He Gave Me Hearing, Then Taught Me What Silence Really Means novel Chapter 228

It was almost eight o'clock in the evening. This was the absolute deadline Nelson had given her.

Right at that moment, Beatrice Lane called her using a doctor's phone.

"Your dad woke up for a few minutes, but he passed out again. Wren, I've thought about it, and I'm going to take him back to the countryside. I'm discharging him tomorrow morning. Come back to Oakley with me."

Even though she knew Juniper would likely refuse, Beatrice still asked.

Juniper leaned back against the bench, swallowing the sharp pains radiating through her body. "I told you I'd figure out the money."

Panic laced Beatrice's voice, making her vicious. "Figure it out how? By crawling back to Nelson Saint? Haven't you humiliated yourself enough? After all these years, when are you finally going to understand that you are not from his world?!"

Beatrice had hurled far worse insults at her in the past. Juniper was immune to it by now. She replied with deadened calm, "Yeah. I'm going to sell myself to Nelson. I'm hanging up now."

"Juniper!"

Beatrice was probably winding up to scream something else, but Juniper ended the call.

She bent forward, burying her face in her hands, and took a long, shuddering breath.

Her phone started vibrating endlessly. She ignored it.

Then came the barrage of texts.

[You're completely out of your mind. The doctors back then were absolutely right about you!]

[Come back to Oakley with me. The doctors there can fix you, and I can take care of you.]

[You call it selling yourself to Nelson, but you're damaged goods now. You're not worth anything! Stop degrading yourself!]

[Wren, come home with me...]

Juniper didn't read a single one. It was the middle of July, so why was she so incredibly cold? A chill had settled deep into her bones, making them ache.

Then, a message from Nelson popped up on the screen.

[Have you made your decision?]

Crushed between the weight of both messages, a sudden, broken laugh escaped Juniper's lips. Her face was as pale as a ghost.

He wasn't wrong, was he? Wasn't she here exactly for that purpose?

She looked down and silently transferred the fare. As she did, something warm and wet splashed onto the phone screen.

The driver's eyes widened in predatory delight. "No wonder you're working in a neighborhood like this. That pathetic, crying act really makes a guy want to conquer you. You sure you don't want to leave your number?"

"No. Thank you."

Every single spark of fight, every ounce of defiance Juniper had harbored against the world, was completely extinguished.

From this exact moment onward, she was nothing but an empty shell.

She had fought tooth and nail for four years, desperately trying to prove to everyone that she had truly loved Nelson back then, that she had never been after his status or his money.

People had cursed her, called her a hypocrite, a gold digger, a fraud.

Now, she finally realized they had been right all along.

She was a massive hypocrite. Because here she was, willingly delivering herself straight to Nelson's bed.