Celeste

"Baby, you're absolutely incredible."

A sultry haze of lust and murmured intimacy clung to the living room air, heavy enough to make the space feel tainted.

From the doorway, Alicia Barton froze as she took in the sight of Michael Barton, her husband, tangled shamelessly with Kaelyn Gill—the Gill family's biological daughter and her so-called sister—right there on the sofa, a cold tremor crawling up her spine and sinking into her chest.

"Alicia?" Startled by her presence, Michael fumbled and yanked his pants into place, his movements rushed and clumsy.

Kaelyn looped her arms around his neck, teeth grazing his earlobe as she breathed out lazily, "Why bother with her? It's not like she can see us. Besides, it's not the first time we've done this right in front of her."

Though her whisper was low and indulgent, every word landed clearly in Alicia's ears, sharpened by her unnaturally keen hearing.

Never, not even in her darkest imaginings, had Alicia expected that the very day her sight returned would be the day she discovered her husband in Kaelyn's arms.

Alicia clamped her teeth into her lower lip, forcing herself not to cry as her voice quivered. "What… what are you doing?"

Kaelyn let out a flirtatious laugh, her tongue casually sweeping over her damp lips. "Relax, Alicia. My boyfriend and I were just having a little fun," she purred. "Want to join us?"

Michael was Kaelyn's boyfriend!?

A bone-deep chill rushed through Alicia, freezing her from the inside out.

If that was true… then who had she married?

Not long ago, she had lost her sight in a car accident while trying to save Kaelyn.

When she finally woke up, it was Michael—her childhood sweetheart—who had insisted on marrying her despite her blindness.

She had been overwhelmed with gratitude and emotion.

Yet after the wedding, an unease had quietly taken root—Michael's voice didn't sound the same as she remembered.

When she questioned it, Michael calmly explained that unbearable grief had torn his vocal cords, leaving his voice permanently altered.

It turned out they had been lying to her since the very start.

The thought of Kaelyn making out with Michael when she had been blind while she herself had stood there smiling like a fool and offering her blessings turned her stomach.

How could they bring themselves to do something so cruel to her?

A violent urge rose inside Alicia, a desperate need to rip that rotten couple apart and expose everything.

Still, reason forced her to rein it in. Letting them know she had regained her sight would ruin everything.

For now, she needed to stay quiet and uncover what those two were really plotting behind her back.

At that moment, a sharp doorbell chime cut through the room.