Mr. Rivers steadied the panicking Ethan onto the sofa. "Calm down. I'll call the doctors. Without Scarlett, you should only lose color, not sight! How is this blindness possible?"
Ethan's face turned ashen. A terrifying thought took root.
Would he be blind forever?

No. Absolutely not!
He grabbed his grandfather's arm, voice trembling. "Grandfather, bring Scarlett back! She can fix this! I'll apologize, I'll make it right! She won't leave me, I know she won't!"
Mr. Rivers closed his eyes, wishing he could throttle his foolish grandson. But seeing Ethan's genuine terror, he relented.
Just then, the family elders arrived. They looked at Ethan, shaking their heads.
"What? What do you mean?" Ethan panicked more.
Even Mr. Rivers looked confused. Was there more?

The head elder sighed heavily. "Do you know why Scarlett stayed glued to your side all these years? Do you remember a single day you didn't see her?"
Ethan froze, confusion washing over him.
The elder didn't wait for an answer. "Because your curse, Ethan, is the strongest the Rivers family has seen in a century. Only daily proximity to Rossi blood, letting it suppress the curse, allowed you to see at all. Without it..." He gestured at Ethan's sightless eyes. "...this happens."
Ethan's mouth opened and closed. Memories flooded back.

That's why Scarlett always clung to him!
He thought she needed him. But it was because he needed her. She knew the consequences.
She'd been saving him. Every single day.
And what had he done?
Because she was always there, he grew tired. Annoyed.
When Vivian appeared, he thought she was his salvation.
He'd... he'd taken her skin. Her blood. Done those monstrous things.
The wave of remorse nearly drowned him. It wasn't just about his eyes.
He suddenly realized Scarlett was embedded in his soul. He couldn't live without her.
He closed his eyes, pain etched on his face. "Grandfather... what do I do? I need Scarlett."
Mr. Rivers hadn't known the full extent either. He sighed deeply. "I'll find Scarlett. You apologize properly! Vivian's 'color' is a lie! Only Scarlett can save your sight! She—"
He was cut off as the head elder threw a file on the table, his voice grim. "Vivian. Real name: Lisa Simmons. Daughter of the Simmons Group CEO we bankrupted two years ago. She's been living abroad. The car crash a year ago? She staged it on Scarlett's route to get her blood. To get close to you. Still think her appearance was a coincidence?"
"You utter fool!"
Ethan gasped. Disbelief warred with horror.
So Vivian was a fraud. A vengeful liar.
And for her, he'd done... all of that.
The look of betrayal on my face during the explosion. The hatred when he took my skin. The loathing as he drained my blood.
He raised his hand and slapped himself, hard.
He'd driven away the one person who truly loved him!
"Grandfather, I need to find Scarlett! I need to apologize myself! She has to forgive me!"