Chapter 2

Clara Somers POV

The atmosphere in the ward grew suffocatingly tense.

Chloe Somers flung herself against the side of Justin Foster’s bed, weeping hysterically as her manicured hands clutched tightly at Justin's sleeve. "Justin, you can see... you can finally see! Do you have any idea how I survived these past three years? I was abroad, praying for you every single day, living a life worse than death!"

Justin Foster leaned back against the head of the bed, his newly healed eyes squinting slightly against the light. He didn’t push Chloe Somers away. He simply listened to her sobbing in silence.

Rachel stood by, shaking with rage. "Cut the act, Chloe Somers! You were the one who insisted on dragging Justin into that race, and you fled faster than anyone when the crash happened! Now that he’s cured, you crawl back to take the credit?"

"I didn't! I swear I didn't!" Chloe Somers snapped her head around, her perfectly lined eyes turning venomous as they landed on me in the corner. She pointed a finger and shrieked, "It was her! It was that bitch, Clara!"

I raised my eyes, watching her performance with cold detachment.

"Justin, you have to believe me!" Chloe Somers turned back to Justin Foster, tears streaming down her face in a display of pure, fragile vulnerability. "After the crash, I wanted nothing more than to stay and care for you. But Clara, that illegitimate daughter... she was so jealous of my status as the eldest daughter of the Somers family. She wanted to use your tragedy to claim you for herself and steal my place! She colluded with the family to force me out of the country! If it weren't for her, I would have been the one by your side all these years!"

Distorting the truth, shifting the blame.

It was utterly absurd. To escape the Foster family's wrath, Chloe Somers had booked a flight and fled to Europe overnight. To appease Rachel's anger, the head of the Somers family had bound me hand and foot and thrown me to the Foster family. Now, every single sin was somehow being pinned on me.

"You lying snake!" Rachel fumed. "You were the coward who ran away because you were terrified—"

"Enough."

Justin, who had remained silent the entire time, spoke up, cutting his mother off. His voice was low and gravelly, carrying the fragility of someone newly recovered, yet it held a bone-chilling coldness.

He reached out, gently brushing away the tears on Chloe's face. The gesture carried a tenderness I had never once seen from him in all of my three years.

"Chloe, don't cry anymore. I believe you."

*I believe you.*

Those three words pierced my heart like a dagger, twisting deep.

Rachel stared at him in disbelief. "Justin, have you lost your mind? You believe this liar? Who do you think took care of you day and night for the past three years? It was Clara! When you threw tantrums and shattered everything in sight, she was the one who held you. When your migraines were unbearable, she massaged you through the night! How can you possibly—"

"Mom, I said enough," Justin replied, his expression darkening with clear impatience.

He turned his head, his gaze passing right over Rachel to finally land on me, tucked away in the corner.

This was the first time since regaining his sight that Justin Foster was actually looking at me.

For three years, he had only known me through touch. He knew I was thin, that my fingers were slightly calloused from manual labor, and that I always carried a faint, calming scent.

Now, he was seeing me with his own eyes. I felt his gaze linger on my face for several seconds, as if he were trying to reconcile my face with his memory. His brow furrowed slightly.

I didn't cry or scream. I simply stood there, perfectly still.

A flash of undeniable awe flickered in Justin Foster’s eyes, though it vanished in an instant. But Chloe Somers, who had been watching him like a hawk, didn't miss it. A wave of frantic jealousy and hatred flashed across her face, her manicured nails digging deep into her palms.

Justin Foster looked at me coldly, his tone returning to its usual aloof, condescending disdain.

"Clara Somers, regardless of what scheme you used to force your way into my life, you did care for me over the last three years. For that, I am grateful."

He paused, pulling Chloe Somers close against his chest before delivering his final verdict. "But gratitude is not love. The only woman I have ever loved, and will ever love, is Chloe. You are dismissed."

Staring at the embracing couple, a wave of profound disgust churned in my stomach.

I didn't offer a single word of defense. There was no point in trying to wake someone who was determined to play blind. I merely gave a slight nod, my voice as flat and empty as stagnant water. "Very well. I wish Mr. Foster and Ms. Somers eternal happiness."

With that, I turned and walked out of the room, my posture straight and proud, without a single backward glance.