Chapter 1 - The Piano in the CourtyardThe day the wealthiest heir in Chicago screamed that he felt a fire stabbing behind his eyes, his father ordered the mansion gates locked so that no one could record the humiliation.

At 19 years old, Julian Sterling had lived in total darkness for 12 years. He was the only son of Alexander Sterling, the founder of one of the most powerful tech companies in the United States, owner of skyscrapers, laboratories, and million-dollar contracts that could buy almost any miracle. Almost. Because they hadn't been able to buy the boy’s sight.

For years, Alexander took him to specialists in Houston, New York, Madrid, and Zurich. He paid for experimental surgeries, absurd therapies, spiritual retreats in the mountains, and diagnoses that always ended the same: inexplicable, irreversible blindness that was impossible to correct. Over time, the businessman stopped looking for answers and began building a cushioned, luxurious, and lonely life for him. Julian had grand pianos, chauffeurs, private tutors, and an immense garden he had never seen.

That afternoon, he was playing a melody in the central courtyard, guided by touch and a perfect memory, when a thin girl slipped through the hedges and rose bushes. She wore a faded dress, torn sneakers, and an expression far too serious for her age. Everyone on the corner of the avenue knew her because she asked for coins at the stoplights. Her name was Alma.

The guards rushed toward her.

“Get her out of here right now!”

But Julian stopped playing and raised his hand.

“Don't send her away.”

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Alexander, who was on the phone with an investor, turned around, irritated. It annoyed him to see this dirty child inside a world he had shielded against everything uncomfortable. Before he could order anything else, Alma approached the piano and stood staring fixedly at Julian’s face, as if she were hearing something no one else could.

“You aren't blind,” she said, without asking for permission or a handout. “They put something there to cover you up.”