A Love Too Heavy to Carry

On the day Roxanne Eagan registered her marriage, she dragged Marissa Eagan along as a witness.

Marissa, who lost her vision in an accident years ago, had just regained her eyesight. She had wanted to surprise her husband with the good news that day, but her plan was disrupted when she was called to bear witness to Roxanne’s marriage registration.

Before long, she watched a jaw-dropping scene unfold. Her husband, Joshua Colman, approached her with her stepsister, Roxanne. Arm-in-arm, they looked intimate.

At first, Marissa thought there was a problem with her eyesight. She must have seen it wrong.

Meanwhile, Roxanne clung to her man with joy. “Darling, after the registration today, you’ll be mine and only mine.”

Joshua playfully swiped the tip of her nose.

“Darling, I’ve always been yours. Call me ‘hubby.”

“Hubby, I’ll call you that many times tonight.” They flirted like no one was around.

By then, Marissa finally noticed that tiny mole underneath Joshua’s droopy eyes—her favorite feature of his since she was young.

When they started dating and before she went blind, she once praised him, “That mole at the corner of your eye is so charming! You look like a loverboy when you smile. Your smile is only reserved for me!”

Back then, he held her in her arms with tenderness in his eyes. “I’m all yours. I only have eyes for you.”

Yet, he was now getting married to another woman. Worse still, she was Marissa’s stepsister.

Marissa clutched the hem of her dress with a forced smile. To confirm, she asked, “Roxanne, your husband sounds like Joshua.”

The two had been flirting, thinking she couldn’t see them, but they froze at her question.

Joshua lowered his gaze. He calmly replied, “Really? You might just miss your husband too much, which is why you’re mistaken.”

“Yeah, Marie. I nearly forgot that Joshua is on a business trip for a few days. Too bad he has to miss my marriage registration.”

Marissa could only smile. Joshua, who had hugged her longingly before his business trip, had now become her brother-in-law.

Roxanne even had the audacity to invite her to witness their registration, thinking she was still blind.

Marissa was wearing sunglasses. She wanted to cry, but she had no tears left. Her throat and eyes were in pain, though.

In a daze, she stayed until the registration was over.

The staff at the city hall handed Roxanne the marriage certificate. “Congratulations on your marriage.”

Marissa smiled wryly. She wondered who her husband was if Joshua had married Roxanne. She excused herself, saying that she felt unwell. She left with the help of her caretaker.

Once she got home, she saw a chat window pop up on the screen of Joshua’s laptop. He never bothered to password-protect his devices since Marissa was blind. But she was no longer blind. She clearly saw Roxanne’s message in a group chat.

Roxanne had written, “Here’s our marriage certificate, fresh out of the oven. Please call me ‘Mrs. Colman.’”

Joshua’s friends immediately replied with thumbs-up emojis.

“Joshua is really something. He gets to have both women because Marissa is blind. But Joshua, isn’t it against the law to get married to two women at once?”

Another friend chimed in, “Don’t you know? When Joshua registered his marriage to Marissa, he used his younger brother’s identity! They’re two peas in a pod, so the city hall staff didn’t catch it at all! Isn’t that amazing?”

“What a brilliant scheme! He has my respect. But knowing how stubborn Marissa is, she might never forgive Joshua if the truth comes to light.”

“That’s why Joshua reminded her physician to never treat her eyes. On the one hand, he can keep Marissa blind. On the other, Roxanne can get the marriage she wants.”

Joshua went online at that moment. His monochrome profile lit up. He reminded his friends, “Keep it a secret from Marissa. Don’t worry about her.”

His friends flooded the chat with congratulatory messages, and he responded by promising to treat them to a feast.

Marissa stumbled and collapsed onto the couch. The pain was eating her alive.

His promise was a sham; their marriage certificate was a hoax. He didn’t even plan to let her get her eyes treated.

She recalled how Joshua had cried in desperation when she lost her eyesight. He spent the entire night outside her hospital ward. The next day, he immediately went home to make their villa fall-proof, installing soft padding on the floors and corner protectors on anything sharp.

He had comforted her, “Don’t worry, Marie. We’ll get your eyesight back. Even if that doesn’t happen, I’ll stay by your side and become your eyes.”

Feeling sorry for putting Joshua in so much pain, she vowed to regain her eyesight one day. Little did she know that Joshua was the culprit all along. He had been standing in the way of her recovery, all because he wanted to marry Roxanne.

Thankfully, Marissa’s friend recommended her to another doctor who successfully treated her eyes. Otherwise, she would’ve been trapped in Joshua’s lie.

She broke down and cried for hours. Suddenly, her expression turned vacant, and she stumbled into her bedroom. There, she checked her marriage certificate that she never had a chance to see in the last five years. As expected, she found Gabriel’s name on the certificate.

It took her four hours to calm down after the discovery.

Joshua’s promise sounded like a joke now. He had promised to find a way to cure her blindness, and if that failed, he’d stay by her side and be her eyes. But now that her eyesight was restored, she no longer needed Joshua.

The next morning, she wiped away her tears and left home to settle two pressing matters.

Marissa’s first order of business was to fire Derek Dalton, her physician. After that, she reached out to Gabriel, explained the situation, and asked for a divorce.

Gabriel sank into a long silence. “Marissa, I was in the dark about the marriage. I have a month of treatment left. Can we talk about this when I’m back?”

She agreed to it without hesitation. In a month, she and Joshua would become strangers. She’d grant his wish of being with Roxanne.

Marissa received a call from Joshua after she left the hospital. He sounded puzzled. “Darling, Dr. Dalton told me you fired him. What’s wrong? Tell me if he has upset you in any way. I’ll take care of it.”

She smirked with a bitter taste in her mouth. The conversation reminded her of the time when she first lost her eyesight. Feeling emotional, she had dashed out of her ward and toppled an elderly patient in a wheelchair.

Joshua had cleaned up the mess, apologizing to the patient and offering a huge sum of compensation. He had even gone so far as to take care of the patient for ten days to win her forgiveness.

Ever since then, Joshua would take care of Marissa and make all the necessary arrangements for her comfort. All her dissatisfactions were addressed.

His love for her was genuine, but she had never thought that he would show the same affection to another woman. She was not his one and only. Pain ripped through her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Still, she put aside her sadness and replied calmly to him, “It’s alright. I’ll never get better anyway. I want to give up on the treatment.”

His expression shifted for a moment. Then, he comforted her, “It’s fine to give up. You still have me. I’ll be back soon with gifts for you. Darling, I told you I’d be your eyes, and that promise is valid for life.”

She smiled. He had not kept his promise, so there was no future between them.

“I’m hanging up. I’m tired.”

She was about to end the call when he interrupted, saying, “Darling, it’s our fifth wedding anniversary next week. I booked the entire place at The Clouds. Save the date.”

She replied with a barely audible grunt.

…

On the day of their anniversary, Marissa put on a pair of sunglasses, which she had not done for a while.

Before she left home, she had the sudden idea of telling Joshua that she had regained her vision. Since he wished for her to stay blind forever, she would like to see his reaction to the news.

He had made huge preparations for the event. He presented her with flowers, a band, a huge cake, and an emerald jewelry set she had been interested in. He lifted her hair, trying to put the expensive necklace on her neck, but his ringing phone interrupted the touching scene.

He glanced at Marissa with a troubled look before putting down the necklace. “Sorry, darling. I have urgent work matters to deal with. Wait for me.”

Through the sunglasses, Marissa noticed the caller ID read “Roxie, Love”.

She snickered. Joshua called her his darling, and he set her caller ID as “My Angel”. But it was different at the end of the day, because only Roxanne had the word “love” in her nickname.

Joshua left in a hurry without bothering to ask Marissa about her gift for him. She decided there was no point in giving the gift now.

Marissa followed behind Joshua, who drove to the entrance of a villa and parked there. Upon entry, he was greeted by Roxanne excitedly circling her arms around his neck, and they kissed all the way to the glass-to-ceiling windows.

The sight made Marissa suffocate. Pain gripped her chest.

Three years ago, Joshua had spent three days padding the floors of the same villa. Mirage Heights had been his wedding gift for Marissa.

Through the open windows, Marissa watched as they made out. Their stifled moans broke her already vulnerable heart.

“Darling, we’ll dirty the pads. Marie will be upset if she learns about this.”

Joshua’s eyes carried a dark, unreadable look. “I bet you’re only saying that because you’re jealous that I padded the villa for Marie.”

Roxanne buried her head in Joshua’s chest. “No! I just think the padding is a little inconvenient. We need to spend a lot of time cleaning it if it’s stained. Wooden floors are easier to clean. Besides, you don’t want me to wet the padding, do you?”

With a smirk, he readily agreed, “Let’s remove all the padding. We’ll have a chance to install new ones.”

Following the loud, tearing sound, he pulled the padding from the floor and tossed each one of them into the trash can, a move that shattered Marissa’s heart. The shards pierced through her.

She walked away from the villa in a daze. Her eyes started to hurt from all the crying, and for a moment, she went blind again.

Marissa lost her balance and fell hard into the thorny bushes. After colliding with the stone steps by the road, she limped away.

It was hard to hail a cab in this neighborhood in the countryside. They didn’t stay here often and only visited during important occasions.

Half an hour later, Joshua approached in his Maybach. Marissa hurriedly reached out to stop the car, but it whirred past her.

Joshua thought the figure by the road looked familiar, but he was distracted by Roxanne’s wandering hand.

He pressed his lips together as he covered her hand. “Stop messing around. I need to hurry home. I’m worried about leaving Marie alone at home.”

“Hmph. You’re playing favorites. We just got married!”

Marissa walked for two hours in the neighborhood before she successfully took a cab to the hospital.

When Joshua got the news and arrived, he found her with bandages on her head, swollen ankles, and trembling hands.

“Marie, why didn’t you wait for me to send you home? You shouldn’t have left on your own, especially when you’re blind. If something happens to you again, I won’t be able to live with that.”

Marissa shut her eyes with an exasperated smile. She knew he’d live well without her—maybe even better.

“Would you really follow along if I lost my life?” She had the urge to ask the question, but she held her tongue when Roxanne showed up at the door.

She replied flatly, “I’m fine. I lost my balance. That’s all.”

“You’re not taking care of Marie. Cole, fire them all and hire new ones.” Looking incensed, Joshua glared at Marissa’s caretaker and bodyguard.

He was greeted with silence. Unbeknownst to him, after Marissa regained her vision, she instructed her caretaker and bodyguard not to follow her around. She was just playing blind in hopes of drawing out more secrets from Joshua.

Joshua and Roxanne spent the next few days looking after Marissa at the hospital. Yet, they always showed up holding hands, thinking she was blind.

“Marie is blind and alone in the hospital. I’m worried. How about this? Let’s set up an additional bed in her ward. I’ll look after her.”

Joshua frowned. “Roxanne, you get cold easily, and it’s chilly in the hospital. Listen to me and go home.”

But Roxanne insisted on staying. “I don’t want to leave Marie in the care of others. Let me stay.”

After a long stare, Joshua backed off, looking exasperated yet loving.

“Fine.”

Roxanne, who had promised to watch over Marissa, slept on the bed next to Marissa while hugging Joshua.

Marissa could only snicker at Joshua’s ability to love two women at the same time.

…

After two long, torturous weeks, Marissa was finally discharged from the hospital. When she got home, she smirked when she saw Roxanne standing there with luggage.

Joshua explained coolly, “Roxanne insisted on moving in to take care of you when she heard you wanted to leave the hospital.”

But Marissa felt only resentment. Was Roxanne here to take care of her or Joshua? She wished she could call them out right there, but she knew she had to wait until Gabriel signed the divorce papers.

Holding back her disgust, she agreed, “Fine. Stay. It’s easier for you to take care of me that way.”

She was practically clenching her jaw when she spat out the last few words.

However, Joshua seemed satisfied with the answer. He didn’t pick up on her resentment at all.

From then on, Marissa always encountered disgusting items at each corner of their bedroom, from torn stockings, wrinkled ties, to used condoms. The suggestive clues left behind by Joshua and Roxanne hinted at their increasingly outrageous behavior.

When Marissa was close to recovering, Roxanne suggested going on a trip. Joshua had the same thought because he could tell Marissa had been feeling rather blue.

“We didn’t even get to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary! Why don’t the three of us go on a trip, Marie?”

Marissa turned down the offer, but Joshua wouldn’t allow her to stay alone after she got hurt the last time.

“Marie, you love snow, don’t you? Let’s go to Platonia. It’s winter there. I’ve booked the flights and the hotel.”

But Marissa’s “love for snow” stemmed from the fact that Roxanne was born on a snowy day. She was fond of Roxanne back when they were kids. Now, she felt extremely betrayed by the two people who loved her the most.

Smiling, she slowly nodded.

The trip would be a farewell to her relationship.

…

Platonia was a winter wonderland. After they settled down, Roxanne said she wanted to hike the snowy mountains.

During the hike, Joshua was attentive to Marissa’s needs. When she couldn’t walk anymore, he crouched down without a word and carried her on his back. When she was thirsty, he took out the thermos to offer her some water, even holding the cup with both hands to keep it warm.

He carried all of her supplies for her and carefully led her up the mountain so that she wouldn’t get injured.

For a moment, Joshua seemed to revert to the man who loved Marissa deeply.

On the day her mother was laid to rest, she had cried to the point of fainting. Joshua had been there to guide her down the stairs at the cemetery.

He had said, “Marie, don’t cry. You have me. How about this? With each step you take, you can make a wish. I’ll stay with you forever and give you anything you want.”

Their hearts had grown closer as they walked down the flight of stairs. Holding her hand, he made a solemn and genuine promise.

Back to the present, he was holding both Marissa’s and Roxanne’s hands at the same time.

Marissa came to a stop and slowly removed her hand from his grasp.

Joshua turned around, puzzled. “What’s wrong? Do your feet hurt? Or are you feeling unwell? I’ll carry you on my back.”

His concern was genuine, and yet, he had never let go of Roxanne.

Marissa smiled bitterly. “Joshua, I’ll complete the remaining journey alone. You don’t have to hold my hand.”

“What do you mean?”

She was about to explain when a deafening sound echoed in the vicinity.

Roxanne let out a horrified scream, “Joshua, i-it’s an avalanche!”

The three were caught by surprise as the snow rapidly flowed down the mountain in the backdrop.

“Run!” Joshua, the first to snap out of shock, yelled worriedly. Next, he started to run with Roxanne in tow.

As the snow neared, they finally spotted a tiny cave.

When they were about to get in, Marissa lost her balance and fell into the snow when her old ankle injury flared up.

“Joshua!”

Hearing the scream, he paused and scanned his surroundings for Marissa. Yet, he was distracted by Roxanne’s gasp. She had been flung against a jagged stone pillar.

Joshua took another conflicted look at Marissa and threw himself at Roxanne without any hesitation.

A thunderous roar split the air. Snow came crashing down, engulfing Marissa. Her last memory was of Joshua, with his arms wrapped around Roxanne and looking sorry for her.