Chapter 1

During a summer road trip, a sudden car crash occurred on the highway.

My boyfriend and my sister lunged forward without hesitation, sheltering me behind their bodies. My body emerged uninjured, but shattered glass pierced through my eyes, leaving me permanently blind.

Overwhelmed with guilt, they cared for my every need, vowing to serve as my eyes for the rest of their lives. Though I lost my sight, I still felt deeply blessed.

As our wedding day drew near, I was unexpectedly bound with a vision restoration system.

"Host's vision has been restored. If no one detects your recovery within three days, your eyesight will be restored. If anyone finds out, you will die instantly."

Overjoyed, I accepted the terms.

But right after I finished trying on my wedding gown, as my boyfriend was driving me home and stopped at a red light, he suddenly leaned back.

My sister leaned forward naturally from the back seat, and the two of them locked lips.

Chapter 1

I didn't dare look into the rearview mirror, but the soft, wet sounds of their kiss alone were enough to drive me to ruin.

Only at the last second before the traffic light turned green did they reluctantly part.

"Clara, time flies so fast! When you two first got together, you had just graduated, right? I can't believe you're getting married now!" Evelyn Colombo said, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Her hand casually caressed Marcel Horton's cheek as she continued, "I really envy you, getting to marry a man as amazing as Marcel."

Marcel chuckled, his hand reaching over naturally to stroke the back of mine. His touch was as warm as ever, yet at that moment, I felt like being encased in solid ice.

"Marrying Clara has always been my dream. I'm the luckiest man in the world." He confessed his love to me while his lips still bore the warmth of another woman.

Suddenly, I felt so pathetic and pitiable.

Tears welled up frantically in my eyes. Just as I opened my mouth to tear off their fake masks, a system alert blared wildly in my ears.

"WARNING! Exposure risk detected! Being discovered will result in immediate task failure and instant death of the host. Time remaining: Two and a half days."

Rage and agony tore through me simultaneously. Clenching my fists until my knuckles turned white, I forced myself to swallow every word back down.

When we arrived home, the two of them walked into the kitchen.

Marcel leaned over the sink, washing vegetables while Evelyn wrapped her arms effortlessly around his waist from behind.

As passion took over, Marcel lifted her in one swift motion and set her on the dining table, the two of them passionately entwined. The rushing water from the faucet ran loudly, conveniently muffling her faint gasps.

Meanwhile, I sat in the living room just a few paces away, clutching my glass of water. My grip slipped, and the glass shattered on the floor.

Hearing the noise, Marcel hastily shoved Evelyn off him and flew to my side.

He scooped me up in his arms, his voice dripping with intense concern. "Clara, how could you be so careless? Are you hurt?"

"Are you all right, Clara?" Evelyn jogged over as well, crouching down to clean up the glass shards. "Marcel, take care of her. The wedding is the day after tomorrow. I don't want anything to happen to her before the big day."

A lingering flush from their passion still dusted her cheeks. How touching those words sounded... Yet the image of their entwined lips stuck in my mind, leaving nothing inside me except a soul-chilling numbness.

Evelyn and I had grown up depending on each other. We were all the family either of us had left.

When I was 18, loan sharks came barging through our door. When a man attempted to assault me, it was Evelyn who shielded me with her frail body, and it was Marcel who charged in without a second thought, saving my life.

They were the most important people in my life—the family I chose as I grew up. But now, the beautiful illusion was over.

Chapter 2

Suppressing the deep grievance inside me, I pretended not to see Marcel piling food onto Evelyn's plate during meals.

I pretended not to hear their hushed laughter outside my door late at night. Rage and agony swirled together in my chest.

Taking advantage of a moment while they were out at work, I frantically searched every corner of the house. I unearthed an old phone I had saved three months of my own money to buy for Evelyn back in high school.

Perhaps because she had no reason to guard against me, there wasn't even a passcode set. But the moment I hit the power button, my heart skipped a beat.

The lock screen wallpaper showed Marcel's hand tightly holding Evelyn's, their fingers intertwined. Swallowing the heart-wrenching pain, I tapped open the photo gallery.

What met my eyes were photos and videos of them in various intimate poses. There were even videos of her wearing my pajamas in bed with him.

On social media, they co-managed a couple's account, filled with joint photos and a shared dating diary. Countless followers envied their sincere, passionate love, while my heart felt as though it were being ripped out of my chest while still beating.

Yet what broke me most wasn't those photos or horrific details. It was the betrayal of my beloved sister. If she had only asked, I would have gladly handed Marcel over to her.

But she chose to say nothing at all, leaving me to play the fool kept entirely in the dark. I didn't have to hold it in anymore.

Tears streamed down my face. Yet when I closed my eyes, all I could see was the image of them shielding me with their bodies during that car crash.

I suddenly couldn't tell which moment was genuine love and which was just a heartless act.

Right then, the front door swung open.

Panicking, I hid the phone, wiped away my tears, and lay back down in bed, pretending to sleep as though nothing were amiss.

"Evelyn, after the wedding, we can't do this anymore. You know I love her. I can't keep betraying her like this..." Marcel's voice held a note of inner conflict.

"But what if I can't help myself?"

"Alright, you know how I feel..." Before he could finish, his words were smothered by a wet kiss. "I really don't know what to do with you..."

Lying in bed, I bit down on my lip so hard it nearly bled.

Why? Why did they profess their love to me with their lips while doing things that shattered my heart into pieces?

I lost all control over myself. I grabbed everything within reach and hurled it onto the floor, ignoring the sharp shards flying everywhere.

Hearing the commotion, they halted immediately. Evelyn panicked in an instant.

"Clara, did you have a nightmare?" Marcel wrapped his arms tightly around me from behind.

Just as he used to do whenever my depression flared up, he stroked my back over and over, his voice dripping with heartache. "Tell me, what happened? Please don't do this."

Ever since losing my eyesight, I had hit the dead end. Life had gradually lost all meaning, and I fell into deep depression, breaking down and wanting to end my life at the slightest trigger.

I had slit my wrists, slammed my head against walls... I attempted suicide 99 times, and not once did I succeed. It was Marcel and Evelyn who stayed by my side through it all, giving me hope to keep going.

As I stayed silent, Marcel's embrace gradually loosened. A flicker of impatience crept into his eyes. "Clara, can you stop throwing these tantrums? I'm exhausted coming home to take care of you after a full day of work. Can you please stop adding to my burden?"

Evelyn squeezed his wrist gently. Only then did he let out a sigh, seemingly realizing his tone had been out of line. "I know you're in a lot of pain, but we're getting married tomorrow. Can you please just calm down?"

Just then, the voice in my mind blared once more. "Time remaining: 24 hours."

I pinched my thigh viciously, forcing myself back to composure. Yes, I must stay calm. I needed to hold on until the wedding ended tomorrow.

Chapter 3

I barely slept a wink that night.

Early the next morning, I was awakened by hushed voices outside my bedroom door.

"Have you lost your mind? You want to take Clara's place and walk down the aisle as the bride?" Marcel's voice held a note of shock.

"We're twins anyway. No one will even notice if we swap places. Clara is blind; we just need to find a guy built somewhat like you to walk her through the motions..." Evelyn's voice quavered with tears.

"Besides, you've already registered your marriage with her legally. Letting me have the ceremony isn't asking for much, is it?

"I just want to marry you so badly. Just treat it as fulfilling my final wish. Once the ceremony is over, I promise I'll go back to being a good sister and never cross the line again, alright?"

Marcel remained silent for a long time—so long that I thought he was going to refuse. Yet in the end, he nodded. "Okay. I'll grant your wish. But this is the last time you get to be willful."

...

The wedding ceremony began.

Evelyn stood arm in arm with Marcel in the center of the grand hall.

The whole place was draped in purple tulips; it was Evelyn's favorite flower. And the decor was styled in her dream fairytale aesthetic.

The wedding gown fit her so flawlessly it seemed custom-tailored for her body. Meanwhile, I wore a cheap, backup dress, tucked away in a corner where no one would notice.

When the officiant instructed the groom to kiss the bride, Evelyn openly pressed her lips against Marcel's. And I was forced to kiss a stranger.

A wave of intense nausea surged up my throat. Just as I was about to shove the stranger away from me, a system alert blared in my ears. "Time remaining: Three hours."

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug deep into my palms. It hurt, but the physical pain couldn't compare to even a fraction of the agony tearing through my heart.

Just three more hours of holding back, and I would tear off the masks of the shameless pair.

Halfway through the reception, Evelyn suddenly covered her mouth and bolted toward the restroom. Noticing something was off, Marcel hurried after her.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I changed out of the wedding dress into street clothes and slipped after them. Through the half-ajar door, I saw Evelyn hunched over the sink dry-heaving, her face as pale as sheet paper.

"Marcel, I didn't mean for this to happen. We used protection every time. It was only that one time three months ago when we forgot, and I never thought...

"I know this is wrong, but I've cared for Clara for so many years. I don't owe her anything. Just this once, I want to be selfish."

Three months ago, it was my birthday.

That night, I had closed my eyes and made a wish over the birthday candles, wishing that the two of them would stay by my side year after year.

Yet on that very night, they were tangled together in bed.

"Terminate it," Marcel blurted out. "I've already done too many wrong things. Clara can never find out about this."

Evelyn broke down in an instant. "How can you be so heartless? I love you so much. Why won't you just look at me? I asked the doctor. If I terminate my pregnancy, I might never be able to have children again...

"Even if I never have a title or marriage, I just want to stay by your side. That's all. Please don't push me away, okay?"

My knees buckled, and my body slammed onto the floor. The noise startled the two people inside, and they froze simultaneously.

Chapter 4

Marcel was the first to react, hastily helping me up off the ground.

His voice dripped with panic and intense concern. "How could you come to the restroom all by yourself? Did you get hurt?"

Evelyn dropped her act completely. She took my hand. "Clara, did you hear everything?"

Without waiting for my response, she pressed on of her own accord. "Since you heard it all, I won't hide it from you anymore. I'm pregnant, and it's Marcel's.

"Do you really have the heart to watch me lose my chance at having children forever? I was wrong, but the baby is innocent. Just let me give birth to this child. Once it's born, I can let you raise it. I'll have the baby call you Mom.

"Haven't you always wanted a child? Isn't this perfect? You'll still be Marcel's wife. I'll still be your sister, and we can all live happily together as a family."

She spoke with such earnestness, acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world—as though stealing my husband and getting pregnant with his child were the greatest gift she could bestow upon me.

Tears streamed down my face. I was done pretending.

Marcel glared at her. Stripped of the composure he had maintained moments before, he fell into a frantic scramble. "Clara, don't listen to her nonsense. She's just trying to drive a wedge between us..."

I choked out through tears. "What she said is all true, isn't it?"

He paused for a long time before slowly opening his mouth. "Clara, I'm so sorry..."

I let out a self-deprecating laugh. But before I could go on, Evelyn fell to her knees and grabbed tightly onto my legs, weeping hysterically.

"Evelyn, I've been so good to you. How could you go and seduce my husband? I literally have nothing left. I beg you, please don't take Marcel away from me. I can pretend I never knew about any of this, and we can just get along from now on, alright?"

I froze in disbelief because she had just called me Evelyn. I knew she was shameless, but I never imagined she could be so despicable.

Whispers erupted all around us.

"My gosh, her sister is already blind, yet she still tries to steal her husband? That's sickening!"

"Screwing around with her brother-in-law? How shameless! A woman like that doesn't deserve to live in this world!"

...

Seeing public opinion shift entirely in their favor, Marcel pointed his finger right at my nose and scolded, "Evelyn, haven't you had enough? Clara is pregnant. How could you push her like this?"

He shoved me hard onto the floor. My elbow crashed against the tiles, numbing with sharp pain.

Someone in the crowd recognized Evelyn and Marcel as the popular couple vloggers, filming our entire argument and uploading it online.

In no time, I was transformed from the legitimate bride into a villainous home-wrecker trying to steal her sister's husband.

Vicious abuse and insults rained down on me, choking the breath out of my lungs. Some of their fans attending the wedding even grabbed cups of cold water and splashed them over my head.

"How can you do something so foul and so cheap? It makes me feel sick in my stomach!"

"Everyone, record this woman's face and post it online! Expose her on social media. This is what home-wreckers deserve!"

No matter how I tried to defend myself, no one believed me. Right as I reached the brink of total collapse, a system prompt chimed in my mind.

"Countdown completed. The host's vision has been restored."