Chapter 4

My phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

Thomas’s name flashed on the screen for the tenth time that morning. The vibrations seemed louder, angrier, each call coming faster than the last. Then came the messages.

Thomas: Shane, please, we need to talk.

Thomas: Don’t do anything stupid.

Thomas: Let’s settle this like adults. I can explain everything.

Thomas: You’re overreacting. Come home.

Thomas: I’m sorry, okay? Just… pick up the phone.

Each one made my stomach twist tighter. Settle this? Explain? There was no explanation for what he had done. Not anymore.

I stared at the screen, the ache in my chest sharp and heavy. Then, without hesitation, I blocked his number.

I’d heard enough of his voice—enough lies to last me a lifetime. The silence after was almost peaceful. Almost.

I sat across from the detective at the police station, my hands trembling slightly as I handed over the flash drive and a printed copy of the email. “This,” I said, voice low, “contains the evidence that my blindness wasn’t an accident. I want the man responsible—Carlo Reyes—arrested.”

The officer nodded, skimming the contents briefly before looking back at me. “Ms. Shane, you’re saying your husband was aware of this?”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Not my husband. Aware? He orchestrated it. He paid the doctors to remove my corneas and give them to Carlo. All because he wanted me dependent. Because he wanted control.”

The officer’s expression hardened. “We’ll look into this immediately. But we’ll need your cooperation if it comes to trial.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” I replied. “I’ve lived blind long enough.”

As I stood, my phone buzzed again—this time an unknown number. My stomach twisted. For a second, I thought it might be Thomas calling from another line, but when I answered, it was a voice I hadn’t heard in months.

“Shane?” It was Tessa, Thomas’s mother.

My throat tightened. “Mrs. Smith.”

“Please,” she said softly, her tone shaking. “Don’t call me that. Just Tessa. I… I heard what happened. Can we meet? Please.”

I hesitated. She was the only person from that house who had ever shown me genuine kindness. She had treated me like a daughter when I first married Thomas—or thought I did. And when I lost my sight, she was the one who stayed by my side when everyone else drifted away.

So I said yes.

When I arrived at her home that evening, she looked older, smaller somehow. Her once perfectly styled hair was now streaked with gray, her eyes rimmed with guilt. She didn’t even wait for me to sit down before the apology poured out.

“Shane,” she whispered, taking my hand in hers, “I’m so sorry for what my son did. I swear to you, I didn’t know the full truth. I knew he wasn’t faithful, but this… this is beyond anything I imagined.”

I blinked back tears. “You don’t have to apologize for him, Tessa.”

“But I do,” she said, voice breaking. “I raised him better than this. You didn’t deserve any of it.”

I squeezed her hand gently. “You were the only family I ever had there. You were kind when no one else was.”

Her eyes softened, and she gave a trembling nod. “Then let me help you now. If you want to leave him for good, I’ll stand by you. I’ll help you pack your things, make sure you’re safe.”

Her words hit me harder than I expected. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that—someone on my side, someone who believed me.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “But are you sure? He’s still your son.”

Tessa looked away, pain flickering across her features. “He may be my son,” she said quietly, “but what he’s become… I hardly recognize him anymore.”

We sat in silence for a moment, the air heavy with regret and sorrow. Then she stood, grabbing her coat. “Come. Let’s go home. I’ll talk to him myself. And to that girl.”

“Carrie,” I muttered under my breath, venom curling around the name.

“Yes,” Tessa said sharply. “Her.”

The drive was quiet at first. The rain had begun to fall, light and rhythmic against the windshield. I stared out the window, watching the blur of city lights fade into the darkness beyond.

Tessa’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “You know,” she said softly, “I used to think Thomas loved you. The way he looked at you back then… it was different. But somewhere along the way, he let power twist him. And I did nothing. Maybe that’s my sin.”

“You tried,” I said, my voice barely audible. “You always tried.”

She smiled sadly. “You remind me of myself when I was your age—stubborn, too forgiving.” She glanced at me. “Don’t make the same mistake I did, Shane. When someone shows you their cruelty, don’t wait for them to change. Leave before they destroy you.”

I nodded, tears pooling in my eyes. “I’m trying to.”

We were only a few blocks from the Smith estate when headlights suddenly flared behind us—too close, too fast.

“Tessa,” I said, frowning, “that car—”

Before I could finish, the vehicle swerved sharply, slamming into the side of ours with brutal force. The world spun violently. Glass shattered. My scream caught in my throat as the car rolled once, twice, before coming to a crushing halt against the guardrail.

Smoke filled my lungs. The metallic tang of blood coated my tongue.

“Tessa!” I croaked, turning toward her. She wasn’t moving.

The world dimmed, my vision blurring around the edges. I tried to reach for her hand, but my arm wouldn’t move. Sirens wailed somewhere far away, the sound stretching thin as consciousness slipped through my fingers.

The last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me again was a pair of headlights pulling up behind us—and a familiar silhouette stepping out into the rain. Carrie.