Chapter 231

Vincent asked, seeking confirmation, "You...You can actually see now?" His voice wavered, thick with a feeling he hadn't yet named.

Something unsteady flickered in his eyes, but before he could reach for Hannah, she edged away, her tone sharp and uncompromising. "Don't move. Stay right there. Answer me-what on earth is this?" She leveled the surgical consent form at him.

His gaze darted to the sheet, realization hitting him with a jolt. "So you know everything now."

Hannah's expression didn't waver. "Vincent, just tell me the truth. Is it you who'll be donating your retina to me today?"

"Yes," Vincent replied, meeting her gaze without a hint of evasion.

Hannah barked out a short, scathing laugh-gone as quickly as it appeared. Her eyes burned with cold fire. "If you go blind, what does that leave for the Jones Group? Planning to have your subordinates prepare all future contracts translated into Braille so that you can read with sightless eyes?"

Vincent straightened his back, his jaw set with quiet determination. "I can handle the company. That's not your concern."

She shot him a look laced with disbelief. "So, you think reading Braille contracts is a brilliant strategy?"

His answer came without hesitation, his voice unyielding. "All I care about is you getting your sight back. And this is the quickest, surefire way to make it happen."

"Quickest? Surefire?"' Hannah scoffed, the sound as sharp as a slap. Instead of leaving, she stepped toward Vincent, her eyes blazing with challenge."Vincent, drop that self-sacrificing act. Let me make it clear one more time. I leapt and shielded you from the explosion because it was the right thing to do. lt had nothing to do with you. I don't need you to sacrifice your retina to prove I'm that special to you,and I definitely don't need you to help speed up my recovery 'for my own good!' Had you even bothered to ask me about my wishes and feelings? You never had!"

Frustration burned in her chest, fueling every word.She couldn't stand his self-appointed savior complex.

Vincent couldn't fathom her tirade. Her words landed hard, slicing straight through his heart. All these days, he'd been hounding doctors for the progress of her recovery, losing sleep over her blindness. And he'd been treating her as if she might shatter at the slightest touch, tending to her every whim. Yet now,her words trampled all over the care and efforts he'd poured into her.

"Ask about your wishes and feelings?" Vincent's down mood twisted into a simmering fury, his tone lowering to a quiet snarl. He closed the distance between them, his shadow looming over her like a thundercloud. "What? You seriously think your sightlessness is none of my business?"

His jaw tightened, frustration bleeding through every word. "You lost your sight because you saved me!That's the damn truth! I don't want to owe a woman,and I sure as hell don't need anyone to tell me how to repay this life-saving favor!"

The air crackled with the intensity of his presence,the entire room seeming to shrink beneath his stormy glare.

Hannah's patience snapped, his response fanning her rage to a white-hot blaze. "Vincent, open your damn eyes!" she fired back, sweeping down to snatch the consent form and thrusting it inches from his face. "Voluntarily assume all risks, including permanent blindness! You really think surrendering your eyesight for my sake will move me?"

Pausing to let her words sink, she added, "No! This isn't selflessness-it's your ego talking! You want to be the hero so badly that you can't see how you're shoving your don't-owe-anyone complex onto me.You think sacrificing your retina gives you the right to brand me with this for life? You think I'll bow down and thank you for hanging this over my head?" Her voice splintered the air, shaking with fury.

"Brand you?" Vincent's jaw went rigid. Her accusations landed hard-too hard. He seized her wrist, his grip rough, the form nearly slipped from her fingers. "Hannah, don't be ungrateful! Do you know how many people would beg for what I'm offering?I'm willing to give up my eyes for you, and no one else on this planet could push me this far-only you!What the hell do you want from me?"

"Let go of me!" Hannah jerked her wrist, heat flaring beneath his vise-like grip, but he wouldn't budge.

She snapped, her voice raw and shaking, "I don't need you to go this far for me! We're already divorced! Papers signed, money taken, done deal!We're even, I said it before!"

Vincent's jaw set, a muscle ticking as her defiance landed. She hurled these same lines at him again."Even? Divorced?" He didn't loosen his grip. Instead,he drew her in, his eyes blazing with relentless determination. "That divorce agreement means nothing to me. You're still mine, Hannah. No stack of papers changes the fact that we've been together,that you saved my life. Nothing changes my commitment to owning this!"

Vincent's possessiveness crackled in the air, an uneasy blend of obligation and a raw, territorial longing he couldn't tamp down. He couldn't stand her trying to cut him off.

"Your eyesight's back. Wonderful. But I said I'd see this through, and I will. I'm not asking for permission.I'm laying it out for you-period." His voice dropped,cold as steel.

Their gazes clashed, neither willing to retreat.

Tension shimmered between them until, at last, a single, burning tear slipped down Hannah's cheek,startling him.

And just like that, Vincent's fury fizzled like a snuffed-out flame, replaced by confusion. He reached for her, gentler now. "Hannah... Why are you