Chapter 1

My fiancé, Arthur Sterling, has face blindness.

The moment I step out of his sight, my face fades from his memory.

At our wedding, my bridesmaids came up with a last-minute game.

They led Arthur to the center of the ceremony, blindfolded him, and challenged him to describe the woman he loved most.

"Name three of the bride's features, and we'll let you through."

Arthur fell silent for a moment before answering.

"She has beautiful eyes. And when she smiles, there's a little dimple on her right cheek."

Joy bubbled up inside me.

Even blindfolded, he remembered me.

Until a second later, when Arthur smiled and slowly added:

"There's also a faint, crescent-shaped scar near her right temple. You can barely see it unless you look closely."

The crowd erupted in cheers and laughter.

Someone whistled, while another guest teased him about secretly studying her face.

But I couldn't laugh anymore.

That scar belonged to Chloe, an intern at Sterling Group.

Eight years together weren't enough to make him remember me.

Yet a woman he'd known for only a few months was firmly etched into his heart.

I lowered my eyes to the loose ring on my finger.

Suddenly, the whole thing felt utterly ridiculous.

It turned out it wasn't that he was incapable of remembering. He simply hadn't cared enough to remember.

If that was the case, I would no longer delude myself into trying to leave a mark in his world.

——

Nora's POV

After eight years together, Arthur and I were finally getting married.

I sat in the bridal suite, absentmindedly running my fingers over the diamond ring on my left hand.

It was a little loose.

But Arthur had promised to take me to choose a new one after the wedding.

I'd always believed he simply wasn't good at paying attention to little details.

After all, he had prosopagnosia.

Even though we spent nearly every day together, if I wasn't standing right in front of him, he could hardly describe my appearance from memory. When we first started dating, it had hurt me for a long time.

Then Arthur told me he would remember my voice, my scent, and every memory we shared.

So I stopped asking him to remember my face.

Until my bridesmaids came up with a last-minute wedding game.

They led Arthur to the center of the ceremony area, blindfolded him, and challenged him to describe the woman he loved most.

"All you have to do is name three of the bride's features, and we'll let you in."

Arthur fell silent for a moment before answering.

"She has beautiful eyes. And when she smiles, there's a little dimple on her right cheek."

Joy swelled inside me, nearly spilling over. 

Even blindfolded, he still remembered me.

Until the very next second, when Arthur smiled and slowly added.

"There's also a faint, crescent-shaped scar near her right temple. You can barely see it unless you look closely."

The crowd erupted in cheers and laughter.

Someone whistled. Another guest teased him about secretly studying her face.

But I couldn't laugh anymore.

That scar belonged to Chloe Parker.

Chloe was an intern Sterling Group had hired six months ago, and Arthur had been paying her an unusual amount of attention lately.

I'd met her once at the company's annual gala.

In eight years together, Arthur had never been able to describe my appearance accurately.

Yet he'd memorized the tiniest details of a woman he'd known for only a few months.

I lowered my eyes to the loose ring on my finger.

Suddenly, the whole thing seemed ridiculous.

It turned out there were things he wasn't incapable of remembering. He simply hadn't cared enough to remember them.

When the game ended, Arthur pulled off the blindfold and walked toward me.

He finally seemed to notice the strange atmosphere around us.

"What's with everyone? Why did you all go quiet?"

I didn't answer.

He glanced at my face, and his expression quickly turned uneasy.

"You're not seriously upset over a little joke, are you? You know about my condition. With a blindfold on, I can't tell whose face I'm picturing."

I looked at him but didn't point out the flaw in his explanation.

Just then, Chloe appeared behind him, holding his jacket.

"Arthur, stop explaining yourself. Nora should understand your condition. There's no reason to let something this trivial ruin the wedding."

She spoke as if she were the one entitled to speak on his behalf.

That was when I realized something.

She shouldn't have been here at all.

I'd personally confirmed the guest list. Yet Arthur had brought her into our private estate without even asking me.

He frowned and reached for my hand.

"Come on. Everyone's waiting."

I pulled away.

"Arthur, we're not getting married."

His smile froze.

The laughter and chatter around us died instantly.