Chapter 3

The first few times, I agreed easily.

Because I still harbored fear of Chris.

Only by becoming another person could I feel safe.

And only Pierce's scalpel could accomplish that.

But later, during a procedure to implant facial prosthetics, whether due to improper operation or something else.

After the surgery, I developed an infection and nearly died on the operating table.

I remember they worked to save me for a day and a night before I was out of danger.

After that, I developed a kind of post-traumatic fear response to plastic surgery.

I was no longer enthusiastic about it—in fact, I became quite resistant.

But each time, he desperately persuaded me.

I knew his behavior was pathological, but I loved him too much.

I couldn't bear to refuse him, so time after time I obediently lay down on the operating table.

I became less and less like my original self.

Every time a surgery was completed, the way he looked at me was so bright.

Now I had finally found the answer.

The reason why he was so obsessed with performing surgery on me.

I was nothing more than a substitute for his white moonlight.

A substitute who resembled his white moonlight.

Only now did I realize belatedly why his gaze at me was always so strange.

As if he was looking through me, seeing someone else.

I opened the door to Pierce's usually locked study.

Never before had I felt such urgency to know what Juliet actually looked like.

I had known about her existence before.

But I had never allowed myself to compare with a dead woman.

After searching the room, I found a hidden compartment behind the bookshelf.

Opening it, I found a photo album and a thick notebook inside.

The moment I opened the album, my heart was pounding.

As if I was about to unveil a world mystery.

Two faces so similar, similar enough to make me feel suffocated.

The same eyes, the same contours, even the small dimple on the left corner of the mouth.

I didn't know what kind of mentality drove Pierce to sculpt my face into Juliet's likeness.

My body felt cold, frozen stiff.

I couldn't help but touch my own face.

For the first time, resembling another person filled me with terror.

Once again I felt the same panic as when I was fleeing from Chris's pursuit.

So frantic, and so desperate.

Driven by curiosity, I opened the notebook.

It recorded Pierce's life and emotional state since Juliet's death.

I knew there must be records about me.

Soon enough, I found them.

"I met a woman. Her arrival seems to have added a bit of light to my life. But I know she's not you, so I'm gradually transforming her to look like you."

"Today, I gave her the same double eyelids as yours."

"I gave her the same dimples as you. When she smiles, it's like seeing you before me."

Like some kind of self-torture, I flipped through page after page.

With each entry I read, I felt my heart being trampled by thousands of horses, being cut to pieces.

Very late, Pierce finally came home.

By then I had already washed up and was lying in bed.

A few hours had been enough for me to calm myself.

Pierce first apologized, explaining that there was a sudden emergency at the hospital, so he couldn't go with me to get our marriage license.

He promised that next time, this definitely wouldn't happen again.

So many promises now that even his excuses came smoothly.

"Honey, I really messed up. There won't be a next time."

I smiled and said it was okay, work came first.

I didn't think there would be a next time anyway.