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Chapter 4

Author: Eager Hope
When the dinner was over, it was already past midnight.

Wilson was in a good mood when we got home. He took off his suit jacket and wrapped his arms around me from behind. "You behaved yourself tonight."

He whispered in my ear, his breath carrying a faint hint of alcohol. "When I come back from my business trip tomorrow, I'll buy you the necklace you've always wanted."

I obediently closed my eyes and did not struggle or respond. My heart had become so numb that it could not react.

He replied to a few work messages in the living room and soon fell asleep.

I leaned against the headboard, watching the time on my phone jump to 3:00 am.

There were six hours left.

My one-way ticket to Moose County was for 9:00 am. It was also at that time that the local courier would deliver the documents to his executive meeting table.

At 8:00 am, the coffee machine in the meeting room made a soft buzzing sound.

Wilson sat in the main seat, feeling triumphant. Even during the intervals when he was listening to the financial report, he texted his secretary.

[Go to the jeweller in the south of the city and pick up the necklace Jaclyn had her eye on last time.]

He turned off the screen, thinking everything was under his control.

I had been behaving well lately. He thought that the so-called USB drive was probably just a recording I had wanted to make a big fuss about. He just needed to buy a small gift to appease me, and life would continue on the track he laid out.

The meeting room door was suddenly pushed open, and two uniformed police officers walked in, interrupting the presentation. "Which one of you is Mr. Wilson Lewis?"

Wilson's smile had not completely faded. "I am."

"We received a report and need your cooperation in investigating the vicious assault that occurred last Tuesday night in the alley behind the convenience store."

The lead officer produced a copy of a police report. "The surveillance footage shows that the victim cried for help for three minutes and 27 seconds. You were just three yards away and had your car window open at the time. Why did you do nothing?"

The entire meeting room fell into a deathly silence.

All the executives' and shareholders' eyes instantly focused on Wilson, while Wilson's mind went blank.

The memory of Jaclyn that night, covered in blood with her clothes ripped apart, suddenly became vivid, and a crushing weight tightened around his chest.

"What victim? Jaclyn?"

The receptionist knocked on the door and came in. "Mr. Lewis, there's an urgent same-city package that requires your signature."

Wilson's hands trembled uncontrollably. He snatched the package and ripped open the seal with brute force.

A stack of documents lay scattered on the mahogany conference table. Inside was a signed divorce agreement and a printed screenshot of surveillance footage. Only two blurry figures were visible, but he recognized them at a glance. He knew them too well.

On the left, a woman was being dragged into a dark alley, her neck being choked. On the right, separated by a wall, a man was looking down, tenderly unboxing the birthday cake that was meant for me.

One was him, and the other was me.

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  • When You Stopped Listening   Chapter 10

    I looked at him for a long time. Long enough for the dusk to fall and envelop him completely in shadow. Then, I spoke, my voice calm and unlike my usual self."Wilson, you finally told the truth. But telling the truth doesn't mean you'll be compensated for it. Some things are just broken and can't be fixed. Even if you gather all the pieces and place them in front of me, I wouldn't recognize what they used to be."His body shook slightly."Sign the divorce papers and send them to me." I closed the door.The divorce certificate arrived half a month later. Wilson never showed up in Moose County again.He signed the divorce agreement. In the asset division section, he left everything to me—the house, the cars, the company shares, and every cent of his savings.I only took the supplementary card with a 3,000-dollar limit. The balance was still 2,147 dollars. It happened to be the exact change left over from the last time I paid for his hearing aid batteries.The day I received the p

  • When You Stopped Listening   Chapter 9

    Noelle flung her umbrella aside as she left.The white umbrella rolled to the side of the ditch, but she did not bend over to pick it up. Wearing her high heels, she stepped into the waiting cab at the alley entrance. The engine roared for a moment before it vanished.I leaned against the door frame, looking at Wilson.He stood two steps away from me, his chest heaving heavily. "Jaclyn, what she said...""I don't care about what she said." My voice was flat.He looked up, as if waiting for me to continue speaking."I care about the fact that you spent three years prioritizing her before me. You handed the knife to someone else and asked me why I was bleeding when she stabbed me with it."His lips twitched. "Jaclyn, can I go in and sit down?""No.""I'll speak here, then." He took a deep breath, as if making a major decision. "You're right. I've been taming you."The words came out of his mouth more cruelly than mine."I knew from the beginning you wouldn't leave. Your love f

  • When You Stopped Listening   Chapter 8

    Wilson remained in Moose County.He did not stay in my old place. Instead, he rented a cottage across from the alley entrance, the window facing my gate.Every morning at 7:00 am, a bag of breakfast would appear at the gate. Milk, buns, and a small box of cut fruits. All were the things I ate, and there was no crab meat.He even checked the dietary restrictions after my surgery and made a list of them to stick on the cottage wall.Martha told me about it. Her tone when she spoke up for him was a mixture of heartache and lament. "Sweetie, that man's eyes are all swollen from crying. Just go and see him."I accepted the breakfast but did not respond to him.On the fifth day, Noelle came. She appeared at the alley entrance, wearing a blue dress and holding a white umbrella. Her makeup was exquisite, and she looked like someone out of a magazine.She saw me sitting at the gate and smiled. "Jaclyn, it's been a long time since we last met."I looked at her. "We have nothing to do wit

  • When You Stopped Listening   Chapter 7

    Wilson knelt outside for four hours, from dusk till nightfall.The neighbors passed by three times. The first time was out of curiosity, the second time out of sympathy, and the third time, they brought an umbrella.Moose County's rain came quickly, especially at night.I sat by the window and saw through the curtain that he knelt in the rain, his white shirt sticking to his back. He looked like a building that was about to collapse.I did not open the door.Three years ago, he never cared about me when he looked more respectable. There was no reason for me to pity him when he was disheveled.The next morning, he was still at the alley entrance when I went out to buy groceries. He had stopped kneeling and was leaning against the wall, his lips dry and pale. Next to him was a cup of cold milk and two hard-boiled eggs. They were given to him by Martha Lennon from the alley's breakfast shop."You'll faint if you don't eat something." I stopped for a moment as I passed by.He looke

  • When You Stopped Listening   Chapter 6

    When Wilson arrived in Moose County, it was at 4:00 pm the next day.I was sunbathing on the stone steps out in the yard and saw a black MPV car parked at the entrance of the alley.He got out of the car, and there was a noticeable crease on the knee of his suit pants, as if he had been kneeling on something.When I got closer, I saw that he had dark eye circles and his eyes were red. He was not wearing his hearing aid."Jaclyn." He stopped his steps three steps away, as if unsure if he could get any closer.I remained sitting, peeling an orange in my hand. "What are you doing here?""I'm here to take you home.""That's not my home."His lips parted, but it was as if something had lodged in his throat. "That's our home.""Wilson." I threw the orange peel into the nearby basket. "You don't even remember that I'm allergic to crab meat. What in that house belongs to me?" His gaze momentarily became unfocused. "Crab meat?""Last year. Emergency room. My lips were swollen for th

  • When You Stopped Listening   Chapter 5

    Wilson made 37 phone calls.I stood in the yard of my old house in Moose County, watching the screen of my phone go dark and then light up, over and over again. Only the number appeared on the screen, with no name attached. I had already deleted his contact.When the 38th call came in, I answered it.What came through on the other end was not Wilson's voice but a series of short, almost out-of-control breaths."Jaclyn." He called my name in a hoarse voice, sounding as if it came from somewhere deep underwater. "Where are you?"I did not answer.The apple flowers in the yard were in full bloom, smelling sickeningly sweet. The wind blew, and the wounds beneath my clothes throbbed faintly."Jaclyn, I saw the diagnosis. Is... Is it true?" His voice was shaking.I wanted to laugh and ask him if there had ever been a time in the past three years when he believed what I said from the get-go. My throat tightened, and I managed to utter only two words. "It's true."There was a long sil

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