Chapter 1

In the seventh year of my marriage to Ethan, he spared no effort searching the entire country for renowned doctors to cure my muteness and hearing loss.

The last time, he found an extremely toxic folk remedy and drank it himself to test it for me.

After the poison took effect, he was in emergency care for three days and three nights, and permanently lost his ability to have children.

Lying in bed with tubes covering his body, he still comforted me gently.

"As long as you can speak again, losing anything is worth it."

"Besides, we already have one child. I'm content."

I knelt by his hospital bed crying, thinking I had found true love.

But later,

Wearing a cleaning uniform, I stood at the hotel front desk and personally checked Ethan and his mistress into a king-sized room.

They even asked me to deliver five boxes of condoms to them.

This time, I made up my mind to say those words myself.

"Let's get divorced."

"A king room, please. Thank you."

The woman wore flaming red lipstick, her cleavage on full display.

She turned her head and shot a flirtatious smile at the man sitting on the lobby sofa.

I followed her gaze to see a man bundled up tightly.

The wedding ring on his finger was identical to Ethan's.

My heart skipped a beat as the woman handed over her ID.

When I saw Ethan's name clearly, my heartbeat faltered, I forgot to breathe, and my whole body trembled with numbness.

My phone vibrated. It was a message from Ethan:

"Clara, I'm looking for a doctor for you. I'll be back late, don't wait up."

In disbelief, I dialed his number with shaking hands.

I watched as Ethan glanced over quickly, then immediately hung up.

He stuffed his phone back in his pocket, pulled the woman closer, and headed to the room.

His eyes held a tenderness I had never seen before.

My chest felt filled with shattered glass. Even breathing became agonizing.

"Are you blind?! What are you standing there for!"

My colleague Sarah from the front desk had returned.

She'd had a stomachache earlier and asked me to cover for her temporarily.

"What are you staring at, you mute? Go clean your toilets!"

She glared at me, then turned to answer the internal phone, her tone fawning as she nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, Mr. Lancaster, five boxes of ultra-thin condoms, correct?"

"No problem, please wait. I'll send them right up!"

My mind exploded. I furrowed my brows and made a gesture.

Five?

Sarah rolled her eyes, her tone mocking.

"Look at you, so poor and sheltered. That was Mr. Lancaster on the phone!"

"During Christmas, he booked the presidential suite for an entire month straight."

"That's more than you could earn cleaning toilets for a lifetime--not even one day's room rate."

She leaned in close, lowering her voice mysteriously.

"That month, we had to change the sheets five or six times every night. The last cleaner got worked to death and quit."

My eardrums buzzed. I recalled that Christmas, when Ethan went to remote areas to find doctors for me and never returned.

Our daughter Lily had a high fever in the middle of the night. I couldn't get a cab and carried her to the hospital in the pouring rain.

By the time we arrived, she had developed acute pneumonia.

The doctor thrust a critical condition notice at me for signature, reproaching me.

"If you can't speak, how can we communicate about her condition?"

I knelt on the floor, my hands shaking like a sieve, unable to write a single word.

Every second I blamed myself madly, hating that I had burdened my daughter.

A month later, Ethan finally came back.

As soon as he walked in, he held me tight, his eyes red as he apologized.

"I'm sorry, Clara. There was an avalanche in the mountains. I was trapped for a month..."

I buried myself in his shoulder, not doubting him at all, only feeling that I had burdened him.

I felt desperate and heartbroken, finding it all absurd.

So this wasn't his first time lying to me.

It was just my first time discovering it.

I threw down my mop and immediately rushed home to pack my bags.

My daughter was beside me, constantly repeating "Daddy."

Lily was six years old and suffered from severe autism.

My phone vibrated. A call from the rehabilitation center teacher.

"Hello, Lily's mom. There's a parent meeting tomorrow at 2 PM to discuss Lily's follow-up treatment plan. Will you be available?"

I opened my mouth, making unclear sounds.

Silence fell on the other end.

"Hello? Lily's mom, can you hear me?"

I tapped the screen hard, trying to respond.

"Um... maybe the signal's bad. I'll just call Lily's dad directly. Last time he signed off on the treatment plan too, and he comes to the weekly training sessions. You don't need to worry."

The teacher hung up.

I stood there stunned, suddenly realizing that all of Lily's rehabilitation training had been handled by Ethan.

Because I couldn't even manage basic social interaction.

I could endure the suffering of being unable to speak, but Lily needed a father who could.

Tears as big as beans fell to the floor.

I suppressed my anger and put the luggage back.

Ethan had just come home.