Chapter 3
Lila stepped closer, her voice a venomous whisper.
“Did you see how much Zane loves me? Zoe Parker, aren’t you the one who’s so into men? Married twice, yet both your husbands ended up falling for me. Ever wonder why? Maybe you’re just pathetic.”
I bit down hard on my lip. “I saw you as my only friend. Why would you do this to me?”
Her face darkened instantly.
“Friend? You were just someone born with better family background, better grades. Why did the teachers always like you? You were so uptight, yet even the boys liked you. Why should they?!”
1/10
+5 Points
As she was ranting, something caught her eye.
She screamed and suddenly collapsed to the ground.
“Lila!”
Zane Cooper’s voice came from behind me.
Lila sobbed, “Zane… Zoe must’ve misunderstood us. I’m sorry, Zoe.”
“Sorry for what?” Zane glared at me and suddenly shoved me hard.
“What did you do to Lila? Zoe Parker, I had no idea you were this vicious!”
The force of the push sent me crashing into the flowerbed.
2/10
Pain tore through me–my freshly stitched wound felt like it was ripping apart.
My face went white, cold sweat forming on my forehead.
But Zane just pushed past me and wrapped Lila in his arms, his voice laced with concern. “Let me get a doctor to take care of you.”
He didn’t see my blood–soaked skirt?
No–he saw it. He just didn’t care.
He didn’t care about the baby.
He didn’t care if I was hurt.
As I looked up at Zane’s back, walking away with Lila in his arms, it felt like a cactus was being dragged across my chest.
3/10
+5 Points
Turns out, love–or the absence of it–was always in the little things.
I had been blind in more ways than one.
Zane Cooper,
This time, I’m the one walking away from you.
Zane Cooper didn’t come home until the next day.
He still didn’t know that I could see.
Looks like Lila Bennett hadn’t told him.
Of course not–Lila’s the kind of woman who never does anything that doesn’t benefit her.
“What happened yesterday was my fault,
4/10
+5 Points)
he said. “I saw your best friend get hurt and panicked. I might have said something too harsh in the moment.”
How ridiculous.
I was lying on the ground, bleeding, and he was panicking over a little scratch on my “best friend.”
But I shook my head and gave him a gentle smile. “I understand. I don’t blame you.”
Zane Cooper reached out, trying to pull me into his arms.
“I knew my Zoe would understand me.”
I quietly pulled away and walked to the study alone.
Back when I couldn’t see, I always felt
5/10
+5 Points
unsafe, so I liked to fill the house with my things–just so it’d feel a little more like mine.
I ran my fingers slowly over every object in the room.
Then, I called a moving company and asked them to come tomorrow to clear everything out.
Except for one thing.
The jade bracelet Zane Cooper gave me fifteen years ago.
He was only eight or nine back then, and he had fallen into the lotus pond. I was the one who pulled him out.
The little boy slipped the bracelet from his wrist and fastened it onto mine.
6/10
“Wait for me. When I grow up, I’ll come back for you.”
Snapping out of the memory, I let out a bitter laugh.
I recognized him the moment I saw him again as an adult.
I thought he recognized me too.
I even felt happy about it for a long time after our wedding.
Maybe he did recognize me.
Maybe he just regretted what he said back then–and that regret turned into this mess we’re in now.
Zane Cooper was in the living room watching a movie. The sound of the old film’s dialogue
7/10
floated in through the walls.
“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.”
I stood in the study and smiled bitterly.
Yeah. I thought that too.
I guessed the beginning of the story right, but not the ending.
That night, Zane Cooper sat on the bed, reaching for me instinctively. “The baby’s three months along now, right? We can sleep together again.”
I curled my lips into a cold, mocking smile.
He hadn’t even noticed I’d gotten rid of the
8/10
baby.
I calmly avoided his touch.
“No.”
Zane stared at me, clearly annoyed.
“Are you still mad at me? Lila’s fragile–what was so wrong with me carrying her to the hospital? Isn’t she supposed to be your best friend?”
“What’s wrong with you? You never used to be this fake.”
Yes. I’m fake.
I said nothing.
A moment later, his phone chimed.
9/10
He stood up, face dark. “Something at the company. I need to take care of it.”
My eyes drifted to his chat with Lila Bennett.
“Zane, can you come keep me company?”
“Perfect, I don’t want to stay home with that blind woman.
Lila, I’ll be there soon.”
10/10
