When My Hearing Was Restored, I Uncovered My Husband's Affair

I took the cup of red tea she had handed me and made my way back to the room.

I sat silently by the window for over an hour, before, almost on impulse, I unlocked my phone and logged into Instagram—an app I hadn’t used in ages.

To my surprise, I had gained a few more followers.

But when I clicked on one of their profiles, I saw that Ella had posted something just ten minutes ago.

[There was a cockroach in the house, but thankfully, my honey arrived just in time. I was terrified—honey even bought me a new ring and told me that our relationship is as eternal and genuine as the meaning behind this ring.]

The photo showed a delicate hand adorned with a six-carat pink diamond ring. As my eyes landed on the butterfly tattoo on the back of her hand, my chest tightened.

It was Ella…

I could never forget how, when she curled my hair with a curling iron, I had noticed the vivid black butterfly tattoo on the inside of her hand.

Vernon hadn’t come home that night.

The next evening, when he returned, he was wearing a brand-new set of clothes.

He walked toward me, holding a bouquet of jasmine, and began placing the flowers one by one into a vase.

"Vernon," I called softly, "Have you gathered all the evidence? The one about Ella?"

At the mention of Ella’s name, Vernon paused for a split second, a flicker of guilt crossing his eyes, but he quickly recovered and replied, "Not yet. Those people took Vale's family’s hush money. They're scared of retaliation, so they won’t talk."

When Vernon left for the United States to study abroad at seventeen, I stayed behind in the country with Sophia.

It was because I helped a classmate that Ella and her group started targeting me.

The dirty water poured over my head, the centipede in my cup, the dead rat in my pencil case... the shards of glass embedded in my knee, the cigarette burn on my shoulder, and the burns on my arm from the curling iron.

I had asked for help, but Vale’s family had such strong connections that no one came to my aid.

It wasn’t until I saw Ella on a date with some gangsters that everything changed. She called me, "Hey, cripple."

She ordered the thugs to drag me away, but I fought back with everything I had, biting off a chunk of flesh from her arm. She went insane, slapping me over and over, then slamming my head into the wall.

When I woke up, I saw Vernon, who had rushed back from overseas, holding my hand, his eyes red as he kept repeating the same words.

I could read his lips, and he was saying, "I’ll kill them."

In that moment, I realized with terror that I had gone deaf.

The thugs and everyone who had bullied me were taken to the police station by Piers’s family. Only Ella—she was sent to another province the very next day.

Five years ago, Vale's family had caused a scandal involving a fake daughter, and Ella, the imposter, was kicked out.

Two years ago, I saw her again—kneeling on broken glass, crying as she apologized, "I’m sorry."

But I didn’t just want her apology. I wanted her to face legal consequences.

"I want to see her tomorrow," I told Vernon.

Vernon agreed.

Ella, as if there were something hanging over her head, was forced by Vernon to kneel and apologize to me every month. She did so, without fail.

Vernon told me it wouldn’t end until she had atoned for her sins and I had forgiven her.

But as I walked into the room, I caught him on the phone, speaking as if no one was around. It seemed like he was giving instructions to someone.

"Give those people a bit more money, and make sure they keep their mouths shut."

"Ugh, it’s just that Rosa keeps asking about Ella. After all this time, she still can’t let it go. It’s such a hassle."

His voice carried a clear tone of helplessness. I gripped the doorframe tightly and retreated back to my room.

In that moment, my heart shattered into pieces.

It wasn’t that Vernon hadn’t gathered the evidence—it was that he didn’t want to hurt Ella, so he pretended he hadn’t collected anything.

When did Vernon change?