Chapter 2
He gave a low chuckle, completely accepting it. "That's right, so I'm not letting go."
The wedding rocked Haprith City.
Alexzander was notorious for his savage remarks.
On the day of the wedding, he even threw shade at Xzavier right in front of all the media.
"Some people are so blind, they can't tell treasure from trash," he said.
"Little do they know, what he tossed aside is exactly what others desperately want but can never have."
"Thinking about it, I ought to thank him, actually."
The media never missed a chance to stir the pot.
When they finally scored an interview with Alexzander, they blew it up everywhere.
Word spread like wildfire across Haprith City; Alexzander had been head over heels for me for years.
He loved me like I was his whole world.
After we got married, he truly proved his love.
He built "Vanessa's Voice" from the ground up, a company dedicated to creating top-tier hearing aids for people with hearing loss.
From the first spark of innovation to the final push in marketing, Alexzander poured every ounce of his passion into it.
The same people who used to mock me as "half deaf" now had to call me Miss Carroll with respect.
Even Xzavier had no choice but to bow his head.
At a business forum, he approached me, his expression conflicted.
"Vanessa, about what happened back then..." he began.
But he didn't get to finish.
Just then, Alexzander appeared, slipping his arm around my waist with a nonchalant smile.
"Mr. Cortez, it's common knowledge you owe my wife her right ear," Alexzander said.
"If you want to apologize, show up at the Craig family with a generous gift. Maybe I'll consider telling security to let you in."
I chuckled to myself.
I really thought that was the end of my story.
After all the pain, I thought I'd finally found my peace.'
But everything changed this Christmas Eve.
The Craig family's old house was decked out in festive lights, packed with guests.
I was busy hosting guests when my hearing aid suddenly let out a shrill beep.
It died on me.
That had never happened before.
Alexzander was always more meticulous than I was. The very first thing he did every morning was check my hearing aid's battery.
I went upstairs to grab a spare battery, but at the doorway of the study, I heard Alexzander speaking softly on the phone, his voice unusually tender.
"Don't worry. I left her hearing aid uncharged on purpose.
"She's just a deaf girl, and honestly, I'm sick of her."
He continued, "Of course, she's nothing compared to you, Coco."
I stood frozen in the doorway, my right ear ringing.
He didn't know yet.
I'd already gotten my hearing back a few days ago.
I was going to give him a big surprise.
Maybe he was on speakerphone.
I immediately recognized who Alexzander was sweet-talking.
It was Tara.
That name was my personal nightmare throughout my entire adolescence.
She was the girl Xzavier always put on a pedestal, his unattainable crush since childhood.
She was elegant, beautiful, and always the center of attention.
Back then, after she found out Xzavier treated me differently because I saved him, she was the ringleader who locked me in the locker room, blasted heavy metal music at me, and called me "a toad lusting after a swan" and "a deaf illegitimate child."
Back then, my life was basically a nonstop stream of Tara's ridicule.
"Vanessa, your right ear's busted. How do you even have the nerve to hang around Xzavier?"
"Can't you hear us talking? Oh, right, you're just a useless half-deaf freak!"
Those harsh, mocking laughs were the soundtrack to my nightmares for years.
I thought that once I got away from Xzavier and built a new life, I could finally leave all that behind.
Turns out, those shadows never really left me.
I didn't waste a second; I had someone look into Alexzander's time overseas.
Sure enough, he and Tara were at the same school.
Turns out, they'd known each other long before.
I quietly closed the study door behind me.
I didn't interrupt Alexzander's little reunion with his old flame.
I just turned around, feeling numb, and locked myself in the bedroom.
The shock of what I'd just learned, combined with the nausea from my pregnancy, hit me like a wave. I felt dizzy, and my stomach was in turmoil.
The whole Christmas, I just drifted through the days in a daze.
Then, a few nights later, with rain pounding against the windows, I found myself wide awake.
Out of nowhere, I spiked a fever.
Every inch of me hurt, and there was this weird, uneasy feeling twisting in my stomach.
Overwhelmed by fear, I called Alexzander right away.
He was out of town for work.
There was a lot of noise in the background, sounded like he was at a restaurant or maybe a bar.
"Where are you?" I asked, my voice thin and shaky.
My voice was choked with pain, on the verge of tears.
"I'm burning up; my stomach feels awful, and it's storming outside..."
Whenever it thundered, no matter where Alexzander was or what he was doing, he'd always come running back to me.
He knew I was terrified of thunder.
It all went back to my school days, when Tara tricked me into a pitch-black, abandoned warehouse and locked me inside. That left me traumatized.
That day, the thunder was just as deafening as it is now.
But this time, Alexzander, who always spoiled me rotten, actually hesitated.
He paused, and for once, his voice sounded a little uncertain.
Still, he kept his tone gentle. "Vanessa, don't be scared."