Grace POV:
That word dropped like a hammer on my chest. *Mute.*
My breath hitched in my throat. My lungs seized, completely forgetting how to take in oxygen. My body went rigid, instinctively pressing flat against the cold, painted wall of the hallway.
Through the narrow crack in the mahogany door, I saw her. Alexandria.
She was lounging on the expensive leather sofa, a picture of old-money perfection. She was twisting a lock of her hair, admiring her diamond-encrusted manicure. Her very presence—the casual cruelty, the flaunted wealth—sent a violent shiver down my spine. She reminded me exactly of the girls in high school who used to shove me into lockers just because my sneakers were from a thrift store.
Alexandria leaned back, her eyes dripping with pure disdain. "I mean, seriously. She's a walking trailer park tragedy. It's embarrassing."
My fingertips dug into the wooden doorframe. The rough grain bit deep into my skin, but I couldn't feel the pain. I was completely numb.
I stared unblinking at the back of Josiah's head. I waited. I waited for him to snap at her. I waited for him to defend me, just like he had done a hundred times before. *Tell her to shut up, Josiah. Tell her I'm yours.*
One second passed. Two seconds.
The only sound in the lounge was the crisp clinking of ice cubes as someone swirled their drink.
Josiah didn't defend me. Instead, a heavy, exhausted sigh escaped his lips.
He picked up his coffee cup, taking a slow sip. When he spoke, his voice was laced with an unfiltered, heavy annoyance. "Don't mention it. She's just a responsibility the old man forced on me."
My pupils dilated so fast the room blurred. It felt as if a giant, invisible hand had just reached into my chest and crushed my heart into bloody powder.
Alexandria let out a high-pitched, tinkling laugh. She leaned closer to him. Her perfectly manicured fingers reached out, tracing the silk of his tie in a blatantly intimate gesture.
Josiah didn't pull away. He didn't flinch. Instead, he shifted his weight and casually wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.
"Facing her every day," Josiah muttered, his voice dripping with resentment, "is like taking care of a lifeless ghost. It's heavy. It's suffocating."
The words sliced through me like a serrated blade.
*A lifeless ghost.*
For three years, I had made myself invisible. I had swallowed my opinions, killed my own personality, and been perfectly, silently obedient, all because he told me my silence brought him peace. I had turned myself into this ghost for *him*. And now, he was using my hollowed-out shell as a punchline to flirt with another woman.
I slapped both hands over my mouth, terrified that the newly repaired vocal cords would let out a scream of pure agony.
My entire body began to shake violently. The tremors were so severe that the sudden movement dislodged the receiver of my hearing aid.
A high-pitched, ear-piercing screech erupted from the device. It was the sound of broken machinery. The undeniable proof of my defect. It amplified my humiliation a thousand times over, broadcasting my brokenness to the world.
I panicked. I slammed my hands over my ears, desperately trying to muffle the screeching feedback.
Inside the lounge, Alexandria's head snapped up. She looked sharply toward the door. "Did you hear that?"
Blind terror hijacked my brain. I stumbled backward, my legs tangling together.
My back slammed hard into a glass display cabinet lining the hallway.
The heavy thud echoed loudly. A stack of glossy clinic brochures vibrated off the edge and scattered across the floor with a harsh slapping sound.
Josiah's silhouette shifted. He frowned, pushing Alexandria off his lap. He stood up and started walking toward the door.
The rhythmic thud of his expensive leather shoes against the floorboards sounded like a countdown to my execution. He was coming.
The sheer instinct to survive, to hide my bleeding wounds, overpowered my mental collapse. I spun around and sprinted silently down the carpeted hall toward the restrooms.
I threw myself into the nearest stall. I slammed the door shut, slid the deadbolt into place, and collapsed onto the freezing tile floor. I pulled my knees to my chest, making myself as small as possible.
Through the thin walls, I heard the heavy lounge door swing open.
I heard Josiah's footsteps pause in the hallway. I could picture him looking around, confused.
I heard the rustle of paper as he bent down to pick up the dropped brochure. He let out a low, irritated click of his tongue, tossing it back onto the counter. Then, the lounge door clicked shut again.
I sat on the bathroom floor, the cold seeping through my jeans. I slowly lifted my head and looked at my reflection in the gap of the stall door mirror.
I looked pathetic. My face was chalk-white. I looked like a stray dog that had just been kicked into the gutter.
I looked down at my white shirt. There were smears of blood on the fabric from where my fingernails had torn against the doorframe. It was a shocking, violent red.
My trembling hand pulled my phone from my pocket. The screen lit up, still showing the notepad app.
*I made a sound today.*
I stared at the words. A bitter, ugly laugh bubbled in my chest, though it made no sound. It was the most ridiculous, pathetic sentence ever written.
My thumb pressed down on the backspace key. I held it there. I watched the letters disappear one by one, deleting the sentence, deleting the surprise, deleting the last three years of my blind, stupid devotion.
"Stop crying, you pathetic loser."
