I Pretended To Be Deaf And Exposed Their Plot

An accident left me suddenly and profoundly deaf.

It didn’t really affect my life, because I could read lips—but that was my secret.

I never imagined that this secret would lead me to discover a conspiracy, that the happy, perfect family I thought I had was nothing but a trap.

I gathered evidence and finally got my divorce.

I thought I could start over, but instead, someone tried to kill me…

…

In the middle of the night, I suddenly drew in a deep breath and shot up in bed. When I touched my forehead, it was covered in cold sweat. Another nightmare.

I dreamed again of what happened a month ago…

I had been suddenly, severely deaf for a week.

During that week, I’d been receiving the most attentive care from Nolan Forrester and our precious son, Reid.

Until today—when I suddenly realized my son actually hated me.

“Reid, I bought your favorite watermelon and grapes today,” I told him.

“Thank you, Mom. I love you the most.”

Reid wrote the words on a pad of paper, then went right back to his video game.

It was summer break. Even though Reid would be in his ninth-grade year next semester, I hadn’t stopped him from playing games. Everyone needs to relax sometimes.

I sat beside him, planning, as always, to take the fruit plate away once he finished.

“You have no idea how fucking annoying my mom is. She always brings in fruit when I’m playing,” Reid said, talking to his teammates while still focused on the game.

My smile froze.

I wondered if I’d read his lips wrong. How could my son talk about me like that?

I shifted my posture and watched his mouth again.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about my mom. Just mentioning her kills the mood.”

As soon as Reid said this, he seemed to feel my gaze and quickly looked over, giving me a smile as sweet as ever.

If it weren’t for this sudden deafness, I might never have known that my precious son badmouthed me behind my back.

He was the one who’d asked me to bring him fruit while he played, yet in his version, I was the crazy one.

So this was what heartbreak felt like.

For the first time, I left his room without waiting for him to finish the fruit.

When I closed the door, Reid was still absorbed in his game, not even noticing I’d gone.

Reid wasn’t my biological son. Nolan and I had adopted him from an orphanage.

Nolan and I had met by chance. We hit it off, had endless things to talk about, and after a period of long, late-night conversations, we quickly confirmed our relationship. Six months later, we got married.

While we were dating, Nolan had told me that pregnancy was too hard on women, so he didn’t want children.

I hadn’t taken that seriously. Lots of couples say things in the heat of romance that they don’t mean later, once they’re married.

But to my surprise, even after the wedding, Nolan never changed his mind. He insisted pregnancy was too damaging to a woman’s body. I took it as proof of how much he cared about me, so I just went along with it.

Half a year after the wedding, Nolan suddenly suggested we adopt a child from the orphanage he’d grown up in, so I wouldn’t feel guilty about us not having kids.

In truth, I’d never blamed myself. But since Nolan had brought it up, I agreed.

And just like that, two-year-old Reid joined our family. As it turned out, having a child at home really did make the house livelier, and taking care of him filled most of my time.

I’d always raised Reid as if he were my own flesh and blood, and he’d always acted like he loved me deeply.

But what happened that night made me wonder if that love wasn’t as deep as I thought. I could only comfort myself: this must just be a rebellious phase.

I spent half the night convincing myself, giving him excuses in my head. I never expected I’d be slapped in the face by reality the very next day.

The next morning, I got up early to make breakfast.