Chapter 1

"So, you married Clara just to help Chloe get together with Julian?"

The man’s playful, mocking voice echoed through the air, stopping the person outside the door in their tracks.

After a brief silence, another deep voice replied: "I need to keep a close eye on her personally, so she doesn't interfere with Chloe’s happiness."

The man who spoke first was filled with admiration.

"Sacrificing your own marriage for Chloe’s sake... tsk, tsk..."

Outside the 55th-floor office.

Clara’s fingertips, gripping the flower vase, turned bone-white. It wasn't until her secretary tapped her shoulder that she forced a look of indifference and pushed the door open.

Seeing her arrive to deliver flowers, Luke spoke with unbridled malice, even in Clara's presence.

"Since she’s just a plaything, when the young master gets tired of her, will you let me have a turn?"

"In two months."

The tone was so indifferent, as if he were deciding what to have for dinner.

Marcus had no idea that Clara had come to the company today simply to tell him that she had regained her hearing.

But now, she could only force that good news back down her throat.

She pursed her lips and replaced the wilted flowers on Marcus’s desk. Suppressing the agony in her heart, she couldn't help but look at him.

The man had his sleeves rolled up casually, his defined fingers tapping against a document. His cold, sharp eyes were cast downward, his expression so calm that it seemed as if he hadn't been the one speaking just moments ago.

When their eyes met, he offered a faint, fleeting smile and waved his hand—a gesture meaning she had worked hard and could leave.

In the past, Clara would have been deeply moved by that smile.

But seeing it now, she could see the undisguised perfunctoriness in Marcus’s eyes.

Clara lowered her gaze, hiding the pain within.

Closing the door behind her, she could still vaguely hear Luke’s provocative words. Every syllable tore at her nerves, dredging up all the oddities she had ignored in the past.

Clara didn't know how she made it home.

As soon as she pushed the door open, she lost all her strength and slid to the floor.

After chasing her childhood sweetheart for twenty-two years, he had abandoned her on their wedding day to pick up his "first love" who was returning from abroad.

Under the cold gaze of the guests—like arrows piercing her chest—Marcus had marched onto the stage and taken her hand.

He had told her in sign language: "I will marry you."

For seven years of marriage, Marcus had learned sign language for her, invested in hearing impairment medical care, and even founded a hearing aid company just to customize the perfect device for her.

She truly thought she had found happiness.

But now that her hearing was restored, she hadn't heard her husband’s love.

She had heard the reality of Marcus "sacrificing himself" to fulfill Chloe’s happiness.

These seven years of affection were, in the end, just a play Marcus had staged for her.

The dream had ended, and it was time for the curtain to fall.

Clara’s heart trembled violently as her gaze landed on their wedding photo on the wall.

The two of them were smiling radiantly and happily, but Clara could no longer find the sweetness in that moment; a chill ran through her entire body.

With reddened eyes, she opened the text message her mother had sent:

[Weiwei, your father is critically ill. He wants to see you and Marcus one last time. When are you coming?]

She had originally planned to rush to Australia with Marcus to visit her dying father.

But now...

Outside the door, steady footsteps drew closer.

Clara pulled herself back from her turbulent thoughts and began adjusting the flower pot, masking her true state.

A bouquet of roses was placed on the table, and Marcus wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, planting a searing kiss on the side of her neck.

The phrase "in two months" stabbed into Clara’s mind.

She turned her head to dodge his kiss.

Clara’s resistant action caused Marcus to pause, assuming she was just playing around.

As Marcus held her, preparing to continue kissing her, the sharp ringing of a cell phone broke through the silence.

"Marcus, Chloe drank herself unconscious at the bar because of Julian! Get here now!"

Luke’s voice was loud enough for even her to hear clearly.

Marcus’s expression changed instantly. He reached out and helped Clara put on her hearing aid.

"There’s an emergency at the company. Go to sleep early."

If Marcus had spared even an extra moment of attention, he would have realized her hearing aid was not turned on.

Clara swallowed the lump in her throat: "Okay."

Receiving her response, Marcus stood up and left without hesitation.

Only a lingering hint of cologne remained to prove he had ever been there.

The massive villa fell into a deathly silence. Clara’s tinnitus grew increasingly intense; waves of nausea and dizziness forced her to stumble into the bathroom, where she collapsed in a pathetic state of retching.

The car accident ten years ago hadn't just taken her hearing; it had left her with PTSD.

Her parents were far away abroad, and it was Marcus’s seven years of companionship that had allowed her to slowly return to normal and stop taking medication.

It was precisely because of that unique tolerance she believed Marcus possessed that she never wore her hearing aid at home, allowing herself to be her most authentic self.

Looking at the pale woman in the mirror, Clara finally understood that Marcus’s "true heart" was nine parts fake and one part poison.

Her hands trembling, she took off the bone-anchored hearing aid that flickered with a faint "Z" light and gripped it tightly in her palm.

She sat alone by the bed all night until a sliver of faint morning light bled across the horizon.

A single tear, no longer restrained, fell from Clara’s red-rimmed eyes.

She lowered her eyelids, opened her phone, and booked the soonest flight to Australia.

One ticket, departing in four days.

Chapter 2

He-Ming-Xiao-Guang Floral Studio.

After class, the students reluctantly said their goodbyes to Clara.

"I don’t know how long Teacher Clara is going to suspend classes for. Her courses are the best floral lessons I’ve ever taken."

"Is it because of the young master? It’s happened over and over again; no one could endure this indefinitely..."

Clara picked up the remaining flower stems from the lesson. Her pruning motion froze as the students’ conversation continued in the hallway.

"Did you hear? Last night, the young master went into a rage for a beauty and dropped 300 million to buy the bar on the spot!"

Her fingertips trembled, and she cut her hand.

"Don't tell me it’s for Chloe again? This is the how-many-eth time now? And Teacher Clara doesn't even react..."

"Five years ago, Marcus took Clara abroad and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on her ears. I don't have the heart to tell Teacher Clara that he only went abroad because of one of Chloe’s Weibo posts."

Clara’s face went pale. Ignoring the bleeding wound, she tapped on Chloe’s profile.

She clearly remembered Marcus telling her that it was hard to book a doctor abroad and that they had finally managed to get a spot on that specific day.

The next instant, Chloe’s post stabbed into her eyes.

[@Meng, I want to see New York at 5:00 AM~~]

Time: May 21st.

The message was sent at 1:00 AM, and at 1:01 AM, she received Marcus’s reply: [Let’s go.]

Clara’s trembling hand clicked on Marcus’s profile, only to find she had been blocked.

"Sorry, you do not have permission to view."

The short line of text caused a sharp, stabbing pain in the depths of Clara’s heart, leaving her feeling suffocated.

No wonder Marcus never let his phone leave his hand, and no wonder he always wore a slight smile when talking about "work."

It turned out it was all because of Chloe.

"Buzz, buzz."

A message popped up on her phone.

"Clara, come to Starlight. Marcus is drunk and can’t get back."

Clara’s fingertips, gripping the phone, turned white. It took a long moment before she pulled her gaze away from the screen.

Outside the window, a torrential rain was falling, soaking her heart through as well.

In the end, she went anyway.

As she pushed the door open, she saw Chloe sitting on Marcus’s lap.

Clara’s eyelashes trembled violently; her heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible giant hand, leaving her unable to catch her breath.

Seeing her arrive, the focus of the room shifted to her.

Someone noticed she wasn't wearing her hearing aid and began making lewd gestures near their ears, starting to mock her.

"Haha, who invited Clara here? Now we’re in for a show!"

"So that’s the legendary victim, Clara? Nice body. When can I enjoy some 'deaf girl' service, brother?"