Chapter 1

1

Four years after I died, my blind ex-boyfriend returned from overseas.

He brought with him the luxury SUV and the million-dollar dowry I had once demanded.

But he told everyone he didn't love me anymore.

He said he only wanted to see the look of regret on my unfaithful face.

He didn't know that four years ago, I had already passed away from liver cancer.

The corneas that allowed him to see again were the only thing I left behind in this world.

...

I saw Beau Montgomery again four years after my death.

His black Maybach pulled up in front of my mother's dilapidated bungalow.

He stepped out of the car, dressed in a tailored, expensive suit that screamed power.

His eyes were cold as he looked at my aging mother with pure contempt.

"Where is Lyra Delancy? Tell her to come out and face me," he demanded.

The moment he spoke my name, a visible wave of hatred flickered in his eyes.

My mother's body stiffened. Her face, already weary, crumbled into a mask of deep sorrow.

"Beau... Lyra is dead..." she whispered.

I thought hearing about my death would bring him some grief. At the very least, I expected shock.

Instead, Beau let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

"That heartless woman. Is she so afraid of being embarrassed for dumping me that she's faking her own death now?"

With a snap of his fingers, a group of men in black suits swarmed into our small, cramped yard.

Each man carried a heavy briefcase. They opened them in unison, revealing stacks of crisp hundred-dollar bills.

It looked like tens of millions of dollars.

The neighbors gathered at the gate, whispering and gasping at the sight of such wealth.

"Back then, Lyra looked down on me because I was blind. she blamed me for not being able to afford a proper life," Beau said loudly.

"Today, I'm just here to show her whether I, Beau Montgomery, can afford her or not!"

He crossed his arms, looking down at my mother with an air of cold arrogance.

"Tell Lyra to come here and beg on her knees. If she does, I might forgive what she did to me. Otherwise..."

The threat in his voice was unmistakable. He turned to the crowd of onlookers.

"You all can be my witnesses. Lyra Delancy wasted my youth, mocked me, and insulted me."

"Is it not justified for me to want a little payback against such a piece of trash?"

The neighbors began to murmur among themselves, their voices filled with judgment.

"She always seemed like such a sweet girl. How could she do something so cruel?" one said.

"I haven't seen that girl in four years. Maybe she went off to be some rich guy's mistress," another whispered.

"They seemed like such an honest family. To think they'd hide such a scandal."

The ugly words cut through me. I saw my mother's sunken eyes grow dark with pain.

When I died, my family was left penniless from trying to pay for my treatments. There was no money for a funeral.

Most people in town didn't even know I was gone.

What hurt the most was realizing how much Beau hated me.

But I could understand it.

I would rather have the boy I love hate me than have him spend the rest of his life mourning me.

Beau seemed to enjoy the way the crowd turned against my memory. After hearing the gossip, he left, satisfied for the moment.

The chaos settled quickly.

I felt a strange sense of relief...

If Beau had stepped just a few feet further into the house, he would have seen the memorial plaque my mother kept for me.

My mother was still shaking from the encounter. Once everyone was gone, she collapsed onto the floor.

"My child," she sobbed. "Was it really worth it? Doing all this for a man like that?"

My mind drifted back to when I was still with Beau.

He wasn't born blind. He had an accident as a child, and his family was too poor to afford the surgery.

Our meeting wasn't like a movie. He ran a tiny, struggling flower shop.

I went in to buy flowers for Mother's Day, and it was love at first sight.

The boy's face was pure and beautiful, half-hidden among the petals.

Even though his eyes were hollow and sightless, they were the most soulful eyes I had ever seen.

Back then, I kept thinking it was such a tragedy that someone so beautiful couldn't see the world.