egan to play back memories, but now they were cast in a new, horrifying light. Liam' s obsession with So

called it a sweet, sibling bond. But I remembered Liam's office, a room I had only ever experienced through touch. I'd run my hands over his desk, his bookshelves, and the single, large framed portrait he kept

aptivated by this self-made tech magnate. I learned his routines, his favorite foods, the way he liked his coffee. I tailored my life to fit into his, sacrificing my own ambitions to be the

ago. One of Liam' s friends, a little dru

, if you weren' t siblings,

a prickle of unease, even then. I couldn't see Liam's f

his voice flat and cold, shuttin

discomfort, it was anger. Anger at having his secret, sacred obsession spoken of so casually, so profanely. And his coldne

e in a high-rise hotel. I had gone to find him in one of the labs where he was demonstrating a new robotics prototype. As I entered the

eamed his name and threw myself a

ass. The last thing I ever saw clearly was the

e impact had caused severe trauma to my optic nerves. I was legally blind, with little to no chance of rec

t of my bed, a dist

he said, his voice devoid of any war

yed. My heroic act, my sacrifice, was an inconvenience, a disruption to his orderly world.

, Ethan, begged me to come home to France, to leave this cold, unfeeling man behind. I was on the verge of agreeing. I had packe

his secrets. A blind wife wouldn't notice the late nights in his lab, wouldn't see the doll in his arms, wouldn't see the truth in his eyes. My sacrifice hadn't earned his love, it had just