Chapter 2
Seeing the scrapes on her arm, my heart lurched.
“Alex, what are you doing here? It’s windy out, and you’re always so frail. What if something happened to you? How would I live alone?”
The love in her eyes seemed to overflow. She looked at my bloody hands, her face filled with anguish.
For a moment, I was disoriented, unable to tell which version of her was acting. It wasn’t until her tears fell onto my wounds, stinging, that my mind cleared.
“Alex, why aren’t you speaking? Are you scared? It’s okay, I’ll take you home. Don’t be afraid.”
She had said those same words three years ago, the day she confessed her feelings to me. She told me we were both people with no one to rely on, and she wanted to be my rock.
I believed her. But at that moment, I realized it was all a joke.
It was she who had turned me into someone with no one to rely on.
Damian, unable to hold back, strode towards me.
“Brother-in-law, I’m here for you too. Don’t worry, even if you’re not as mobile now, we won’t ever look down on you.”
“From now on, just tell me if you need to go out. I’ll go with you. It’ll be safer that way.”
On most days, Damian was cheerful and handsome. Living under the same roof, we’d never even had a single argument. When I fell down the stairs that year, he was the first to find me and rush me to the hospital.
The conversation between the siblings at the company entrance echoed in my ears. As I thought about it, my chest tightened, and my whole body went numb.
So that oily spill that caused my fall down the stairs that year was all his doing. And my legs, which could have recovered, were made worse by Eleanor’s fake medical records, making me miss the optimal treatment time, forever losing the ability to walk normally.
I shoved Eleanor away from me, my eyes wide with horror. She froze for a second, a flicker of displeasure crossing her face. As if she had no more patience to console me. She shot a look at her assistant.
“Get him in the car. I rented a yacht. Tonight’s anniversary has to be perfect.”
I lifted my gaze in terror, meeting Damian’s eyes. He was staring at my eyes with a knowing, significant smile. My eyes inexplicably stung, and I remembered Eleanor saying she’d gouge my eyes out for Damian’s cufflinks. My stomach churned with nausea.
The usually impartial, sharp, and capable legal elite was secretly involved in so many unspeakable deeds.
I was forcibly helped into the car, sitting in the back seat with Eleanor, trembling uncontrollably. The assistant stepped on the gas, and the car headed towards the coast.
I clung to a sliver of hope, looking at Eleanor. Her expression remained unchanged as she scrolled through her phone. The screen showed her chat with Damian.
“Damian, don’t worry. I’ll give you whatever you want. Don’t be mad, it’s not good for your health if you get angry.”
“Sis, you don’t worry either. I’ll be fine for you. You’re always the one I love most. If it weren’t for society’s views, I’d definitely choose to be with you.”
Eleanor’s lips curved into an unstoppable smile as she read Damian’s messages. Sensing my gaze, she blacked out her phone screen and placed it face down on her lap. Her face remained calm, and she even reached out to caress my hair.
“Alex, you once said you loved watching the sea.”
“Tonight, you can watch as much as you want before we head back.”
She shifted her gaze to my eyes, her hand slowly moving to my cheek. Her thumb caressed my eyelids: “I never noticed before, but Alex, your eyes are so beautiful.”
I was trembling like a leaf, yet I dared not provoke her.
“Watch as much as I want?”
“Are we never going to the beach again?”
“Or is it that my eyes are having problems too?”