In the third year of my marriage to Conrad Hollowell, after being blind for ten long years, my sight finally came back.
I was so overwhelmed with joy that I ran all the way home, eager to tell him the moment I opened the door. But instead, what I walked in on… was him and Estelle Denyer wrapped around each other in our bedroom.
His usually cold, distant face was flushed, his body moving against hers.
And his other woman—she looked soft, alluring, her voice filled with breathy moans.
The scene made me freeze all over. My lips parted to speak, but their conversation stopped me.
“Conrad,” Estelle said with fake worry, “when are you planning to stop Ophelia’s meds? The doctor said that if this continues for another month, she might go permanently blind.”
Conrad pinched her waist, his tone emotionless.
“Her going blind is perfect. That way, she’ll never find out about us. I’ve already taken almost everything from her family. Aside from making perfume for me, she’s useless.”
My heart clenched so hard it hurt when I heard those words.
A flicker of smugness flashed in Estelle’s eyes before she put on a show of guilt.
“Still, I was the one who hit her mother with my car back then. We should at least leave Ophelia something… Think of it as my apology.”
And at that moment, everything finally made sense.
The man I once pulled back from the brink… had turned into the monster who destroyed me.
He was like a colorless, tasteless poison—sweet in the beginning until it seeped into every part of me and swallowed me whole.
He gave my perfume to another woman. He stole my achievements. He even took my sight!
Realizing all of this felt like a blade slicing straight through me.
I stared at the two of them—entangled, shameless, betraying me without a second thought. The fire burning in my eyes felt endless.
Right then and there, I swore: I would destroy the Hollowells Group!
I would use my perfume—and every sin they committed—to drag them down into hell. And I would do it for my mother, so she could finally rest in peace.
1
Ophelia’s POV
The day I finally got my sight back just happened to be our third wedding anniversary.
I honestly thought God was sending me a gift. I was ready to bring the report home and surprise Conrad, maybe even celebrate a little.
But not even thirty minutes later, a letter showed up.
And on it, in clear braille, was the one thing I never expected to read—that Conrad had been cheating on me.
The dates, the times, how often—every disgusting detail was spelled out perfectly.
I didn’t want to believe it. My heart was shaking so hard it hurt.
But the times recorded… All of them were moments he really wasn’t with me.
My stomach dropped with that fact.
My hands were trembling when I called him. He had never ignored my calls before. But this time, he just didn’t pick up.
That’s when the panic hit. I called him over and over, more than ten times, and he didn’t answer once.
And then my phone suddenly popped up a notification from the weight tracker.
[Your current weight is three kilograms more than your previous measurement. Rapid weight gain can damage your health. Please pay attention.]
The moment I saw it, everything inside me just collapsed.
There was a woman in my bedroom, standing on my scale!
I snapped. I grabbed a taxi straight home. The second I set foot inside the villa, I heard it—her breathy little moans floating down from upstairs, mixed with a man’s low voice.
I didn’t even need to see. I knew that voice.
After more than ten years, his voice was burned into my bones.
I just never thought he would sleep with another woman.
I wanted to storm upstairs and scream at him, but then I heard them talking.
“Conrad, if I hadn’t run over Ophelia’s mother back then, you wouldn’t have had to marry her just for a letter of forgiveness. And all these years… just to keep her clueless, you even messed with her eye medication. You’ve suffered so much because of me.”
Estelle’s voice was dripping with fake pity. And the second her words hit me, my whole body went numb.
Conrad kissed her eyelids gently.
“For you, I’d do anything. Just one more month. After that, she’ll go completely blind. Then you never have to worry about her finding out the truth.”
His cold voice stabbed into my ears. It made my brows tighten from pain instantly.
“But… if she goes blind in a month, will it affect the baby she’s carrying? I mean, that’s our child.
“And what about her perfume? I only managed to gain footing in the company because of them. But I’m still the R&D director. If she goes blind and can’t make new products anymore, what am I supposed to do?”
Estelle’s anxious little whine followed.
Conrad stroked her hair and actually smiled.
“I’ve already arranged everything. Don’t worry about anything. The baby will be perfectly fine. And the perfume—once she goes blind, I’ve already hired a whole new team. Anything they create will be credited to you… just like hers were.”
Then he kissed her face.
“All you need to do is wait to become my bride. I’ve already swallowed up her entire family estate. She’s useless now. In a month, I’ll arrange another car accident—just like the one that blinded her the first time.”
My skull felt like it exploded. A sharp ringing filled my ears.
So everything I suffered—all of it came from him.
My mother was killed by Estelle. And Conrad knew. And he protected her anyway.
And just to get the letter of forgiveness from me, he chose to marry me.
In an instant, my memories of him poured in.
He was the boy I rescued from a wolf attack when I was seven.
At the time, he was half-dead, no family, no one claiming him.
I begged my mom to help him. We took him in. He became my bodyguard.
He stayed by my side for over a decade, promising he’d always protect me.
Then right before our wedding, my mom died in a car accident. It was raining so hard the cameras malfunctioned. All they knew was that the driver was a woman.
When I finally found a key piece of evidence and was ready to give it to the court, I got run over by a small speeding car.
When I woke up again, I had become blind.
At the hospital, he held my hands and told me he would marry me… that he would drag my mother’s killer to jail.
In my helplessness, I agreed to marry him and handed him all the evidence.
That very day, he put a document in my hands, saying justice was served.
I was overjoyed and, trusting him completely, signed that document.
In the days after, he was even more gentle and attentive. But my eyes never recovered.
Every night I cried from the pain in my eyes, he comforted me with utmost gentleness.
He told me even if I stayed blind forever, he’d never leave me. And like a fool, I believed him.
I handed him all my perfume formulas without holding anything back.
And because of my work, he turned his company into one of the biggest perfume brands in Colorado.
I honestly thought… that even though I went blind, and even though my mom died right before my wedding… maybe I was still lucky because at least I had him.
But now I see it clearly. I brought a rabid wolf into my home myself.
Because of him and Estelle, I ruined my family, and my whole life fell apart.
They stole the fragrances I worked on. They used my body as a surrogate tool. God, what a sick joke.
Suddenly, I stumbled backward, missed a step, and fell down the stairs hard.
The noise startled Conrad. His voice cut through the air like ice.
“Who’s there?!”
Before Conrad stepped out, I forced myself up off the floor.
Thanks to that fall down the stairs earlier, we were far enough apart that he didn’t notice anything off.
When he saw me standing there, his face went cold. His eyes flicked with a little hesitation, but his voice remained gentle as hell.
“Ophelia? When did you get home? Why didn’t you tell me? Did you… hear anything just now?”
The second he started acting, I slipped right back into my “blind” routine. I let my eyes go empty and unfocused.
“I called you a bunch of times. You didn’t pick up the phone. I freaked out a little, so I rushed home.”
He didn’t react much. He just pulled out his phone.
Only after he checked and saw I really did call him over ten times did he finally relax.
“Sorry. I was dealing with work stuff. My phone was turned off.”
My nails dug into my palm. Not one damn word he said was true.
He ignored my calls for one reason: I wasn’t useful to him anymore.
And right then, a soft little hand wrapped around him from behind. Estelle slowly wrapped herself around him, her whole body like a beautiful snake.
He frowned and jerked his chin toward me, reminding her I was right there.
But she blew a little breath against his neck, looked straight at me with that smug little smile, and whispered, “Come on, she can’t see anything. As long as I’m careful, you’re still happy, right?”
And then her hand started drifting lower.
Watching that disgusting mess play out in front of me, I bit down so hard I tasted blood. But honestly, the pain didn’t even scratch the surface compared to what was happening in my chest.
After she said that, Conrad didn’t even bother stopping her.
He actually started getting handsy with her right in front of me.
Wet kissing noises and hushed little moans echoed from upstairs.
And like always, I sat on the couch. Except this time, my heart felt like it was tearing open.
“Ophelia, I’ll be swamped with work for a while. If you need anything, just call me. And make sure you take your meds on time.”
He said it gently… while holding her in his arms. They walked right up to me.
I leaned away from their bodies practically glued together and acted like nothing was happening. I just nodded.
I thought that was it. But he just had to keep playing the caring husband.
“I remember your meds running low. I’ll bring more tomorrow. Oh right—did you finish the new fragrance? The company’s been pressuring me, but if you’re not feeling well, I can stall a bit longer.”
It was the same script he always used.
Every time he said stuff like that, I’d stay up night after night, nose bleeding from exhaustion, just to make whatever fragrance he needed—just to make things easier for him.
And today I finally learned the truth: every single fragrance I made… had been handed over as Estelle’s work!
The woman who killed my mother was now the company’s R&D director!
I wanted to expose everything right then and there. I wanted all three of us to go down in flames.
But the last bit of rational thought in me said no.
If I said anything here, I’d just die quietly, and no one would ever know.
Conrad wasn’t the man who once loved me. Not even close.
Holding back tears, I kept my voice steady. “I’ll drop the fragrance off at the company tomorrow.”
Only then did he finally look satisfied. He tightened his grip on the already dazed Estelle.
In a low, husky voice, he said, “I’ve got overtime tonight, so I can’t stay with you. Ophelia, take care of yourself, stay home, and wait for me like a good girl. I’ll come back early.”
The second he finished, Estelle pinched his waist in annoyance, and he shot her this sharp, dangerous glare.
He didn’t wait for me to say a word. He couldn’t get out of here fast enough, carrying her out of the villa like he was starving.
When their silhouettes finally disappeared, I slumped back onto the couch, my face pale. I grabbed my phone and booked an abortion appointment for three days later.
I would never—ever—bring the child of a murderer into this world.
If Conrad planned to kill me at the perfume launch next month…
Then I’d drag both of them down with me.
The moment I confirmed the appointment, my phone suddenly rang.
I frowned but answered anyway.
“Hi, is this Miss Ophelia? The baby you’re carrying… It isn’t yours and your husband’s. It’s mine. Could we talk?”
