Deaf to Deceit No More

As I glanced around the living room, I felt as if I had been transported back to the 1980s, with the vintage wooden cabinet and the black-and-white TV sitting on top.

The sound of the radio drifting in from the courtyard completed the scene, confirming that I had indeed returned to this moment in time.

I glanced at my freshly completed painting of "Starry Night" on the table, its ink still wet, and tears welled up in my eyes. This time around, I would take control of my destiny.

Just as I finished wrapping up "Starry Night", I heard rustling sounds coming from next door. It was Emmett Quinn and Calista Parker, and the nature of those sounds was unmistakable.

After some shuffling, Emmett's muffled voice carried through the wall. He whispered, "Keep it down."

However, Calista responded loudly without any hesitation, "What are you worried about? She's deaf. I could scream my lungs out, and she wouldn't hear a thing!"

She followed this with several deliberate shouts.

Although I had faintly heard Calista's name before my death in my previous life, witnessing this scene firsthand felt like a thunderbolt striking me.

For the first time, I realized that being able to hear could be its own kind of cruelty.

All those warm, sweet memories I had shattered like glass, the shards piercing my heart. Emmett had not been my intended husband, but an accident had altered the course of our lives forever.

Emmett was one of the few college graduates in the 1980s. After graduation, he was assigned to our factory as an engineer.

He was tall and handsome, and his presence had attracted quite a following among the young women at work.

Due to my artistic skills, I worked as the factory's publicist back then. I never thought that our paths would cross until he approached me about creating some bulletin boards.

While he was showing me where to paint the bulletins, a crooked tree suddenly fell. I pushed him out of the way, but splintering wood struck my head, leaving me deaf.

My previous engagement was called off because of the accident. Later, Emmett offered to marry me, and I felt incredibly grateful at that moment.

In my previous life, I had spent an entire lifetime with Emmett, only to discover his affair with Calista as I lay dying. However, I never imagined that their relationship had started so early.

It suddenly made sense why our son, Asher Quinn, had always loved visiting Calista's house. I had even been thankful to her for helping with babysitting.

However, thinking back to the words I heard on my deathbed, I suspected that Asher had betrayed me, too.

This time around, though, Asher would never have the chance to be born. I picked up my painting and headed straight for the door.

I could still hear them as I left. They were completely indifferent to my movements. That suited me fine. After all, I had no interest in dealing with them anymore.

Pretending that I was still deaf, I made my way to the post office to submit my artwork to the Young Artists Competition. This was my only chance to change my fate.

I hoped that this painting would break through all barriers and become my guiding star, allowing me to rewrite my destiny with nothing but a paintbrush and courage as I knocked on the door to a brand-new future.

Art had been my passion since childhood, and my talent had even earned me a unique position as the factory's publicist despite my lack of formal qualifications.

I should have had a brighter future ahead, but that accident plunged my world into silence.

After losing my hearing, I withdrew into myself completely. It was Emmett's promise that pulled me out of my silent world and ignited the "Starry Night" within my heart, which ultimately inspired this painting.

In my previous life, I immediately gave the painting to Emmett after completing it. He showed no interest, merely giving me a slight nod of acknowledgment.

After our marriage, Emmett refused to hang it in the living room when I wanted to.

The painting ended up as a makeshift prop in the kitchen, holding up a wobbly table leg.

It eventually became covered in mold and grease stains until its original beauty was completely destroyed.

During those long years with Emmett, an acclaimed art critic once visited our home and saw the painting. Upon noticing the date signature, he wrote me a note expressing his deep regret.

He explained that if I had submitted this piece to the Young Artists Competition back then, it would have surely won. He had been one of the judges, and none of the winning entries had matched its quality.

His words had stirred something within me, but by then, my hands were too calloused and deformed from years of housework to hold a brush again.

My youthful dreams had been buried beneath the endless cycle of caring for the elderly, raising our son, and managing household chores.

Now, I felt incredibly grateful for this second chance at life. There was still time to correct the mistakes and regrets of my previous life. Everything could still be salvaged.

Back at the factory, I headed to the dormitory. It was the one that had been specially allocated to Emmett and me as our future marital home.

When I opened the door, I ran into Calista and Emmett leaving the room, both impeccably dressed.

If it were not for their disheveled hair, flushed faces, and the faint marks on their necks, no one would have guessed that Emmett, the stoic engineer, and Calista, the refined radio announcer, had just been intimate.

Emmett nodded when he saw me and stepped aside to let me pass. Calista smiled and greeted me while muttering under her breath, "Deaf woman!"

I carefully maintained my usual expression, pretending not to hear anything as I quickly entered the room. The moment I stepped inside, the lingering smell of intimacy made me violently ill.

I retched, my stomach contents spewing forth uncontrollably. Emmett cursed at the bad timing and asked Calista to leave while he came in to check on me.

As Calista left, she spat out, "Stupid deaf girl, why don't you just choke and die!"

It was hard to believe that we had once been close. Calista was the daughter of Dad's fallen war buddy, and she had struggled to find work after high school.

It was only through Dad's help that she had secured her position as the factory's radio announcer.

After my accident, she had seemed so caring and attentive. Now, I realized that she had only used that opportunity to get closer to Emmett.

I suspect that she must have cursed me like this countless times in my previous life when I lost my hearing.

I clutched my stomach tightly, my body shaking violently as I gasped for air, tears streaming down my face.

It felt like I was crying for all the injustice I had endured in both lives.

When Emmett tried to help me up, I shoved him away, beyond disgusted by the man I once loved.