my room.

Not long after, Alexis came in and stood by the bed, his voice gentle.

“Wife, it’s the night before the wedding, so I have to go back to the old house to prepare.”

“You’ll be alone tonight, but don’t be scared.”

“Tomorrow will definitely be a very happy day.”

I looked at him and smiled softly.

“Yeah.”

“Tomorrow will be very happy.”

Like hell it will.

Alexis. Tomorrow, you’re going to fall straight into hell.

After he left, I immediately called Jules to come get me.

I walked out of the villa and looked up at the world.

The light was clear, and the colors were real.

In the distance, a familiar Rolls-Royce pulled up.

Jules opened the door for me and handed me a bouquet.

“Congratulations, Butterfly.”

“You can see again, and you’ve been reborn.”

I took the flowers, smiled, and thanked him before getting into the car and leaving the place that had trapped me for two years.

Of course, before I left, I made sure to leave the groom three very special wedding gifts.

Alexis, I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you find them.