My hearing aid broke and I hadn’t had time to replace it before my hearing unexpectedly returned.

I threw myself into Jeremy’s arms, ready to share this wonderful news with him, only to hear his foster sister, Vanessa, say, “Jeremy, look at this deaf person. She’s nothing without her hearing aid.

Why don’t you divorce her? We’re the perfect match.” The foster sister gave me a sweet, harmless smile.

Jeremy ruffled my hair. “You little vixen, always so captivating. Give me some time to settle everything and then I’ll divorce her.”

That night, my heart was filled with despair; years of deep affection had ultimately been misplaced.

I decided to leave, ensuring that Jeremy would never find me again.

——

When I had composed myself and returned to the living room, Vanessa still showed no intention of leaving.

Jeremy pointed at a stack of documents in front of him and gestured to me with his hands, "Gracie, Vanessa and I still have some work matters to handle. You should rest first."

He even thoughtfully warmed a glass of milk and handed it to me.

I forced myself to suppress the trembling in my body, smiled as I accepted the milk and responded with gestures, "Okay, don’t stay up too late."

Vanessa obediently waved at me, her innocent and harmless demeanor making it hard for me to believe she could have an affair with my husband. Just as I turned around, Vanessa's piercingly sharp voice rang out.

"Jeremy, you're so bad! You even warm milk for this deaf woman. Hmph, you said I was the one you loved the most when we were in bed. Turns out, it was all lies."

I bit my lower lip tightly, refusing to turn around and expose the two of them in public triumphantly.

The faint metallic taste in my mouth kept pulling me back to reality.

Jeremy laughed triumphantly.

"Little seductress, are you jealous over a glass of milk? Alright, alright, I put sleeping pills in the milk, so no one will disturb our fun."

Hearing this, I stumbled and almost spilled the milk in my hand.

Vanessa noticed something was off.

"Jeremy... could Gracie have heard us?"

I pretended to stay calm, though cold sweat ran down my back as I kept walking forward. Afraid they would suspect me, I pretended to take a sip of the milk.

"See, she drank the milk. Don’t worry. She’s been deaf for so many years; she’ll never recover in this lifetime." Jeremy’s cold mockery was particularly piercing.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

The man who once claimed to love me and promised to protect me for a lifetime was now holding another woman, mocking my old illness.

I buried myself under the blanket, sobbing uncontrollably. At some point, Jeremy came to the bedside.

He pulled back the blanket and upon seeing my tear-streaked face, he looked guilty and quickly gestured, "What’s wrong?"

I shook my head, telling him it was just that I was too tired lately. Jeremy picked up the milk, ready to feed it to me.

"Drink it, you’ll feel better and sleep well."

The milk had sleeping pills in it and once I fell asleep, they could have their fun without restraint in the house.

I hesitated, pushed his hand away and gestured, "I don’t want to drink it."

Worried he might suspect me, I rubbed my stomach and pretended to feel unwell.

Vanessa walked in, her face full of concern, but what she said was, "Gracie, you’re really being difficult. Is it so hard to just sleep quietly? All these years, Jeremy has really been suffering."

Jeremy gestured, "Vanessa told you to have a good rest."

Then he flirtatiously asked Vanessa, "I'll coax her to drink the milk first; you wait outside for a while."

Vanessa was displeased but still pretended to say goodbye to me. "Jeremy, hurry up, I can't wait any longer."

Vanessa's voice was soft and seductive, stirring Jeremy's emotions.

He began to grow impatient, muttering complaints under his breath.

"So annoying. Why can’t you just drink the milk in one go? You’re being so pretentious and ruining things between Vanessa and me."

His words pierced my ears and shattered my heart.

Jeremy and I had been together since university. After graduation, he proposed to me in front of the entire class.

He promised to cherish me and take care of me. He said that even if I couldn’t wear a hearing aid, he would be my ears.

Even without sound, his love was something I could always see. But ever since he took Vanessa as his foster sister, I never saw that love in his eyes again.

Lost in memories of the happiness we once shared, I didn’t notice Jeremy’s suspicious gaze. "Gracie, can you hear now?"

He didn’t use gestures and my heart jolted in shock. I couldn’t let him discover that I had regained my hearing. At least, not now.

I quickly suppressed all my emotions, lowered my head and rubbed my stomach.

Jeremy let out a long sigh of relief. "I thought you could hear me for a moment. That scared me."

He pushed the glass of milk toward me again, his tone pressing but his face feigning concern. "Come on, drink it quickly. Stop wasting time."

Left with no choice, I slowly drank the drugged milk under his watchful eyes. Only when I finished did he leave the bedroom, looking satisfied.

The moment he was gone, I rushed to the bathroom. Desperately, I stuck my fingers down my throat.

After several bouts of retching and tears, I finally managed to vomit up the milk.

I wiped my face, composed myself and returned to bed, pretending to be fast asleep.

Vanessa hadn’t left. She brazenly lifted my blanket. "Jeremy, she’s asleep now. No one will ruin things for us anymore."

Jeremy smirked smugly. "Of course. I doubled the dosage, just to be safe."

They flirted openly beside me for a while before Jeremy impatiently grabbed his keys. "Let’s go, we’ll book a room."

"What room? Jeremy, don’t you want something more exciting? Why don’t we just do it here?"

Vanessa swayed her hips and pushed out her chest. "She’s already asleep. Why not here? Are you daring enough?"

Jeremy hesitated for a few seconds but ultimately decided on the hotel. "Vanessa, it wouldn’t be good if she found out. Let’s just go to the hotel."

Vanessa scoffed dismissively. "Ugh."

She grabbed her bag, her tone laced with contempt. "You still have Gracie in your heart, don’t you? She’s deaf, drugged with sleeping pills and no different from a corpse right now. What are you worried about? Fine, let’s go to the hotel."

Jeremy groaned, obviously stimulated by Vanessa's words, "Who said I still have this deaf woman in my heart? Come here, see how I punish you."

Jeremy pounced on Vanessa and nibbled her body, his hands wandered around her waist,

"Little devil, see how I deal with you."

In this way, the two of them were making love in front of me, Jeremy's panting mixed with Vanessa's panting,

In the ecstasy, Jeremy called Vanessa's name again and again, "Vanessa, you are so beautiful, unlike that wooden man on the bed, who has no understanding of romance at all."

I pinched my hand with all my strength to prevent myself from vomiting and held back my tears.

Vanessa's voice grew louder with each word, "Jeremy Gege, tell me, do you love me or that deaf girl?"

“Of course, I only love you, Vanessa."

They tossed and turned in the bedroom until late. Afterward, Jeremy held Vanessa and they went to a bar to have fun.

Before leaving, Vanessa provocatively slapped me.

"Vanessa, what are you doing?” Jeremy scolded.

"What? Are you heartbroken for that deaf girl?"

"How could I feel sorry for her? I've been tired of her for a long time. I'm just afraid that when she wakes up, we won't be able to go out and have fun."

Vanessa giggled coyly, leaning against Jeremy as they left.

The moment the door closed, I couldn't bear it any longer. I ran to the bathroom and vomited. Then, I cried out loud.

Why? How could our nearly ten years of relationship, from university until now, not compare to a newly arrived "adoptive sister"?

Where did it all go wrong?

The bed still held the traces of their pleasure. The man who once loved me most in this life was lost in passion on my bed with his adoptive sister and I was powerless to stop it.

I cried until my voice became hoarse. Once I calmed down,

I booked a flight for five days later, deciding to divorce Jeremy and leave this place of heartbreak.

I never wanted to see Jeremy again in this lifetime.

The next time I saw Jeremy was the following morning.

He was thoughtfully making breakfast for me.

"You're awake? Do you feel better?" Jeremy gestured, his concern genuine, but there was also a trace of guilt in his expression.

I nodded, not bothering to respond further.

Jeremy served me a bowl of porridge, insisting that I ate it to warm my stomach. "Does your stomach still hurt?"

I felt terrible. I had been vomiting all night and was utterly weak.

Jeremy had given me double the dose of medicine last night. Worried that my stomach would be ruined, he made me porridge.

He watched me closely, insisting that I finish it all.

Reluctantly, I ate the porridge, barely responding.

Vanessa came in, cheerfully greeting me, then mocking me with a laugh.

"She even ate the leftover porridge I left."

At those words, I choked and coughed.

I never expected Jeremy to make me eat the leftover porridge Vanessa had. Had I really fallen so low to this point?

I couldn't even imagine what they would do if they knew I could hear them now.

Seeing my intense reaction, Vanessa became a bit uneasy. "She can't hear, can she?"

Jeremy seemed a bit flustered, testing the waters by clapping his hands behind me.

To avoid them noticing, I steadied myself and continued eating the porridge.

"Don't scare yourself, Vanessa. You've been deaf for so many years, how could you suddenly hear? Look, she's still drinking the porridge."

"Alright then, I'm heading to the company. Jeremy Gege, don't forget you have a meeting to attend later."

After Vanessa left, Jeremy busied himself in the kitchen, his back just like it used to be.

In the early years of our relationship, no matter how busy he was, Jeremy would always make me a meal.

All I had to do was sit at the table and wait for him.

He would coax me to eat, bite by bite and then finish whatever I left.

It had been so long since I tasted the food he made for me. This time, though, he was reheating someone else’s leftovers for me to eat.

Tears uncontrollably streamed down my face.

Jeremy panicked and frantically gestured, asking me what was wrong.

I shook my head and simply said I wanted to go out for a walk to clear my mind.

He didn't question me; instead, he transferred a sum of money to my account.

Vanessa's call came in, urging him to leave. Taking advantage of the moment, I pulled out the divorce agreement I had prepared.

He didn't even glance at it, just signed it.

“Buy whatever you want.” Jeremy gently touched my face, thinking I was just like before, wanting to buy a house.

I liked traveling and would buy a house in every city I loved.

After signing several times, Jeremy naturally assumed I was interested in buying another property.

Looking at his retreating figure and the divorce agreement in my hand, I couldn't tell if I felt happy or sad.

I was divorced, free at last, with no more ties to this man I had been entangled with for nearly ten years.