Chapter 2 - Elena Was Alive, but the Woman Standing Beside Me Had Spent Four Years Making Sure I Never Found HerElena touched my face.
Her fingers trembled.
I remembered those hands.
I remembered the way they used to brush my hair away from my forehead.
I remembered falling asleep beside her.
I remembered promising her forever.
Then she pulled away.
“You shouldn't have come.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You disappeared.”
“I was forced to.”
“Who?”
She looked toward Isabella.
“Her.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
Elena's voice broke.
“You know what you did.”
I turned toward Isabella.
“What did she do?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
She didn't answer.
Lily came running toward Elena.
“Mama.”
Elena hugged her.
I heard Lily whisper,
“He came.”
Elena began crying.
“You found him.”
I frowned.
“You knew I would?”
“She knew you eventually would.”
“Who?”
Elena didn't answer.
I heard movement.
Then Lily touched my face.
“Mister Dominic?”
“Yes?”
“I told you I can heal you.”
I smiled faintly.
“I don't think anyone can.”
Lily shook her head.
“Mama says your eyes aren't broken.”
Elena inhaled.
I turned toward her.
“What does that mean?”
She hesitated.
“Your optic nerves were damaged.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice became quiet.
“They were deliberately suppressed.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The doctors lied.”
I felt my pulse in my throat.
“Why?”
“Because the same people who attacked you four years ago are the people who blinded you six months ago.”
I couldn't speak.
Two attacks.
One conspiracy.
And Isabella stood silently behind me.
I turned.
“Isabella?”
She whispered,
“Dominic…”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
I listened.
She was breathing too quickly.
She was lying.
I knew her breathing.
Six months of blindness had taught me to identify every person by sound.
And Isabella's breathing changed whenever she lied.
I took one step toward her.
“Did you know?”
She finally whispered,
“Yes.”
Everything became silent.
Even Lily stopped moving.
I asked,
“Why?”
Isabella began crying.
“Because I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
She said nothing.
Elena spoke.
“She was paid.”
“By whom?”
Elena answered.
“Your uncle.”
My stomach dropped.
Richard Hale.
My father's younger brother.
The man who had raised me after my parents died.
The man who taught me how to run an empire.
The man I trusted more than anyone.
I whispered,
“He's dead.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He's alive.”
Then she gave me the truth.
Richard had staged his death two years ago.
He had been secretly controlling my organization.
He had arranged Elena's disappearance.
He had arranged my blindness.
And he had placed Isabella beside me.
Not as my fiancée.
As my jailer.
I felt something inside me break.
But Lily touched my hand.
“Don't be sad.”
I crouched.
“How can I not?”
She smiled.
“Because you found us.”
I swallowed.
“Us?”
She nodded.
“Me and Mama.”
I reached toward her face.
My fingers touched her cheek.
Then she placed her tiny hands over mine.
“Close your eyes.”
I almost laughed.
“My eyes are already closed.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Close them harder.”
I did.
Then she touched my eyelids.
“See?”
“No.”
She whispered,
May you like
“Not yet.”
And somehow, for the first time in six months, I believed someone might actually bring the light back.
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