When I took a bullet for Theo Moretti, the bullet grazed my temple, compressing the optic nerve and causing blindness in both my eyes. He kneeled by my hospital bed, pressed the family crest to his chest, and swore:

“Sophie, I will be your eyes for life. If I break this oath, may I die a horrendous death.”

I believed him.

However, the day my sight returned, I saw Theo through the bedroom door, naked on our marital bed with the maid, Isabella.

He gripped her waist and thrust violently, his voice hoarse in a way I had never heard, growling, “Bella… you really are the most seductive woman in all of Sicily…”

“Theo, who else besides me could satisfy you like this in bed? Divorce that blind woman already!”

Isabella nibbled his earlobe. “After all, I’m the one who truly understands you.”

“Wait a little longer,” Theo panted. “I need time… Don Lucas just handed me control of the docks. If I divorce now, I’ll be left with nothing.”

Rare snowflakes rained down outside.

I walked barefoot out of the estate in a thin nightgown and sent an encrypted message to my father.

“Father, send someone to pick me up in three days. I’m coming home.”

Don Lucas, my father, never expected that the boss he had personally promoted would dare betray his daughter.

He replied with a single sentence: “For daring to betray you, Theo’s dead.”

What I did not know was that this message would ignite a storm that would sweep across all of Sicily.

In three days, Theo Moretti, the man I had risked my life for and I had personally helped rise to power, would lose everything he held dear, including me.

Sophie's Point of View

That night, Theo Moretti spent three hours making love to Isabella on our marital bed.

I had just regained my sight and watched as Theo buried his mouth against her chest.

His other hand lifted her leg so he could push in deeper.

The room was filled with the stench of sweat and their panting. It was so disgusting that I almost wanted to vomit.

Just as I was about to turn and leave, Theo suddenly picked Isabella up and walked toward me.

I lowered my gaze, but I could still tell he had stopped right in front of me, gripping Isabella’s butt as the two of them stayed lost in passion.

‘Three days. I just need to endure three more days.’ I repeated to myself, my fingertips digging hard into my palm.

Before regaining my sight, I never imagined Theo would betray me.

After all, the Lucas family had strict rules. Even the lowest soldati wouldn’t dare openly humiliate their partner on the marriage bed.

However, I was wrong. Dead wrong!

When I returned to the manor at two in the morning and felt my way into the bedroom, I heard a woman moaning lewdly on the bed.

Theo said to Isabella in Russian, “Keep your voice down, you slut. Before Sophie hears!”

I saw Isabella’s legs wrapped around Theo’s waist, and the sound of their bodies colliding came from where they were joined.

“What are you afraid of?” Isabella smiled provocatively. “She’s blind. She can’t see or understand Russian. Besides, doesn’t this make it even more exciting?”

I froze.

Russian was something I had taught him.

To help him read encrypted messages from Russian arms dealers, I had corrected his pronunciation one word at a time.

Now, the secret language that once belonged only to the two of us had become the cover for their affair.

Theo had already forgotten everything we once went through together.

“We’re out of condoms,” Isabella said in a teasing, syrupy voice. “Should Sophie bring more, or should I go get them?”

After a moment of silence, Theo suddenly spoke, his voice so controlled that it almost twisted.

“Sophie, my throat hurts. Could you bring me the white medicine box on the coffee table?”

The white box was only thirty centimeters from my hand. Printed clearly in Russian on the front was one word: Condoms.

My lover, Theo, wanted me to hand condoms to his mistress.

I clenched my fist, my nails digging into my flesh. The sharp pain kept me clear-headed.

Then I slowly reached out and pretended to be blind, fumbling through the air. When my fingers brushed the box, I accidentally knocked over the glass beside it.

The crash of breaking glass rang sharply in the quiet night.

“Careful!” Theo called out, his voice full of false concern.

I groped for the box and inched my way toward them.

With every step, my heart felt as if it were being sliced open by jagged blades.

Isabella sat half-dressed on Theo’s lap, and I, the pitiful blind woman in their eyes, was personally delivering the tool for their pleasure.

“How did you catch a cold? Are you alright?” My voice trembled. I could barely pretend to be calm anymore.

“It’s nothing. I’ll just take some medicine and sleep,” he said quickly, snatching the box from me. I could feel the slight tremor of his fingers when they brushed mine.

It wasn’t guilt. It was excitement.

This boss, who wouldn’t blink even if he chopped off someone’s finger, was trembling because I obediently handed him and his mistress a box of condoms.

He must have forgotten that when we fought side by side, I had been the best code-breaker in the Lucas family Intelligence Unit.

I could hear hidden frequencies and read meaning from scattered symbols. How could I not hear the abnormality in his voice?

“Go rest. I’ll sleep in the guest room, so I don’t pass the cold to you.”

Before he finished speaking, he picked Isabella up again and buried his face in her chest. He tore off the underwear hanging on her body, quickly walking toward the guest room at the end of the hallway.

His footsteps were soft and cat-like, a habit formed from missions when he needed to infiltrate enemy territory.

Now, he used the same skill to sneak another woman into my home.

When the door closed, my nose stung, and my tears finally broke through.

I had been blind for so long, drowning in the illusion of happiness.

Now I could finally see the true face of this home.

The lipstick stains on Theo’s shirt, the wrinkled blanket on the sofa, and the overly sweet perfume hanging in the air all mocked my stupidity.

I picked up my phone and dialed a number I hadn’t touched in years.

“Father,” I said, no longer able to control my tears. “I’m willing to come back and take over the family intelligence network.”

The line went silent for so long that I thought the call had dropped.

Finally, Father spoke, his voice exhausted and filled with pain.

“Are you sure? Once you come back, you’ll be the Lucas family’s principessa. You’ll have to participate in family affairs and give Theo up.”

“I don’t want him anymore.” I cut him off. “After I was blinded from taking a bullet for him, he actually brought another woman home and slept with her right in front of me!”

“He’s dead,” Father said instantly, his voice turning cold. It was the voice of Don Lucas delivering a death sentence.

“No,” I laughed as tears slid down my face. “I want him to suffer more than if he were dead.”

“Three days from now, I’ll send Silas to pick you up.” Father paused. “He’s been waiting for you to come back.”

Silas…

I closed my eyes.

As the Lucas family’s consigliere and my private tutor, he taught me code-breaking, how to ride, and how to read human nature.

Three years ago, when I left the family for Theo, he stood at the gates of the castle, watching me without a word. His gray eyes were full of disappointment.

“Alright.” I hung up.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

I pretended to fumble my way toward the stairs, but as I turned, I used the corner of my restored vision to see everything clearly.

Theo was shirtless. Fresh scratches lined his neck, and the scent of perfume clung to his skin.

The marks on his neck weren’t just evidence of what they had been doing in bed. They were Isabella’s declaration of ownership and a deliberate provocation.

She hated that I, a blind woman, held the legal title of his wife. So she wanted to leave marks for me to touch, smell, and discover. Anything to force me to back down.

I held the carved banister and walked down the stairs step by step.

Every corner of this manor belonged to the Lucas family. Even Theo’s position as boss was something I had begged Father on my knees to give him.

He said he would treat me well. Yet, he spent the night with another woman on our marital bed.

Now, it was time to take everything back.

The next day was my birthday. After Theo ascended to the position of boss, he would prepare a birthday party for me every year on that day.

He got up early and personally baked my favorite Sicilian lemon tart.

“Sophie, open your mouth.” He held a piece of tart crust to my lips. “Let me feed you, baby.”

Across the table, Isabella let out a cold, displeased huff.

She was wearing a maid’s uniform today, but her makeup was flawless, and her blonde hair was pinned up neatly, ready to receive Theo’s attention.

Behind my back, Theo typed rapidly on his phone.

From the reflection on the screen, I saw his fingers moving fast.

[Don’t make a fuss. I’ll make it up to you tonight. You’ll have anything you want.]

Only then did Isabella rise smugly. As she passed me, she accidentally knocked over my glass of milk.

Warm liquid splashed onto my hand. Though she apologized sweetly, her fingers dug viciously into the inside of my wrist.

I didn’t make a sound.

To them, this was just the blind woman’s slow reactions.

However, they didn’t know that during the time I spent blind, my senses had grown sharper. With my eyes closed, I could still clearly feel her approaching and the pain of her pinch.

It was a cheap trick she’d learned in the bars she used to work in, something used to teach disobedient women a lesson.

I was the well-behaved type, someone who wouldn’t trouble the busy Theo over something so minor.

“Baby,” Theo said when he noticed my silence. “Are you still mad? Is it because I haven’t spent enough time with you lately?”

Baby had once been our term of endearment. Now, hearing it from his mouth only made me feel sick.

“Today is your birthday,” he cupped my face in his hands. His eyes were so sincere that he could have fooled anyone.

“I’ll spend the whole day with you. Let’s celebrate on the yacht, just like on our wedding day three years ago.”

I let him lead me out of the manor.

Outside the gates, his black car was already waiting.

The driver, one of Theo’s most trusted men, nodded respectfully at me. “Madam.”

However, when he saw Isabella standing behind me, his eyes flickered.

I remembered that detail.

In this betrayal, no one was innocent.

The yacht was covered in red rose petals.

I had always hated roses, as they reminded me of the Lucas family cemetery. Beside every family member’s tombstone, a bundle of red roses was planted.

Theo knew this. However, Isabella liked them, so he chose roses anyway.

“Sophie, do you remember?”

He held me at the bow of the yacht. “Three years ago, Don Lucas handed you to me right here and said I was the luckiest man in the world.”

The sea breeze brushed against my face, and I closed my eyes.

Of course, I remembered.

That day, Father had said to Theo and me, “Sophie is my most beloved daughter. She chose you, and I choose to respect her. But that doesn’t mean I approve of you.”

Father turned his back on us.

“From today onward, Sophie Lucas is no longer my daughter. And you will never enjoy the honor that comes with her identity.”

Don Lucas’ voice had trembled slightly. “Publicly, I will say my youngest daughter has gone missing. Go. I don’t want to see either of you again.”

Back then, Theo had kneeled reverently before Don Lucas and sworn, “I swear on my honor, my entire life, that I will love her and respect her forever. I will never hurt her or betray her!”

For that oath, I kneeled outside Father’s study for an entire night. Only then did he agree to promote Theo.

Now, Theo stood in the custom suit I paid for, wearing the gold insignia badge symbolizing the boss’ authority. Yet he held a maid in his arms and lit fireworks for her at my birthday celebration.

“One! Two! Three!” Isabella counted excitedly, and the night sky exploded with waves of golden sparks.

Every firework bloomed into bright words: To Bella, my goddess.

I stood on the deck watching the spectacle coldly.

Theo wrapped his arm around Isabella’s waist and kissed the top of her head. They looked just like newlyweds.

Since they thought I was blind, they didn’t even bother pretending in front of me.

“Sophie, I need to take care of something for work,” Theo finally remembered me. “Be good and stay here to watch the fireworks. I’ll be right back.”

He kissed my forehead, then hurried off the yacht with Isabella.

I took off my sunglasses and pulled a miniature camera from my bag.

It was the birthday gift Silas gave me three years ago. He had taught me that while eyes could lie, the lens never does.

I recorded the direction they left, the layout of the cabin, and even took note of the name of the yacht.

The Bella—Theo had actually named the yacht after her.

Half an hour later, I said I wasn’t feeling well and asked the driver to take me back to the manor, back to the house filled with the stench of betrayal.

I went straight into the study and opened the safe that Theo never allowed me to touch.

The password was my birthday. Ironically, he had never thought to change it.

Inside, aside from the family ledgers, was a USB drive.

It contained all of Isabella’s information, including the report documenting her expulsion from the family a year ago, and the record of her forging a new identity to get close to Theo as a maid.

Theo had known who she was from the very beginning.

He knew everything.

I calmly copied all the files, then made a call. “Silas, I’m ready.”

Silas’ steady voice sounded on the other end. “Principessa, your room is prepared. Don Lucas says, ‘Welcome home.’”

I hung up and began clearing every trace of myself from this house.

I burned it all with my own hands.

Clothes, jewelry, and photos, even the wedding portrait hanging on the wall.

In Theo’s garden, I used the lighter he once gifted me to light the fire and watched our three years together turn into ash.