I injured my eye while rescuing Laura Gibbons and became blind as a result. She vowed that she would be my eyes for the rest of her life and would never abandon me.

I worked hard with the doctors to recover and on the day my vision was restored, I was bursting with joy. I rushed home to share the good news with her.

However, I saw Laura lying on our marital bed and sharing passionate kisses with my best friend.

"Laura, why don’t you divorce that blind man?" my best friend asked, "I’m the one who truly understands and loves you. Besides, Jerome Atkins is nothing but a useless man."

"Just wait a little bit longer! I could not bear to let him go. After all, he lost his eyesight while rescuing me," she answered.

At that moment, it felt like all the blood in my body froze. Humiliated and devastated, I turned and fled the scene. That night, I booked a ticket to Moon City. There I would follow my mentor to research C nine-nine-nine. I decided to vanish from Laura’s life forever and leave no trace for her to find.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Laura would never ever see me again.

***

After I booked the plane tickets, I went back home. When the door opened, through the crack of the door, I could see Laura and Jock Lambert still hadn't finished doing the deed. They both embraced each other in a tight lock and kissed passionately.

Although Laura knew I had returned, she still didn't stop moving. Her lustful eyes even met mine briefly. However, she bit her lower lips to suppress the sound that threatened to escape her mouth.

On the other hand, Jock took it to another notch. With a smirk in his mouth, he purposely teased her, trying to make her moan.

“Don’t worry, Laura. That blind man can’t see us,” he whispered with a mocking smile. His lips brushed her ear. He shot me a contempt look. There was only disgust in them.

Laura stretched her hand and pinched him. "Stop it. Don't be naughty. We can't let Jerome hear us. After all, I'm still his wife and you're his best friend. We have done him wrong by betraying him."

“Oh, come on. Isn’t this exciting?” Jock grinned wickedly.

Laura did not say anything but her anger and guilt clearly showed on her face. Seeing this, Jock restrained himself. He finally stood up but because he was annoyed, he looked up and glanced at me.

"Alright, I'll return to the room but my pants are under Jerome."

Suddenly he looked at Laura. He gave an evil smile at her and said, "Are you going to ask him to bring the pants over here or should I go over there and get them myself? It's your call."

Jock's gaze was full of provocation as he asked for Laura's opinion.

"Can you not make things worse?" Laura asked in a low voice and annoyance.

After a moment of hesitation, she whispered, "Fine! I'll take it."

"Jerome, you are sitting on my scarf," she said calmly. "I'm a bit sleepy right now and I want to go to rest. However, I might have a bit cold so I'll sleep in the quest room tonight."

"Could you pass the silk scarf over?" she asked.

Laura was torn for a while before deciding to go along with Jock's request.

My face went pale as I looked at Laura, who was still talking. At this moment, her face was flushed and her eyes clouded with passion. Her hand wrapped tightly around Jock as if she was unwilling to let go and get down. 

I struggled so hard to restrain my emotion that I clenched my hand hard. Since I had been keeping my eyes on them, I did not notice what I had been sitting on. 

So, the moment I stood up and looked down, disgust surged through me.

The thing that she call "scarf" was in fact Jock's pants. Laura actually wanted me to hand them to her.

I considered confronting and berating them but after I calmed down and thought this through I felt it was not worth it. Besides, all it could accomplish only a messy divorce and endless arguments.

With a face as white as a ghost, I acted as if I was blind. I was in so much rage that veins popped against my skin. At the same time, I clenched my hand so hard that nails dug deeply into my palms and I broke several of them.

After a long internal battle, I finally bent down, picked up Jock’s pants and handed them over.

Jock, who wrapped his arms around Laura so tightly, raised his hand and lifted his middle finger at me. He cursed me with a low voice, "Stupid blind man. You even deliver my pants to me. How satisfying.”

Laura petrified. She did not want me to hear that. So, she raised her hand and covered Jock's mouth.

At that very second, it felt like my soul had been ripped out from my body. I collapsed onto the couch, utterly drained.

Still, I forced myself to ask with feigned concern, "How come you get a cold? Is it serious?"

When I spoke, my voice trembled and I felt so lonely. Sadly, Laura did not notice anything.

"No, it’s nothing," Laura replied casually. "I’ll just take some medicine and sleep it off."

Meanwhile, Jock kept fondling her body and Laura could not help but pout and shoot a reproachful glance at him.

With her eyes, she signaled him to stop. Yet, Jock scooped her up in his arms and took her to the guest room.

When they were out of sight, I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone and discreetly took a few pictures of their affair.

Jock turned his head around to look at me, smirked at me and silently mouthed, "Blind."

For a split second, I nearly lost control. I almost rushed over and beat him up but I managed to hold back.

When they left, my nose turned sour and my eyes burned. Even though I had resolved to leave her, to put her behind me, the pain still cut deep.

Laura had once promised never to lie to me and never to betray me. Yet she did not keep her promise.

I took a deep breath and dialed my master’s number. I told him. "Master, this is Jerome. I'm ready to join you at the base."

"Are you certain?" my master asked. "Once you enter the base, you won’t be able to leave for years. You’ll be cut off from the outside world. Are you really prepared to leave Laura behind?"

"I’m certain," I replied without hesitation.

There was a long pause at the other end before he finally asked, "Does she know your decision?"

In the past, I kept stalling because I could not bear to part with Laura. However, it was she who made this choice for me.

I gave a quick glance at the guest room. Its door was tightly shut but I could still hear the continuous lewd sound of man and woman coupling.

I had wasted so many years wallowing in self-pity even though I had so many talents. Now, I have made a decision to move forward, took this responsibility and helped my master to solve problems.

"My decision doesn’t require her consent," I added.

"Good," he said, his tone filled with approval. "That’s the student I’m proud of! Don't disappoint me."

After exchanging a few more words, I hung up the phone. Just as I stepped back into the living room, Laura emerged from the guest room wearing Jock’s pajamas. Her neck and body were littered with hickeys, some were fresh and others started to fade. It was clear the affair had been going on for a long time. She did not care I would see them after all I was a blind man so I could not see them.

"Hubby," she said coyly. "Are you forgetting something? You forgot to kiss me goodnight."

Laura then pursed her lips.

In a flash, the sense of nausea l had never felt before surged within me and I puked.

Seeing this, Laura panicked and came near me. When she was near, I rejected her harshly because for me she was so filthy.

The nausea overwhelmed me, so I shoved her away. Still pretending to be blind, I groped my way toward the bathroom. It seemed I had started to resent Laura's touch.

Inside, I gripped the sink as my stomach twisted again, bile rising in my throat. Yet my heart was so bitter.

As I looked in the mirror, I felt I was so ridiculous and shameful. Back then, Laura had knelt in front of my master and vowed she would cherish me for the rest of her life. Her sincerity had convinced him to let me marry her. I didn't expect that in the end, it would be such a waste.

Disheartened, I hung my head and the things I did not notice before became clear. There was an extra towel in the hook. There were slippers that were not in my size on the floor. There is even a toothbrush and a cup.

It dawned on me. Is it possible Jock has been living here, under my nose, just because I'm blind?

It wasn't surprising, that in the middle of the night Laura kept vanishing from our room and I could not find her.

It seemed she stayed with me in the evening, then she stayed with Jock in the second half of the night. She was shamelessly flirting between the two of us.

Ever since I lost my sight, Laura and I had not had sex for half a year. She always used my blindness as an excuse not to be close to me. It turned out that she despised me for no longer being able to fulfill her idea of happiness.

Laura chased after me and wrapped her hand around me from behind. She looked panicky at me. "What's wrong with you? Jerome, are you okay?" she asked.

"When you pushed me early, I became panicked," she added.

Her two hands on my waist were shaking slightly, as if she was afraid I would disappear at any moment and she couldn't help but hold on tighter.

However, the more she acted like this, the more disgust in my heart became even stronger. After all, she had just had intercourse with Jock and the next second, she was being affectionate with me.

Laura is very good at acting, I pried open her hand, pulled away from her and kept a distance from her.

Then I said calmly, "Perhaps, I have a bad stomach. Lately, it become harder to keep anything down after I eat."

I did not know when I started to be so good at lying. This was so ironic, I used to hate that kind of people but, here I was, doing the very thing that I hated the most.

When she heard this, she felt she was facing her greatest enemy.

I’m so sorry,” she said guiltily. "I’ve been so caught up with work lately. I shouldn’t have left you eating alone and taking care of your needs by yourself so often.”

She cradled my face in her hands and furrowed her brow in sadness as she led me back to my room and took out new clothes for me to change into. When she tried to help me, I stopped her hand and put the clothes on myself.

My action left Laura frozen. This was the first time since our marriage that I did not want her help and this made her flustered.

She then lowered her head and tried to kiss my lips. "We haven't done the deed for a long time. Jerome, let's do it now," she whispered and in the next second, she pressed her body against mine.

Once again, I pushed her back. This woman was too dirty and I refused to be with her anymore.

Laura panicked. It was the second time, I pushed her away. She became worried I did not love her anymore.

I was already lying down on the bed, so Laura took the blanket and draped it gently over me.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked softly. "Are you blaming me for not having time to be with you?”

She continued, "How about this? I promise I’ll spend tomorrow with you. There is no work at all."

This woman, who was known as the ruthless queen and feared in the business world, could reduce herself to this pitiful state for me. I sneered because I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity.

Before I could reject her, her phone buzzed.

She hurriedly pressed mute because she did not dare to answer it. She then sat next to me and read the message that Jock sent her through WhatsApp.

[You little wildcat, you tore my underwear. Now, get me a new one immediately.]

Another message followed almost immediately. [Wait, it seems I don't have any more left here.]

Laura texted back. [Do you mind wearing Jerome's?]

Jock immediately replied. [Fuck, no! I can sleep with his woman but for the rest ….? Don't push it!]

[Fine. I’ll come by now.]

Laura glanced down toward me. She then stroked my face tenderly, got up and walked away.

I clutched the sheets and my tears broke through my defenses at this moment.

Back then, when Jock's company went bankrupt it was I who wanted Laura to help him. At that time, Laura hated him so much and told me to stay away from him.

In the end, Laura helped him for my sake. Yet now, here he was, repaying my kindness by stabbing me in the back when I was blind by screwing my wife. He was really an ungrateful person.

In an attempt to cheer myself up, I told myself that I would be alright because in seven days I would leave this place and never had anything to do with Laura anymore.

The next day, because Laura figured that I was still upset, she went out of her way to appease me. After breakfast, she forces me to go out.

She rented an entire bar and asked a lot of friends to come. Allegedly, she told them that she wanted to cheer me up.

Throughout the journey there, Laura never let go of my hand and gripped it tightly as if afraid I might stumble. She was recounting and on about the sweet memories we once shared.