"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.

Jeremy was busy managing the company, while I packed up my things, preparing to move out.

In the evening, Vanessa came to find Jeremy under the pretense of discussing work.

They were in the study, throwing things and arguing again.

"Jeremy, when are you going to divorce her?! I'm pregnant!"

"I told you, I need time. It's not something that can be done just like that." Jeremy, impatient, repeatedly urged Vanessa to leave.

"Don't you fear that I'll expose our affair right now?"

Jeremy immediately softened, coaxing her. "Vanessa, don't worry. I'll divorce her soon. I've long grown tired of that deaf girl. When the time comes, I'll marry you in style."

I was confused. If he had long grown tired of me, why didn't he just divorce me?

We had been together for so many years, yet we had no children. Vanessa had only recently met him and now she got pregnant so easily.

After receiving a confirmation from Jeremy, Vanessa happily hummed a tune, clacking her high heels, not even sparing me a glance as she left.

The entire day after, Jeremy stayed in the study.

My things were nearly packed and in two days, I would leave this city.

After all these years as partners, I wanted to say a proper goodbye to Jeremy.

I made a table full of his favorite dishes. When Jeremy left the study, he barely looked at the food before heading out.

I stopped him and gestured. "Eat first, then go to work. Just have this meal with me."

Yes, just this one meal. After this, I would no longer be in his world.

Jeremy gestured impatiently, "The company is waiting for me. I'll eat later."

Without waiting for my response, he rushed out.

He wasn’t going to the company. I heard clearly the voice message from Vanessa inviting him to dinner.

I sat alone at the dining table, pouring myself a glass of wine, as if to say goodbye to the past.

In the next two days, I would not see Jeremy again.

He sent a message saying he was working overtime at the company. I had people I trusted in the company, so how could I not know if he was there?

I never expected that we wouldn’t even have a proper goodbye. From now on, we would never meet again.

Two days later, I boarded the plane to another city. During the few hours I had my phone off, Jeremy sent me several messages.

"Gracie, where did you go? Why haven’t you come back so late?"

"Did your phone die? Why aren’t you answering my calls?"

***

Just after I got off the plane, Jeremy’s call came through again. Without any hint of composure, he scolded me on the phone.

"Gracie! Where did you go? Why aren’t you answering your calls or messages?"

I was about to say something, but then he seemed to remember something. "Forget it, you can’t hear, I’ll just send you a message."

"I can hear."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Jeremy’s voice trembled as he spoke, "Gracie, you can hear now? That’s great! Did you just regain your hearing?"

His heavy breaths were so clear through the phone and I could feel how desperately he wanted to hear my confirmation. "I’ve been able to hear since the day my hearing aid broke."

"What?"