The ride home was dead silent.

Noemi sat up front with the driver. Daniel stayed hidden in the curtained back, like always.

He never let her sit with him. Said she was dirty.

But she always made sure she was clean. Wore his favorite perfume, even. Just in case.

She stared down at her hands, fingers twisting like a kid who got caught doing something wrong.

When they finally pulled up to the house, she hopped out and rushed to help him.

"I'm not useless. Stay away from me."

He jerked his hand from hers like she'd burned him, stepping back fast.

She wasn't ready for that. Her hand smacked the door, hard. Blood started to bloom across the back of it.

The sting brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them back.

"Daniel, I'm home."

The voice behind them was all sugar and sweetness. Noemi froze—every muscle locked up.

"Ivanna!"

Daniel spun, panic flashing across his face. His normally unreadable eyes flickered with urgency.

"Ivanna? Is that you?"

"It's me, Daniel."

She strutted over in heels, her face radiant with a smile.

Noemi just stood there, frozen. Her brain jumped back to two years ago.

Ivanna looked exactly the same—gorgeous, untouched by time.

Bitterness rose in Noemi's chest like bile. Rage. Grief. She was dying, and now this?

Ivanna stopped right in front of Daniel and gently placed her hand on his cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Daniel, have you been well all these years?" Her voice wavered like she actually cared.

Noemi clenched her fists, shaking.

If Ivanna really cared, why had she run off and married someone else the second she left Montavia?

Noemi remembered that day clear as glass—Ivanna in a wedding dress, cold and smug. Noemi had begged her to come back, even said she'd walk away if Ivanna would just stay and care for him.

And Ivanna?

She'd slapped her hand away.

"I'd never marry a blind man. I'm not spending my life taking care of him."

She left Daniel in the dust.

And now she was back, playing soft and sweet like none of that ever happened?

Noemi's face drained of color. Her whole body trembled.

They were already holding hands, voices low and full of fake emotion.

Just as Daniel leaned in for a hug, Ivanna shoved him back.

"Daniel, don't. You're someone else's husband. I just came to check on you, not ruin your life. I'm leaving."

"Ivanna, wait!" He reached out blindly—caught nothing but air.

Noemi lunged, grabbing his arm like a lifeline. Her voice was tight with panic.

"Daniel, let's go home."

"Get off me!"

Daniel shoved her away and stepped past, pulling Ivanna into his arms like she was the only one that mattered.

Ivanna melted into his chest, then shot Noemi a smug little smirk over his shoulder.

Noemi's lungs locked up. Her vision blurred.

Something inside her snapped.

She charged forward, trying to pry them apart. "I'm your wife! Your legal wife! Get her out of here!"

Daniel, already touchy about being blind and now humiliated by her yelling, completely lost it.

He slapped her. Hard.

"Are you insane?!"

Her head snapped sideways, pain crashing into her skull. The world spun as she clutched her head, groaning.

Ivanna flinched like it wasn't exactly what she wanted. Then, sweet as ever, she brushed a kiss against Daniel's cheek.

"Daniel, I'll see you next time."

He didn't stop Ivanna. Didn't care about Noemi, still on the ground, shaking and sobbing.

He turned to head inside.

But Noemi grabbed the hem of his pants.

Her face was ghost-pale. Her lips were bleeding where she'd bitten through them. Her chest rose and fell fast, mouth twitching like she was barely holding it together.

Her voice came out raw and cracked, scraped from somewhere deep inside.

"Daniel... spend one last week with me as husband and wife... and I'll sign the divorce papers."

Just saying it drained everything she had. Her whole body felt ripped apart.

"If you don't agree... I'll die before I ever give up being Mrs. Gomez."

Daniel froze. Processing.

Then finally, quietly, he said, "Fine. One week. After that, we're done."

Done?

Noemi smiled.

She'd give him exactly what he asked for.

Lying alone in the big, empty bedroom, Noemi couldn't stop replaying that nightmare from two years ago.

Her family had set her up with Daniel, and she had no clue he was already head over heels for someone else—Ivanna.

The second their engagement went public, Ivanna dipped. Daniel had chased her all the way to the airport, wrecked his car, and came out blind.

Noemi had stayed by his hospital bed, watching him sleep, feeling like her chest might cave in from the weight of it all.

She even flew across the globe to find Ivanna—only to catch her getting married.

Noemi had begged her. Promised to back off if she'd just come home and take care of him.

But Ivanna had stared her down, stone-cold.

'He's blind. Why the hell would I go back?'

That look? Burned into Noemi's brain.

Now Ivanna was back. Just like that. Why?

Noemi rolled over, checked the time, and got up to fix Daniel's meds.

She paused outside the study—voices. One was Daniel. The other? Raul Pedron, his childhood best friend.

"Ivanna's back. Will you get a divorce?"

Daniel snorted. "Yeah. Surgery's in three days. Time for a new chapter."

He sounded almost relieved. Like freedom was just around the corner.

Noemi's chest tightened. Even after everything, it still hurt.

Raul sighed, clearly fed up. "You could've fixed your eyes ages ago. Why now?

"You ever think about what Noemi's been through?"

Daniel laughed, cold. "I couldn't stand looking at her. She didn't deserve a healthy husband. I wanted her trapped—begging, miserable, just like me."

Pain slammed into her chest like a truck.

He'd stayed blind just to mess with her. For two freaking years.

Sure, she got what she wanted—being by his side. But at what cost? Every day was a guilt trip.

She popped melatonin every night, but the nightmares still came—Daniel crying blood, choking her like some raging beast.

'Noemi, you should just die!'

She'd wake up drenched in tears.

And now? All that pain? Totally avoidable.

Her wrist shook. The glass slipped and shattered on the tile.

"Who's there?" Daniel's hearing had gone razor-sharp since going blind. He caught the noise instantly.

Raul opened the door and greeted her.

Noemi froze, fumbling. "Daniel, I brought your meds... Dropped the glass by accident."

"You're useless," he snapped. "Tell Paulina to clean it."

Paulina was the housemaid.

Noemi crouched down fast. "No need."

Tears blurred her vision. She reached for the shards—then came the nosebleed. Her knees gave out. Everything spun.

Raul's voice was the last thing she heard before blacking out.

When she came to, Daniel's face hovered close, stiff with worry.

"Daniel..."

"Raul said you lost a lot of blood. What's going on?"

Her heart pounded. The certainty she'd clung to was gone. She was scared—of everything, especially losing him.

"I... I'm sick."

His brows pulled tight. "What kind of sick?"

"I..." She started, but his phone went off.

A ringtone she knew all too well.

He picked up without thinking.

Ivanna's broken voice came through.

"Daniel, I'm going into surgery... Noemi met me at the restaurant, then pushed me. I was bleeding so bad. The doctor says I need a kidney. I'm scared..."

Ivanna was the one who wanted to meet.

Noemi flashed back—downtown café, across the table, Ivanna all sugar-sweet with something sharp hiding underneath.

"It's been two years," she'd said, smiling like a cat. "Now that I'm back, it's time you gave Daniel back."

Noemi eyed her. "Did you get divorced?"

The flicker in Ivanna's face said it all.

"Back then, you wouldn't even set foot in Montavia. Why now?"

No answer. Just cold eyes. Then she dipped.

Noemi hadn't thought much of it—until now.

Pale and shaky, she dragged herself onto the bed and knelt beside Daniel, fingers clutching his sleeve.

"Daniel, please. She asked to meet. We just had coffee. I swear I didn't touch her."

He didn't budge. Just clenched his jaw.

Then he pulled her hand off, face darkening.

"You're faking being sick to cover what you did, aren't you?"

"I didn't..."

Tears streamed as she shook her head. "We can check the cameras. I didn't do anything."

Daniel inhaled sharply, trying to keep it together. "Alright. We'll go off the facts."

He called his assistant.

"Juan, check the café stairwell footage from today. I want everything."

Raul stepped in, catching the tension. "What's going on?"

Noemi gave him the short version. Raul let out a heavy sigh.

He clapped a hand on Daniel's shoulder, firm. "Noemi's not like that."

Yeah, Daniel had changed after two years in the dark. But Noemi? She'd been the same—steady, kind, never giving up on him. Raul had watched her love that guy, even when he didn't deserve it.

A girl who kissed their marriage certificate like it meant everything? No way she pushed anyone.

After a while, Juan sent over the footage.

Daniel hit play on the voice message. Juan's voice shook. "M-Mr. Gomez... the video shows M-Mrs. Gomez pushing Ms. Lopez down the stairs."

"No way!" Noemi darted over, Raul close behind as she replayed the clip.

There it was—someone in her exact outfit shoving Ivanna hard at the stairwell landing.

It looked legit. Too legit.

But how?

Noemi's head pounded. Eyes red, she replayed it again and again, searching for anything off.

"Daniel, it's fake. Someone edited it. Please, just—"

Smack.

His hand cracked across her face.

Her cheek ballooned. Blood trickled from her lip. He didn't hold back.

Raul shot up. "What the hell, Daniel?!"

Daniel didn't even blink. Frozen solid, eyes dead cold.

He grabbed Noemi's wrist and yanked her hard.

No warning, no words—just dragged her down the hall and straight down the stairs.

She stumbled the whole way, knees and arms catching bruises. He didn't stop, didn't slow down.

At the car, he shoved her in and barked at the driver.

"To the hospital."