Chapter 1

On the day Roxanne Eagan registered her marriage, she dragged Marissa Eagan along as a witness. Marissa, who lost her vision in an accident years ago, had just regained her eyesight. She had wanted to surprise her husband with the good news that day, but her plan was disrupted when she was called to bear witness to Roxanne's marriage registration. Before long, she watched a jaw-dropping scene unfold. Her husband, Joshua Colman, approached her with her stepsister, Roxanne. Arm-in-arm, they looked intimate. At first, Marissa thought there was a problem with her eyesight. She must have seen it wrong. Meanwhile, Roxanne clung to her man with joy. "Darling, after the registration today, you'll be mine and only mine." Joshua playfully swiped the tip of her nose. "Darling, I've always been yours. Call me 'hubby." "Hubby, I'll call you that many times tonight." They flirted like no one was around. By then, Marissa finally noticed that tiny mole underneath Joshua's droopy eyes—her favorite feature of his since she was young. When they started dating and before she went blind, she once praised him, "That mole at the corner of your eye is so charming! You look like a loverboy when you smile. Your smile is only reserved for me!" Back then, he held her in her arms with tenderness in his eyes. "I'm all yours. I only have eyes for you." Yet, he was now getting married to another woman. Worse still, she was Marissa's stepsister. Marissa clutched the hem of her dress with a forced smile. To confirm, she asked, "Roxanne, your husband sounds like Joshua." The two had been flirting, thinking she couldn't see them, but they froze at her question. Joshua lowered his gaze. He calmly replied, "Really? You might just miss your husband too much, which is why you're mistaken." "Yeah, Marie. I nearly forgot that Joshua is on a business trip for a few days. Too bad he has to miss my marriage registration." Marissa could only smile. Joshua, who had hugged her longingly before his business trip, had now become her brother-in-law. Roxanne even had the audacity to invite her to witness their registration, thinking she was still blind. Marissa was wearing sunglasses. She wanted to cry, but she had no tears left. Her throat and eyes were in pain, though. In a daze, she stayed until the registration was over. The staff at the city hall handed Roxanne the marriage certificate. "Congratulations on your marriage." Marissa smiled wryly. She wondered who her husband was if Joshua had married Roxanne. She excused herself, saying that she felt unwell. She left with the help of her caretaker. Once she got home, she saw a chat window pop up on the screen of Joshua's laptop. He never bothered to password-protect his devices since Marissa was blind. But she was no longer blind. She clearly saw Roxanne's message in a group chat. Roxanne had written, "Here's our marriage certificate, fresh out of the oven. Please call me 'Mrs. Colman.'" Joshua's friends immediately replied with thumbs-up emojis. "Joshua is really something. He gets to have both women because Marissa is blind. But Joshua, isn't it against the law to get married to two women at once?" Another friend chimed in, "Don't you know? When Joshua registered his marriage to Marissa, he used his younger brother's identity! They're two peas in a pod, so the city hall staff didn't catch it at all! Isn't that amazing?" "What a brilliant scheme! He has my respect. But knowing how stubborn Marissa is, she might never forgive Joshua if the truth comes to light." "That's why Joshua reminded her physician to never treat her eyes. On the one hand, he can keep Marissa blind. On the other, Roxanne can get the marriage she wants." Joshua went online at that moment. His monochrome profile lit up. He reminded his friends, "Keep it a secret from Marissa. Don't worry about her." His friends flooded the chat with congratulatory messages, and he responded by promising to treat them to a feast. Marissa stumbled and collapsed onto the couch. The pain was eating her alive. His promise was a sham; their marriage certificate was a hoax. He didn't even plan to let her get her eyes treated. She recalled how Joshua had cried in desperation when she lost her eyesight. He spent the entire night outside her hospital ward. The next day, he immediately went home to make their villa fall-proof, installing soft padding on the floors and corner protectors on anything sharp. He had comforted her, "Don't worry, Marie. We'll get your eyesight back. Even if that doesn't happen, I'll stay by your side and become your eyes." Feeling sorry for putting Joshua in so much pain, she vowed to regain her eyesight one day. Little did she know that Joshua was the culprit all along. He had been standing in the way of her recovery, all because he wanted to marry Roxanne. Thankfully, Marissa's friend recommended her to another doctor who successfully treated her eyes. Otherwise, she would've been trapped in Joshua's lie. She broke down and cried for hours. Suddenly, her expression turned vacant, and she stumbled into her bedroom. There, she checked her marriage certificate that she never had a chance to see in the last five years. As expected, she found Gabriel's name on the certificate. It took her four hours to calm down after the discovery. Joshua's promise sounded like a joke now. He had promised to find a way to cure her blindness, and if that failed, he'd stay by her side and be her eyes. But now that her eyesight was restored, she no longer needed Joshua. The next morning, she wiped away her tears and left home to settle two pressing matters.