Resent, Reject, Regret

Chapter 30 You Brought This Upon Yourself
“Detest you? Who detests you?”
“Who?” Deirdre almost burst into laughter. “Do you have even half of Sterling’s courage? Enough courage to take me out there?
Introduce me to everyone? Do you even have the guts to tell the world my name-my real name?”
Brendan froze. Of course he did not. Deirdre already knew his answer and answered herself, “No. You don’t.”
A mocking sneer surfaced on her features, pulling Brendan out of his stupor. He clutched the steering wheel tightly, his tone
disbelieving. “How dare you, McKinnon?! How dare you compare me to a bastard child not recognized even by his own family?!
Do you know just how-how different the two of us are?! Do you really think he would have a blind woman as his girlfriend if he
were me? Pfft! He wouldn’t even have the balls to admit that you’re his woman!”
Brendan did not put much thought into his words, but they came out like a knife stabbing deep into Deirdre’s
chest.
She was a blind woman who would never be recognized as anyone’s woman in public. That was Brendan’s opinion of her.
Deirdre laughed so hard tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Oh my god, where are my manners! Having the great, esteemed
Mr. Brighthall drive a blind woman like me to the Fullers must take a lot of effort and time. I shouldn’t impose!”
Brendan was furious. “Don’t use that passive-aggressive tone with me, Deirdre. Do you really lack self-awareness? I get that
you’re blind, but that doesn’t mean a part of your brain died with your eyesight, right? It’s the greatest honor to have me
acknowledge you as my woman! Beggars can’t be choosers. Ever heard of that?!”
The arrogance in his voice made Deirdre feel cold.
“Honestly , none of this would have happened to you if you had done what I said,” he added. “Get it through your skull, Deirdre-
you brought all this upon yourself!”
Deirdre bit her lip so hard that her teeth drew blood. Pain
assaulted her so hard that she would have seen only darkness even if her sight had been back. Oh, sure! The fact that Brendan
had shown up with her at the Fullers’ residence had been the biggest honor she could ever deserve!

But did she even want this “honor”?
She felt suffocated... and defeated. She resigned to leaning against the back of her chair, too tired to even object.
Since the last scandal had happened in a private hospital, Brendan elected to take Deirdre to the state hospital for treatment.
According to the doctor’s prognosis, her bruise was fairly minor and required only some external medication.
As Brendan listened to the doctor’s explanation, he glimpsed at Deirdre’s lifeless eyes.
They were so hollow.
He frowned. They used to be so alive and animated. As the saying went, the eyes are the windows to one’s soul, and they had
been the windows to hers. He had been the only
one who had mattered to her back then, so her eyes used to always be filled with color and light whenever she was looking at
him. It did not matter how hard he had tried to push her away, the light in her eyes had never died.
“Can you check her eyes too? Is there something we can do about her sight?” he blurted out.
Deirdre’s fingertips quivered.
The doctor began his examination. When he was finished, there was a deep frown on his face. “When did she start losing her
sight?”
Deirdre felt a pang in her chest. Her mind blanked out before she answered, “June 27th, 2018.”
She could recall it right down to the exact date, as it was a day she would never forget. She had counted down the days. She
had carved the time passing on the door. She had kept time.
It was the day Brendan had slapped her face by proxy.
The man himself froze a little. It was not because he remembered that as the day he and Charlene had taken
their wedding photo. He did not remember receiving a desperate call asking for help.
He was merely surprised because the day fell neatly into the window of time when Deirdre should have been in jail.

The doctor sighed. “You’ve gone this long without any. treatment or help? Miss, your eyes could have been salvageable back
then. Why didn’t you get emergency care at the time?”
Why?
Deirdre stared unseeingly ahead. Then, with downcast eyes, she whispered, “I forgot to.”