If there was one thing Jasmine Gallo had learnt during the last year was that quiet rooms sometimes made the loudest noise.
She had spent most of the last year unable to hear a thing but whenever she walked into a room, the stares, the way the lips moves, the expression on their faces…she could always tell they had a lot to say about her.
But there was one person she trusted.
One person she thought would never talk shit about her.
That trust shattered tonight as she held onto the door knob to a private room.
“Dante, is Elle really back in Barcelona? I heard you personally went to bring her back?”
“Who the heck told you that? Seriously? I tell one person and all of you already know?”
“Sorry, man. I didn’t know it was meant to be a secret.”
“Of course it is. I don’t want Jasmine finding out.”
Jasmine froze hearing those words.
He brought back Ellie…personally?!
One year. Three hundred and sixty-four days of silence. Three hundred and sixty-four days of reading lips.
Her word had been thrown into total silence one year ago, she had to learn sign language to communicate, she had to adjust to being unable to hear anything after having perfect hearing all her life.
When it first happened, it felt as if her world had ended, but the world seemed to move on just fine.
But just few days ago, she had a successful operation, Dante had been on a business trip and so she wanted to surprise him when he got back.
She had excitedly practiced the words to say to him. Jasmine had pictured the look on his eyes, thinking he would be so happy for her.
She had even worn the dress he liked. Soft blue. The one he said made her look like spring.
But that “business trip” had been to bring back the one person who almost had her killed?!
“Jasmine will find out eventually, I mean, Elle’s not going to stay home forever, is she?” Another voice sounded.
“I don’t think Jasmine is going to take this well. Everyone knows Elle had set up that car accident that made Jasmine lost her hearing until now. She was comatose for weeks. Anyone would have made sure Elle rot in jail but because of you, she agreed to send Elle away instead and make sure she never steps foot in Spain again. How can you go back on your words?”
Dante sounded irritated.
“It’s been more than a year already/ Isn’t it high time Jasmine let it go? Elle was freaking nineteen and was pretty reckless. But during her one year away, I had made sure she learnt her lesson so she’s more matured now, not just physically but mentally so everyone can move on from this.”
Move on from this?
Let it go?
The words landed like the car had, a year ago. Metal on bone. Air knocked out of her lungs.
Jasmine remembered the hospital corridor. The white lights that never turned off. Dante’s hands, signing until his knuckles were red. “We’ll find the best doctor. We’ll fix this. I’ll never leave you. I’d always make you happy. And I’ll make sure you never get hurt again.”
Jasmin had believed him.
She even thought they were getting married soon. With her hearing back, she quickly contacted a jeweler to make wedding rings.
Tonight, on his birthday, she had felt it was a perfect night for a proposal.
But it had all been an illusion. A performance for a deaf girl who couldn’t overhear the truth.
He had only been nice to her so that she could let go of her grudge towards Elle.
But how can she do that so easily?
Elle almost had her killed!
Her chest went cold. Not angry. Not yet. Anger needed heat. This was just an empty feeling. Like someone had unplugged a room and forgotten to tell her she was still inside it.
Her phone buzzed in her palm
Feeling so dazed, Jasmine slowly stared at the message. It was from her mother.
“Have you thought about it, my dear? We still can’t find Maliyah. We really can’t cancel this marriage. The Madrigal family will have our heads for it! Please for my sake, for Vin’s sake, just marry him. You only need to live as Maliyah. It won’t be so hard.”
The Gallo and the Madrigal family had a marriage agreement signed years ago.
Jasmine’s step sister, Maliyah was supposed to marry Leonardo Madrigal second son of the King Group. Instead, she’d vanished a week ago, only leaving behind a note that said “Over my dead body.”
The wedding was fast approaching with all preparations already made. When this was suggested to Jasmine three days ago, she had flatly refused.
She already pictured spending her life with Dante and so marrying the ruthless Leonardo Madrigal was out of the question.
Now she looked at the door. Listened to the man she loved inside excuse her attempted murder like a spilled drink, her teeth clenched.
Her thumb moved over the screen before her brain caught up.
“Fine. I will marry him.”
She didn’t wait for a reply. She pushed the door open and walked in.
The private room went dead quiet on seeing her.
Twelve faces turned. Wine glasses halfway to lips. Poker cards frozen between fingers. Smoke from a cigarette curled and stopped.
Dante’s eyes widened. Without thinking, his hands lifted and signed to her.
“My love, I told you I’d come over to the house later. You didn’t need to come here. Are you done making a cake at home? I wanted to celebrate with you privately.”
Privately, her foot.
He thought she was still deaf. He was sure she hadn’t heard him dismissing her accident as nothing.
Footsteps suddenly sounded behind her, Jasmine turned and saw her.
The woman who almost had her killed. Even if Jasmine had survived the accident, it had left her scarred for life.
Elle Esteban.
She was Dante’s foster sister. When Jasmine wanted to press charges, Dante had begged her not to, that Elle going to jail would ruin the reputation of his whole family, his father already had a medical condition, he could die from such news.
He had proposed sending Elle abroad, forever. He assured her that there would be no possibility of Elle ever returning to Spain.
But here she was, vividly reminding Jasmine of how stupid she had been to trust Dante’s words.
Now that she thought about it, she realized that he never cared about her, he was simply looking out for his family’s reputation while also pretending she was the best thing in his life.
Elle had a triumphant smile on her face as she stared at Jasmine, as if she’d been waiting for this moment for a year.
“Who do we have here?” Elle’s laughter was bright and sharp. “It’s the handicapped.”
She took a step closer, thinking Jasmine couldn’t hear her and wanting to use the opportunity to taunt her even more.
“I’m still surprised you survived that accident though,” Elle said, tilting her head. “I’d have been more satisfied if you had become paralyzed as well.”
Memories of the last year ran through Jasmine’s mind.
What did she ever do to deserve that. A year of hospital beds. A year of different kinds of treatment plans that made her vomit. A year of waking up at 3 AM because the silence was too loud. A year of believing the man in front of her had fought for her, chosen her, stayed for her.
Something snapped, clean and bright. Like a bone setting back into place.
Jasmine lifted up her hand.
The first slap cracked across Elle’s face. The sound was sharp, obscene in the quiet. It echoed off the mahogany walls.
Elle staggered. Her hand flew to her cheek. The second slap followed, harder, Jasmine put her whole body into it.
Ellie’s head whipped sideways as lines of red appeared on her cheek.
Shock gasps filled the room. Dante who had been hurrying up to Jasmine to try and explain why Elle was here paused.
He was still frozen mid-sign, his hands in the air like he’d been caught mid-lie. His face was white.
Jasmine’s palm stung. Her ears rang, not from deafness, but from the sound of her own anger.
She didn’t sign back. She didn’t need to.
She spoke. Her voice was hoarse from disuse. Rough. A little broken. But it was hers.
“I heard you. All of you,” she announced.
Every word was clear. No stumble. No sign.
Elle stared at her, eyes wide, hand still on her face. “You…you…”
Jasmine looked at Dante, ruefully. She felt so pained. This man had sat by her bed for months. This man had promised her a future.
He opened his mouth but no sound came out.
