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Chapter 6: The Eyes That Were Never Mine
最終更新日:
2025-03-01 11:35:42Olivia
I couldn’t sleep. Patricia’s words had lodged themselves in my mind, sharp and relentless. Elena was the girl who sold her eyes. I sat in the dim light from the bedside lamp, my fingers curling around the edge of my phone. The screen was warm against my palm, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. If I did, I would make it real. If I did, I would chase a truth I might not survive. But the doubt was suffocating. I needed the truth. I scrolled through my contacts, the steady thrum of my pulse in my ears as I landed on the number I hadn’t dialed in years. Dr. Samuel Greene. The surgeon who had given me my sight. Without thinking, I pressed the call. The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Then… A click. “Dr. Greene speaking.” I swallowed, trying to steady my voice. “Dr. Greene, it’s Olivia. Olivia Crawford.” A pause. A breath. Then, wariness. “Olivia. It’s been a long time. What can I do for you?” “I need information.” There was a short silence then “About?” “I need to know who my donor was.” He hesitated a bit. “Olivia, that’s confidential.” I bit back a frustrated breath. “Please. I just need a name.” Another pause. I could almost hear him debating, searching for a way out. But I wasn’t backing down. “Dr. Greene,” I said, more forcefully now. “If you ever cared about me and if you want to help me please. I need to know who she was.” I heard a long sigh, heavy and resigned. The sound of papers rustling, the faint tapping of keys on a keyboard. I gripped the phone tighter, my heart thundering in my chest. “Elena Moreau.” The name hit me like a punch to the gut. I couldn’t breathe. My hand shook so hard I almost dropped the phone. It wasn’t a coincidence. It wasn’t a mistake. It was her. The same Elena. The same Elena who had given me my sight. A choked sound escaped me, something between a gasp and a sob. “Olivia?” Dr. Greene’s voice was soft now. “Are you okay?” I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I hung up. ** I don’t remember the drive to the hospital. One moment, I was in my bedroom, everything spinning with the weight of Elena’s name, her eyes. The next, my hands were gripping the steering wheel, my knuckles white, the road slipping by in a blur of neon lights and shadows. My mind was a storm, questions whipping through the chaos. Why would Leonard visit her? Why would he lie to me? Why does he care about the woman who gave me her eyes? But I didn’t want to face the answers. I wasn’t ready for the truth to be real. I parked in front of Bintu Hospital, my legs weak as I stumbled inside. The sharp scent of antiseptic filled my nose, but I didn’t register it. I didn’t care. My body moved on its own, my feet carrying me forward. I had been here before, in another life. And maybe, just maybe, I had. Because somewhere in this building, a girl had lost her sight. And I had taken it. Room 217. I saw the number on the door before I realized I had reached it. The name on the plaque was clear, bold: Elena Moreau. I stopped. Proof. There it was. The name. The girl. I reached for the doorknob, but my hand froze inches away. My heart thudded painfully in my chest. Everything I thought I knew the lies, the silence was about to break loose. As I reached for the doorknob, but before I could touch it, I heard a voice. It was faint, fragile. Trembling. Thick with tears. “I… I’m scared, Leo.” I froze. Leo. In her there was no hesitation, no doubt. She said it like it was hers. Like he was hers. My heart stopped. A sick, sharp pain spread through my chest. A moment later, Leonard’s voice, low and soothing. “You’re not alone.” And then, “I’ve been keeping your eyes safe all these years.” My blood ran cold. No. I didn’t hear that right. I couldn’t have. “Do you promise?” Leonard’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Soon. You’ll have them back. And no one will ever take them from you again.” I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop the sound from escaping. My body went numb. My mind didn’t want to believe it, but my heart… my heart had already accepted it. Leonard. The man I loved. The man I married. He was never mine. Not really. The way he looked at me. The way he touched me. It had never been about me. It had always been about her. I wasn’t the one he wanted to protect. He had married me to protect what had always belonged to Elena. The eyes I thought were mine. The truth hit me like a blow to the stomach. I couldn’t breathe. My pulse thudded in my ears. I had to get out of here. I had to leave. I turned, stumbling down the hallway, my legs shaky, my breath ragged. Every step felt like a battle. “No. No. No.” The words tumbled out of me, breathless, but they didn’t change a damn thing. I had to leave. I couldn’t stay here. Not after everything I had just heard. My legs nearly gave out as I reached the stairs. I grabbed the railing, my knuckles white. My vision was spinning. It wasn’t my vision that was messed up.It was me. Leonard had never loved me. Every moment we shared, every kiss, every touch it wasn’t for me. It was for her. I wasn’t a wife. I was just a vessel. I was her substitute. A cage for her eyes. I couldn’t hold back the sob that tore through me. My chest felt like it was collapsing. “No.” I tried to push myself forward, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I couldn’t stop shaking. The truth was too much. I took a step. My foot slipped as I screamed and I lost my balance. For a second, the world flipped. Then, darkness.
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最終更新日 : 2025-03-06The Billionaire Substitute Wife Chapter 9: Silence Between Them
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The house felt warmer than usual, filled with the soft scents of garlic, rosemary, and caramelizing onions. I stood at the counter, chopping vegetables with more focus than I’d had in weeks. Tonight mattered.I had spent the entire day preparing. Grocery shopping in the morning, recipe hunting in the afternoon, and now after three failed attempts at a sauce I could never get right I was finally ready.Tonight wasn’t just dinner. Tonight was my moment.I was going to tell Leonard about the baby.For a few fleeting hours, I let myself believe that this night could fix everything. That a perfect meal, some soft music, and the right words could turn us back into the couple we used to be. I could see it in my mind, the way his face would light up when I told him. The way he’d pull me into his arms, his hands cradling my stomach, whispering promises about the future we’d share.Hope was dangerous, but tonight, I let it live.The table was already set, candles lit, wine chilling, and soft
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The Billionaire Substitute Wife Chapter 36: They Won’t Know What Hit Them
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Leonard’s POVI could still see her.Olivia.The way she looked at me, eyes glistening, lips quivering, her whole body trembling like she was barely holding herself together.Like if I looked too hard, she’d crack and fall to pieces at my feet.That look would haunt me for the rest of my life.And yet here I was, driving Elena to her hospital appointment, while Olivia stood in that house, bleeding silently.Beside me, Elena sat like ice.Perfect. Poised. Fragile.Her white blouse was buttoned to the collar. Her cane rested gently against the console. And her face? Calm. Like she hadn’t just been accused of gutting the woman I loved with her words.But I couldn’t leave it alone.Not with the way Olivia had looked at me. Like I’d just let her drown.My hand tightened on the steering wheel, thumb flexing over the leather. The silence pressed against my ears.“Elena,” I said.She turned her head slightly, lashes fluttering as if I’d just roused her from thought. “Hmm?”I swallowed the lum
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Olivia’s POV “He’s giving me my eyes back. From you.” These words were consuming my thoughts as I pressed the heel of my hand against my chest like I could stop the ache there. Like pressure might make it go away. I heard their voices in the foyer. Elena’s light and delicate. Leonard’s deep and warm. I wanted to scream. Rip something off the wall. Shake him. Make him see what I’d just been through. What she just did. Instead, I walked forward like I was fine. Like I wasn’t about to come apart at the seams. Elena sat by the door, legs crossed neatly, her cane resting gently against the bench. She looked angelic. Calm. Dressed in soft blues and whites like she was heading to heaven. Her hands were folded in her lap. Like she hadn’t spit poison into my soul less than thirty minutes ago. Leonard stood near the front door, fixing the collar of his jacket. He looked up when he saw me. “Hey.” He smiled. “Everything okay?” No. I nodded. Too fast. My voice was thin. “Yeah. Just tire
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Olivia’s POVThe sheets still clung to my skin, warm and tangled around my legs like his touch hadn’t left me. My breath had evened out, but my heart hadn’t slowed. It still beat with the rhythm of what we’d just done… of him… of us.“Jesus,” I whispered, blinking up at the ceiling. “I love that man.”The words slipped out before I could catch them, but they didn’t scare me. Not this time.Because for once… it didn’t feel like I was loving someone who had forgotten me.He remembered.“I didn’t think I’d ever get this moment,” I whispered, blinking slowly as I stared at nothing. “I didn’t think he’d come back to me. That we’d ever be this close again.”My voice trembled.“I hated him, you know,” I murmured. “God, I hated him so much for what he did… for how he made me feel like I was nothing. Like I was just a substitute. An accident he regretted.”I pressed my hand over my heart, breathing through the sting in my throat.“But I still loved him. Even when I didn’t want to. Even when it
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Leonard’s POVShe had turned to leave, her cane tapping slowly toward the hall, when she suddenly stopped. Her back stiffened, and her head turned slightly in my direction.Her voice was quiet. Almost broken.But before I go…” Elena said, her back still turned, her fingers clenching around her cane. “I’d like to ask you something.”I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My heart was already pounding like a warning drum in my chest.She turned slightly, just enough to tilt her pale, sightless face toward me. Her brows were tight. Her lips quivered.“When am I getting my eyes back from Olivia?”Silence collapsed over the room. And for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.She wasn’t crying. Not yet. But there was something far worse behind her voice, exhaustion. That deep, soul-suffocating kind that makes your bones feel like they’ve aged decades.“Elena…” My throat tightened around her name.“I’m not trying to be cruel,” she said, her voice trembling like a cracked violin string. “I’m not trying to
The Billionaire Substitute Wife Chapter 28: Please Understand, She Is My Wife
Leonard’s Point of View. The second time I came inside my wife that morning left me a little too smug for my own good. Olivia’s moans were still etched into my memory, her scent lingering on my skin. I hadn’t planned on going another round, but the way she’d looked at me after mocking Elena? I couldn’t help myself. But now I had to deal with her. I dragged a hand through my hair, buttoning the top of my shirt as I walked into the living room, already dreading the conversation. Elena sat stiffly on the edge of the couch, her cane resting against her leg, her fingers clenched so tight in her lap they’d gone pale. “Elena.” “I didn’t like what you did. What you did this morning was very disrespectful Elena and that I would not take from you” She flinched. “You didn’t knock. You just barged into the room..my bedroom, as if you belonged there. As if Olivia wasn’t right beside me in my bed.” I took a step forward, my tone low and hard. “You came in uninvited, asking for me, demand
