Chapter 2

After I was discharged from the hospital, Benedict brought me back to the mansion where we'd once made so many memories together.

True to his promise, he scaled back most of his work and stayed home to care for me day and night. He even had an attorney draw up the paperwork to transfer 60% of his shares into my name.

Every sharp edge and corner in the mansion was covered with soft padding, and thick carpeting was laid throughout the house.

To anyone looking in from the outside, Benedict was practically the perfect husband, a man willing to sacrifice everything for his newly disabled wife.

Meanwhile, I turned myself into a puppet and allowed him to control every part of my life.

All the defiance I'd once shown disappeared, replaced by complete obedience and an almost unhealthy dependence on him.

Whenever he moved far enough away that I could no longer sense him, I would immediately call his name in panic. At meals, I obediently ate every bite he fed me.

My dependence fed his need to be the one in control, and before long, the last of his suspicion disappeared.

Benedict thought I'd accepted my fate.

What he didn't know was that every night after he fell asleep, I hid beneath the covers and used a brand-new voice-assisted device for blind people to secretly contact Josephine York, my best friend on the other side of the world.

Josephine wasn't just the person I trusted most. She was also my secret connection to my granddad's family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families around.

Years ago, Benedict had nothing to his name. I had been so determined to marry him that I'd cut ties with my family and moved to this city alone.

Now, I was finally paying the price for letting love blind me.

"Evelyn, are you out of your mind? He had your corneas taken out?"

Josephine was so furious when she learned the truth that she nearly blew a fuse. "I'm coming back right now. I'll make those two sorry they ever crossed you!"

"No, Josephine. Don't do anything reckless."

I kept my voice low—even I was unsettled by how calm I sounded. "Killing them would be letting them off too easy.

"I want them ruined. I want them to lose everything and live long enough to suffer through it. Find me a cornea donor overseas, and work out an escape plan with no loose ends."

While I waited for Josephine to make the arrangements, I asked Benedict to buy me a Braille typewriter.

"Honey, I'm so glad you found something to keep you busy."

He watched as I felt my way across the keys and gently stroked my hair.

Thinking I was only writing a journal to keep myself from sinking into depression, he praised me for being strong.

He had no idea what I was really writing.

Day by day, my hearing and sense of touch grew sharper. Eventually, I could tell who was walking through the mansion just from the sound of their footsteps.

At the same time, Josephine carefully put every part of my escape plan into place.

Soon, everything was ready.

The only thing missing was a believable opportunity for me to vanish completely.

I didn't have to wait long. The perfect opportunity soon walked straight through my front door.