Chapter 2

Marissa's first order of business was to fire Derek Dalton, her physician. After that, she reached out to Gabriel, explained the situation, and asked for a divorce. Gabriel sank into a long silence. "Marissa, I was in the dark about the marriage. I have a month of treatment left. Can we talk about this when I'm back?" She agreed to it without hesitation. In a month, she and Joshua would become strangers. She'd grant his wish of being with Roxanne. Marissa received a call from Joshua after she left the hospital. He sounded puzzled. "Darling, Dr. Dalton told me you fired him. What's wrong? Tell me if he has upset you in any way. I'll take care of it." She smirked with a bitter taste in her mouth. The conversation reminded her of the time when she first lost her eyesight. Feeling emotional, she had dashed out of her ward and toppled an elderly patient in a wheelchair. Joshua had cleaned up the mess, apologizing to the patient and offering a huge sum of compensation. He had even gone so far as to take care of the patient for ten days to win her forgiveness. Ever since then, Joshua would take care of Marissa and make all the necessary arrangements for her comfort. All her dissatisfactions were addressed. His love for her was genuine, but she had never thought that he would show the same affection to another woman. She was not his one and only. Pain ripped through her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes. Still, she put aside her sadness and replied calmly to him, "It's alright. I'll never get better anyway. I want to give up on the treatment." His expression shifted for a moment. Then, he comforted her, "It's fine to give up. You still have me. I'll be back soon with gifts for you. Darling, I told you I'd be your eyes, and that promise is valid for life." She smiled. He had not kept his promise, so there was no future between them. "I'm hanging up. I'm tired." She was about to end the call when he interrupted, saying, "Darling, it's our fifth wedding anniversary next week. I booked the entire place at The Clouds. Save the date." She replied with a barely audible grunt. … On the day of their anniversary, Marissa put on a pair of sunglasses, which she had not done for a while. Before she left home, she had the sudden idea of telling Joshua that she had regained her vision. Since he wished for her to stay blind forever, she would like to see his reaction to the news. He had made huge preparations for the event. He presented her with flowers, a band, a huge cake, and an emerald jewelry set she had been interested in. He lifted her hair, trying to put the expensive necklace on her neck, but his ringing phone interrupted the touching scene. He glanced at Marissa with a troubled look before putting down the necklace. "Sorry, darling. I have urgent work matters to deal with. Wait for me." Through the sunglasses, Marissa noticed the caller ID read "Roxie, Love". She snickered. Joshua called her his darling, and he set her caller ID as "My Angel". But it was different at the end of the day, because only Roxanne had the word "love" in her nickname. Joshua left in a hurry without bothering to ask Marissa about her gift for him. She decided there was no point in giving the gift now. Marissa followed behind Joshua, who drove to the entrance of a villa and parked there. Upon entry, he was greeted by Roxanne excitedly circling her arms around his neck, and they kissed all the way to the glass-to-ceiling windows. The sight made Marissa suffocate. Pain gripped her chest. Three years ago, Joshua had spent three days padding the floors of the same villa. Mirage Heights had been his wedding gift for Marissa. Through the open windows, Marissa watched as they made out. Their stifled moans broke her already vulnerable heart. "Darling, we'll dirty the pads. Marie will be upset if she learns about this." Joshua's eyes carried a dark, unreadable look. "I bet you're only saying that because you're jealous that I padded the villa for Marie." Roxanne buried her head in Joshua's chest. "No! I just think the padding is a little inconvenient. We need to spend a lot of time cleaning it if it's stained. Wooden floors are easier to clean. Besides, you don't want me to wet the padding, do you?" With a smirk, he readily agreed, "Let's remove all the padding. We'll have a chance to install new ones." Following the loud, tearing sound, he pulled the padding from the floor and tossed each one of them into the trash can, a move that shattered Marissa's heart. The shards pierced through her. She walked away from the villa in a daze. Her eyes started to hurt from all the crying, and for a moment, she went blind again.