Chapter 2

Before her words had even faded, she worked herself up and shoved me hard.

The push sent me stumbling backward, and the hearing aid at my ear jolted crooked. The moment I steadied myself, I reached up and set it right again.

But that small delay looked like something else entirely to the crowd watching.

"See? She won't even say a word. She's guilty, that's why."

"She never learns. Marvin's the one avoiding her and she still won't let go. She's thrown away every scrap of dignity to land herself a rich boyfriend."

Emboldened, Miranda snatched the iced tea out of my hand and hurled the whole thing straight into my face.

"You shameless homewrecker! I just warned you, and here you are already, sucking up to my boyfriend with a drink in your hand!"

The sticky tea ran down through my hair. I was shaking with rage.

"I didn't do any of this. Marvin, tell them the truth. Now!"

The instant I called out Marvin's name, the murmuring swelled.

But Marvin didn't step forward to explain, the way I expected him to.

His face wavered, and in the end all he did was move in and force the still-fuming Miranda away from me.

"Stop it. Let's just go. It's nothing. No point blowing it up."

I stared at him, unable to believe it. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

Miranda let him half-pull her off, but not before shooting me one last vicious glare.

The crowd kept talking, but with both of the people at the center gone, it slowly broke up.

I was choking on my anger when a message came through on my phone.

"Louise, just wait for me a little longer. Give me some time. I promise I'll find the right moment to clear all of this up in front of everyone and give you your name back."

Five years of knowing Marvin. I didn't want to make things hard for him.

I believed the young man who once comforted me when I cried over my disability, who told me, "Losing your hearing isn't your fault. It's God favoring you, taking one small bite out of you for himself." I believed he was only being vain for a moment.

Besides...

I touched the hearing aid at my ear.

I was kidnapped once for ransom because my family had money, and that was when my hearing was damaged.

Unless I absolutely had to, I didn't want my background exposed.

I wrote back: "Make it soon."

But I never imagined how far beyond my expectations things would go.

The next day, there were always whispers around me, and people bumping into me on the walkways for no reason at all.

After being shouldered three times in a row, until my shoulder was nearly bruised, I finally stopped a classmate.

"Excuse me, what's going on? Everyone seems to have a problem with me."

She clearly hadn't expected me to be so blunt, and took half a step back.

"You don't know? You're all over the campus fair page already."

Then she hurried off, as if I were some plague she couldn't get away from fast enough.

Frowning, I opened the campus fair page.

A trending post popped up.

【Warning! Deaf girl Louise Swanson has been clinging to rich heir Marvin Barnes, and even after he called her out in public she still won't quit. She's been cornering him in private and won't leave him alone!】