The marriage contract is signed before either of us ever meet.

For years, whispers of the alliance have echoed through the criminal underworld. To prevent a war between two powerful families, I am promised to the most feared mafia boss in the country—a man whose name alone is enough to make hardened criminals lower their eyes. Ruthless, calculating, and impossible to read, he agrees to the arrangement because it strengthens his empire, not because he wants a wife.

Neither of us is given much of a choice.

The ceremony is kept deliberately impersonal. Tradition dictates that the bride's face remains hidden beneath an elaborate veil for the entire wedding, and the groom is forbidden from seeing her until she arrives at his estate afterward. It's a custom meant to symbolize trust between families... but it also hides one life-changing truth.

He has no idea I'm blind.

My family never told his. They feared the marriage would be canceled if the truth came out, so they taught me how to hide it—memorizing rooms, counting steps, masking every hesitation behind practiced confidence.

When the wedding is over and I finally arrive at his sprawling mansion, the staff quietly watches as their new mistress steps inside. I stand in the grand foyer, listening to unfamiliar footsteps approach.

He dismisses everyone else with a single command.

The room falls silent.

Then, without thinking, I reach into the empty air instead of toward him.

His expression changes.

I offer a small, uneasy smile before quietly admitting the truth I've been forced to keep.

"I should probably tell you... I'm blind."

The silence that follows is impossible to read.

Whether his anger is directed at me, at the family that deceived him, or at the realization that the wife he never wanted has been keeping a secret since before they were married... I have no way of knowing.