Chapter 1
“Why not, sis? Ever since Mom and Dad died, I only have you. You promised them you’d give me everything I wanted. Are you going back on your word?”
Damian, her foster brother, wrapped his arms around Eleanor’s arm, his voice laced with a hint of grievance.
Eleanor looked down, her fingertips gently tapping his nose. It was a comforting gesture.
“Tonight is our three-year anniversary. All I have to do is sweet-talk him, and he’d give me anything, not just his eyes, but his very life.”
Eleanor’s legal assistant, standing nearby, couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Mr. Alex has suffered enough these past years, Ms. Eleanor. Mr. Damian, you already got what you wanted: first place in the tryouts, a strong physique, and Amber’s attention. Why keep tormenting Mr. Alex?”
Amber!
Those two words pierced my heart like ice. Wasn’t that my ex-girlfriend’s name?
Damian laughed, a bit too loudly. He reached out and pushed the assistant’s shoulder.
“I’m getting together with Amber next month, but the damn thing is, she still has that cripple’s photos on her phone.”
“Even in her sleep, she’d gaze at his eyes, claiming she’d always admired how focused and profound Alex’s eyes were.”
He changed the subject, turning his head to Eleanor.
“Sis, tell me, are that cripple’s eyes really that beautiful?”
Eleanor raised an eyebrow, looking nonchalant.
“His eyes?”
“How would I know? My gaze never lingered on trash like that. All I care about is my precious little brother being happy.”
The early spring evening wind was still chilly. My hands, gripping the wheels of my chair, were stiff with cold.
So love really can be faked.
Was the salvation I once believed in just another abyss?
I scoffed at my own foolishness, furiously pushing the wheels, desperate to escape.
But my wheelchair got stuck in a pothole. I pushed frantically, my hands already raw and bloody. With a violent shove, the chair made a loud noise, a part seemed to come loose.
I tumbled out of my wheelchair.
The commotion caught Eleanor’s attention at the company entrance. She rushed towards me, kneeling down and shielding me with her body.