After Leaving A Loveless Marriage, Ex-husband Regrets

Two weeks before my wedding day, something miraculous happened. My hearing, which I had lost while trying to save Grayson Kingsley, my fiancé, was unexpectedly restored due to a high fever.

It felt as if this was a special gift from God, given to me as a blessing for my upcoming wedding.

Excited by this sudden turn of events, I immediately hailed a taxi to Grayson's company, eager to share this delightful news with him. Finally! After years of silence, I could finally hear again.

However, the first words I heard were not what I expected.

"Lily, I've had enough of her constant moral blackmail."

"The person I truly want to marry is you, Lily. Since she keeps using her parents' deaths to force me into this marriage, I'll show you my sincerity by running away from the wedding."

The next moment, Lily grabbed my fiancé's phone and dialed my number. Though my mind was numb with disbelief, my hands mechanically moved to answer the call.

As soon as I picked up, I was greeted by the sound of their heavy breathing. Grayson, panicked, seemed ready to end the call.

Lily stopped him, holding up the phone defiantly. "What are you afraid of? She's deaf anyway. Besides, doesn't this make it even more thrilling?"

Their voices twisted into something disgusting as I listened to the joyful sounds of the two of them on the other end. With trembling hands, I pressed the record button on my phone.

Capturing every moment, my heart sank into a sea of despair.

On the day of the wedding, instead of walking down the aisle, I found myself buying a plane ticket to London.

His desperate calls and frantic messages began flooding in. Finally, unable to bear his incessant questioning, I sent him the recording with a simple message. [Grayson, I can hear you.]

***

"Who is there?!"

I could almost hear the surprise in his voice. Trembling, I nearly collapsed against a nearby glass door.

From behind that door, I could still hear Grayson's voice.

My vision blurred and for a moment, I felt like a rat scurrying through the gutter, trapped in a maze of shame and humiliation that I could not escape from.

After a moment that felt like an eternity, I realized the noises from inside had ceased. The sound of intermingled breaths once again filled the air.

Even I had no idea how I managed to leave and get home.

When I finally turned on the light at home, I saw something shocking, bloody footprints leading from the front door.

Only then did I realize, in my desperation to find Grayson, that I had rushed out without even putting on shoes.

Somewhere along the way, I must have stepped on shattered glass. My hands numbly began pulling out the shards from my feet, each piece tugging at my flesh. Yet even as the blood and pain blurred together, it did not compare to the deep, suffocating ache in my heart.

My fever had not yet subsided.

I collapsed onto the sofa, the weight of it all pressing down on me. Tears welled up, slowly soaking the pillow beneath me as I lay there.

Oh, how I wished with every ounce of my being that this was all just a terrible dream.

I clung to the faint hope that I would wake up and nothing would have changed, that in half a month, I would still be Grayson's bride, walking down the aisle towards the future I had spent ten years dreaming of.

But the harsh sounds of children playing upstairs, the blare of car horns from the street below, all grounded me in the harsh reality that none of this was a dream…

I had no idea how long I remained in that dazed state before a sudden sharp pain brought me back to the present.

Groggily, I opened my eyes and saw Grayson kneeling at my feet, his hands gently extracting the remaining shards of glass from my soles and then he carefully applied medicine to my wound.

For ten long years, ever since my parents had died in the fire trying to save him, he had taken it upon himself to care for me.

I had lost my hearing too and in return, he had built this routine of caretaking.

After he had finished cleaning and bandaging my wounds with his usual efficiency, he looked up at me.

I also met his gaze.

Yet, he did not even ask how I had hurt myself.

Instead, in a tone laced with irritation, he muttered, "You know you're deaf. Why don't you just stay at home so you don't troubling others?"

Probably realizing at that moment that his words had fallen on deaf ears, Grayson's expression shifted. He frowned deeply before saying coldly, "That's it. I don't want to marry someone like you."

That sentence felt like a dagger twisting in my chest and my heart tightened painfully.

At that moment, I found myself suddenly transported back to my high school days.

I still remember it clearly when a group of kids followed me one afternoon, laughing and jeering as they trailed behind. I could not hear them, of course. I could not make out what they were saying.

So, I continued walking, my head held high, pretending that everything was fine.

But Grayson, who had come to pick me up that day, could not hold back. His anger bubbled over and he rushed at the group, struggling with them until they finally scattered.

By the time the confrontation ended, he was covered in tears of frustration. He pulled me into his arms, holding me close, though I did not fully understand why.

Confused, I asked why he had fought with them.

"They called you deaf, Naomi... but you're not deaf. You have ears and I'll always be your ears..."

His voice cracked with raw emotion and that day, for the first time, I realized how truly sad and cruel the world could be for someone like me.

But at that moment, it did not matter to me. It did not matter because Grayson had promised that he would always be there, that he would be my ears.

Now, here I stood, with my hearing fully restored, so why did the word 'deaf' come out of Grayson's own lips?

Tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to spill, but I forced them back as I clenched my fists hard.

Perhaps I had been blind, too.

I saw him pursed his thin lips. Then, in quick, almost mechanical movements, he raised his hands and gestured in sign language. "Does it hurt?"

Before I could even muster a reply, his phone vibrated.

And right there, without hesitation, in front of me, he opened it, casually clicking on a voice message from Lily Winslow. Her voice spilled from the speakers. "Mr. Kingsley, you're so great that the legs of a woman you kiss go weak."

Lily and Grayson had known each other since their college days.

After returning to Washington, she had taken up the role of his secretary to the general manager. It was not unusual for the two of them to exchange voice messages frequently.

At first, it seemed harmless, just work-related matters passing between them, even in the middle of the night. Out of my unwavering trust in Grayson, I never thought much of it. I convinced myself that they were merely discussing business, nothing more.

"There are a lot of things I can do even better. Want to try?"

I heard Grayson reply to one of her voice notes, a smile playing on his lips, one that lingered, unwavering, even after he spoke.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked, my voice cutting through the air unexpectedly.

My words startled him, just for a split second, but then he quickly regained his composure.

He gestured to me in sign language, his hands moving swiftly, "Customer, there is a batch of goods that is urgent."

The second after he finished answering in sign language, he turned back to his phone, instantly sending another voice message. "I bought a set of underwear for Naomi. It looks good on her. I'll buy another set next time. You can show me how to wear it."

"No, I don't want to. I don't want to wear the same thing as that deaf."

Her words pierced through me. I could no longer stand to hear their explicit exchange, so I limped away and made my way to my room.

I reached for the family photo of my parents, clutching it close to my chest. Curled up on the bed, I pulled the blanket over my head.

In the end, I just let the overwhelming despair overwhelm me.

Unfortunately, the walls were too thin. Their voices seeped through, the sound of their unrestrained teasing growing louder with each passing moment.

Every word they exchanged felt like a slow, torturous cut, each one slicing deeper into my heart.

Grayson, the man I once thought so noble, now seemed irreparably tainted. I looked at him now with nothing but disgust. This was not the man I wanted anymore.

And as their conversation dragged on, a sudden loud slam echoed from the living room.