LOGINI was born deaf and mute. When I was eighteen, Jared Trost spent six months learning sign language for me. Later, when he confessed his feelings, his fingers were clumsy but exceedingly earnest as he signed. “I’ve learned it well. From now on, I’ll be your ears and your voice for the rest of my life.” I always believed that even if my world was silent, I would still have Jared to help me communicate with everyone else. That belief lasted until Jared’s best friend, Naomi Mora, came back from overseas. At a party, right in front of all Jared’s friends, she deliberately mocked me to my face. “Jared, she can’t make a sound or hear anything you say. How boring must it be in bed for you two?” She exaggerated every utterance with her lips, as if she wanted to make absolutely sure I could read them. My face went pale, but Jared simply sighed and ruffled Naomi’s hair. “Knock it off.” At the party before our wedding, I stopped outside the lounge and looked through the crack in the door. The ring box had been carelessly tossed onto the drinks table. Naomi was casually flicking cigarette ash into it. She chuckled and said, “Are you seriously marrying the mute? You’re even letting me use her wedding ring box as an ashtray. I guess you don’t love her that much after all.” Jared lounged against the sofa and gave an indifferent snort. “What choice do I have? She’s deaf and mute. Who else is going to want her? I just have to make sure we don’t end up with a kid like her.” Standing outside the door and staring at the ring box, which had been scorched through by the cigarette ash, I took off the hearing aids I had specially ordered to hear Jared say his vows at our wedding. I shut out every sickening word they said. Just like that, I was done with the wedding too.
View MoreFor the next three months, Jared stayed in Northreach.He walked with me to work in the mornings, showed up outside the school at lunch just to see me, and waited to walk home with me again in the evenings.Most of the time, Skylar was there too.The three of us made an awkward little trio.Then, one night, Jared got drunk and came knocking on my door.It was already late. I did not want him disturbing the neighbors, so I had no choice but to open the door.He looked devastated.“Kaitlyn, you’re really done with me for good, aren’t you? I’m not getting another chance, am I? Even if I change, even if I spend the rest of my life trying to make up for everything, it still won’t matter anymore, will it?”I was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “Jared, don’t make me regret ever choosing you. Let this end with some dignity. I want to be able to look back on those years and remember that there was something good in them too.”Tears slipped down Jared’s face as he pulled me into his
“I know you were just saying that to get Jared off my back. Thank you.”Skylar sighed. “I meant every word I said. What part of what I said sounded insincere to you? That you’re an incredible woman? Or that I’m interested in you?“Kaitlyn, I never told you how I felt because I didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on you. But you never have to feel guilty about using me. I’d gladly be there whenever you need me.”My fingers curled slightly. “You have plenty of options. We aren’t right for each other.” “All right. Go get ready for your next class. I’ll come by after work and take you home.”I sighed with resignation.When I first saw him among the medical volunteers in Northreach, I was stunned. I had signed to ask what he was doing all the way out there.He nodded solemnly and deliberately pretended to misunderstand me.“Yeah, I’m getting a little tired too.”Then, he promptly rested his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes.A month later, I learned that he had come be
As soon as class ended, the principal, Johnson Dewey, appeared at the classroom door and waved me over with a smile.I walked out carrying my books. Johnson greeted me cheerfully.“Ms. Dever, your fiance is here to see you.”I frowned and signed to him, “Mr. Dewey, I’m single. I don’t have a fiance.”Johnson stopped short, looking thoroughly confused. “But his phone is full of pictures of you two. He even showed me the video of his proposal.”That was all I needed to hear.Sure enough, Jared was standing across the schoolyard, waving at me.He was dressed in a suit. One hand was hidden behind his back. I could just make out flashes of red peeking out from behind him.I was not surprised that he had come, but I still found his presence exhausting.When I reached him and opened my mouth to say something, he dropped to one knee and held out the bouquet of red roses he had been hiding behind his back.“Kaitlyn, I’m sorry. I know I hurt you. That’s why I’m here to ask you this aga
Jared called everyone he could think of and drove all over the city in the plain car that was supposed to have been part of their wedding.He retraced every place he and Kaitlyn had once gone together.The subway, their favorite cafe, the park. There was no sign of her anywhere.He could not stop wondering where she had gone, or how far away she might already be from the city where they had built so many memories together.Neither could he stop himself from imagining what she must have been feeling, and how long she had been quietly planning to leave him.One memory after another came back to him. With each one, the numbness in his body gave way to a sickening ache.He did not want to remember the things he had said at the party that night.She had heard him slander, belittle, and mock her.She had watched him betray her with Naomi while pregnant with their child.Jared finally understood just how completely he had broken her heart.Jared rode the subway all the way to the fi












Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.