A frantic hum filled Nicole's head as she hurriedly clutched the gun.
Even though she had attempted to win Connor over—and borrow his influence to counter her uncle's family—the whole relationship felt less like a marriage and more like a back-alley deal sealed in silence. Because she'd feared for her own safety, she'd armed herself with a defensive tool, yet the secret unraveled far earlier than she'd ever imagined.
At least there was one consolation: Connor was confined to a wheelchair and, according to rumor, completely blind. Testing the truth, Nicole ventured carefully, "You really can't see anything?"
Connor answered flatly, "Yes."
Relief loosened her chest even as her fingers curled tighter around the gun, the muzzle subtly angling toward him out of sheer instinct.
Connor sneered inwardly. An almost amused impulse surfaced—he nearly pointed out that the price tag was still dangling from her toy gun. Yet, her obvious innocence felt oddly convenient, sparing him the trouble of digging any deeper.
Without any interest in engaging with her, Connor pressed the control on his wheelchair and turned around. "It's late," he said coolly. "Do whatever you want—just don't touch me or interfere with my space."
Confusion washed over Nicole. Wasn't he supposed to verify whether she was still a virgin? Why had he abruptly decided to drop the matter? Did that casual dismissal mean he had acknowledged their marriage in some way?
Questions crowded her throat, but she swallowed them all. Everyone said Connor's temper was volatile, that one wrong word could provoke him into snapping her neck without warning. In the end, she convinced herself that silence was safer—after all, the less she said, the better her odds of staying alive.
Carefully, she eased herself off the mattress and spoke in a low, cautious voice. "You can't move around easily. Take the bed. I'll make do on the floor with some blankets."
"That won't be necessary." With that, Connor shut his eyes again, his expression closing off like a locked door.
Her gaze drifted around the room. Despite its lavish decor, the place felt abandoned, all surface-level luxury with none of the comforts of a lived-in home, not even proper heating to chase away the chill.
Pulling a blanket tightly around her shoulders, Nicole settled beside the bed, forcing herself to stay awake and vigilant. As the hours dragged on, the cold crept deeper into her bones. Her eyes slid back to Connor's still figure on the wheelchair, and a pang of concern stirred—given his condition, he was probably far worse off than she was.
After a moment's hesitation, she rose quietly and laid the blanket over him with careful hands.
That was when Connor's eyes flew open.
Caught off guard, Nicole froze under his stare, only then noticing how unusual his eyes were—deep brown tinged faintly with blue, clear yet unfathomable, carrying a quiet authority that pressed down without effort.
Her breath caught for a split second before she fumbled out, voice low and stiff. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just thought you might be cold."
Years of ruthless training had taught Connor how to tune out discomfort, including the biting cold. "If I scared you that much, why don't you just leave?"
If she walked away the way the others had before her, the marriage agreement would collapse on the spot.
Nicole forced down her nerves and pressed carefully. "How did you know I was scared?"
Doubt flickered across her face despite herself. With eyes that striking and unmistakably normal, how could he possibly be blind?
Connor barely reacted, his voice steady as he pointed it out. "Your hands are shaking."
Caught off guard, Nicole stiffened and dropped her gaze, only then noticing how her fingers quivered against his palm, twitching helplessly like a nervous reflex she couldn't control. Heat flooded her cheeks as she jerked her hand away and then pressed her lips together in quiet mortification.
"My parents are both gone," she said in a low voice. "There's no one left to defend me. If I hadn't married you, I would've been pushed into some other marriage arrangement anyway. I don't really care who I end up with. You don't either. So there's no point in considering anyone else."
Connor didn't buy a word of it, though he didn't bother calling her out. To him, in a world already this messy, switching partners was indeed pointless. Settling on that conclusion, he shut his eyes once more, cutting the exchange off with unmistakable finality.
Nicole couldn't read him at all, yet a quiet instinct whispered that she had somehow passed his test. After a brief hesitation, she leaned closer, lifting her hand and waving it cautiously in front of his face. Was it possible he truly couldn't see?
Summoning her nerve, Nicole drew back her fist and threw a fake punch toward him.
Not even a flicker crossed Connor's expression.
A slow breath left her lungs as tension drained away, though a trace of sympathy crept in despite herself. Blessed with a face like that, had he not been disabled, his life might have unfolded in a far kinder way.
...
Morning came for Nicole without anything out of the ordinary. Contrary to the scandalous whispers surrounding him, Connor proved far less frightening in person, and the marriage itself felt quietly finalized. Having already stepped onto this road, she resolved not to hesitate, shaking off her unease before heading downstairs to take in the house properly.
Dust clung to every corner, the furniture aged and neglected, with much of it barely fit for use. Inside the refrigerator sat stacks of pre-packaged meals and bargain semi-prepared food, the kind Connor must have relied on day after day.
A soft sigh slipped from her lips. If the Reed family despised their illegitimate son so fiercely, why had they stopped short of finishing the job? Rather than ending things cleanly, they had left Connor marooned here, condemned to a life that offered neither comfort nor release, only relentless, grinding misery.
Sorting patiently through the supplies, she chose what remained unspoiled and set about making breakfast.
Upstairs, hidden behind screens, Connor watched her every movement through the surveillance cameras.
