She was the only one who knew I could talk.
One night, while everyone was asleep, I secretly helped her escape. But we were caught, and the rich man tried to beat me to death right there. Isla threw herself over me, taking the blows meant for me, and her blood dripped down onto my face.
That was the first time I felt someone saw me as a real person.
Later, her aunt came with people to rescue her, and the rich man’s place was raided by the police. But we never got the chance to say goodbye.
Still, I never forgot what she whispered to me through the pain that night. “We have to live. Grow up. Wait for me to marry you.”
I could barely remember how I survived all those years, fighting my way through hardship until I finally saw her again, just as Isla had long forgotten the silent boy from back then.
The day I came back after getting my visa, a group of strangers kidnapped me and took me to the rooftop of an old building on the edge of the city.
Cassian’s hands were tied, his body hanging dangerously over the edge, yet he still laughed.
“The main characters are here. The show can start.”
A rush of footsteps came, and Isla appeared with her people.
“What are you doing?!” she yelled.
“Isla! Mr. Raye hates you for not saving him that day because of me; he’s trying to kill me! Please, save me!” Cassian cried out.
It was the first time I saw pure anger in Isla’s eyes, aimed at me.
She ordered her bodyguards to take down the kidnappers, then ran straight to Cassian and pulled him up.
She held him tightly, her face pale with fear, like someone who had almost lost the most important person in the world.
“Thank goodness you’re safe. I won’t let you be in danger again.”
Just like before. So when she coldly walked past me, I grabbed her hand without thinking.
“Isla, it wasn’t me.”
Her face instantly lost all color. She forced back the nausea rising in her throat and yanked her hand away from mine.
The slap came without warning, hitting hard across my face.
“Get away from me! Don’t touch me! You make me sick!”
“Cassian would never lie to me. She’s the kindest person in the world.”
Blood ran down the corner of my mouth, and at that moment, I didn’t feel like explaining anything anymore.
“Landon, everyone has to face the results of their own actions, and you’re no different.”
“Break his arms. Beat him until he learns his lesson, so he’ll never dare touch Cassian again.”
The bodyguards pinned me down, and the iron rods came down on my arms again and again.
The cracking sound of bones filled the air, cold and cruel. The pain was so intense that everything around me started to fade.
Through the dizziness, it felt like I had gone back to that night long ago when Isla took the beating for me.
As the pain blurred my sight, I quietly hummed the little lullaby I had made up back then.
That night, she had passed out from the pain, and I had been terrified, scared she would never wake again, yet unable to do anything to help her.
I stayed by her side, softly humming to her, hoping to ease even a bit of her pain.
Isla froze for a moment. She hesitated. “This tune... sounds familiar...”
She took a small step closer, wanting to listen more carefully, but Cassian held onto her arm.
“Isla, my arm hurts.”
Her face turned cold again. She took off her coat and wrapped it around him.
“Landon, this is the last time.”
When the final strike landed, I thought to myself, Isla, I don’t owe you anything anymore.
The bar owner rushed over and carried me to the hospital. Afraid I’d be alone, he came with me on a flight abroad a few days later.
……
In her office, Isla couldn’t stop thinking about the gossip she had overheard from her employees.
“Did you hear? President Monroe’s husband tried to kill Mr. Reed out of jealousy. That’s just awful!”
“No wonder President Monroe won’t touch him. I heard that allergy thing was fake; she just can’t stand Landon. Married five years and still a virgin…”
Her feelings were mixed. So this was how everyone secretly saw Landon.
She knew her supposed allergy came from the trauma of her childhood, but things couldn’t stay like this forever.
It had already been several days since Landon had last contacted her, which had never happened before.
Maybe she should have a child with him, properly, to silence all the gossip.
For the first time, she reached out to Kelvin, someone who had also been held by the rich man in the past but had managed to rebuild his life.
When Kelvin heard that she had found the boy she once cared for as a child, he congratulated her over and over and asked to see a picture of the “little mute.”
Isla sent him a photo of herself with Cassian. Half a minute later, a message came back. [Isla, I think you’ve got the wrong person.]
[That boy is definitely not the little mute.]
