Chapter 1

On the very first day Justin Foster regained his sight, the man I had served for three years was determined to prove he only loved another woman.

Chloe Somers pointed at me, her eyes red as she demanded, "Didn't you say she was just a tool? Then use her as a target. Shoot her three times and prove it to me!"

I was tied to the target post at the shooting range, blood soaking through my dress.

The first shot tore straight through my wrist.

The second shot grazed my ear.

The third shot hit me dead-center in my shoulder.

Justin Foster's eyes finally turned red, and he rushed toward me like a madman.

But Chloe clutched her shoulder and sobbed, "Justin, it hurts so much..."

He froze in his tracks, and ultimately turned around to scoop her into his arms.

Before he walked away, I heard myself laughingly ask him, "Justin Foster, didn't you say you would marry me once you could see again?"

He didn't look back.

And I finally realized that the stupidest thing I had done over the last three years was to guide him out of the darkness.

Clara Somers POV

The sharp, cold scent of disinfectant filled the VIP ward's corridor, sterile and pungent.

"A miracle! This is simply a medical miracle! The pressure on Justin's optic nerve has been completely relieved. He can see again!"

The ward door swung open, the attending physician's voice trembling with sheer excitement.

Sitting on the bench in the corridor, I stood up abruptly. Because I rose too quickly, my vision went black. My frail body swayed, and I had to prop myself against the wall to keep from falling.

It had been three years.

For over a thousand days and nights, I had been like a soulless shadow, never leaving the side of that temperamental, desperate man. Now, the miracle had finally happened. He could finally see.

Justin's mother, Rachel Foster, wept tears of joy, her elegant, graceful face wet with tears. Then, she shifted her gaze to me, standing in the corner so quietly that I might as well have been invisible.

The ecstatic look on her face slowly faded, replaced by cold, calculating scrutiny.

"Clara Somers, come outside with me."

In the hospital’s open-air garden, the early autumn wind carried a bitter chill.

"Now that Justin's eyes are healed, it's time for the Foster family to get back on track," Rachel said, pulling a blank check from her limited-edition handbag and thrusting it toward me. "You've worked hard these past three years, and we won't treat you unfairly. Write down whatever number you want. But there's one condition—leave Justin forever, and never show your face in front of him again."

I stared at the check but didn't reach for it.

Memories of the last three years flashed uncontrollably through my mind.

I remembered when Justin Foster first went blind. He had been like a rabid beast, smashing everything in the room. Shards of glass had sliced deep into my palms, leaving them dripping with blood, yet I had held him tight without uttering a single cry, letting him bite and claw at me to vent his rage.

Eventually, he had calmed down under my touch. On countless late nights, he would bury his face in the crook of my neck, his voice raspy and possessive. "Clara, once my eyes are healed, I'm going to marry you. I'll take you away from the Somers family, and I'll make you the most envied Mrs. Foster in the entire city."

Those tender vows still echoed in my ears, but now, reality crashed down on me like a bucket of ice-cold water.

"Mrs. Foster," I said, my voice quiet and flat, devoid of any emotion as if I had long anticipated this day. "You know as well as I do that the Foster family only accepts respectable ladies from reputable families. A shameful illegitimate daughter like me has never harbored any delusions of marrying into your family."

Rachel let out a cold snort. "At least you have some self-awareness. In that case, take the money and get out."

"I don't want the money." I raised my head, looking Rachel in the eye. "I want you to help me get my mother out of the Somers family. Once she is safe, I will vanish immediately."

Years ago, to appease the Foster family's fury toward Chloe Somers, the Somers family had threatened my mother’s life, forcing me to come to the Foster family to atone for her sins. Every ounce of humiliation I had swallowed over the past three years had been solely for my mother's sake.

Rachel narrowed her eyes as she studied me, seemingly gauging my sincerity. After a tense silence, she nodded decisively. "Fine. I agree. I will have your mother settled abroad within a month. Until then, you had better keep your head down and get ready to pack your bags."

"It's a deal." I cast my eyes downward, masking the sharp sting of pain in my chest.

Just as the words left my mouth, the sharp, hurried clicking of high heels echoed from the garden entrance.

"Justin! Where is Justin?!"

My entire body went rigid.

A woman in a red haute couture gown and perfectly styled waves came running toward us, weeping hysterically. It was Chloe Somers—the very culprit who had caused Justin Foster's car crash and subsequent blindness, only to flee the country and dump the entire mess onto me.

The moment Rachel saw Chloe Somers, her face turned pale with rage. Pointing a finger, she screamed, "You shameless bitch! How dare you show your face here! If it weren't for you, Justin wouldn't have suffered for the past three years! Get out! Get the hell out of here!"

Chloe Somers sobbed even harder, throwing herself onto her knees with a heavy thud. "I was wrong! I was just so scared back then..."

"Security! Throw her out!" Rachel barked.

Just as the guards were about to grab Chloe Somers, a window on the second floor of the VIP building swung open.

A man stood there in loose hospital scrubs. Though his pale complexion bore the sickly cast of someone locked away from the sun, it couldn't diminish his chiseled, breathtakingly handsome features. Those eyes, once hollow and lifeless, were now locked with laser precision onto the woman in the red dress below.

"Mom, let her in."

Justin Foster's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an absolute, unquestionable authority.

Shrouded in the shadows of the garden trees, I stared up at the man I had tended to night and day. I bit my lower lip so hard that the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

I knew then that it was time to wake up from my dream.