Chapter 1

The night before our wedding, I was playing Truth or Dare with my fiancé and his friends.

A friend asked him to describe me in one word.

"One word isn't enough."

As I looked at him expectantly, Mason reached over and casually pulled out my hearing aid.

"Used goods."

"Trash."

His voice sounded muffled, like it was filtered through a thick layer of cotton.

I thought I had misheard him.

But the VIP room erupted into a wave of laughter.

"Did I hear that right, Mason?"

"She's already like this, and you're still actually going to marry her?"

Mason bit down on his cigarette and patted my head.

"Well, I had a crush on her back when I was young and stupid."

"Now that she's deaf and bankrupt, think of it as a clearance sale. I'm just taking her off the market. Buy one, get one free."

As he spoke, he gave a meaningful look toward the door.

"Her best friend, who's never been married, has a sweeter face and a softer waist. She's down for a quickie in the back seat, too."

The door opened, and Sienna walked in late. She naturally handed her purse to Mason.

"You bad boy, teasing our Coco again?"

"If you showed up earlier, I wouldn't have to tease her," Mason replied, putting my hearing aid back in and smiling tenderly.

The sudden rush of noisy chatter pierced my ears.

I had originally wanted to surprise him on our wedding day.

To tell him that my hearing was almost fully recovered.

I never expected that the real surprise would be hearing his true thoughts ahead of time.

"Why the sudden silence?"

Seeing my expression, the smile on Mason's face faded slightly.

"Can't hear again?"

I looked at him and said nothing.

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then smiled again.

"Don't be mad."

"They're just joking around. You actually believed them?"

His best friend chimed in from the side.

"Don't be mad, Coco. Mason was just saying you're as beautiful as you were before your first marriage!"

Mason gave him a warning glare.

Muffled snickers echoed around the room.

Sienna rubbed my back sympathetically, then leaned over and pinched Mason's lower back.

"If you dare tease our Coco again, she won't marry you tomorrow."

Mason's attention shifted, his brow furrowing.

"Why are your hands so cold?"

He took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Sienna naturally pulled it tight around herself.

"It's my period. I'm not as lucky as Coco, who always has a man picking her up wherever she goes."

Mason stopped talking and looked down at his phone.

After a while, the waiter knocked and brought in a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Sienna smiled.

"At least you're thoughtful. Not like Coco's clueless ex-husband, Tyler."

She seemed to realize something and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Tomorrow is your big day. Let's not talk about that coward who ran away when things got tough."

I sat to the side, silent.

For the first time, I actually paid attention to their interactions.

Every time we met, Sienna loved to squeeze between us, hugging me and saying, "Men are trash, besties forever."

But beneath the dim table, she had slipped off her high heels. Her toes traced up Mason's calf, stopping flirtatiously at his inner thigh.

Mason didn't blink. He caught her wandering foot under the table while frowning at me.

"Why aren't you speaking?"

After a moment of thought, he typed on his phone:

"Did your hearing aid die?"

I remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

Mason let out a breath, the tension instantly leaving his face.

"Good girl. Just sit tight for a bit longer, then we'll head home."

As if some restriction had been lifted, the conversation at the table became even more shameless.

"Come on, Mason. Give us some tips. How did you manage to score this second-hand bargain?"

The corners of Mason's mouth curled up, his tone as casual as ever.

"A brother in debt, a bankrupt dad, a runaway ex-husband, and an abandoned girl."

"I happened to know the debt collector her brother Austin owed money to. One thing led to another, and we got back in touch. Just good luck, I guess."

Sienna shot him a look, her voice still sweet and caring.

"Don't talk about Coco like that right in front of her. She'll be sad if she hears."

But Mason seemed completely unbothered.

"It's fine. Her hearing aid is dead. How can a deaf girl hear anything?"

Deaf.

I took a sip of my drink.

That year, to shield my brother from debt collectors, I was pushed and hit my head against the corner of a table. Since then, I suffered from traumatic hearing loss.

On the day we reunited, I still vividly remembered the disbelief on Mason's face when he learned about my situation, and the trembling pain in his eyes as he touched my ear.

Now, it had boiled down to a dismissive "deaf girl."

Suddenly, the glass was snatched from my hand. Mason frowned and handed me his phone.

"You haven't taken your meds tonight. Don't drink."

I had just glanced at it when Sienna clutched her stomach, her face turning pale as she tugged at his sleeve.

"Oh no... my cramps are suddenly getting really bad..."

Mason immediately stood up and grabbed his coat.

"I'll book a room upstairs. Go lie down and rest. I'll get you some painkillers right now."

He was about to walk out when Sienna grabbed him and glanced at me.

Only then did he remember me. He casually typed on his phone:

"Going for a smoke."

Sienna held his hand and added three words right after on his Snapchat screen:

"Using the restroom."

The alcohol numbed my emotions. I nodded slowly.

Perhaps thinking my flushed, tipsy face was cute, Mason's gaze softened for a second. He reached out to stroke my cheek.

But I turned my head to avoid him.

His hand paused, but he didn't care much. He mouthed, "Wait for me."

The door closed.

The music on the stage was deafening, so no one noticed when I followed them out.

As expected, those two hadn't gone far. In the hallway, Sienna wrapped her arms around his neck, eagerly pressing herself against him.

Mason didn't push her away.

"Real cramps?"

"Does missing you so much that it hurts count?"

After a few moments, I heard Sienna's reluctant voice.

"Coco is so pitiful. She's buried in debt and was dumped by her ex-husband after he got tired of her. You have to treat her well after you marry her, okay?"

Mason let her hold him, still smiling lazily.

"She has someone to bail her out now. But what about you?"

"No one is going to sneak over in the middle of the night to warm your bed anymore. Aren't you the pitiful one?"

Sienna huffed, tracing patterns on his chest with her finger.

"Treating her well doesn't conflict with treating me well."

I didn't listen to the rest.

The window at the end of the hallway was open, and the night wind was freezing.

Standing there, I suddenly didn't know what I was supposed to do.