Chapter 3

Without a ride, it was late in the evening when I finally finished my shift and walked home.

I pushed open the front gate.

The lights were on, the front door hung wide open, drawers were pulled out, and clothes were strewn all over the floor as if we had been robbed.

Panic seized me, and I rushed inside.

Susie was digging through the antique wooden trunk Grandma Nora had given me as a wedding gift.

Cole was crouched beside the dresser, stuffing emergency cash, grocery vouchers, and savings books into his coat.

I lunged forward, grabbing Susie's arm.

A hoarse, distressed sound broke from my throat as my hands frantically signed:

[What are you doing?]

[Stop! Get out! That trunk was left to me by my grandmother!]

Susie violently shoved me off. I stumbled, slamming my hip against the corner of the heavy wooden table.

"Get your hands off me! I don't read your stupid signs!"

"Deaf freak, stop getting in the way of our money!"

I spun around to block Cole.

Cole grabbed my wrist, his grip bruising.

"Where's the rest of it? They said the old widow left you a fortune! Where the hell did you hide it?"

Tears of pain rolled down my face as I signed with one free hand:

[I spent it all on you.]

[Your trade certifications, the bribes to get you hired at the plant, your clothes, your food! You never brought home a single dollar in three years! I paid for everything out of my own pocket!]

Furious, Cole shoved me backward, slamming my back against the wall.

He was too blinded by greed to even wonder how I had understood his words without him signing.

"Goddamn it, you owed me that much! Who the hell would marry a deaf girl if not for the cash?"

"I don't believe it's all gone. Daisy, you better cough up every last cent!"

I slid down the wall, gasping for breath through silent sobs, shaking my head frantically.

There was nothing left. Nothing.

Suddenly, Susie squealed in delight from across the room.

"Look what I found inside the coat rack!"

Cole and I turned at the same time.

It was the thick stack of hundred-dollar bills my biological parents had left for me the night before.

Cole's eyes gleamed like a starving wolf's. He rushed over, counting the cash with trembling fingers before stuffing it into his pockets.

He glared down at me viciously.

"You dared to lie to me?"

"You had all this cash stashed away? You were planning to hoard it for yourself while playing the victim?"

I crawled toward him, desperate to explain that the money was from my parents for medical care, desperate to beg him not to throw away three years of life together.

"Cole, don't waste your breath on the deaf girl," Susie urged, checking her watch.

"Our train leaves at eight. Your uncle said he couldn't send a driver to this dump, so we have to get to the city on our own! Let's go before she makes us miss the train!"

Cole nodded, turning on his heel toward the door.

In sheer panic, I grabbed the pregnancy report hidden beneath the dresser and threw myself in front of him.

Crying hysterically, I signed:

[Look at this! Don't leave me!]

[Please, I have money now! We're having a—]

Before I could finish, Cole shoved me hard.

Seeing how miserable I looked, he signed with cruel impatience to shake me off:

[Get lost! I took all your money anyway—you don't have a dime!]

[Let me be blunt: I never loved you. I only touched you because of that dead widow's savings!]

He whipped out the paper I had signed that morning.

[I lied about this, too. You signed a divorce agreement. We're legally done!]

[Daisy, you're trash to me now!]

I shook my head violently, thrusting the crumpled ultrasound toward his face, praying that a single glance would make him change his mind.

Instead, Cole's greedy eyes locked onto the silver baby locket around my neck.

He reached down and yanked it violently.

The chain snapped, digging deep into the flesh of my neck and tearing open beads of blood.

"A silver piece like this is wasted on a cripple. I'm taking it."

I lunged to take it back.

Cole shoved me with both hands, his fingers signing a final insult:

[Back off, deaf freak!]

He turned and marched out, his heavy boot coming down directly onto my pregnancy report, grinding it into the dirt.

Susie cast me a smug, triumphant smirk and followed close behind.

"Cole, does your family really have a mansion in the capital? I've never ridden in a private car before..."

"Of course. Stick with me, Susie, and you'll never suffer a day in your life."

Their voices faded into the distance.

I tried to crawl toward the door on hands and knees, but my legs gave out. I crashed heavily onto the floor, my tailbone striking the stone hearth with a sickening crunch.

A split second later, a sharp, twisting agony ripped through my lower abdomen, like a butcher's blade tearing through my insides.

Black spots danced across my vision.

Unable to speak, all that tore from my throat were ragged, inhuman cries of sheer agony.

Down the alleyway, Cole's footsteps faltered.

He seemed to hear the desperate, guttural sound and hesitated, glancing back toward the courtyard.

Susie tugged firmly on his sleeve.

"Cole, ignore her."

"She's just making those hideous noises to guilt you into coming back. If you really feel bad, you can... you can just wire her a few bucks once you take over the Vance estate."

Cole frowned for a second.

"Yeah. Good point."

He nodded, letting Susie slip her arm through his, and walked away without looking back.

Inside the dark house, my ragged cries grew weaker and weaker until they faded into silence.