When Love Fades in the Light

After Chester Caldwell loses his vision, I donate my corneas to him without hesitation. He vows that he'll never let me down, yet he delays our wedding time and time again after his true love suddenly returns to the country.

On the day of my birthday, his gift arrives, albeit late. I accept it expectantly only to find that they're two movie tickets. I question him about it, but he answers impatiently, "Who said anything about the blind being unable to watch movies?

"You willingly gave up your vision back then—I didn't force you into anything! Stop thinking you can hold that against me forever!"

His true love makes it sound like she's being charitable. "Sorry, Riley. The movie wasn't to my liking. You can throw the tickets away if you're not going to watch it, either!"

I rip the tickets in half and leave. Later, I hear that Chester goes mad when he can no longer find his bride.

The moment I ran out the door, I tore the movie ticket that I'd been holding so tightly that it was crumpled into shreds. Then, I threw it into the trashcan.

Having left in such a hurry, I forgot to take my white cane. Accidentally, I bumped into a vase near the door, and the broken porcelain pieces cut into my calf.

I cried out in pain. Yvette Lynch noticed it first. "Chester, I think she's hurt. Aren't you going to check on her?"

Upon hearing what she said, Chester Caldwell said impatiently, "Look at how bad-tempered she is. She even threatened to run away from home! She won't know how much I've cared for her these few years if she doesn't experience the cold reality out there herself! Let her go! She'll just have to learn it through the hard way."

Yvette clicked her tongue. Then, she asked, "I prefer this movie. Since she's not watching that one, why don't you join me?"

Chester agreed without hesitation, ignoring the blood gushing out of my calf.

…

Limping, I left the villa with my heart aching. Standing on the streets, as the cold wind whipped around my body, I finally regretted it. I shouldn't have donated my corneas to him all those years back.

Pulling out my phone, I texted him. "Let's break up."

What a joke. I gave up my eyesight for a fiancé like him.

Chester became blind in an accident. His eyes were permanently damaged, so he had to replace his corneas with new ones to be able to see again.

Without his eyes, the Caldwell family deemed him useless, and he no longer had the right to inherit their extensive business.

Neglected, he was left alone in the hospital. Yvette, who was his girlfriend then, silently left him too.

I'd had a crush on him for many years. At first, I was only looking after him. Suddenly, one night, he confessed his love to me.

Overwhelmed with surprise, I thought I touched him, and he was finally willing to accept me.

So the next day, when the doctor said Chester could undergo the transplant operation, I volunteered steadfastly. "Can I give him my corneas?"

Initially, Chester rejected my suggestion, saying, "Riley, I really don't want to trouble you."

However, I was determined. "It's okay. I mean it! When you can see again, you can inherit Caldwell Group again and fulfill your dreams."

He was still hesitating. "Then what about you?"

Because of what he said, I was ever more unwavering. "I still have you, don't I? You can see the world on my behalf!"

In the moonlight, he solemnly raised his hand in oath. "Riley, I will never let you down."

After the transplant, he was really nice to me. Even his parents had approved of me being his wife.

His dedicated care threw me further into the seas of love. Not only did I resign from my job, I even ran away from home against my parents' wish, determined to marry him.

To my parents, I declared, "He will never betray me!"

However, my happiness ended the day Yvette returned.

I started catching the scent of the same perfume on Chester repeatedly. He started coming home increasingly later. He kept forgetting our anniversaries and started becoming irritable and impatient with me. And our wedding was infinitely postponed.

His sense of gratitude toward me became a burden. When that happened, the most hurtful words he ever said to me were, "Riley Seafield, did I ever beg you to donate your corneas to me? You were the one who insisted on giving them to me! That's your plan from the start, right? You want me to owe you a favor so I'm obliged to repay it."

That day, what he said pricked me, and I was crestfallen. That was the first time I realized that his love for me was never as deep as I imagined.