His Vain Confession Lost My Eyes and Child

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In my third year as a blind massage therapist, my ex-husband Damien Hunt brought his employees to my shop.

When he saw me, he remained perfectly calm.

I served him just like any other customer.

Until his phone rang.

The ringtone was a song I had once sung. I froze for a moment.

His colleague teased him:

"I never would've guessed Mr. Hunt was into this girly pop music."

Damien smiled as he explained:

"My ex-wife recorded it when she was younger."

Just as he was about to leave, Damien suddenly turned back:

"Chloe, I've never forgotten you. Are you sure you want to keep raising my child and continue living like this?"

After a long silence, Damien let out a sigh.

"Chloe, look at all those calluses on your hands. Can you really raise a child properly?"

"Just apologize to Sydney, and I can take you both home right now to live comfortably."

I didn't move, just calmly took out my phone.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Hunt. Just leave us a good review."

Damien didn't move. His fingertips drummed on the table.

His voice grew heavier.

"Chloe, you've already lost your sight. What good does this do you?"

I blinked my sightless eyes and was about to speak.

Damien's phone rang. Two young voices came through the speaker.

"Daddy, I miss you. When are you coming home? Mommy has a fever."

"Yeah, Mommy feels so bad today her eyes are all red. Come home and be with us."

Damien softened his voice, coaxing them gently.

"Daddy misses you too."

"Take good care of Mommy at home. I'll be right there."

After hanging up, I could sense Damien's hesitation.

His voice was hoarse. "Chloe, I..."

I smiled and deliberately moved aside to let him pass.

"Have a good evening, sir."

After a long moment, I finally heard his footsteps leaving.

But at the door, he paused again.

"Chloe, I remember you weren't like this before."

Before?

I touched the corner of my eye, as if the pain still lingered there.

Before, I had cried and made scenes, tried to use the baby to keep him, but it never made him turn back.

In the end, the baby was gone, my eyes were ruined, and all I got was him saying I deserved it.

Only after confirming he had left did I return to the massage room.

A colleague came over and nudged me.

"You two know each other? That's Mr. Hunt himself."

I shook my head.

"Not really."

Another colleague laughed as she approached.

"What do you mean 'not really'? He just bought an annual membership with you. Chloe, you won't have to worry about meeting your targets all year."

"Mr. Hunt is so handsome, and he's the kind of good man you can't find even with a lantern."

"If I were his ex-wife, I definitely wouldn't have fought with him."

I found it ironic but didn't respond.

My colleague became more enthusiastic.

"I'm serious. A man who was willing to drop a hundred million for herwhat more could she want?"

"I heard he's still single. That's true devotion."

I was silent for a while before I couldn't help speaking up.

"Devotion?"

"Cheating during marriage and having twin illegitimate childrenthat's devotion?"

"A hundred-million-dollar mansion with his mistress living in itthat's devotion?"

"His wife of ten years not even having ten dollars to buy ice cream at the endthat's devotion?"

My colleague gasped.

"These things... how do you know?"

I lowered my head with a bitter smile and pulled out an old photo of myself to show them.

"Were my eyes beautiful?"

My colleagues nodded.

"Back then, yes. Very beautiful."

I pointed at the corner of my eye.

"Damien Hunt destroyed my eyes. Do you still think he's a good person?"

They gasped in shock.

I ignored them and calmly continued working.

That evening after work, I took my white cane.

I bought many flowers and toys and went to the cemetery.

I arranged everything in front of the gravestone.

"Baby, are you doing well in heaven?"

I touched the cold stone.

"I ran into your father today. He mentioned you. Too bad he'll never get to see you in this lifetime."

Early the next morning, I received a call from the shop even though I had requested the day off.

Damien was throwing a fit.

When I arrived, his voice was low and threatening.

"If you can't get Chloe here, I don't mind putting you all out of work."

I paused at the door, then pushed it open.

"Don't make things difficult for them. I'm here."

He spoke coldly.

"Come here. You're coming with me."

I didn't move.

"I'm not going to say it twice."

A smile curved my lips.

"What if I refuse?"

"This time, what else do you want to take from me?"

Damien's breathing quickened. He crushed the glass in his hand.

I knew he could no longer keep up the act.

Damien and I were childhood friends.

When I was ten and my parents died in an accident, I moved into the Hunt family home.

Back then, all I did was cry.

Damien, two years older, reached out his hand to me.

That hand held mine for ten years.

His friends changed girlfriends constantly, but I was always by his side.

On my twentieth birthday, he dragged me to the civil affairs bureau first thing in the morning.

I teased him for being like an eager puppy waiting for food.

He tucked the marriage certificate against his chest.

"I've waited ten years. Can't let someone else steal you away."

"A wife should be kept close early."

At the wedding, I lifted my dress and turned around.

Damien was already crying.

He held me, sobbing as he made his vow.

"My wife, you're the only one for me. Forever."

After marriage, I loved spicy food, so he went to learn how to cook it.

I liked walking barefoot, so he carpeted the floors and walked with me.

Every morning when I woke up, I didn't even have to squeeze my own toothpaste.

Those days, I felt like I was soaking in honey.

Until he spent a month away from home for work. Worried about him, I brought him soup.

I pushed open the door.

His collar was half-open, a girl sitting on his lap.

A cigarette burned between her fingers as she brazenly kissed his lips.

I froze completely.

"Damien Hunt, what are you doing?"

He snapped to attention and stood up, taking the soup from me.

"Chloe, what are you doing here?"

My voice trembled as I pointed at the girl. "Who is she?"

"Just a buddy." He came over to take my hand.

I jerked away.

"What kind of buddy do you need to personally kiss on the lips?"

The girl laughed and approached.

"This must be Chloe? I'm Sydney Reed, just friends with Damien. Don't take it the wrong way."

"Chloe, you're so pretty. If I were him, I couldn't resist marrying you early either." She pinched my chin.

I frowned and pushed her away.

Sydney covered her mouth and laughed.

"Chloe, I just thought you were beautiful. Couldn't help myself."

"I'm into girls. You don't need to worry about me and Damien."

She pulled up photos of her "girlfriend" on her phone. I looked at Damien with doubt.

"Is she telling the truth?"

Damien smiled and pulled me into his arms.

"Of course it's true. I've known her for years. If there was something between us, would I have married you?"

"What just happened was an accident. Don't overthink it."

I looked between them and softened, choosing to believe him.

From then on, I kept seeing Sydney shoulder-to-shoulder with Damien.

Sydney would walk around naked in front of him.

I couldn't help frowning and reminding him, but he didn't care at all.

"Just a buddy. Why make such a big deal? Just think of her as a guy."

"Besides, even her girlfriend isn't complaining. What are you angry about?"

Seeing how unconcerned he was, I even started thinking I was overreacting.

Sydney often brought me gifts, calling me Chloe affectionately.

I convinced myself not to be so petty.

So I stupidly treated Sydney as a good friend.

I'd cook extra portions for her, think of her when buying things.

On her birthday, I even made her a cake myself.

Until mine and Damien's first wedding anniversary.

He'd been busy abroad negotiating contracts.

I specially bought lingerie and prepared gifts for him.

I found his friend, eyes bright, wanting to surprise him.

But when I looked up, I saw his friend looking at me awkwardly.

"Chloe, maybe you shouldn't go."

"What do you mean?" My smile froze on my face.

He took a deep breath and looked away.

"Chloe, he's been in LA the whole time. With Sydney."

I got the address and rushed over.

A magnificent palace stood before me.

The one he had once built to make me happy.

I walked closer, trembling, my legs shaking uncontrollably.

Through the crack in the door, Sydney's belly was slightly swollen. He gently rubbed her stomach.

"Our son's really active. Give him another kick."

"He's so restless. You must be exhausted."

"When he grows up, I'll transfer the company to him."

I gripped the door, my nails drawing blood.

I remembered this past year when I said I wanted a child.

He always said "no rush, no rush." Turns out he already had one.

I shoved the door open.

"Damien Hunt, is this what you call 'busy'?"

My throat felt like it was filled with blood.

"What are you doing here?"

Damien instinctively stepped in front of Sydney, as if I were some kind of monster.

I laughed coldly. "I should be asking you that."

He frowned, his tone tinged with impatience.

"Sydney got her heart broken. She said she wanted to experience being a mother. I was just trying to help her."

"Help her?"

My voice nearly cracked.

"Damien Hunt, where exactly do you put me?"

Sydney walked over and glared at Damien.

"Damien, how can you talk to Chloe like that?"

She grabbed my hand. "Chloe, I just wanted a child. We're all close, so I borrowed Damien's seed."

"You don't mind, right?"

"Damien and I have always just been bros. Don't worry, we didn't cross any lines."

I laughed coldly and shook her off, trembling with rage.

Right. No lines crossed. They just slept together.

"Damien Hunt, let's get divorced."

I turned around and closed my eyes.

Without waiting for his answer, I went home and started packing.

Halfway through, Damien came back.

He grabbed my hands.

"After all these years, you're sure you want to throw it all away?"

"You've never worked. How will you survive out there?"

"That's none of your business." I shook him off.

He suddenly pulled me into his arms, wiping my tears.

"Honey, I was wrong. It's my fault."

"For the sake of all these years, don't divorce me, okay?"

"Then make her get an abortion and send her away!"

"Okay."

He paused, then agreed.

I gripped his collar tightly. "I want you to have a child with me. Now. Right now."

He looked at me for a long time before finally agreeing.

"Okay."

I kept him home, day and night.

Endless supplements, countless remedies.

Finally, three months later, I got pregnant.

Damien finally breathed a sigh of relief, like he'd completed a task.

But when he looked at this child, there was none of the adoration and joy I'd imagined.

He wasn't exactly bad to me. He still accompanied me to checkups, bought me supplements on time.

Even when I cried at night, he'd hand me tissues and warm water.

But I could tell he was just going through the motions mechanically.

His body was here, but his mind was always elsewhere.

Until I was five months pregnant, he started going out frequently again.

Not answering calls.

One afternoon, he snuck out while I was sleeping.

I followed him to the old mansion.

Sydney's belly was huge, wearing his shirt, leaning on the sofa eating ice cream.

But these past days, Damien never let me touch his shirts.

Now, he gently took away her ice cream.

Massaging her legs.

"Only two bites. I haven't been able to be with you these past days. You've had it tough."

I pushed the door open hard, my lips and teeth trembling uncontrollably.

"You said you'd make her get an abortion. Damien Hunt, you lied to me?"

Seeing me, Damien's veins bulged. He finally exploded.

"Chloe Miller, will you ever stop?"

"You said you wanted me around, I'm around. You said you wanted a child, I gave you one."

"Sydney's carrying twins and she's far along. Do you know how much it hurts me to watch her on the surveillance cameras?"

"They're both my children. Do you really have to be so intolerant?"

"But you promised me!" I clenched my fists tightly.

Sydney smirked and deliberately rubbed her belly.

"Chloe, these two kids have outgrown their clothes. Damien's shirts fit just right."

"The doctor even praised me for being amazing, pregnant with two at once. Though I think I could still do cartwheels."

"It's just Damien being overprotective. Won't let me ride motorcycles or watch horror movies."

"But I'm not some delicate little princess. I've got plenty of energy."

I finally couldn't hold back. I grabbed a vase and hurled it at her.

"You're disgusting!"

"Sydney, watch out!"

Damien suddenly blocked it. He glared at me viciously.

"How can you be so malicious!"

"Don't you know she's carrying twins!"

"Chloe Miller, I've taken care of you for so many years. If you can't handle this, then get out."

Nausea roiled in my stomach. I wiped my mouth.

"Fine. I'll get out!"

I felt completely drained. I turned and left.

I knocked on my best friend's door.

Crying, I told her what happened.

But she just kept frowning.

"Chloe, I hate to say this, but you're being really unreasonable."

"Sydney's a good person. She just asked Damien to father a child. Did you really need to react like this?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

"What are you saying?"

"You're so cruel. Actually trying to make Sydney get an abortion. That's a life too."

"Sydney hasn't fought with you over anything since you got pregnant. You're making way too big a deal out of this."

She continued selecting items.

"What do you think I should give Sydney as a gift when she has the babies?"

Something like congealed blood stuck in my throat.

I couldn't spit it out, couldn't swallow it down.

Even my best friend of many years was on Sydney's side.

I left my friend's place.

Standing on the street, I realized I had nowhere to go.

Out of spite, I went to the store to buy ice cream, only to discover I didn't even have ten dollars in my account.

I sat in the park near our home.

From nightfall until dawn.

The baby was moving. I silently returned home.

Damien grabbed me, looking me over carefully.

"Where did you run off to?"

"I looked for you all night."

"Your tantrum is hurting the baby too."

I didn't look at him, just held out my hand.

"Phone."

He hesitated a moment before giving it to me.

I entered the password.

My birthday. Wrong.

Our anniversary. Still wrong.

He pressed his lips together. "0225."

Sydney's birthday.

My fingertips paused. I unlocked it and transferred five thousand dollars to myself.

Damien's pupils dilated. He handed me a card.

"No limit. Buy whatever you want."

"Chloe, don't run away from home again."

I held the card, its sharp edges cutting painfully into my palm.

He reached out to hug me, but I dodged.

I turned and went back to the bedroom.

I just stayed there quietly, barely asking about him and Sydney anymore.

Watching the baby grow bigger, I only looked forward to the birth.

One afternoon, Sydney came to find me.

She was still wearing Damien's shirt, a smug smile on her face.

"Chloe, you don't know yet, do you? Damien said when the babies are born, he'll come take care of me properly."

"I just mentioned being tired and he felt so bad. I heard you vomited until you brought up bile and he didn't say anything?"

"How can Damien be like this? If it were me, I couldn't bear to let a girl suffer."

I was about to turn around when I heard her scream as she tumbled down the stairs.

"Chloe, I really just came to keep you company."

"Even if you don't trust our friendship, you shouldn't hurt the babies."

"Sydney!"

The next second, Damien's burning slap landed on my face as he bent down to pick up Sydney.

"Chloe Miller, you truly disappoint me."

I watched his desperate retreating figure and wiped the blood from my split lip.

I smiled bitterly.

The numbness on my face took a while to fade.

That evening, he came in with a dark expression, grabbing my hand.

"You hurt Sydney so badly she went into early labor. She's lost her sight. Do you know that!"

"Since you're so cruel, you'll compensate her with yours!"

"I didn't! She fell on her own!" I shook my head frantically.

"Still lying! She's pure-hearted, she doesn't have all these twisted schemes."

He dragged me toward the door.

I lost my temper and fell to my knees, begging him.

"Damien, please don't do this. I'm pregnant. I can't go."

"Please just wait until the baby is born, okay?"

"Just wait a few more months."

I cried until my whole body shook.

He laughed coldly.

"Wait? What about Sydney? Can she wait?"

"The baby? You're this maliciousdo you even deserve to have my child?"

Regardless of my condition, he sent me to the operating room.

I watched them approach with surgical instruments.

I sobbed helplessly.

The corner of my eye was brutally torn away, leaving trails of bloody tears.

He used to smile and kiss my eyes gently.

Said my eyes were bright and beautiful.

After it was over, he had me sent to a nursing home.

Afraid I'd affect Sydney's postpartum recovery.

I was locked inside.

Cold and damp.

He never came to see me once.

On the day I gave birth, I used every ounce of strength I had.

It took a full day.

The baby came out, but had long since stopped breathing.

I held her tiny body and stumbled out of the nursing home.

But that day, everything under Hunt Corporation was free.

Because it was Sydney's twins' 100-day celebration.

He organized a grand event to accumulate blessings for the children.

Thanks to her, I got a free swaddle from a baby store.

So I could wrap my tiny, lifeless daughter.

"Chloe, I just want you and the child to come home with me and live well."

Damien's hoarse voice pulled me back from my thoughts.

I smiled slightly.

"The child?"

Damien continued speaking.

"The nursing home told me it was a girl. She's three now, right? I already picked out a name for her. Aria. How about that? She should come home eventually."

"Didn't they tell you that baby was stillborn?" I interrupted him.

Damien's voice suddenly dropped, tinged with anger.

"Chloe Miller, even if you hate me, you can hit me, yell at me, whatever. Don't use the child to take out your anger."

"I've prepared a room for her all these years. Just waiting for you both to come home."

I didn't respond. It all seemed pointless.

I picked up my white cane and went home.

He followed closely.

"Chloe Miller, didn't you hear what I said? Don't use the child to"

I pushed open the door. He rushed over and grabbed the yellowed death certificate on the table.