Chapter 8

" I shouldn't have acted the way I did," Vivian said on the phone. "I'll make it up to you tonight. If you want, I'll even write you an apology letter.

"The day after tomorrow, I'm holding a press conference. I'll give you half of my company's shares. I want you to see just how sincere I am and how much I love you. From now on, we'll live a good life together.

"For the next two days, I'll make sure Cece is happy. Then, the day after tomorrow, I'll take her out."

Even at this point, she was still putting on an act. She had pretended to love me for seven years, and I had spent seven years believing her.

Now, it was finally time to end it.

"Okay. I'll have a surprise for you the day after tomorrow, too."

After hanging up, I took out my SIM card, snapped it in half, and threw it in the trash. In just a little over ten hours, nothing in this life would have anything to do with me anymore.

Vivian assumed I had finally forgiven her. Throughout the countless arguments we'd had, all it ever took was a small apology from her to make my anger disappear.

Hearing that I was preparing a surprise for her, Vivian suddenly found herself looking forward to it. She decided to put all her attention into the upcoming press conference.

That day, she planned to publicly announce our marriage, transfer 60% of her company's shares to me, and another 20% to her daughter, Celine.

She had even planned to secretly register our marriage after the press conference, using taking photos as an excuse to get me there.

…

On the day of the press conference, Vivian was busy greeting the media, hoping they would livestream the entire event. She wanted everyone to know how much she loved me and finally give me the sense of security she thought I needed.

Alex and several executives repeatedly asked her, "Ms. Rhodes, are you really sure you want to transfer 60% of the company to Mr. Reed?

"You built this company from the ground up. He's blind now and doesn't understand the business. Isn't this too risky?"

Vivian refused to back down.

"He's my husband. This is my way of making it up to him. I'm only giving him the shares. I'll still run the company," she said firmly. "If you can't accept that, you can resign. I'll approve it immediately."

The executives and Alex had no choice but to reluctantly go along with it.

Once everything was arranged, Vivian picked up her phone and sent me a voice message. "Jules, did the driver pick you up? Are you on your way?"

One minute passed.

Then two.

Then three…

I still didn't reply.

Vivian suddenly felt uneasy. She remembered that I was blind now and figured I might not be using my phone much anymore.

So she called me. But the automated message saying I couldn't be reached played on and on.

Each unanswered call rang in her ears like a funeral bell.

Maybe my phone had died. Maybe I'd put it on silent.

Even though I was blind, there were plenty of household staff at home. And she had already sent a driver to pick me up. Nothing could have happened to me.

At least, that was what she told herself.

Then she remembered the surprise I had promised her.

But the more she tried to reassure herself, the stronger her unease became.

The reporters outside were already urging her to start the press conference.

She sent the driver another voice message, asking when he would arrive. Then, with the reporters pressing her to begin, she hurried to the press conference.

The moment she was ready to go on stage, the driver called.

"Ms. Rhodes, Mr. Reed isn't home. I've searched everywhere. He's gone."

Vivian completely lost her composure. "Then find him! He can't see. What if something happened to him? Get people out there and search the entire city!"

The moment she hung up, Alex came rushing over, his face deathly pale.

"Something's wrong, Ms. Rhodes. We found a suicide note from Mr. Reed, and he's been missing for two days."