Chapter 1
Adrian Hawthorne, the unassailable genius of criminal profiling.
Three years ago, a sudden tragedy struck him down. He developed prosopagnosia, face blindness, a cruel condition that stole his ability to recognize faces. The world became a blur of indistinguishable features.
So she became his eyes.
Day after day, she guided his fingers over her face, tracing the arch of her brows and the curve of her lips, her voice steady and unwavering. "I'm Vanessa Sullivan. I'm your wife. These are my eyes. These are my lips."
The day of his triumph arrived. He stood on the stage beneath blazing lights, the crowd roaring as he accepted an award for cracking an impossible case. Camera flashes stabbed at his vision. She leaned close and whispered through the noise, "Don't be nervous. Remember my voice. I'm right here."
Then high heels clicked across the stage. A woman stepped forward and handed him the trophy. "Congratulations, Adrian," she said with a smile.
His body froze. For a moment everything stilled. Then his eyes reddened and his lips began to tremble.
"Selena, you're back." His voice cracked.
In full view of everyone, the two of them embraced tightly, as if no one else existed.
Vanessa stood rooted to the spot, her mind suddenly blank. For three years he had failed to recognize anyone. Even her, who had lived beside him and patiently introduced herself every day.
And now whispers rippled through the audience.
"It's Selena. They were the precinct's legendary pair."
"How many major cases did those two profilers solve together?"
"After that accident she disappeared. Is that why Adrian can't recognize anyone anymore?"
Each remark fell into place like a piece of a puzzle, forming an image of Adrian she had never known. Those words cut into her again and again. She had never imagined her husband had such a past.
Her mind flew back to the day they first met. Her laptop had been stolen, and she could only recall fragments of the thief's appearance. Even then, though Adrian's facial recognition was already failing, he had tracked the thief down for her. Grateful, she went to thank him, only to discover that the man who once remembered every face could not even recognize hers.
As he sank into despair, she was the one who stayed. She comforted him, guided him, and finally said, "Let me be your eyes." Slowly he began to pull himself together.
Every morning she woke to a stranger's gaze. Every day she repeated her name like a ritual. She believed that if she held on long enough, one day he would truly know her. When she once asked about the cause of his illness, he dismissed it lightly. He had seen too many crime scenes, he said.
Now she understood.
That day never came, not because she had not tried hard enough, but because she was not Selena.
On the stage, Adrian's gaze rested deeply on Selena. "The person I most want to thank is Selena," his voice carried through the hall. "In the field of criminal profiling, she once gave me help that no one else could replace."
They exchanged a smile, their tacit understanding unchanged.
At that moment Vanessa felt her heart being torn apart. She, who could not even watch horror films, had forced herself through endless case files, fighting nausea and waking from nightmares night after night. All for him. Yet he had not spoken her name.
She swallowed the bitterness and told herself that it was only natural for old partners to feel emotional upon reuniting.
When the ceremony ended, she slipped her arm through his as she always did, only to feel him stiffen instantly.
"Adrian," Selena asked with a gentle smile, "who is this?"
Before she could answer, Adrian smoothly withdrew his arm. "Vanessa. She has assisted my profiling work these past years."
One word, assisted, casually erased three years of sharing a bed and a life.
"You've worked hard," Selena said with a nod. "Now that I'm back, Adrian's work will be much easier. I believe his face blindness will improve soon as well."
At home, Adrian remained silent for a long time before speaking. "These years have been hard on you. Since my condition hasn't improved, you should take a rest."
"What do you mean?" she asked, lifting her eyes to him. "You think I'm no longer useful, is that it?"
He frowned impatiently. "You're overthinking it. Selena is a professional profiler. She understands my work better, which will be more beneficial to my recovery."
Hot tears streamed down her face. "So you're going to deny that I'm your wife? Deny everything I've done for you? After all, you developed this illness because of her. I was only being sentimental, wasn't I?"
His expression darkened. "I need time to explain these things to her. What's past is past. Stop dwelling on it. Get some rest."
The lights went out.
He turned his back to her and said nothing more.
In the darkness, Vanessa's tears soaked the pillow. By the time dawn arrived, she finally understood. Since he regarded her as something easily discarded, there was no need for her to cling any longer.
Then let it end in divorce. From this day on, they would go their separate ways.
