"She's blind, so it's pointless to give her anything new. Besides, your scent can mask her bad luck," he remarked.
Suddenly, the meaning of his words hit me, and my stomach twisted with revulsion. Lucian didn’t notice my discomfort; he was absorbed in his phone, texting furiously.
A slew of nasty messages flashed by my eyes. Unable to hold it in any longer, I bolted to the bathroom.
"Amira?" Lucian called from the doorway, his voice low and concerned. "You can see?"
His words made my heart skip a beat, scrambling for an explanation. Just then, Lucian’s phone buzzed with a new message. No time for words, just images. Years of blindness had honed my hearing, and though Lucian seemed composed, his breathing gave away his agitation.
"I’ve got to get back to the office. Something urgent came up. Be careful while I'm gone," he said abruptly, pulling me from the floor with unnecessary force and dropping me onto the sofa, like I was no more than baggage.
Clearly, there was something pressing because he was in a rush. As the door slammed shut, I looked down at my hand, red from his grip, a bitter taste rising in my throat.
Lucian and I had been close since childhood. After my parents perished in a plane crash, the Matthews family took me in. I was the lone survivor, and from then on, Nyla Ramirez treated me like a daughter, while Lucian treasured me like a rare jewel.
Everything changed three years ago when Lillian suddenly entered our lives, catching me off guard. When I confronted Lucian, he admitted with shame, "Lillian is my dad’s daughter from an affair in England."
Lucian went on to tell Lillian’s tale of misfortune. Her mother had tried to use her to trap a wealthy man—a plan that failed spectacularly. Having grown up without parents myself, I felt for her and accepted her as a sister. Never did I imagine I was being duped.
My phone chimed, snapping me out of my thoughts. A message from Lillian.
"That night, you saw everything, didn’t you?"
"Sis, you know, right? Every time my brother sees your face, he feels disgusted."
"How can you be so clueless at your age, not realizing he despises you?"
I bit my lip hard, trembling as I opened the video Lillian sent. In it, Lucian’s eyes were slightly red, his handsome face slick with sweat, making him dangerously alluring. But his words struck me like a knife.
"Amira Lynch, how could she ever measure up to you? Her scent makes me want to gag."
Yes, despite the years we spent together, Lucian never expressed such desire toward me. He was always reserved, which I once mistook for restraint, only to become more enamored with him. I forgot he was a man, and his desires, not meant for me, would inevitably find someone else.
I sent a confirmation message to Adler Hunt about joining the expedition team, tucked my phone away, and drove to the hospital.
"Everything looks promising so far. With some rest, you should be perfectly fine," Dr. Millie Bishop assured me.
Her words were like a weight lifted off my shoulders, and for the first time in a while, a small smile crept onto my face. As I left the consultation room, I unexpectedly bumped into Nyla and Lucian as they emerged from the maternity ward with Lillian.
Seeing me, Nyla and Lucian hastily let go of Lillian’s arm. Lucian looked flustered for a moment, then suddenly noticed I wasn’t using my cane. His eyes sparkled with joy.
"Amira, you can see again?!"
