Chapter 1

On the fifth New Year since Alice and Camden's marriage, he suddenly disappeared. Alice went to file a report with the police. After reading her statement, the officer's expression grew strange. But she was blind, so she didn't see it. "Ma'am, it says here your husband is Mr. Camden Bennett. May I ask what your name is?" "I'm Alice Wilson. Do you have news about Camden already?" Alice replied, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes. The officer furrowed his brows and slammed the desk. "Ma'am, I need you to cooperate with us by telling us your real name." Alice was stunned. "But that is my real name." Behind her, a delinquent scoffed. "Yo, blindy, just because you look like someone doesn't give you the right to impersonate them. Besides, everyone in the whole city knows Mr. Bennett gifted his wife a ten-billion-dollar yacht to celebrate her pregnancy. In fact, Mrs. Bennett's been posting nine-pic dumps every day—it's been trending for a while." At that moment, the LED screen across from them was playing an interview with Camden. "Mr. Bennett, it was New Year's Eve yesterday. What wish did you make for the new year?" the reporter asked. "That my precious wife will have a safe delivery and a joyful, peaceful life, of course," Camden answered. "Oh, thank you, darling." The moment Elena's sweet, familiar voice rang out, Alice felt her scalp prickle and her face go pale. … Five years ago, Alice was blinded in a car accident, and Camden was devastated. Everyone in Gearwin said the heir to the Bennett family would never marry a blind woman. Someone had even found a college student who bore an 80% resemblance to Alice and secretly sent her to his bed. But when Camden found out, he nearly strangled her. That college student was none other than Elena Lovell. His eyes had been bloodshot, every nerve in him straining to keep from erupting, as he yelled, "Get out! Alice is the only one I love. Anyone who just looks like her makes me sick." That night, he had driven to the hospital in anguish and wrapped Alice tightly in his arms. "Darling, let's get married tomorrow. I want you to take your place as the true mistress of the Bennett family," he said, his scorching tears dripping onto her shoulder. Everyone knew Camden loved Alice madly and hated Elena to the core. Yet now, why was it that the one rightfully standing at his side was Elena, masquerading as Alice? Alice felt a sharp pain in her chest, and an overwhelming chill spread through her. Just what on earth was going on? She had to find Camden and demand the truth. She stumbled out of the police station in a daze, only to be knocked unconscious by a falling billboard. Before losing consciousness, she thought she heard someone anxiously saying, "Darling, what happened to you?" When she opened her eyes again, a piercing white glare stabbed her vision, making her flinch. The next instant, her eyes widened in shock. She had miraculously regained her sight. But before she could take in this unfamiliar world, voices belonging to Camden and his friend drifted in from outside the door. "Camden, how long are you going to let Elena pretend to be Alice? It's already been five years!" Camden exhaled heavily and replied in a voice thick with pain, "I don't know either. Back then, the board members in my company flatly refused to let me marry a blind woman. "But I loved Alice too much. I had no choice but to lie to them, claiming her eyesight had been restored—and had Elena pose as her." "But they're all dead now. So, why are you still—" "Elena's pregnant," Camden cut him off, his tone edged with irritation. "And besides… I don't even know why, but after all this time pretending, it feels like I really can't live without her anymore." His friend stared at him in shock. "Are you out of your mind? You've actually developed feelings for Elena? Have you forgotten it was Elena's drunkard brother who caused the accident years ago? "If not for him, Alice wouldn't have lost her sight. And if she ever finds out about all this—" "Enough!" Camden snapped with a frown. "Elena's innocent. What her brother did has nothing to do with her. I already had that drunk thrown in prison, and he's never getting out. "As for Alice—ever since she lost her sight, she hasn't liked going out anymore. There's no signal here either, so with her staying in this castle I carefully built for her, she'll never discover the truth for as long as she lives." Inside the room, Alice bit down hard on her lip as tears streamed down her face. Even though the castle was warm year-round, she still felt a bone-deep chill spread through every part of her body. She pulled out a stack of exquisitely drawn paintings from her bedside table. Each one was sketched by Camden himself to capture pieces of her past. The first painting captured the moment she met Camden during a desert expedition. He had broken his leg, and she took care of him for three days and nights. The third painting depicted Camden climbing a snow peak more than 13 thousand feet high alone to bring her a single edelweiss flower. The eighth painting portrayed the time she mentioned liking ballet, and he spent billions of dollars to invite every famous ballerina in Velldar to perform for her birthday. The 15th painting presented the castle he had built specially for her. It was designed for a blind woman—magnificent and ornate, yet safe and comfortable. In that painting, Camden was down on one knee. "Darling, from now on, I will be your eyes. You are the only one in my heart." The woman in the painting wore a radiant smile, her eyes soft with lingering affection as she threw herself into his arms. Alice smiled bitterly. She set all the paintings alight and hurled them onto the bed. She no longer wanted Camden's tainted love.