He Gave Me Hearing, Then Taught Me What Silence Really Means novel Chapter 178

Eleanor nearly twisted her nose in frustration. She complained to Reggie, "I have no idea where he gets that awful personality. He's absolutely infuriating. And why did he even come here today? Just to drop off some tea? He could have sent anyone to do that."

Reggie knew exactly why Nelson was there, but he wisely played dumb. "I really couldn't say, Ma'am."

Shortly after, Juniper received a call from an unknown number. It was Nelson using Quinn's phone.

The moment she accepted the call, his icy voice came through the speaker.

"Add my number back. Come to my house. We'll talk about this in person."

He hung up before she could say another word.

Juniper stood frozen. Taking a deep breath, she didn't add his number.

Nelson seemed entirely unbothered by the delay.

For the next three days, Juniper didn't reach out or add his contact.

It was a silent, agonizing standoff.

It wasn't until Walter started coughing up blood in his hospital bed that the stalemate broke. The doctor pulled Juniper and Beatrice into the hallway for a grim conversation.

"If you're choosing to forgo treatment, you can take him home today."

Beatrice hesitated, her heart twisting in her chest.

Should she use the two million dollars? But even if she did, it wouldn't solve the issue of the missing foreign specialists and equipment.

She hadn't understood what was happening back then. She just remembered the stinging pain on her cheek.

The candy had scattered across the dirt. When she had crouched down to pick it up, Beatrice had screamed at her, "Have you never eaten anything good in your life?! Some stranger hands you twenty dollars worth of garbage, and you're ready to call her Mom?!"

The young Juniper had just knelt in the dirt and cried. She really hadn't ever eaten anything that good because her parents never bought her treats.

She had been too young to understand why accepting a gift meant getting hit.

She hadn't understood that in the adult world, taking the candy was seen as picking a side.

Now, she looked Beatrice dead in the eye, her words cutting and precise. "You asked me if I had never eaten anything good. You were right. You always said candy would rot my teeth, so you never bought it for me. That's why a few cheap treats were enough to buy my silence for your filthy secrets. I have never known what it feels like to be loved, which is why anyone offering me a scrap of affection could easily lead me astray. You constantly ask why I ran away, why I'm so heartless. Mom, a home filled with love raises birds that want to return to the nest. It's pretty obvious our home was entirely incapable of doing that."

Beatrice was so furious she raised her hand to strike her, but the slap never landed. Instead, Beatrice broke down sobbing.