A week before our engagement, I finally learned that the man Madison Clarke had always secretly loved... was me.

Overjoyed, I hurried to sign to her, wanting to tell her that I was LeoWinter—the gaming partner she'd been coupled with online.

What I got in return was ridicule.

"Charlie, how does a mute guy like you manage to pull so many tricks?"

"LeoWinter already told me his account got stolen. He switched accounts ages ago. And you still want to pretend you're him?"

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head. My entire body went rigid.

She had forgotten that this game ID was permanently bound to the account. It was impossible for it to be stolen.

Being engaged to Madison was something I'd never even dared dream of before.

In our social circle, she was the textbook example of perfection—beautiful, brilliant, the kind of daughter every family bragged about.

As for me, although our families were considered equals in status... I was mute.

Madison had never liked me. I knew that.

The front door suddenly slammed open. Madison was home.

"Miss Clarke, dinner's just ready. Would you like to eat now?"

I hesitated in the stairwell, listening to the housekeeper speak to her.

Tonight's dinner had been cooked by me.

Even though our engagement was still a week away, my parents had already impatiently sent me over here.

They were terrified the Clarke family might back out of the marriage alliance.

"This seafood stew tastes pretty good."

The frown on Madison's face eased slightly as she gave rare praise to the housekeeper.

"Your cooking's improved lately."

The housekeeper, Bethany, chuckled awkwardly but said nothing, silently claiming credit for the meal I had made.

Then again, I was only a mute. Even if I felt wronged, I couldn't exactly defend myself.

Maybe she sensed my gaze, because Madison suddenly looked up. Her expression immediately turned impatient.

"If you're eating, then come eat. Why are you just standing there?"

I waved my hand, signaling that I'd already eaten.

I had just turned to head back upstairs when I heard her play a voice message.

[AutumnWind, hurry and log on! I'm not using LeoWinter's account anymore. I switched to a smurf so I can keep playing with you!]

LeoWinter?

Wasn't that my game ID?

Madison instantly lost interest in the porridge. Her voice softened with unmistakable warmth as she immediately picked up her phone.

Frowning, I walked downstairs and stared at her screen.

AutumnWind...

It really was her.

The same AutumnWind who had been my in-game partner for three whole years.

No wonder her voice had always sounded vaguely familiar whenever I heard it. My impression of Madison had always been too rigid—I could never have guessed someone like her would play games.

And not only play them, but become my in-game partner.

The revelation hit me so suddenly that my mind spun. I moved closer, trying to sign to her that I was LeoWinter.

The match had already started. Irritated by my tugging at her sleeve, Madison shook my hand off.

"What are you doing? Can't you see I'm gaming?"

I kept signing beside her, but her impatience only deepened.

Right. She couldn't understand sign language at all.

I lowered my hands, pulled out my phone, and quickly typed a sentence.

[I'm LeoWinter. The one whose ID has been linked with yours in the game.]

My heartbeat quickened uncontrollably.

Gaming was the one place where I could truly relax. And meeting AutumnWind had been the biggest reason I'd kept playing all these years.

Would she be as excited as I was?

Unable to stop myself, I looked toward Madison expectantly.

But there was no excitement. No joy.

She merely glanced at my message coldly before curling her lips into a mocking smile.

"I'd heard your family was full of schemers. Looks like the rumors were true. Using every possible method to force my parents into making me marry you wasn't enough, huh? You even investigated LeoWinter? Too bad. I already found the real LeoWinter."

Found him?

Found what?

I froze where I stood.

Still unwilling to give up, I quickly opened my game profile and showed her my ID.

[It really is me. Look—my ID, and all the matching items we customized together.]

Every single thing there carried our memories.

But she suddenly shot to her feet, her voice turning even colder.

"LeoWinter's account was stolen half a year ago. Stop pretending! A mute guy like you sure has a lot of schemes!"

Madison had never liked me. She had always treated me with cold indifference.

But ever since I moved into this house, she had never outright insulted me before. This was the first time.

The word mute pierced into my chest like a needle, crushing the excitement I had foolishly let myself feel moments earlier.

She stormed upstairs in just a few strides and returned to her room, leaving me standing there alone like an idiot.

"Mr. Simpson, even though you and Miss Clarke are getting engaged, everyone knows about your condition. Wouldn't it be better to just behave yourself and keep the peace?"

Bethany sighed as if she were kindly comforting me. But every word dripped with sarcasm.

She was right. I wasn't worthy of Madison.

But I... really wasn't lying.

Half a year ago happened to be the exact time my parents arranged for me to meet Madison.

Our two families had many business ties, and under pressure from her family, Madison had no choice but to compromise and agree to the engagement.

And from that moment on, I forced myself never to open the game again. I didn't know how to face AutumnWind.

Even if we had only been lovers inside a game, my feelings for her had been real. Through countless days and nights, I had grown so used to talking to her that I couldn't even fall asleep without hearing from her first. More than once, she suggested meeting in person.

But because I couldn't speak, my inferiority complex kept me from agreeing.

I originally thought that, in this lifetime, I would never have another chance with AutumnWind.

Yet, fate had played an enormous joke on me. Madison was AutumnWind. And she had already mistaken someone else for LeoWinter.

Lying in bed, I couldn't stop myself from logging into the game and trying to contact AutumnWind through my account, only to discover that she had long since dissolved our couple relationship. She had blocked me as well.

The bitterness in my chest made it hard to breathe, but all I could do was stay silent.

Still, I couldn't swallow this resentment. I was the real LeoWinter!

Madison simply couldn't recognize me because she'd been deceived.

I spent the entire night searching for the "LeoWinter" Madison believed in.

To my surprise, I actually found him.

He was a rising internet celebrity who had gained popularity over the past two years. His alternate account name just happened to be LeoWinter.

Not only that, but Madison was even following that account on social media.

Unable to resist, I clicked into his profile.

The more I looked, the more certain I became it was him.

At seven-thirty that evening, he had posted a new update.

"Looks like I'm starting the journey all over again. Good thing someone's accompanying me."

The attached image was a black-and-white anime boy avatar.

It was exactly the same one I had seen teamed up with Madison during her game earlier that day.

I immediately opened the private messages and sent him a text.

[Why are you pretending to be LeoWinter?]

He replied almost instantly.

[I have no idea what you're talking about. LeoWinter really was the account I used a few years ago, but it got hacked half a year ago.]

No. That wasn't true at all!

I was about to continue arguing when someone suddenly knocked on my door.

"Charlie, open the door!"

This was the first time Madison had ever entered my room.

And it was only to interrogate me.

"Who gave you the nerve to harass LeoWinter? Since you love causing trouble so much, let's just cancel the engagement!"

My heart sank, disbelief washing over me.

Our engagement had already been publicly announced to the media. And now she was saying she wanted to cancel it?

[I'm really not lying to you. I'm the real LeoWinter. I can show you our old match records, the conversations we had—]

"Enough! How thick-skinned can you possibly be?!"

She slapped my phone out of my hands.

Her face was icy. Cold and untouchable, she looked down at me from above.

"Getting engaged to you was already a last resort. Since you're still not satisfied, then there's nothing left to discuss."

A sharp pain twisted deeper through my chest.

I signed desperately.

[Why won't you believe me?]

But unfortunately... Madison couldn't understand sign language.

Madison moved quickly. By the very next day, news of our broken engagement had already shot to the top of the trending searches.

Photos of the two of us were plastered across the headlines, while the comments section filled with speculation about me.

[So this is the heir of the Simpson family that made its fortune through tech? The two families seemed pretty well matched, so why'd they suddenly call off the engagement?]

[You must not know this, but Miss Clarke has a first love she can't forget. Obviously, her true love came back.]

[Does anyone else think it's because the Simpson family's eldest son is disabled?]

Very few people knew that I was mute. All these years, my parents had never allowed me to attend gatherings within our social circle.

But the situation had grown too explosive this time. It didn't take long for netizens to piece things together from scattered clues.

In an instant, I became the target of everyone's contempt.

[He never accomplished much to begin with. The only thing he had going for him was that he looked decent. Who knew he was actually mute?]

[There's no way a family like the Clarkes would really marry their daughter to a mute.]

Mute.

Mute...

Silently scrolling through the comments, I felt coldness spread through my body all over again.

Finally unable to bear it anymore, I pulled out my suitcase.

"Mr. Simpson, what are you doing?"

I didn't have many belongings, so packing was quick.

Since Madison had already decided to cancel the engagement, there was obviously no way I could continue staying at the Clarke residence.

But as for returning to the Simpson family... I didn't even need to think about what kind of treatment awaited me there.

An hour later, I dragged my suitcase into a narrow alleyway. This was the one property that belonged solely to me.

My phone lit up several times. When I unlocked it, I realized the message was from AutumnWind.

She had removed me from her blacklist.

Then she sent me an address.

[Let's meet.]

Why would AutumnWind suddenly contact me?

Madison had already made herself perfectly clear. She believed she had found her real LeoWinter and was convinced I was only scheming. So why reach out to me at a time like this?

And yet, that single message still gave me hope.

I replied.

[Address.]

The other side quickly sent over a location. It wasn't far from where I was.

Whether it was suspicion or a test, a small flicker of anticipation still rose inside me.

When I arrived, I gently pushed open the private room door.

"So you actually came?"

It was the rising internet celebrity I had investigated the night before—Bruce Kingston.

But the message had clearly come from AutumnWind.

Why was he here instead? What did he want from me?

A sense of unease instantly crept over me, and I turned to leave.

But he grabbed my wrist before I could take a step.

"You're leaving right after getting here? Didn't you message me yesterday saying you were the real LeoWinter? Where's your proof?"

I couldn't speak, nor did I want to use sign language in front of him.

As if deliberately provoking me, he widened his eyes exaggeratedly.

"What, you look down on me? I'm talking to you. Why aren't you answering? Oh right, I almost forgot—you're mute. You can't talk."

He let out a mocking laugh.

"But I really did invite you here today because there's something I wanted your help with. Yesterday, AutumnWind gave me a charm as a gift. She said it was to thank me, but I don't actually know what it means, so I thought I'd ask you."

I pulled out my phone and typed coldly: [Aren't you afraid she'll find out you're impersonating me?]

"I actually wish she would find out." He smirked. "But did you forget? Back when you played games with her, you used voice chat.

"She told me that herself. So tell me... do you really think she'd believe a mute person like you?"

I froze in place.

That was right. I really had spoken to her before.