Tianhai City.

Everything felt blurry as Ethan Quinlan slowly opened his eyes.

Wait... a bed?

Hold on—he could see?

“No way... I can see again?” Ethan froze in disbelief, then pure joy rushed in.

Three whole years. He’d been blind for three years, and now—light, shapes, color—everything rushed back. That old man hadn’t lied after all!

His eyes turned red, a mix of excitement and tears. He nearly jumped out of bed, but a sudden sting in his eyes made him stop. Something felt... off. The world looked different somehow.

What was going on?

"Don't move!" a soft voice complained, full of annoyance.

He looked up to find a nurse at his bedside, needle in hand.

A nurse?

That’s when it hit him—he was in a hospital bed.

“You’re finally awake? Great. Quit fidgeting already or I’m not helping next time,” the intern nurse scolded. “Your veins are so narrow, I almost missed them—but good thing you got all worked up just now. Made it easier.”

She'd been trying to get the IV in for ages and had finally succeeded—only for him to toss and turn in his sleep and rip the needle out several times. Now that he was awake, she threw him a glare before stomping off in irritation.

Was that for real? Or just a dream? Ethan watched her leave, his mind spinning with questions.

Then, a sharp voice rang out from the hallway.

“Well, so the useless one’s back.”

Yeah, he knew that voice. Irene Wade—his dear mother-in-law.

She looked younger than her age, skin fair and well-kept, stylish even for a woman in her forties. But her face was always twisted with distaste when it came to him.

She stormed in and snapped, “You blind fool! Do you have to be such a hassle? I had plans today, y’know! I was supposed to play mahjong, and instead I had to run around sending you to the hospital.”

Ethan remembered now. He’d grabbed his cane to head out for some air, but halfway there, a sudden headache hit, and he blacked out. Guess it was Irene who brought him here.

“Thanks, Mom…” he said awkwardly.

But the moment ‘Mom’ left his lips, her face darkened.

“Mom? Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’re just a freeloader, a blind leech we married into the family. You think calling me mom makes you one of us?”

“You’ve been mooching off us for a year now. Free food, free place to live, everything handed to you. Seriously, I’m amazed. Not every man can be this shameless.”

She sneered, her tone getting sharper.

“If I were you, I’d jump out that window and save everyone the trouble.”

Her words were brutal, meant to cut deep.

Ethan sat there, his face blank but his heart heavy.

Three years ago, while delivering takeout, a Porsche hit him. The driver didn’t apologize, didn’t pay damages. Instead, he blamed Ethan for “scratching his precious car.”

He and his friends dragged Ethan to a deserted construction site and forced him to kneel and apologize to the car—yelling, laughing, shining high-beam lights into his open eyes... all night.

That night, Ethan went blind.

And from that moment on, his life turned into a hellish blur of ridicule, humiliation, and cruelty. People played tricks on him, watching him fall, laughing from the sidelines.

And he could do nothing but endure it all—until now.Ethan Quinlan's dad had spent a small fortune trying to fix his blindness—chasing doctors, piling up debt. Sometimes, Ethan honestly felt death might’ve been easier than dragging his old man down with him.

Then, a year ago, everything changed. He ran into an odd old man.

The guy promised to wipe his dad’s debt and cure his eyes—but only if Ethan did him a favor.

Ethan said yes without blinking.

The old man brought him to the Linton household and taught him a technique called the “Tianxuan Manual.” Said if Ethan could unlock every pressure point in his body using it, he’d be able to regain his sight.

At the time, Ethan thought that was total BS. Who still buys into that kind of stuff?

But whatever, even if it didn’t work, at least his dad’s burden would be gone. That was enough for him.

The past year, Ethan had been living under the same roof as the Lintons—as their unwanted live-in son-in-law. The humiliation? Endless.

Especially from Irene Wade. That woman hated the sight of him; insults came like clockwork.

When Ethan didn’t respond, Irene gave him a look full of disgust and snapped, “You’re awake. Let’s go.”

Without another word, she called a nurse over and demanded the IV be removed.

The nurse hesitated, saying he still needed observation since he'd just woken up.

But Irene scoffed, “Who’s got time to babysit him? I’ve got mahjong to play.”

Yeah—her game plans mattered more than his recovery.

The nurse clearly didn’t want to argue. She pulled the IV and left.

Ethan stood slowly, ready to leave.

That’s when Irene tossed a cane at him.

“Forgot your stick? Or did you think I’d help you walk?” she sneered.

Ethan blinked, realizing she still didn’t know he could see again.

He smirked a little, grabbed the cane, and followed her out of the room.

The room was on the third floor. They could’ve taken the elevator, but of course, Irene insisted on the stairs.

Ethan chuckled inside.

A few minutes later, Irene glanced back, surprised.

Back at home, he used to stumble on stairs—sometimes even fell. But today? He walked down like it was nothing.

“So you can walk fine now. Guess we won’t need to look after you anymore,” she said coolly.

Rolling her hips dramatically, she made her way toward the parking lot.

They hit a bump in the road, and Irene suddenly gave a cold chuckle.

“Watch out—pit ahead. Move left.”

Ethan clenched his teeth.

Damn it, the pit was on the left, not the right!

Still, he kept up the blind act, tapping his cane like he was searching for the path.

Irene was clearly enjoying herself.

Then—bam.

She tripped.

“Ugh!”

One bad step, and she slammed into the ground square on her butt.

Ethan had to choke back a laugh. On the surface, though, he rushed over looking concerned. “I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean to!”

Irene glared daggers at him. Classic.

She knew it was his cane that tripped her.

Still pissed, she got up slowly and shot him another dirty look before heading to the car. Ethan followed, lips twitching into a smirk.

They reached home not long after.

“Mom, you’re back?” a young woman called from inside.

Ethan looked up to see a girl around seventeen or eighteen, with a cute face, pale skin, pouty lips, and big eyes. Her long black hair flowed down her back, and her toned legs peeked out from under tiny hot pants.

This was Alice Linton—his sister-in-law.

Alice had one hand resting lazily on the waistband of those hot pants. When she saw Ethan come in, she froze.

Irene waved her off casually.

“Don’t worry. He’s blind.”