The Blind Spot

Chapter 1 I went with my best friend to a hotel to catch her cheating boyfriend. We yanked the duvet back. But it was Liam’s face staring back at me.

His first instinct was to pull the sheet up to cover the face of the woman lying next to him. Only then did he lift his heavy eyelids and snarl viciously at us: "Get the hell out before I make you regret it."

My best friend was terrified. She pulled at my arm, desperately trying to drag me out of the room. But my body was completely rigid. I stood there, staring at him dead in the eye, unable to move a single muscle.

Because Liam was my boyfriend.

01

"Wait." Liam suddenly called out, stopping us in our tracks.

He slowly and deliberately lit a cigarette, blew out a ring of smoke, and finally let his gaze land on me. "If a video of this leaks online tonight—no matter who posts it—I’m holding you responsible." "Did you hear me, Chloe?"

Liam said my name, his voice still carrying that lazy, postcoital rasp. "Don't play games behind my back. It's annoying."

The moment his words landed in the deadquiet hotel room, I let out a sudden, low laugh. It sounded jarring.

But I didn't want to leave. I hadn't done anything wrong. I was completely in the right. I had absolutely zero reason to back down, and I refused to!

"Liam, you are acting so righteous right now, I'm actually getting confused." I brushed Maya's hand away, stepped right up to the edge of the bed, and gave him a mocking, cynical smile. "I’m just really curious... who exactly is the one cheating here?"

Who is the one who just got caught redhanded in a hotel bed? Is it not you, Liam, sitting there naked, smoking your postsex cigarette? Is it me? The one who just burst into this room, fully dressed with my shoes still on?

"What the hell is this act?" Why are you yelling at me? Why are you threatening me when YOU are the one who did something wrong?

My hands were clenched into fists, my voice shaking so badly I couldn't keep it steady. Even though I was screaming in my own head not to show weakness. But looking down and seeing Liam sitting in a defensive posture, shielding the woman beside him like she was his most precious treasure, my eyes stung with unbearable pain.

I forced out a bitter, selfdeprecating smile, tasting pure acid in my mouth. Even my hands were trembling. "I am your goddamn girlfriend!" I screamed at him, my eyes burning red. "If you won't let me see her, then I’m going to make sure I see her!" "If she has the guts to sleep with someone else's boyfriend, does she not have the guts to show her face?"

The second the words left my mouth, I lunged forward like a maniac, clawing at the duvet to rip it away from the invisible woman. Even if it killed me, I needed to know exactly who had destroyed my life!

My movement was too fast, too sudden. Liam was clearly startled. But he reacted instantly. His face went icecold, and he grabbed the back of my collar, yanking me backward with brutal force.

As I lost my balance and tumbled backward, Liam raised his leg and delivered a vicious, merciless kick squarely to my stomach.

The force sent me flying backward, slamming hard onto the floor. A blinding, excruciating pain shot up my tailbone, and I let out a sharp, agonizing scream.

"Liam." My eyes were completely red. Because of the intense pain, my voice was shaking violently, but I still stared at him with absolute stubbornness. I enunciated every single word. "I am your girlfriend!"

"And?" A look of profound impatience had already settled over Liam's face. He frowned, looking down at me from the bed like I was garbage, and asked: "Chloe, is cheating illegal?"

02

"Wwhat did you just say?" My brain completely shortcircuited. I couldn't process a single thought.

I stared at Liam's perfectly shaped lips, pulling my own into a smile that was uglier than crying. "Liam, what did you just say? What is that supposed to mean?"

How could any normal person with a shred of basic morality ask a question like that?

But Liam wasn't even looking at me. He had turned his attention entirely to the lump under the duvet, softly asking if she was okay. It wasn't until the person under the covers nodded and gave a soft, sweet hum of reassurance that he finally let out a sigh of relief. Only then did he have the time to turn his gaze back to me.

The moment our eyes met, looking into his chilling, frosty stare, I felt all the strength drain completely from my body.

Liam and I had known each other for five years. We had been together for three. I knew him too well. I knew him so well that it only took one look.

I knew, with absolute, terrifying clarity, that the man in front of me didn't love me anymore. When he looked at me, his eyes no longer held that hidden, affectionate warmth they used to. Instead, they were brimming with thick, suffocating disgust. It looked as though if he had to look at me for one more second, he might actually vomit.

That realization made my heart stop completely.

I struggled to push myself up from the floor. Even though I already knew the answer, clinging to the tiniest, most pathetic shred of hope, I asked with a trembling voice: "Liam, are you breaking up with me?" "Do you really love this homewrecker that much?"

I finally lost control, my voice raising in pitch. I pointed a shaking finger at the figure in the bed, my eyes red and furious.

But the very next second, Liam chucked his halfsmoked cigarette directly at my face and roared: "Shut up!"

"Chloe, this is my absolute last warning to you." "This is between you and me. Do not drag her into this."

Liam stared at me with pure ice. "She is nothing like you. If I hear one more disgusting word come out of your mouth, I promise you, next time I won't just tell you to shut up." "You know me. I always keep my promises."

I stared at him blankly, frozen in place. I didn't even try to dodge the cigarette, which was still glowing orange at the tip.

The cherry hit me perfectly just beneath my right eye, searing a red burn mark into my skin in the blink of an eye. Blistering hot ash scattered from the impact, flying directly into my eye, igniting a violent, piercing agony.

In a fraction of a second, my entire right eye was covered in a sheet of crimson red.

I slowly, belatedly, reached a hand up to my face and felt something warm. Tears triggered by the pain mixed with blood, streaming down my cheek.

Looking at the blood on my fingertips, a sudden, highpitched ringing erupted in my ears. I couldn't hear anything anymore. I saw Maya running toward me, her face pale and panicked. I saw the look of absolute, unadulterated disgust on Liam's face. His expression was dark as thunder, his mouth opening and closing as he seemingly spat out more vicious threats.

But I couldn't hear a single word.

It wasn't until Maya grabbed my hand that the buzzing in my ears finally began to recede, and sound slowly filtered back into my reality. And with it, I heard Liam cursing and spitting out that exact same sentence: "I cheated. Which goddamn law did I break?"

He glared at me with cold, dead eyes, pronouncing every word: "Who do you think you are, trying to play judge and jury with me?" "Forget about just being my girlfriend—even if you were my wife, I cheated. So what?!" "You're acting so crazy, you want me to call the cops so they can arrest me?"

My body jerked to a sudden halt. I stared at him in pure, unfiltered disbelief. I stared at this man—the man I had spent the last three years of my life with. Only today, in this exact moment, did I finally realize that despite sharing a bed for three years... I had never truly known who he was.

After a long time, a sudden, airy laugh escaped my lips. I replied, my voice floating light as a feather: "Okay. I understand."

"You're right, Liam. Cheating isn't illegal." I looked at him and said, word by word: "So, let's break up."

Liam froze.

03

Liam looked genuinely taken aback. He frowned, staring at me intently for a long moment. He probably never expected me to be so decisive this time.

After a long silence, he lit another cigarette and said coldly: "Fine. Whatever you want." "Now get the hell out."

As Maya and I turned to leave, he called out to us one last time, repeating his warning: "Make sure you delete the video. I don't want to see it anywhere else."

I said: "Okay."

Maybe it was because I agreed too quickly, too easily. Liam paused middrag, a flash of confusion crossing his face, but he didn't ask any questions.

I walked out of the room and even politely pulled the door shut behind me.

The moment the lock clicked into place, I finally let go of Maya's hand. The tears I had fought so hard to hold back came flooding out, uncontrollable and pathetic. I had to bite down on my lower lip so hard it bled just to suppress the agonizing sobs clawing at my throat.

I kept telling myself, Don't cry. It's just a cheating scumbag. We broke up. What is there to cry about? A piece of trash like him doesn't deserve my tears.

But no matter how hard I tried to swallow it down, the tears just wouldn't stop pouring. The pain and grievance churned endlessly in my chest, bringing wave after wave of sharp, stabbing agony that made it impossible to even stand up straight.

Liam and I had been together for three entire years. Three years. Even if I had raised a stray dog for three years, I would have developed a deep emotional attachment to it. Let alone a living, breathing human being.

He was the man who used to shower me with kisses and hugs every single day. The man who would drop everything he was working on just to travel the world with me. The man who, if I casually mentioned I missed him, would take the earliest possible flight the next morning just to appear in front of me.

To be honest, I had imagined so many different futures for Liam and me. I thought we might get married one day. Or maybe we would eventually just drift apart and end things peacefully. But I never, ever imagined that Liam and I would end in such a disgusting, humiliating way. That it would end with him cheating on me, and threatening to destroy my life to protect his mistress.

How hilarious. My last three years felt like one massive, elaborate joke.

I squatted on the steps outside the hotel, hugging my knees, crying so hard I couldn't catch my breath, and asked Maya: "Does every relationship end up being this stupid and pathetic?"

Maya was wiping my tears with a tissue, sighing heavily. She was just about to answer when her hand suddenly froze. Then, she whispered urgently into my ear: "Stop crying for a second." "I've got an opportunity for you to vent. Wipe your face and stand up right now!"

I was yanked to my feet by Maya in a total daze. Before my brain could even process what was happening, I saw Maya, her eyes blazing with pure, unadulterated fury, charge directly at the couple who had just walked out of the hotel doors.

It was only when she was right in front of them that I realized the man was Maya's boyfriend. I barely registered the look of sheer panic on his face. Because the very next second, Maya swung her heavy, studded designer handbag and smashed it directly into his face.

"I'll give you a reason to cheat!" Maya let out a piercing scream, her eyes bloodshot as she roared: "You absolute piece of trash! I'll give you a reason to cheat! I'll give you a reason to find a mistress!"

Maya grabbed the mistress by the hair and swung her studded bag at her head too. Seeing things escalate rapidly, her boyfriend tried to make a run for it. But Maya lunged, locked her hands around his throat, and slammed him forcefully onto the pavement.

What followed was a flurry of brutal, fullforce kicks. Her stiletto heels stomped viciously onto his face, then moved lower, stomping frantically on his groin.

Finally, after expelling every ounce of her rage, Maya spat directly onto the man's face on the ground and screamed at the top of her lungs: "Scum! Men are all absolute scum!" "Every single one of you is pure garbage!"

After screaming that final sentence, Maya grabbed my hand and sprinted. We ran so fast, so hard, that my tears were completely blown away by the wind.

Eventually, we stopped at an intersection. The moment we looked at each other, we both couldn't help but burst out laughing. Maya panted, trying to catch her breath, and asked me: "Are you still sad?"

"A little bit." I panted back, smiling. "But it's not my heart that hurts anymore. Mostly, my eye feels like it was burned, and it's stinging really badly right now." I probably needed to go to the hospital.

"Good. Let it sting." Maya looked at me, her expression complex. She hailed a cab to take me to the ER, and said: "Remember exactly how this pain feels. Liam gave this to you. Don't you ever get softhearted and get back together with him."

I lowered my eyes, looking at the blood still staining my fingertips, and gave a small, bitter smile. "I won't."

I would never have anything to do with Liam ever again. I wasn't that pathetic. I wouldn't beg for scraps from a man just so he could beat me again.

04

Liam and I were completely finished.

My eye ended up being okay, nothing permanently damaging. Just some corneal abrasions. The doctor said I would experience a strong foreignbody sensation, sharp stinging, and constant tearing for a short while.

After getting a medical eye patch taped over my eye and picking up some prescription drops, I walked out of the hospital. Maya wanted to take me all the way home, but I refused. Our apartments were in completely opposite directions. If she dropped me off and then went home, it would take her an extra hour. There was no need.

She couldn't win the argument, so she compromised, demanding I text her the second I got inside. "I will," I smiled, waving goodbye. "Hurry up and get in your Uber, don't make the driver wait."

Maya nodded and climbed into the backseat. I kept the smile on my face until her car completely disappeared into the traffic. Only then did the smile slowly slide off my face.

I knew I shouldn't be sad. I knew Liam was a piece of trash. He was a scumbag, clear as day, out in the open.

But I still couldn't help it. I was still sad, still in agony. A sour, suffocating feeling wrapped around me until I felt like a bitter, bruised lemon.

In a total daze, I walked into a convenience store, bought a tall can of beer, and sat down at the window counter, staring blankly at the people passing by. Right now, I didn't want to go anywhere. I didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to completely empty my brain.

So I sat in the corner of that convenience store, silently drinking can after can. After three tall boys, I finally managed to suppress the agonizing pain churning in my chest. The side effect was that my head felt incredibly heavy and dizzy.

I swayed slightly as I stood up to leave, only to find two sleazylooking guys with long, dyedblonde hair suddenly blocking my path. They grinned lecherously, and one of them threw an arm over my shoulder, blowing his foul breath into my face: "Hey beautiful, drinking all by yourself is no fun. Why don't you come party with us?"

Caught off guard, their sudden weight made me stumble. Maybe it was because I only had one working eye, or maybe it was the alcohol, but my vision was spinning wildly. I tried to shove them off, but I couldn't muster any strength.

One of them shot his buddy a highly suggestive grin, then reached out with both arms to grab me.

"Get off me!" I was shaking with fury, screaming at them: "Don't touch me!" "I'll call the cops!"

But not only were they not scared, they actually laughed, boxing me in from both sides and physically dragging me out of the store.

The cold night air hit my face, finally clearing some of the alcoholic fog from my brain. I struggled violently, but the harder I fought, the tighter they gripped me. One of them, afraid I would start screaming, clamped a heavy hand over my mouth and started dragging me toward a dark, narrow alleyway.

My eyes widened in sheer terror. I fought with everything I had, but two fists are no match for four hands. I had absolutely no way to escape!

Panicking, I looked frantically around the street, desperately searching for anyone who could help. As my eyes swept the area in a frenzy... They locked onto a very familiar pair of eyes.

The man was standing across the street, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He was carefully, tenderly protecting a slender woman as she climbed into the backseat of a luxury car.

As if sensing my gaze, he looked up, his eyes sweeping across the street. The moment our eyes met, he paused for a fraction of a second.

Liam saw me.

That realization made my heart pound against my ribs like a jackhammer. He saw me! He definitely saw that I was being held against my will and dragged away! He absolutely recognized the terror and resistance on my face!

In that split second, my heart raced with a desperate kind of hope, and I instinctively reached a hand out toward him, begging for help. In the past, if Liam even saw a stranger accidentally bump my shoulder from across the street, his face would turn black with rage. He would charge over, shove the person away, and pull me into his arms with aggressive, overwhelming possessiveness. He always told me he would protect me.

I mouthed his name silently, looking toward him with eyes blurred by terrified tears.

But the very next second, Liam calmly looked away. He acted as if he hadn't seen a single thing. He simply looked down and casually lit his cigarette.

My breathing stopped instantly. It felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of freezing ice water over my head, chilling me so deeply I violently shuddered.

As the two men dragged my stunned, frozen body into the dark alley, an explosive burst of pure adrenaline surged through my veins. Taking advantage of a momentary lapse in one of their grips, I ripped my hand free, spun around, and delivered a brutal, fullforce punch directly into his nose!

As the man released me with a howl of agony, dropping into a crouch to clutch his bleeding face, I swung my heavy tote bag with all my might and smashed it directly into the other man's groin. Then, I turned and sprinted toward the entrance of the alley, not looking back once, running faster than I ever had in my life.

But I didn't expect that the moment I burst out of the alleyway, I would crash headfirst into a familiar chest. The familiar scent of woody tea mixed with a hint of sweet citrus cologne filled my nose.

I froze, looking up to meet Liam's eyes.

The next second, I shoved him away with lethal force, gripped the straps of my bag, and swung it directly at his face with every last ounce of strength I had left. "I was so busy hitting those two pieces of trash, I forgot to hit you."

Liam staggered backward from the impact, his entire face instantly blooming an angry red. "You hit me?!" He reached up to touch his stinging cheek, his expression a mix of shock and pure disbelief. He raised an eyebrow.

But I didn't even give him a second glance. I turned, bolted for the street, and threw myself into a taxi idling by the curb. I left the nightmare of tonight, and all the filthy trash standing behind me, entirely in the dust.

Screw Liam, and screw love! It was all fake bullshit!

I aggressively wiped the tears from my eyes, gritting my teeth and telling myself I could not cry anymore. If I shed a single tear for Liam after tonight... I would truly despise myself!