#While returning home from a late-night shift, I was knocked down by a delivery rider.

The girl riding it was deaf and mute, looking no older than a teenager.

I couldn’t bring myself to make things difficult for her, so I paid for the medical expenses at the hospital on my own.

Limping back home, I saw a familiar delivery helmet lying at the doorway.

From inside, laughter echoed through the walls.

“She’s such a fool. I was just pretending but she believed it anyway.”

While returning home from a late-night shift, I was struck by a delivery rider.

The girl who hit me was deaf and mute, looking no older than a teenager.

I couldn’t bring myself to make things hard for her, so I went to the hospital alone and paid for the medical expenses myself.

Limping back home, I noticed a familiar delivery helmet lying by the door.

From inside, mocking laughter spilled into the hallway.

“She’s such a fool. I was just pretending but she believed it anyway.”

…

“Aren’t you afraid she’s standing at the door, listening to us?”

“Even if she heard, she wouldn’t break up with me.”

Nicholas Poldark’s voice carried clearly past the door frame.

“Break up? When I was in the hospital bed, Beatrix clung to me, insisting on taking care of me. Even my mom couldn’t chase her away.

“She had a wretched childhood so she’ll never leave me!”

I froze in disbelief. Without thinking, I pushed the door open slightly and caught a glimpse of the scene inside.

A young woman dressed in a delivery rider uniform gently fed Nicholas a grape with her own hands.

Then she kissed him on the cheek.

“Darling, it’s late. I’m heading out.”

My hands trembled as I retreated to the stairwell, the sharp pain from my freshly injured hand shooting through me.

The thawed grapes trailed water droplets on the ground.

A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me.

Nicholas had told me he loved eating grapes after they’d been frozen.

So, after leaving the hospital, I endured the pain and stopped by Hanson Mart to buy some for him.

I never imagined he had already been enjoying them—with someone else.

Nicholas was my boyfriend. For three years, he had been in a comatose state, and I had cared for him all that time.

The doctor once explained that comatose patients fall into two categories: those with awareness and those without.

Nicholas likely belonged to the latter.

When he finally woke up, his gaze at me was distant and unfamiliar.

It wasn’t until his mother introduced me that a peculiar expression crossed his face.

“So, you’re my girlfriend? Well, you’re not bad-looking.”

I struggled to adjust to the Nicholas who had woken up.

Nicholas had graduated from university three years ago. He worked tirelessly, determined to build a home that belonged to both of us.

But during a business meeting, a client assaulted him, leaving him in a coma.

The client had influence in both legal and dubious circles, and ordinary citizens like Nicholas and me had no business interacting with them.

At the time, Nicholas’s mother was unemployed.

So, I took on the burden of his medical expenses and provided for his mother’s daily needs.

Yet, I was labeled as shamelessly desperate and clingy.

A slow, burning anger rose in my heart.

My nose felt warm, and my vision blurred as tears welled up in my eyes.

I took a deep breath and brushed away the droplets hanging from my lashes.

Crying for a man like him was not worth it.

After collecting myself, I pushed the door open.

As I walked through the hallway, I saw Nicholas already lying in bed, idly scrolling through his phone.

I used to worry about the health of his eyes, always reminding him to take breaks. But my concern was rewarded with scorn and insults.

Ha. What a waste of effort—if he goes blind, it was no concern of mine.

I shuffled over to the dining table and placed the grapes on top.

Then, I retreated to my bedroom.

Nicholas and I slept in separate rooms.

I didn’t own much—just two blankets, two pairs of shoes, two sets of clothes for each season, and some makeup or skincare products.

With a few other items here and there, I could pack everything into one suitcase and a backpack.

Then there was a knock on the door.

I glanced in the mirror, making sure there were no traces of tears on my face.

Nicholas stood there, wearing a crisp white shirt and leaning lazily against the doorframe. In his hand, he held a bowl of grapes.

“Here. I know you like them, so I washed these just for you,” he said.

But I knew the truth—it was the other woman who had cleaned them.

I scoffed silently and stared at him.

Nicholas grew irritated when I didn’t take the bowl.

“What’s with that look? I’m planning to start working tomorrow so that I won’t be freeloading off you anymore.”

“Congratulations,” I replied coolly.

His brows furrowed as he studied me. “Why do you look like a ghost today? Did someone upset you?”

Then his gaze dropped to my hand.

“Wait—what happened to your hand? How did you get hurt?”

"I fell. Anyway, my period just started—can you step out for a bit?" I said without emotion.

Nicholas froze for a moment before I pushed him out the door.

“What’s there to cry about just because your period came?” he muttered.

Leaning against the door, I slid to the floor, utterly drained.

I didn’t understand.

Three years ago, Nicholas would have made me hot chocolate, and prepared heating pads and hot water bottles without being asked.

Now, he complained that I was being dramatic.

How could a coma turn him into someone I hardly recognized?

The next morning, I spoke to my landlord and arranged to move into a small studio apartment.

Nicholas and I had shared this place, but with me ending the lease early, the two thousand dollar rent would now fall entirely on him.

Not that it mattered—I'd been the one paying the rent all along.

After packing my belongings, I was about to head out when I overheard hushed voices outside.

“Stop it! Why are you here so early today?”

“I wanted to bring you breakfast. Why are you being so mean?”

“What if my girlfriend sees us?”

"So, she’s your girlfriend? If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was your mom. Doesn’t staring at that lifeless face every day drive you crazy?"

I had reached my limit. I slammed the door hard and turned to face their stunned expressions with a smile.

"Ordering delivery this early?" I asked lightly.

The woman’s smile froze awkwardly on her face.

I glanced at her briefly. I had already looked into her background yesterday.

Pearl Maddon.

A streamer on a platform called TikTok. Her specialty was disguising herself as people in marginalized professions to conduct so-called "social experiments."

She must have pretended to be deaf and mute to record my reaction as content for her videos.

But her carelessness caused her to crash into me, ruining the footage and likely making it unusable for editing.

That explained why there had been no new updates yesterday.

Still, I couldn’t figure out how she had gotten involved with Nicholas.

I decided to take the lead.

“Oh, aren’t you the... deaf-mute lady from yesterday?”

She froze, visibly flustered. She nodded as she turned her gaze toward Nicholas.

He cleared his throat.

“The delivery’s here. You can leave now.”

I stopped Pearl from leaving.

“What’s the rush?”

I pulled out my phone and brought up the hospital payment records.

“I forgot to ask you for compensation yesterday. I don’t have health insurance, and the hospital bills drained half of my savings. I almost went bankrupt. So, what do you think we should do about that?”

“She’s deaf and mute—don’t be so aggressive,” Nicholas interjected instinctively.

“You’re helping her?”

I chewed on the words, smiling coldly. “Fine. Then you can pay for her.”

Nicholas assumed I was mocking him, and his anger flared.

“What are you implying? Do you think I’m broke? Don’t forget—I took care of you for a while too.”

I hadn’t forgotten.

At that moment, a deep sorrow welled up within me.

Yes, Nicholas had supported me, before he became comatose.

But I had handled every household matter.

When his mother had a stroke and was hospitalized, I had to take care of her, clean and change her, and also feed her every night.

The next day, I had dark circles under my eyes while washing their clothes and preparing their meals.

And in the end, it seemed like my care for him had been worthless.

“Well, you can pay for her then.”

I took a deep breath and repeated calmly, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you—every one of your bank cards is under my control, and there’s not a single penny left in them.”

Nicholas’s anger exploded as he slapped me across the face.

I staggered and fell to the ground.

The pain on my face, the scrape on my wrist, and the look of disdain on his face—

It felt like ants crawling through my veins, slowly gnawing at my bones, tunneling into my heart.

It shattered the last shred of affection I had for Nicholas.

"Get out!"

I stumbled and collapsed to the floor, instinctively biting my lip.

The guilt on Nicholas's face vanished in an instant and was replaced by a surge of anger.

"Get out of here! I don’t ever want to see you again!"

With that, he stormed into his room and slammed the door with a deafening crash.

Pearl, I noticed, had already left at some point.

I stared at the empty room, and for the first time, I gave in to my emotions, letting the torrent of tears fall freely.

An hour later, I dragged my suitcase out.

My neighbor, Molly Price peeked her head out, concern written on her face.

“Beatrix, you and your boyfriend had a fight, didn’t you? Come on, come in and sit for a while, don’t be sad.”

I shook my head.

I handed Molly her sewing kit back.

“I used the black thread to fix the buttons, and I’ve replaced it for you.”

Molly patted my hand and looked at my suitcase with a sigh.

“You’re a thoughtful one. Your boyfriend is so ungrateful.”

I didn’t respond.

I declined Molly’s invitation to stay longer and said my goodbyes to Mr. Klein at the fruit stand, Amy at the breakfast cafe, and Gretta from the kindergarten downstairs.

All the memories I had over the past three years in the neighborhood would now be wiped away one by one.

The small room my new landlord had arranged for me was in Calico City.

Jobs were easier to find in the area, though the rent was a bit high.

With limited savings from the past three years, I left Nicholas ten thousand dollars in cash—enough to cover his rent and living expenses for the next few months.

If he couldn’t find work after that, his living costs would become tight.

I bit my lip at the thought.

At the bottom of my WhatsApp list, I pulled up a blank conversation window.

A familiar profile picture appeared.

He was one of the most sought-after figures in Calico City, involved in industries ranging from real estate to catering, beauty, and logistics.

His wealth was beyond a hundred billion dollars.

And the only connection he and I shared... was a woman.

As I stared at the screen, I realized I had accidentally clicked on his profile picture.

Just then, a new message popped up.

[Beatrix, your mom’s death anniversary is in a few days. Are you still not coming?]

I paused for a long while before typing.

[I’ll be there.]

Trevor Cooper was my mom’s ex-husband’s adopted son.

To put it simply, my mom Bella Pitt, and her ex-husband’s relationship resembled one of those melodramatic plots from a soap opera.

A wealthy family had taken my mom in, but she ended up falling in love with her adoptive brother, Samuel Cooper.

In pursuit of love, my mom left her family, and Samuel gave up his social standing.

They thought they would end up together, but no one expected that childhood love would be no match for fate’s interference.

The two parted ways, and my mom married my dad and had me.

Samuel never remarried and adopted Trevor.

Now that Samuel had become successful in his career, he visited my mom’s grave every day.

He also followed his father’s wishes to look after me.

“Stop it, Beatrix. What you need right now is money, and I have it.”

Trevor’s words echoed in my mind.

Back then, my pride had overshadowed everything.

I refused to contact him, unwilling to let Nicholas misunderstand the relationship I had with Trevor.

Now, I saw it all for what it was—a fleeting illusion.

As I left, I changed into a black suit dress.

I bought a bouquet of sunflowers from the flower shop downstairs.

My mom had always liked its golden, radiant color.

My mood lifted as I looked at them.

Just then, Nicholas's mother called me, crying and begging.

"Beatrix, please come back and see Nicholas! Something happened to him!"

Unable to find me, Nicholas had hurt himself in the rental house.

There was blood all over the floor, and the landlady had called the police out of fear.

People in the neighborhood were saying that Nicholas had lost his mind.

I was stunned, and quickly unlocked my phone.

There were numerous missed calls from Nicholas, and my WhatsApp was filled with his messages.

[What’s wrong with you, Beatrix? Why did you break the lease?

[Are you still mad at me because of that mute girl? I’ve already explained everything to you! Why are you being so aggressive?

[Look, I’ll pay the rent myself. Please come back, okay?

[I’ve been in a coma for three years. I can’t control my emotions. Can you forgive me just once more?

[Stop testing me, Beatrix. I promise I’ll marry you. Is that enough?]