Chapter 1 - The Glass That Saved His Life
A maid dropped a crystal glass on the marble floor and screamed: "Don't let him drink it!"
When mafia boss Adrian Voss arrived in the living room, he found the broken whiskey glass that was meant for him.
But a strange white powder was hidden inside the remaining liquid.
Adrian suddenly realized his blindness was never a disease.
For nine months, Adrian Voss had watched his world disappear one piece at a time.
Not because he had lost his power.
Not because his enemies had finally defeated him.
Because every morning, when the sun entered his mansion and the city below woke up, he lost another small part of the life he once controlled.
First, it was the faces.
Then the details.
Then the colors.
At the beginning, Adrian ignored it.
A man like him did not admit weakness.
Not in front of his soldiers.
Not in front of his enemies.
And especially not in front of the people who waited for the first sign that the great Adrian Voss was becoming vulnerable.
Doctors came from three different countries.
They checked his eyes.
They checked his brain.
They checked every possible explanation.
But every result came back the same.
Nothing was wrong.
No disease.
No injury.
No reason.
The doctors only had one answer.
"Your vision is failing for an unknown reason."
Adrian hated that sentence.
Unknown reason.
Those two words bothered him more than any enemy with a gun.
Because Adrian Voss had built his entire empire by understanding reasons.
Every betrayal had a reason.
Every murder had a reason.
Every lie had a reason.
But his blindness?
That had no reason.
And that scared him.
The only person who never treated him differently was Clara.
His maid.
She had worked inside his mansion for six years.
She was not like the others.
Most people around Adrian changed the moment they entered his world.
They became nervous.
They became greedy.
They became afraid.
Clara remained the same.
She still placed his morning coffee on the table without making unnecessary noise.
She still organized his private office exactly the way he liked.
She still spoke to him like he was a person, not a monster.
That was why Adrian trusted her.
And that was why, on that morning, he did not understand why she destroyed the one thing he was about to drink.
"Clara."
Adrian's voice was cold.
The entire room stopped moving.
The glass had shattered seconds earlier.
The whiskey spread across the white marble floor.
The guards behind him immediately stepped forward.
Clara stood frozen.
Her hands were shaking.
Her eyes were fixed on the broken pieces.
"Explain yourself."
Adrian sat in the leather chair, his sunglasses hiding his eyes.
Even without seeing, everyone in the room could feel his anger.
The men who worked for him had seen Adrian destroy enemies without raising his voice.
They knew his calm was more dangerous than his rage.
Clara swallowed.
"Mr. Voss... you cannot drink that."
Adrian turned his head slightly toward her.
"Why?"
She looked around the room.
At the guards.
At the expensive furniture.
At the people who had served Adrian for years.
Then she lowered her voice.
"Because someone wanted you dead."
Silence filled the room.
One of the guards looked at Adrian.
Another looked at Clara.
Nobody knew what to believe.
Adrian slowly stood.
"You broke my glass in front of everyone."
His voice became sharper.
"You embarrassed me in my own house."
Clara's face changed.
Not because she was afraid of him.
Because she was afraid he still did not understand.
"I saved your life."
Adrian walked closer.
His footsteps echoed across the marble.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Clara looked directly at him.
"Yes."
The answer surprised everyone.
She continued.
"Because I found something in your drink."
Adrian stopped.
"What?"
Clara pointed toward the broken glass.
"I saw it yesterday."
Nobody moved.
"I saw the person who prepared your whiskey add something before bringing it to you."
The room became colder.
Adrian's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough for the people closest to him to notice.
"Who?"
Clara looked at the floor.
For a moment, she seemed afraid to say the name.
That hesitation bothered Adrian more than the accusation itself.
Because Clara was not afraid of him.
She was afraid of someone else.
"Tell me."
Her lips opened.
But before she could speak, a man's voice came from behind them.
"Are we really going to believe a maid now?"
Everyone turned.
Marcus Hale stood near the doorway.
Adrian's closest friend.
His right hand.
The man who had protected his empire for fifteen years.
Marcus walked into the room calmly.
A slight smile appeared on his face.
"Adrian, you've been under pressure. Your eyesight has been getting worse. Now someone is trying to convince you that your own people are poisoning you."
He looked at Clara.
"She could be lying."
Adrian said nothing.
Because Marcus was right about one thing.
Trust was dangerous.
And Adrian had trusted Marcus more than anyone.
They had built everything together.
When Adrian had nothing, Marcus had stood beside him.
When enemies came, Marcus had fought beside him.
When Adrian became powerful, Marcus remained.
At least, that was what Adrian believed.
Clara looked at Marcus.
Her expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
"He's the one."
The room went silent.
Marcus stopped walking.
Adrian slowly turned.
"Say that again."
Clara took a breath.
"He's the one who fills your glass every morning."
Nobody spoke.
The guards looked at Marcus.
Marcus laughed quietly.
A cold, controlled laugh.
"You are making a serious mistake."
Adrian studied the silence.
Even though he could not see faces clearly anymore, he could hear things.
Small things.
A person's breathing.
A person's hesitation.
A person's fear.
And right now...
Someone was afraid.
But Adrian did not know who.
"Take Clara away."
The guards moved.
Clara looked shocked.
"Mr. Voss—"
"I need proof."
His voice was emotionless.
"If you are telling the truth, I will know."
Clara looked at him sadly.
"You don't understand."
Adrian stopped.
She whispered:
"The poison wasn't meant to kill you quickly."
Everyone froze.
"It was meant to make you believe you were sick."
Adrian's hand tightened.
Because suddenly, every strange moment from the last nine months returned.
The doctors finding nothing wrong.
His vision disappearing slowly.
The weakness.
The headaches.
The way the symptoms appeared after his morning drink.
It was not random.
Someone had planned it.
Someone had been patient.
Someone had been close.
Marcus stepped forward.
"Adrian, don't let this woman manipulate you."
Adrian turned toward him.
For the first time that morning, his expression changed.
Not anger.
Suspicion.
"Leave."
Marcus looked surprised.
"Adrian—"
"I said leave."
The room became silent again.
Marcus walked away.
But before he disappeared through the door, Adrian noticed something.
A small sound.
A nervous movement.
A mistake.
The sound of a pocket opening.
Later that afternoon, Adrian locked himself inside his private office.
On his desk was the broken glass Clara had saved.
Beside it was a secret report from his personal investigator.
The first line made his blood run cold.
"Your vision loss began exactly eleven minutes after your morning whiskey."
Adrian continued reading.
Then he reached the final page.
There was a photograph attached.
A photograph taken inside his mansion.
A photograph showing the person who had prepared his drink every morning.
Adrian slowly touched the image.
And for the first time in months, he wished he could see clearly.
May you like
Because the person in the photograph was standing behind him.
And the door to his office suddenly opened.
