Blinded by Love

In the sixth year after I went blind for Adrian, he stepped out of a luxury car with his pregnant wife in his arms. He completely ignored my mom being kicked out of the hospital.

He gripped my chin with a cold laugh. What a pathetic sight. When you abandoned me, did you ever think you'd have a day like this?

I was used to his cruel words, until he turned and scooped up another woman.

"There are steps ahead. You can't see, so I'll carry you."

I?froze. Why was Lily blind too?

The person who donated corneas to Adrian was me!

Ava's POV

In the sixth year after I went blind for Adrian, I ran into him at the hospital entrance.

My vegetative mother and I had been kicked out of the hospital for unpaid bills. Meanwhile, Adrian was helping a radiantly happy Lily out of a luxury car for her prenatal checkup.

After six years apart, he suddenly rushed up to me, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Ava? You... why didn't you tell me you went blind?"

My whole body stiffened as I clutched my white cane in embarrassment.

"It's none of your business."

Just then, a familiar female voice came from beside me.

"Honey, who is it?"

Adrian's tone instantly became incredibly gentle.

"Someone unimportant."

Listening to his familiar inflection, my heart felt like it was being pricked with needles, a dense, pervasive pain.

He had always been this tender only with people he loved.

He lifted Lily into his arms.

"There are steps ahead. You can't see, so I'll carry you."

I raised my head in shock.

Why couldn't Lily see either?

Before I could figure it out, several security guards came running out with batons, barking at me.

"What are you still doing here? Get lost!"

I immediately shielded my mother's stretcher behind me.

"What right do you have to kick us out? Years ago, I donated my eyes to Adrian, and his mother personally promised that my mom could stay at the hospital for the rest of her life!"

The security guards burst out laughing as if they'd heard the joke of the century, spitting at me.

"You lying bitch! It was Miss Lily who donated her eyes to Mr. Reed!"

"That's impossible!"

My body trembled uncontrollably.

A crowd of onlookers gradually gathered around.

"This girl looks pretty pitiful. What's going on?"

"Pitiful?"

A shrill female voice rang out.

"I heard she was Mr. Reed's mistress for four years, and now that he's married, she's pretending to be the benefactor who donated eyes! Everyone knows Miss Lily loved Mr. Reed so deeply she donated her perfectly good eyes without hesitation!"

"What a shameless whore!"

The vile insults stabbed into my heart like knives, followed by foul-smelling garbage being hurled at me.

Suddenly, a worn shoe slammed hard into my forehead. Searing pain shot through me as I cried out through bloody tears.

"I'm not! I'm not pretending!"

Just then, Adrian, who had turned back, grabbed me by the collar and yanked me up, his voice laced with poison.

"What a pathetic sight."

"When you abandoned me, did you ever think you'd have a day like this?"

My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, the sourness making my eyes burn.

That year, my mother and I were fishing when we found a handsome blind man.

He said his name was Adrian Reed and that he'd run away from an arranged marriage.

He was irritable and extremely proud, but I happened to have a temper too.

The two of us bickered from the moment we met, and somehow, we fell in love.

Until our second year together, a wealthy woman found me.

"Five million dollars. Leave my son."

That's when I learned Adrian was the sole heir of the wealthy Reed family, and he'd jumped into the sea to escape his arranged marriage.

And now, the Reed family was dragging him back to complete the wedding!

The first time Adrian was forced home, he furiously smashed up the entire mansion.

The second time they brought him back, he destroyed the house again.

The third time, he held a knife to his own throat and declared to everyone.

"In this life, I only recognize Ava as mine!"

But everything changed the year we graduated from college.

Mom was tricked into going to the border, and Adrian had an accident while rescuing her.

In the end, Mom became a vegetable, and Adrian nearly lost his life.

At the hospital, Adrian's mother threw money in my face again.

"Leave my son! You're not on the same level. He nearly died for you. He's done more than enough! Your mother's in a vegetative state. The medical bills must be astronomical, right?"

I understood her implication.

"Fine. I'll leave."

I looked at Adrian lying unconscious in the hospital bed.

"I heard... his eyes can be treated, they just need suitable corneas."

I smiled bitterly as tears fell to the floor.

"I'll donate my eyes to him. I don't want to owe him anything. This way we'll be even."

Adrian's mother looked at me with unexpected attention.

"Alright. In that case, the Reed family will take care of your mother for the rest of her life."

But in just six short years, she'd completely forgotten about us!

"Back then, I promised your mother I'd take good care of you."

Adrian's voice pulled me back from my thoughts. He gripped my chin, barely concealing his hatred.

"You're coming back with me!"

I bit my lip, struggling.

"I won't!"

Adrian suddenly laughed.

"You don't have a choice! If your mom doesn't get back on life support soon, she'll die."

Ava's POV

At the mention of my mother, I instantly deflated.

I opened my mouth, and after a long moment, forced out a single word.

"Fine."

Adrian raised his hand in satisfaction, and the bodyguards behind him immediately carried my mother's stretcher back to the VIP ward.

The late autumn wind scraped across my face. I was so cold I clutched the corner of my coat, my cane trembling slightly in my hand.

Until Adrian's voice rang out again.

"Get in the car."

I moved toward his voice, but just as I reached the car, Adrian suddenly stuck out his foot in front of me.

"My shoe's dirty. Clean it."

As he spoke, he casually pulled something from the car and tossed it to me.

I caught the long, thick piece of fabric, and suddenly felt a pattern.

My breathing came to an abrupt halt.

This wasn't just any fabric-it was the first scarf I'd ever knitted for Adrian, and the only one!

A sharp pain lanced through my heart. My eyes burned, but I bit down hard on my lip.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up."

Adrian urged impatiently.

I forced down the sourness and crouched down, each wipe feeling like self-torture.

After the final swipe, I stood and handed the scarf back to Adrian.

He frowned as he took it, didn't even glance at it, and casually tossed it into a nearby trash can.

"Dirty thing. Might as well throw it away."

Along with the scarf, the last remnants of my feelings for Adrian were also tossed into the garbage.

I lowered my eyes, hiding my tears.

Back at the Reed mansion, Adrian sat on the sofa, mocking me.

"Explain. What exactly happened to your eyes? Did you catch some disease messing around abroad and go blind?"

The sharp words pierced my heart like needles.

I'd long grown used to his harsh tongue, but my heart still contracted painfully beyond my control.

I clenched my fists tightly, instinctively shouting.

"I didn't! My eyes were clearly donated to..."

Before I could finish, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance.

Lily walked in with empty, unfocused eyes, surrounded by several maids.

"Lily."

Adrian immediately stood to greet her.

"Why didn't you call me to pick you up?"

Lily glanced in my direction with her hollow eyes, which trembled slightly, then smiled weakly.

"I can manage on my own."

She paused.

"Honey, I think I left the medicine the doctor prescribed in the car. Could you go get it?"

Adrian agreed without hesitation.

"Sure, I'll go right now."

As he turned, he didn't even glance at me and quickly left the living room.

The maids tactfully retreated. The moment they were gone, Lily's previously weak and harmless demeanor vanished.

She walked straight up to me and snorted coldly.

"Ava, why won't you just go away?"

My body shook.

"You're faking? You can see?"

Lily burst out laughing.

"That's right. Thanks to your eyes, I'm now the benefactor who saved Adrian, while you're just a hypocritical woman who abandoned him for money!"

My chest tightened. Trembling, I lunged forward and pinned Lily to the ground, screaming.

"How could you do this?"

Lily only laughed harder.

"I'm warning you. Keep everything that happened back then to yourself. Otherwise, tomorrow will be the day your mom stops breathing!"

I suddenly fell silent and collapsed to the floor, releasing my grip.

Just then, a brutal force yanked me up.

"Ava! What the hell are you doing?"

I was thrown down hard. Then Adrian tenderly gathered Lily from the floor into his arms.

"Lily, are you okay?"

Lily said tearfully and pitifully.

"Honey, is she a new maid? I only asked her a few questions and she tried to hit me!"

"I..."

I tried desperately to explain, but Adrian cut me off.

"That's right, she's newly hired help."

Adrian's lips curved up as he shouted at me.

"What are you standing there for? Get back to the servants' quarters!"

I flinched in fear-this was the first time Adrian had ever spoken to me so harshly!

Late that night, I lay on a cramped bed crying.

After a long while, I fumbled for a phone designed for the blind and made a call.

"It's me. You once promised me three favors. Does that still stand?"

The voice on the other end immediately responded.

"Of course."

I took a deep breath.

"First, help me and my mom leave this place. Second, I need ten million dollars. Third..."

I paused.

"I want Adrian to know the whole truth. I don't owe him anything!"

The voice on the other end didn't hesitate for a moment.

"Alright. Give me one week. I'll arrange everything."

Ava's POV

The next day, after being bossed around all morning, I walked into the dining room. A familiar smell hit me, and I stopped in my tracks.

Chicken soup!

I knew this smell all too well.

That year I had a terrible cold and was burning with fever, deliriously mumbling that I wanted my mom's soup.

Adrian panicked and fumbled his way into the kitchen despite being blind, only to get his hands covered in blisters from the stove.

When I woke up and saw the injuries on his hands, I was both heartbroken and angry. I could only pull him along, teaching him over and over to recognize ingredients by touch, to judge the heat by sound...

When the soup was finally done, he excitedly took my hand.

"I learned it! Ava, from now on I'll only make this for you."

In a daze, I heard Adrian's voice again.

"Lily, does it taste good?"

My fingers gripping the cane tightened sharply.

Right. He didn't love me anymore. How could his promises still count?

"Ava."

Adrian's voice suddenly turned cold.

"Come serve Lily some soup."

I steadied myself and carefully moved toward the sound, gripping my cane.

Following the steam rising from the soup bowl, I found the dining table. My fingertips had just touched the rim when Lily said sweetly.

"Thank you. Please be careful."

I frowned and slowly scooped up the soup with a spoon. Just as the spoon was about to reach Lily, I suddenly felt her shift her head slightly.

Adrian immediately snapped.

"Ava, you're just blind, not handless! Can't you even feed someone properly? Hurry up and wipe Lily's mouth!"

I clenched my fists secretly and patiently pulled a tissue from my pocket, fumbling to wipe Lily's mouth.

The moment my fingers touched Lily's face, she suddenly screamed and jerked away.

The soup bowl completely overturned, scalding soup spilling all over me.

I gasped sharply.

Lily threw herself into Adrian's arms, her voice breaking with tears.

"Honey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. It's just that this maid's hands are so rough they hurt my face."

Adrian held her, gently patting her back.

"Silly girl, no need to apologize. You've been pampered since childhood-don't I know how delicate your skin is?"

Lily nuzzled into his embrace.

"Honey, stop..."

Adrian's gaze suddenly turned on me, cruel and cutting.

"Unlike some people who are born lowly. No amount of money can change that poor fate!"

The moment he finished speaking, I felt my heart being violently torn open.

My hands really weren't delicate.

I'd worked with my mother fishing by the sea since childhood, weathered by wind and sun, gradually developing calluses on my palms.

But the Adrian of the past had held my hands and kissed those calluses tenderly.

"How could I ever find them ugly? I only regret not meeting you sooner, letting you suffer so much..."

So had he stopped loving me, or had all those words been lies from the very beginning?

"Apologize to Lily right now!"

Adrian snarled viciously.

"I'm sorry..."

I dug my nails into my palm, feeling the warmth in my heart gradually dissipate as cold wind howled through, the pain making it almost impossible to breathe.

Just then, the phone in my pocket suddenly rang.

I grabbed onto it like a lifeline, hastily fumbling to answer.

"Is this Miss Ava? This is the hospital. Your mother is showing signs of waking up. Please come as soon as possible."

The words struck like thunder in my ears.

Instantly, all the sourness that had built up in my heart vanished. I trembled with excitement.

"Really? That's wonderful... I'll come right away!"

Suddenly, a hand clamped around my wrist. The phone was violently snatched away and smashed on the floor.

Adrian gripped me.

"You're not going!"

Ava's POV

"Give me back my phone!"

I lunged at him frantically.

"What right do you have to stop me? My mom is waking up!"

With just a light push, Adrian sent me stumbling to the floor.

He looked down at me without an ounce of pity.

"You think I'd give you another chance to leave? You're not going anywhere except here."

I clutched desperately at his pant leg.

"Adrian, you can't do this! That's my mother!"

I cried and pounded on his back.

"Please, let me go see her..."

But the next second, Adrian violently yanked his pants free, the force making me stagger back and slam hard into the corner of the dining table.

"Tired? Let me take you to rest."

He tenderly lifted Lily into his arms and kissed her forehead. As he passed me, his eyes turned brutal.

"If you dare make a scene, I'll turn off your mother's ventilator right now."

Lily lazily leaned against Adrian and glanced at me triumphantly, saying softly.

"Pathetic."

My whole body trembled. Clutching my cane, tears streamed down my face.

Heavy rain fell that night. I secretly felt my way to the door, only to find all the exits locked.

No. I had to go see my mom...

I fumbled to the window and without hesitation grabbed the frame and jumped down.

Fortunately it was the first floor. I bit down hard and slowly stood up against the wall, gripping my cane tightly as I headed in the direction I remembered the hospital to be.

The rain was too heavy, blurring my hearing and sense of touch. I carefully shuffled forward, constantly murmuring.

"Excuse me, which way to the hospital? Please help me..."

All along the way, car horns blared constantly.

"Are you blind? Can't you watch where you're going!"

"If you're blind, don't go outside!"

"I'm sorry..."

I kept apologizing.

I don't know how long I walked. Suddenly I tripped, my cane hitting a hard object. Before I could react, my forehead slammed hard into a lamppost.

A dull thud, then blunt pain exploded instantly.

My vision was already pitch black, but now my ears were ringing and even the surrounding car sounds became muffled.

I staggered back two steps, lost my balance and fell to the ground. My knees hit the concrete-another piercing pain.

All the grievances and fear completely collapsed in that moment.

I couldn't hold on anymore. I covered my face with both hands, my shoulders shaking violently.

In a trance, I remembered when Adrian's mother talked to me years ago. After returning, I packed my things and moved from our apartment back to my dorm.

Unable to sleep that night, I suddenly received a message from Adrian.

"Come down. I'm outside your dorm."

I ran downstairs to find Adrian soaked through in the pouring rain, his face covered in obvious scrapes.

Through the rain, not knowing how many times he'd fallen, he'd walked step by step to find me!

I softened and hugged him. The usually sullen Adrian cried pitifully.

"Ava, don't leave. Without you I'll go crazy..."

Suddenly the sound of an ambulance siren reached my ears.

I jerked my head up, joy flooding my heart.

I'd actually made it!

I quickly scrambled up, but just as I lifted my leg, someone grabbed me.

A familiar scent enveloped me. My whole body stiffened.

"Well, well. You've really grown some nerve, Ava."

Adrian threw me roughly into the car. The door slammed shut with a bang.

"Drive!"

I frantically pounded on the window.

"Let me out! I need to see my mom! Please, Adrian, just one look!"

Adrian pressed down hard on my flailing hands and bit down viciously on my lip.

"Let go of me!"

I kept twisting my body until I tasted thick blood, and only then did Adrian slowly release me.

"You like running away so much? Fine."

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, enunciating each word.

"Tomorrow you'll go to the cathedral for Lily and pray."

"Do that, and I'll let you see your mother."

Ava's POV

I froze, tears of bitterness streaming down my face.

The year Adrian and I first got together, I heard the nearby cathedral's prayers were especially effective, so without telling him, I went to the cathedral alone early one morning to pray.

I only asked God to have mercy and let Adrian regain his sight, to see me with his own eyes.

When Adrian found out, he went on a hunger strike for three days, refusing even water, and finally landed himself in the hospital.

He gripped my hand desperately, his voice breaking.

"Ava, why are you so foolish? Promise me you'll never go again, okay? I'd rather be blind forever than have you suffer..."

But now?

He was actually making me walk that path again-for another woman!

I raised my hand and roughly wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

"Fine. I agree."

The next day, before dawn, I was already standing at the cathedral entrance.

Adrian lit a cigarette, and through the swirling smoke, mocked me.

"It's not too late to back out now."

I ignored him, gripping my cane, and slowly began.

The cathedral's prayer bells rang, as if returning me to years ago.

My eyes had been full of hope then.

"May the one I love regain his sight soon..."

But this time, I closed my eyes.

"I only ask to have nothing more to do with Adrian Reed."

Many passersby walked past the cathedral, curious and pitying gazes constantly falling on me.

"This girl is blind, right? What's she praying for so devoutly?"

"Isn't it obvious? She must be praying for sight."

"Maybe her love life is rough and she's praying for romance?"

I ignored them all, mechanically repeating my actions.

An elderly priest happened to come out. He remembered me.

Seeing my bedraggled state, he could only pray with compassion.

"May the Lord bless you. I hope you can escape this suffering soon."

I pulled my lips into an ugly smile, my voice weak.

"You're teasing me again..."

By afternoon, I was so exhausted I was nearly ready to pass out, but images of my mother lying in a hospital bed kept flashing through my mind.

"Ava, almost there. You're almost there..."

My legs trembling, I took the cross the priest handed me.

In that instant, the small cross felt as heavy as a branding iron, burning my palm.

I fumbled to stand, staggering down the mountain.

The path down was even harder than going up. By the time I returned to the Reed mansion, it was deep into the night.

I was covered in mud, utterly disheveled.

Voices drifted faintly from the living room.

I paused mid-step, instinctively lightening my movements as I headed toward the sound.

"Her mother's been responding well to the new medication lately."

Adrian's cold voice filtered through the half-open door.

Joy leaped in my chest. Suddenly nothing hurt anymore.

But the next second, Adrian sneered coldly.

"Stop using it. Switch back to the old one. Just keep her alive. It doesn't matter if she never wakes up."

"Only if Ava's mother stays in the hospital forever will Ava obediently do what I say for the rest of her life."

How dare he do this!

I slammed the door open, the force making it crash against the wall with a loud bang.