Prologue
His parents died because of me.
So Damian Thorne hated me. His own wife.
He was a billionaire. I couldn’t even afford my grandmother’s treatment.
One rainy night, I was working as a delivery driver. I got an order for condoms. The buyer was Damian.
I heard him laughing at me in front of his friends.
“The sounds a mute makes in bed are disgusting. I have zero desire for her.”
Yes. I was mute. Trauma had stolen my voice years ago.
His girlfriend forced me to fish money out of a toilet bowl. She made me kneel in the pouring rain and bark like a dog.
When my grandmother was dying, I begged Damian for help. He made me pay with my body.
Later, my grandmother jumped to her death.
Then I found out I had cancer.
I left him without a word.
He went crazy looking for me.
When I died, he moved into a shack beside my grave.
He lives there still. Right next to where they buried me.
He says he wants to be close.
But he’s years too late.
Chapter 1
“Don’t even get me started. I only married her because she was pitiful and good-looking. What, a mute, a disabled woman? You think I’d marry her for love?”
“You have no idea how awful the sounds that come out of a mute’s mouth are.”
“Hearing a sound like that, who could even feel any desire?”
It was my husband Damian’s voice.
When I heard it, my blood seemed to freeze in my veins.
My feet were rooted to the spot, unable to move.
Water dripped from my clothes onto the floor, forming a puddle of sorrow.
The rain outside the club was deafening, but the laughter inside was like thunder exploding over my head.
I only felt a bone-chilling cold. Even more chilling was the ice spreading from my heart.
It was a heavy downpour, so there were few delivery drivers and many orders.
But I got a specific order, sent to me by Damian himself – to deliver a few boxes of condoms from an adult shop to the club.
I braved the rain to deliver it, only to hear Damian’s hurtful words.
One of his buddies grinned and chimed in, “Damian, you must be so pent up then!”
Another friend laughed. “Are you stupid? You think Damian is going without? There are plenty of women out there.”
“The one at home is obedient, well-behaved, clean, and devoted. Just keep her as a maid.”
Damian’s silence was his agreement.
I held back the tears welling up, a sudden wave of nausea washing over me.
I knew he didn’t love me, but I never thought he would speak of me like that.
He never touched me. I thought it was out of respect. It turned out he simply had no interest, no desire.
All the love I felt for him, the words I couldn’t say, had become a joke.
I never spent a cent of his money after we married. I never enjoyed a single day of comfort.
Grandma was sick and needed dialysis. I worked multiple jobs just to cover the basic costs.
In my spare time, I delivered food and worked as a designated driver. I never let myself rest.
When I got home, I took care of him with everything I had.
I never imagined he saw me as a maid.
My heart ached, a stabbing pain that made me double over.
My eyes burned, tears spilling out uncontrollably.
A waiter pushing a cart of drinks gave me a strange look.
I snapped back to reality. My hands trembling, I signed to him and shoved the bag into his hands, asking him to deliver it inside.
The waiter understood and nodded.
My face was wet with rain and tears.
I wanted to go in and wash my face properly.
The restroom was luxurious. The mirror reflected my disheveled state.
I quickly washed my face. Just as I was about to leave, I saw a woman in a silk slip dress standing at the restroom entrance.
She moved with elegance, her makeup perfect. It was Vanessa.
The eldest daughter of the Drayton family, and Damian’s close friend.
She looked at me, undisguised mockery on her face. Her gaze was like she was looking at a beggar.
“Wow, what’s that cheap smell? Oh, it’s a delivery girl who wandered in. How hard it must be for you, a wealthy wife, doing this kind of work. Oh, I remember now, you’re a mute, just a decoration.”
I wanted to talk back, but I couldn’t. My body went rigid, my nails digging deep into my palms.
Shame coiled around my heart like a vine.
I had other orders to deliver. I didn’t have time to engage with Vanessa.
Vanessa’s words were sharper than knives. She slowly pulled a stack of crisp bills from her purse and weighed them in her hand.
Suddenly, her lips curled.
“Here, mute. I pity you. It’s a tip.”
The money was practically waved in my face.
I bit my lip hard, refusing to reach out.
Vanessa smiled. “What? You don’t want it? Think about your old, dying grandmother. Isn’t she waiting for money for dialysis?”
My heart clenched.
I did need money. Desperately. But… my pride wouldn’t allow it. My face flushed red.
Suddenly, Vanessa flicked her wrist. The stack of bills landed with a splat into the toilet bowl. A few floated on the water.
Vanessa pretended to be surprised, covering her mouth. “Oops, I’m so clumsy. You need the money, don’t you? Pick it up. Reach in and get it.”
I looked at Vanessa, her face twisted in a cruel smile, and my body began to tremble.
She crossed her arms, watching me like a circus animal. “Not going to pick it up? Too proud? Should I call Damian and have the hospital throw your grandmother out?”
“Grandma.” Those two words were like poisoned needles, instantly piercing my last defense.
I quickly waved my hands at Vanessa. No, please, no.
Tears of humiliation mixed with the water on my face, streaming down.
But I couldn’t make a sound. My crying was silent.
I closed my eyes, bent down, and reached my trembling hand into the toilet bowl.
The water wasn’t dirty, but the humiliation was suffocating.
I quickly scooped out the wet bills.
Vanessa covered her mouth, letting out a sound of exaggerated disgust.
My face burned, blood rushing to my head.
Head down, I straightened my back and rushed out of the restroom.
Behind me came Vanessa’s mocking laugh: “The once-admired socialite, now reduced to a beggar fishing money out of a toilet.”
I stumbled out of that restroom.
The money in my hand felt like a hot iron, burning my heart into a spasm.
Nausea rose in my throat, and a sharp pain twisted in my stomach.
Trembling, I pulled a bottle of painkillers from my pocket, shook a few pills into my mouth, and swallowed them dry.
When the pain subsided, my only thought was to escape this suffocating place.
Head down, I stumbled towards the corner of the hallway and crashed into a solid chest.
