He Thought I Couldn’t Hear His Lies, I Heard Every Word Chapter 01

He Thought I Couldn’t Hear His Lies, I Heard Every Word Chapter 01

At the dinner party, my daughter deliberately raised her voice and asked my husband, “Daddy, Miss Sophie is having your baby. Does that mean we’re going to live with her from now on?”

My husband set the sliced steak in front of me and said softly, “Your mom and I made a promise. If either of us ever betrayed the other, we’d disappear from the other’s life forever.”

“I can’t afford that kind of consequence, so I’ve kept it hidden well. Even after the baby is born, I’ll never let your mom see the two of them.”

Then he turned to me and signed that he would love me forever. What he didn’t notice were my reddened eyes.

He had no idea I’d gotten my hearing back a week ago. He didn’t know I had already discovered the mistress he was keeping hidden away in a secret apartment, and he definitely didn’t know I had secretly bought a plane ticket to Montana to take a volunteer teaching post on a remote reservation.

All I was waiting for was the paperwork. In seven days, I would disappear for good.

…

I pushed the steak away. I had no interest in helping them keep up this act any longer.

The moment I stood, Gavin Bennett shot to his feet too and signed, asking what was wrong. I shook my head and said softly, “It’s getting late. I’m going home to rest.”

Gavin started to follow me, but several of his friends stopped him at once. “Autumn’s not in good health. She needs more rest, so why are you in such a rush to leave?” one of them said.

“Exactly. Sophie will be here any minute. You haven’t seen her all day, and you’re telling me you don’t miss her?”

My daughter tugged on Gavin’s sleeve. “Daddy, I miss Miss Sophie. Can we stay and not go with Mommy?”

At that, panic flashed across Gavin’s face. When he saw that mine remained blank, he frowned and said, “Don’t mention Sophie in front of Autumn.”

“Why not? Mom can’t hear anything anyway.”

At my daughter’s words, I pressed Gavin back into his chair. “I can go home by myself. You all stay.”

The second I finished speaking, I turned and walked out, not even giving him the chance to stop me.

I had barely gotten out the door when I saw Sophie Carter hurrying into the restaurant. Whether it was intentional or not, her shoulder slammed into mine hard enough to make me stumble.

She swept into the private dining room and scooped my daughter into her arms the moment Lily held out her hands. “Lily, I haven’t seen you all day. Did you miss me?”

“Of course I did.”

Sophie laughed softly. “Then you deserve a little reward.”

Lily immediately wrapped her arms around Sophie’s face and planted a kiss on her cheek. They moved with such easy familiarity that anyone watching would have thought they were the real mother and daughter.

After setting Lily down, Sophie slipped her arms around Gavin, her eyes full of playful complaint. A softness I had never once seen before flickered in his eyes.

Before he could say a word, Sophie rose onto her toes and kissed him, hot and deep.

“All right, all right. It’s been months already, and you two are still this all over each other.”

None of his friends found anything strange about it, and my daughter looked completely used to the show, as if she were enjoying the entertainment. I watched them and felt cold all the way to the bone.

So everyone had known they’d been carrying on for a long time. I was the only fool left in the dark.

Listening to the teasing around her, Sophie’s lips curved slightly. As if afraid the scene still wasn’t chaotic enough, the others started egging them on again, asking Gavin and Sophie when they had last slept together.

Gavin ducked his head in embarrassment, but Sophie looked thrilled. “The day before yesterday, in the room next to the master bedroom at home.”

Under my breath, I answered at the exact same moment she did. The whole room instantly erupted, every face breaking into excited grins.

“Hahahaha, Gavin, you finally got with the program.”

“Guys like us don’t need to play the hopeless romantic.”

“As long as you keep it hidden, you can have your fun for life. Autumn Young is deaf. She’ll never find out.”

The second they said my name, the smile on Gavin’s face froze and his expression turned icy. “Don’t let this get back to Autumn.”

No one paid him any mind. They just kept laughing.

Then my daughter said loudly, “Dad, don’t worry. Mom will never find out. She’s deaf.”

The laughter inside the room went on and on, while I stood frozen outside, unable to move.

It wasn’t until a server came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder that I snapped out of it. “Ma’am, is there anything I can help you with?”

The moment those words were spoken, the private dining room fell dead silent.

Everyone turned to look at me, and Gavin went pale with panic. He hurriedly dropped his hand from Sophie’s waist, his gaze darting everywhere but my face.

He started signing frantically, asking why I had come back and insisting Sophie was just a younger woman from his old school. But he never noticed that his mouth was already smeared with her lipstick, and that Sophie still had an arm wrapped tightly around his waist.

She looked at me with a trace of mockery and open provocation in her eyes.

Even though I had already decided to leave, the sight of them still hurt so badly I could barely breathe. Forcing a smile, I said, “I came back to bring you your keys. Have fun.”

I set the keys on the table, ignored the voices behind me, and walked out.

As I made my way down the street, the traffic streamed past and the lights along both sides of the road flashed endlessly, but all I felt was cold.

I couldn’t tell where I was going, and I couldn’t hear a thing.

It felt just like five years ago, when Gavin and I had just gotten together and taken a trip to the desert. We got lost out there and wandered for a full day and night.

It was so quiet around us that I couldn’t hear a thing, and the only thing I had was Gavin’s hand in mine. Back then, he had signed that if we died together out there, it wouldn’t be such a bad ending for our love.

He used to tell me all the time that love was forever.

But now love was dead, and we had finally reached the end.