On the day Nicholas Hackett, the rich tycoon, got a second shot at life, he threw his fortune into a single, spiteful act: a missing-person notice with my name on it.

"Caroline Dacombe, I'm alive again. Aren't you disappointed?"

Our families had been hereditary enemies.

Since we were kids, we'd wished for each other's downfall.

After inheriting our family's traditional medicine practices, we even tried to poison one another.

When the games went stale, we started poisoning ourselves—waiting for the other to save us.

It was insane. It was beautiful. It became ours.

By then, we were in love.

Nicholas swore he’d rather die than let go of me. He forced his family to swallow their pride and ask mine for my hand.

On his twenty-fourth birthday, he collapsed—poisoned. The best doctors failed.

But I turned a blind eye to the Hackett family's cries for help and didn't show up at all.

I just left them with one line. "I won."

From that day, the feud deepened.

"You once said you would have to be there at my wedding.

"In seven days, I'm marrying my senior. I want you there to see how happy we are."

What no one knew back then was that to save Nicholas, I had experimented with poisonous medicines and ended up blinding myself.

And the reason he got another shot at life this time was because I gave him my heart.

Seven days from now he will marry another.

Seven days from now I will die.

***

When I showed up at the wedding rehearsal, everyone turned to look at me.

Having been blind for ten years, I had gotten pretty good at pretending to be just like everyone else.

"Is that Caroline?"

"With looks like hers, how did she get Nicholas to ignore that old family feud and stick with her all this time?"

"She must have some tricks—probably amazing in bed!"

"Hey, I really want to find out for sure!"

Before the sleazy guy could make a move, someone pulled me into their arms.

Ariana Eascott's face lit up with joy. "Carol, you actually made it!"

On the outside, she hugged me warmly and sweetly.

But on the down-low, she dug her nails into my skin as she whispered, "I can't believe you're not dead yet."

She was the Hackett family's adopted daughter. The three of us had been inseparable since we were kids.

Back when Nicholas and I were in love, it was she who spilled the beans, causing chaos for both our families.

She had secretly been into Nicholas for years, and now she finally got what she wanted.

I tried to shove her away without making a scene, but before I could do anything, she pushed me first and then just fell to the ground on her own.

She was fine, but shards of a wine glass had dug into my palm.

Everyone around us was furious and wanted to go after me, but Ariana quickly stepped in.

"It's okay. I'm the one who owes her."

Ariana grabbed my hand. "I'm really sorry, Carol. I took Nic from you."

Her friends were outraged.

"What kind of nonsense are you saying, Ari?"

"Back then, this bitch almost killed Nicholas. We're being nice by not calling the cops on her!"

"That's right! Nicholas begged her to stay without thinking twice, but she said she'd rather die than be with him!"

"So many awful things happened to the Hackett family. If it weren't for you, even Nicholas would've been dead long ago—just like she wanted! Why are you apologizing to her?"

The crowd was buzzing with anger.

Someone—no one knew who—yanked my hair first, and right after that, a bunch of slaps came raining down on me.

I tried my best to fight back, but I was way too weak. All I could do was endure it helplessly.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The crowd split as Nicholas strode in.

I lifted my head and looked in his direction.

"Carol..."

That one call from him, maybe it was just in my head.

"Caroline! You finally decided to show up!"

I tried to force a bitter smile, but my lips wouldn't even budge.

Thanks to the missing person notice, I'd become some kind of celebrity—there was no hiding now.

Random people had literally dragged me here against my will.

"Nicholas! You need to go check on Ari right now! This bitch just pushed her!"

Nicholas rushed over to Ariana, looking really worried.

As soon as I heard his soft voice, my nose started to sting.

I hated him a lot because of what the adults taught me.

But no matter how I acted toward him, he always greeted me with a smile.

When we turned eighteen, he was the one who confessed first—said he'd love me forever.

"Caroline, did you do this on purpose?" Nicholas's tone suddenly got cold.

I couldn't help but shiver.

Someone shoved me and snapped, "If anything happens to the baby in Ari's belly, you're gonna pay for it!"

Ariana quickly jumped in to protect me. "Come on, don't be like that. Carol isn't that heartless."

Nicholas suddenly got all worked up. "Ariana, you're way too kind. We grew up together, and you still can't see her true colors!"

After saying that, he called over ten bodyguards.

"Keep an eye on her."

Only after their footsteps faded did I lower my head. My hair fell forward, hiding my face as the tears slid silently down.

So they already had a baby.

I tried to escape, but the bodyguards held me tight.

"Mrs. Hackett said we need to take good care of you."

One of the guards pressed his fingers into the wound on my hand, ripping off a chunk of flesh before telling someone else to take care of it.

Instead, they poured salt water to disinfect me.

When I yelled out in pain, they quickly covered my mouth and dumped chili oil over it.

I was drenched in sweat from the agony, and after what felt like forever, they finally let me go—because Nicholas had mentioned me while rehearsing on stage.

"I really want to thank you. If it weren't for you, I never would've met such a kind person like Ariana or built such a happy family with her."

It was true that my family wasn't exactly stable.

My dad passed away quite early, and my mom always thought Nicholas's dad was behind it. She would curse the Hackett family all the time.

Back then, when Nicholas found out about this, he didn't get mad at all.

Instead, he just said calmly and rationally, "Your mom has really been through a lot. Just go with her feelings. I know you won't hurt anyone in my family."

"To be honest, we have a child now. We're thinking of naming him Aricholas Hackett."

I was stunned.

Even though my mom hadn't agreed to our marriage yet, we were already dreaming about our future together.

He had once mentioned that if we had a child someday, we'd name them "Caron Hackett".

I said that it was a weird name, but he kept saying it was the only way to show everyone just how in love the kid's parents were.

"Caroline, I begged you back then, but you said my life was ruined. I'd never be a doctor and wouldn't achieve anything.

"But now look at me. I've got everything... except for wanting you again."

On my 24th birthday, Nicholas was supposed to go talk to my mom again to prove how serious he was about loving me.

No one could have guessed that he ended up getting poisoned.

My mom went totally nuts, grabbing my hand and saying, "My sweet daughter, I knew you'd never let me down!"

I didn't even get a chance to explain.

When Nicholas was taken to the hospital, even a team of top experts could only manage to keep him alive.

I knew there wasn't any time for tears, so I tried hard to find a prescription that would bring him back.

But what I didn't see coming was how my worry for him messed with my head.

I made a mistake, and it cost me my eyesight.

The Hackett family members were at their breaking point, so they came begging me because Nicholas asked them to.

I didn't want to show my face, but my mom stood there with her hands on her hips, saying proudly, "Tell your son! My daughter never loved him at all! He's just a toy for her!"

Nicholas wouldn't buy it and insisted on confronting me directly.

But by then, my mom had already whisked me abroad for eye treatment.

I never thought he'd follow me all the way to another country, stubbornly demanding answers from me.

The doctor's silence told me the truth—my sight would never return.

So I clung to his arm and lied through my teeth. "Yes, Nicholas. I've never really loved you."

The faces in my memory blurred with the stranger in front of me. I couldn't see him, but I knew—his love for me was gone too.

I quickly tried to leave.

But after just two steps, someone tripped me and sent me crashing down.

They apologized and reached out to help me up. But they kept holding me down tight, not letting me get back on my feet.

After a moment, a kid suddenly piped up in surprise, "Why do her eyes look so weird?"