Love Fades Without A Trace

I was quiet for a long time as I stared at the red marks on the neck in the photo.

Yesterday, a man named Callum Lowry sought me out and told me he was Rhiannon Westley's boyfriend, and he wanted me out of the picture. At first, I was taken aback by his bold statement. Then, I registered the fact that Rhiannon had cheated on me.

Callum lifted his chin, his eyes sparkling like a kid who had been spoiled rotten. Before I could snap out of my daze, he splashed coffee on me. "Hey, did you hear me? I want you to divorce Rhiannon so I can marry her!"

The brown liquid stained my newly bought white T-shirt, and I looked pathetic with coffee droplets running down my face.

Callum didn't seem to think that was enough, for he paid no mind to the speculating looks thrown in our direction as he continued to bait me. "Rhiannon's pregnant with my child. I don't want my kid calling some other dude 'Dad.' Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered to pick a fight with you.

"I know you're childhood friends with Rhiannon and that you've been married for six years, but both of you have been together for so long. She doesn't see you as anything more than family. She doesn't love you anymore.

"You should know better and leave her. Maybe I could even convince her to pay you a handsome settlement fee as compensation. Otherwise, don't blame me when I have her kick you out."

Rhiannon, kicking me out?

I sputtered at the idea of it.

Callum pointed at me, called me crazy, and demanded to know why I laughed.

I stared at his face. He was quite the looker—adorable, even. He simply wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

I jested, "Does Rhiannon know about you coming here to see me, kiddo?"

He flushed, then pointed at me as he let loose a torrent of abuse.

I tilted my head to the side and peered past him at Rhiannon, who was closing in on us with long, angry strides. She was scowling as she grabbed Callum by the arm and struck him hard across the face.

At once, Callum's face turned red and swollen from the slap. A thin line of blood even trickled out of the corner of his mouth.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he gaped at Rhiannon in disbelief and hurt. "Ms. Westley, you just hit me…"

Anyone's heart might have gone out to him if they saw him cry, but Rhiannon did not even bat an eye as she leveled a frosty look at him. She barked at him to get out.

Looking wounded, Callum covered his face and bolted. After he left, Rhiannon pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped the coffee droplets off my face. "Hush, now. Don't listen to a word he said. He and I have nothing to do with each other. He was spewing nonsense."

I lowered my gaze until our eyes met. Her eyes sparkled as usual, and not a trace of guilt or shame flickered in them. But my eyes prickled with oncoming tears as I caressed her face. "Rhiannon, can you tell me who that guy is?"

The corners of her lips quivered as tears brimmed in her eyes. She refused to answer me, but I stubbornly pressed her until my face turned red and my breathing grew uneven.

Only then did she panic and say in resignation, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Zane. I made a mistake. You can hit me, snap at me, or even punish me if you want. But please don't cry. You can't cry."

So, she still remembered that crying was a big no-no for me. A self-deprecating laugh escaped me as my chest tightened to the point of pain. Horrified, Rhiannon brought me to the hospital and ran red lights all the way.

She couldn't care less about her image as she yelled for the doctor. I saw the panic in her eyes and found myself recalling the past.

I was kidnapped once when I was five years old. The kidnapper had pressed a blade to my throat and demanded that my father pay ransom. I'd been so terrified at the time, and I cried so hard that I felt suffocated. I lost my speech for a while after I was rescued, too.

After I'd lost my speech, Rhiannon came over to play with me every day. She was careful with me but kept me company and told me jokes. I ignored her, but she was undeterred.

Once, she and a classmate argued and got into a brawl. The classmate was chubby and pinned Rhiannon down, nearly suffocating her. I panicked and shouted for a teacher.

I slowly regained my speech after that. Rhiannon was even more thrilled than I was about my recovery, and she made it a point to get on the chubby classmate's nerves every day just to get me to speak.

I didn't find out until much later that Rhiannon had gotten into a brawl with that chubby classmate because he'd called me a mute. She wouldn't stand for anyone bullying me or even calling me a mute.

Eventually, I overcame my speech loss, but crying was still fatal to me. If I cried, my breath would come up short. In serious cases, I'd even suffocate. Rhiannon was even more careful with me after that. She told me she'd only make me laugh and promised to never make me cry.

But now, I was being wheeled into the emergency room because of her.