Chapter 1

I have aphasia.

My parents, ashamed of my inability to speak, pressured me into marrying Aria, my brother Brandon's vegetative fiancée, to save him from a difficult situation.

For three years, I devoted myself to her care.

Miraculously, Aria awoke.

But the first thing she did was demand a divorce.

She believed Brandon was the one who had cared for her all these years, declaring that she would marry no one but him.

Later, I overheard her best friend trying to explain that I was the one who had taken care of her for three years.

Aria just laughed nonchalantly.

"I already knew," she said. "But my husband can't be a mute."

My heart shattered completely.

I sought a hypnotist to erase my memories and treat my aphasia.

When I woke up, I gazed at the woman by my hospital bed and asked, confused, "Who are you?"

The woman's face instantly paled with panic...

Aria had been in a coma for three years. The first person she saw upon waking was me, but her eyes were filled with disappointment.

I didn't notice the sorrow in her gaze, my heart swelling with joy as I helped her sit up. I immediately shared the good news in our group chat.

Soon, the hospital room was packed with people.

And I, her husband who had cared for Aria for three years, was pushed into a corner, utterly ignored.

Brandon arrived late, dressed in a sharp blue suit, looking as if he'd just come from a party.

Aria immediately clutched Brandon's hand, her eyes rimmed red. "Honey," she whispered, "you've worked so hard these past three years."

At her words, everyone in the room froze. The very air seemed to solidify.

I stood awkwardly to the side, unable to utter a single word to defend myself.

All because I suffered from aphasia.

Her friend, sensing the tension, spoke up hesitantly. "Aria, Leo is your husband."

Aria's brow furrowed instantly, her gaze turning icy as she looked at me, as if I had somehow intruded upon her relationship with Brandon.

I had always known Brandon was the one she loved.

They were supposed to marry, but a car accident left her in a vegetative state.

Brandon, unwilling to endure the hardship, ran to our parents, crying. When I heard it was Aria, I agreed to their plea to marry her in Brandon's place.

I never imagined that three years of my devoted care would lead to this.

I quickly grabbed my phone, ready to type out an explanation, but Brandon slammed his hand down on my device.

"Leo, Aria just woke up. She probably can't process so much information at once. You should step out for a bit."

The others in the room, sensing the strained atmosphere, quickly found excuses to leave.

The moment the door closed, Brandon tearfully embraced Aria, as if he had suffered some monumental injustice.

"Aria, you're finally awake. I've waited for you for three years..."

My heart lurched violently, and my hand gripping the doorknob trembled slightly.

I don't know how much time passed before Brandon opened the hospital room door, a few clear tears still clinging to his eyelashes.

I walked into the room, filled with a sense of dread, just as a glass vase shattered at my feet.

"Leo, you certainly went to great lengths to marry me!"

"You're disgusting, using such underhanded tactics!"

Splintered glass shards cut my calf, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

Aria and I had grown up together. She was the only one who didn't dismiss me for my aphasia, the only one who encouraged me to seek treatment.

But after she met Brandon, she was drawn to him.

The girl who once promised to marry me, her heart slowly drifted away.

Now, she saw me as a despicable intruder in their relationship.

I anxiously gestured in sign language, then remembered she couldn't understand, and shakily picked up my phone, trying to type an explanation.

Brandon smirked, then raised his hand and swatted my phone, sending it crashing to the floor, where its screen immediately went dark.

"Leo, please, just let us be together!"

I stood there, stunned. Besides sign language, my phone was my only means of communication.

And now, I couldn't even defend myself.

I shook my head desperately, but this world was cruel, and even more so to someone who couldn't speak.