Chapter 4

While Martha was supposed to bring my luggage to the clinic, she called in a panic, claiming an emergency with her family and that she had to catch an urgent bus home.

I had no choice but to return to the penthouse alone.

My vision had just returned; navigating the streets was still jarring. Tyler offered to drive me, but I refused. If I was going to survive without Ethan, I had to learn to walk alone.

The bus stop nearest to our apartment faced an upscale French bistro.

The moment I stepped off the bus, two figures caught my eye.

Ethan and Chloe.

They were holding hands, smiling softly at each other as they walked toward the restaurant entrance.

Suddenly, Ethan glanced across the street. His entire frame seized.

Chloe tried to hold onto his arm, but he violently shoved her off.

He sprinted toward the curb, shouting in terror: "Autumn! Don't move! Stay right where you are!"

Traffic was rushing past between us. Normally, I would have taken a step back onto the safety of the sidewalk.

Yet, watching Ethan dart blindly across the busy avenue with raw panic painted across his face, my feet felt glued to the asphalt.

Because in his mind, I was still blind.

He crashed into me, pulling me into a crushing, trembling embrace.

"Are you out of your mind, Autumn?! What are you doing out here alone?! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?!"

"Martha told me you seemed depressed, so I caught the first flight back from Zurich! Look at this road—cars everywhere! Do you want to die?!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he scolded me, burying his face in my hair, holding me as if his life depended on it.

His panic wasn't an act.

If he didn't care, he wouldn't have flown across the globe just because the maid mentioned I seemed "off." He wouldn't have sprinted into traffic.

Four years ago, while he was working late, I had woken up from a nightmare. Needing him desperately, I stumbled downstairs to wait for his car and got grazed by a passing scooter.

Ethan had stayed up all night, crying and holding ice to my scrapes. From that day on, he forbade me from leaving the apartment without at least two people flanking me.

And yet...

Why did it have to be Chloe?

Chloe strolled across the crosswalk, looking annoyed.

Ethan let go of me. He took a subtle half-step back, reaching behind him to grasp Chloe’s hand. He pressed a finger to his lips, giving her a warning glare that was undeniably laced with fondness and indulgence.

Chloe rolled her eyes playfully, and a faint, helpless smirk tugged at Ethan’s lips.

Then, he turned back to me, his voice returning to that soothing, patronizing tone: "I'm taking you home right now. You are not allowed to step outside again. Once I wrap things up at the office, I'll come back and spend the whole week with you. Do you hear me, Autumn?"

The air in my lungs turned to ash.

I parted my lips, but my throat was so dry and choked with bile that no sound came out.

I turned to run. But the moment I shifted, Ethan noticed my unnatural posture and reached out to grab my wrist.

At that exact second, a sedan sped around the corner, its brakes screeching as it barreled straight toward us.

Having been blind for seven years, my reflexes were useless. I froze like a deer in headlights.

"Look out!"

Ethan screamed.

His hand, inches from my wrist, jerked back in an instinctive reflex—and wrapped around Chloe, shielding her body with his own.

The car swerved violently, its side mirror grazing past my coat before skidding to a halt.

I wasn't hit.

But inside my chest, something shattered into irreparable shards.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt—"

Ethan frantically patted down Chloe’s arms and waist. Finding her unharmed, he turned toward me as an afterthought. "Autumn?"

A laugh spilled from my lips, accompanied by hot, silent tears.

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and looked dead into Chloe’s stunned face.

"I'm fine," I said clearly.

"Long time no see, Chloe. Congratulations on getting everything you ever wanted."

Ethan froze. His face drained of all color, his eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated horror.

"Autumn... You... You can see?"