A Sugar-Coated Marriage of Poison

I exchanged a glance with Nolan, and without a word, we wiped away our tears.

I took a deep breath and turned calmly toward Justin. "Since you've been holding onto that report for so long, Nolan and I thought we'd come find you," I said. "We got a little lost and almost went the wrong way."

Justin let out a sigh of relief, and just as a small smile was about to curve his lips, my next words froze him in place.

"What are you holding? Is that our medical report?" I stepped forward, reaching for it, but my eyes didn't leave his face for a moment.

Justin's gaze darted, and he slipped the report out of sight. "We can go over this at home. No hurry."

Seeing his lips pale from nervousness, a hint of irony flashed across my eyes. I pulled my hand back, took Nolan's hand, and turned to leave.

Justin paused briefly, then rushed forward and held Nolan close. His touch was still as gentle and caring as it had been in the 99 days before.

Nolan didn't wrap his arms around Justin's neck like he used to. He froze, staring at him with vacant eyes.

Justin didn't notice anything was wrong and held him all the way to the car. As he set up the child seat, he said casually, "Honey, remember Suzanne Lloyd? Her child was sick before, but now they're recovered and ready to return home. She doesn't have much family, so I thought she could stay at our place for a few days."

He studied my expression and added, "Of course, I'm just suggesting. If you or Nolan mind, we don't have to."

"I don't mind. Bring her home," I said.

Justin froze for a moment, then quickly smiled. "Thanks, honey. You're the best. Marrying you really is my luck."

I didn't smile back. I simply walked to the back seat, holding Nolan close. A single tear slid down my cheek.

Once we got home, Justin immediately found an excuse to leave. I knew he was eager to arrange Suzanne's return. I used the opportunity to finally have a heart-to-heart with Nolan.

I wanted to take him away, as far from this disgusting house as possible, and preferably never see Justin again.

Nolan didn't resist. He just tore the diary apart, which held his record of every day since the accident and all that involved Justin and us.

Day 1 after the accident: My eye was gone. I asked Mommy where it went, and she didn't answer. She just cried. Daddy cried too. It was the first time he held me, saying he would be my eyes from now on.

Day 3: Daddy came every day to take care of Mommy and me. He said he loved us so much, he wanted to be our lifelong support. I told him I loved him too. Daddy cried again.

Day 21: I was discharged. When Jack Stanton discovered my secret, he and the other kids in kindergarten laughed at me for having only one eye. They called me disgusting and said they would never play with me again. I quietly hid in the storage room and cried for a long time, telling myself it was okay as long as Mommy and Daddy loved me.

Day 25: The doctor installed a toy eye for me. Daddy said no one would laugh at me now. I showed the eye to Jack, telling him I wasn't disgusting. But Jack poked it with a pencil, called me a demon, and said the eye wouldn't hurt.

…

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably as I held Nolan tight.

"Nolan, I'm going to take you away, okay?"

He touched his cold, fake eye, his eyes red-rimmed, and nodded.

"Okay."

…

I set my phone to a 24-hour countdown. I quickly started packing, knowing that lingering any longer would only hurt Nolan more.