Chapter 2

After staying up all night, I forced myself to take deep breaths to calm down.

Since Leroy was deaf and mute, Emilia must have done something to manipulate him.

If I could get around her and communicate directly in writing, I could clear up the misunderstanding.

In the morning, I withdrew a hundred thousand dollars in cash from the bank and stuffed it inside my bag, which contained a letter I wrote last night.

The letter contained details of what I intended to do with the money as well as my suspicions of Emilia lying to Leroy.

Then, I took a taxi to Leroy's apartment, the same one I helped him cover half the down payment years ago.

After ringing the doorbell for what felt like ages, the door finally opened just enough to reveal a tiny crack.

The person at the door was Emilia’s mother. She was frowning and gripping the doorframe tightly.

“What are you doing here? Leroy isn't planning to meet anyone today.”

I dismissed her. “I need you to move out of the way. This is my brother's house, I have every reason to be here.”

“Oh, now he’s your brother? Why didn’t you say that yesterday? Was it because you didn’t want to be involved with him?”

She sneered sarcastically at me and remained perched by the door to obstruct me.

When I peeked through the crack in the door, I saw Leroy sitting on the couch in the living room with his head down. He seemed to be zoning out.

“Leroy!” I cried out and squeezed past the door before Emilia’s mother could react.

The first thing I did was shove the envelope in his hands. “Leroy, read this! I brought you some money!”

He seemed taken aback when he saw me.

Just as he was about to get up to take the letter, Emilia rushed out of the kitchen and snatched the letter away from me.

I was furious and snarled at her, “What are you doing? Give it back!”

All she did was ignore me while she tore the letter into pieces before tossing the rest into the trash can.

Scraps of paper littered the floor.

Then, she turned to Leroy and started rapidly gesturing in sign language again with a sharp expression on her face the entire time.

Finally, she clutched a hand to her chest and slumped to the floor.

Leroy's eyes immediately reddened. He proceeded to grab a pillow and throw it at me.

With a hoarse cry, he pointed at the door and motioned for me to leave.

“Emilia, what have you been telling him? Let him read what I have to say and see what he thinks!”

With that, I gritted my teeth and hastily reached for a notebook and pen in my bag. I wanted to write something to communicate with him.

Emilia quickly slapped my hand and made me drop the pen to the ground.

Then, she cried out dramatically with tears streaming down her face, “Leah, you need to stop tormenting him!

“The doctor told me he was traumatized by what happened yesterday and had to take sedatives today. His eyes are so bloodshot he can barely read!

“Even though you know how much he hates being treated as a disabled person, you still insist on writing letters to insult him! What will it take for you to leave him alone?”

Her mother chimed in, “Exactly! Now I can see why everyone has been telling me how shrewd you are. You’re only trying to instigate Leroy and make him become suicidal, so he wouldn’t be a dead weight when you get married!”

They were so loud that even the neighbor who lived across the corridor poked her head out to watch the commotion.

Emilia was crying hysterically by this point and had to lean against the wall for support.

She cried out to the neighbor, “Madam, I’ll let you be the judge! Even after the accident, I never abandoned Leroy and went as far as to sell my mother's retirement house to help pay off his debts. Meanwhile, his sister refuses to help. All she does is come to his house and insult him for his disability…”

The neighbor scrutinized me up and down before muttering under her breath, “That’s young people these days for you. She’s so selfish that she wouldn’t even look out for her brother..."

I was shaking.

Emilia refused to let Leroy read the contents of the letter, and he could not hear me even if he wanted to. There was simply no way for me to talk to him.

Emilia immediately picked up the intercom to call the property management. “Security! Someone is harassing a sick resident. Get her out of here!”

A few minutes later, a guard came up, grabbed my arm, and escorted me out of the building. The heavy lobby doors clicked shut behind me to cut me off completely from Leroy.