Chapter 1

The first time I met Wei Yuxi was at a private convalescent hospital.

His luxurious suite had to be a hundred square meters. There was none of the usual hospital reek, only the faint scent of expensive sandalwood. Yet surging through the room, wildly out of place, was a tempestuous symphony. It swept over me like wind-lashed waves and made my heart pound.

A man sat beneath the window in the corner, dressed in loose striped pajamas. His lowered eyes were lost beneath the shadows of his lashes. He looked cold as ice and clear as water.

The music was deafening. The doctor who had brought me in had to lean down and speak beside his pale ear.

The man felt around until he found the remote, then pressed a button. The clamor stopped at once.

“Xu Ye?”

The voice that left his colorless lips was beautiful and flat.

Xu Ye was the name of my stepsister—the one who had broken off their engagement.

I gave a vague hum of acknowledgment.

The Wei family had reluctantly agreed to let me marry him, but on one condition: I had to come as Xu Ye, so as not to wound Wei Yuxi’s fragile feelings. He had only met my sister twice anyway. What difference could the real bride possibly make?

So I came straight to the point.

“Hello. Let’s get married.”

My mother died when I was ten.

My father had no choice but to take me in. He had already remarried, and his new wife was a formidable, wealthy socialite, but he still worked very hard to ensure that I spent the next decade in the Xu household as if I were invisible.

My stepsister was the exact opposite.

She was the Xu family’s sole heir, the very picture of a rich young heiress. At twenty, she entered Columbia University and became engaged to a handsome man whose wealth and family standing matched hers. When the two families announced the engagement, their companies’ stocks soared overnight.

Then one day, the groom-to-be collapsed during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

When he woke, he was blind.

The Xu family assumed advanced treatment overseas would restore Wei Yuxi’s sight, so they waited patiently for a year. Nearly two years passed, however, and their prospective son-in-law remained stubbornly, diligently blind.

At that point, both families grew restless.

My stepsister demanded to end the engagement. My stepmother could not bear to lose the benefits of the alliance, so she came to me a few days ago.

I understood exactly what she wanted. No matter what she said, I only shook my head.

When she saw that I would not budge, she patted my hand gently. “Xiaoye, there’s no need to resist. No one in this family is forcing you.”

“You can even name your terms, can’t you?”

She was always like this. She threw away what she no longer wanted, then expected someone else to be grateful for receiving it.

I gave a humorless laugh. “No.”

“You don’t want to?”

Across the room, my father was still comforting my sobbing sister. My stepmother glanced his way and raised her voice. “Don’t worry. Your father and I would never hurt you.”

Then, when no one was watching, she lowered her voice again.

“If you agree, I’ll take care of the matter concerning your mother.”

I jerked my head up.

My nails dug into my palms as I stared at her. Entirely unruffled, she placed a photograph of a young man before me.

“Think it over.”