He Gave Me Hearing, Then Taught Me What Silence Really Means novel Chapter 265

A chill ran down Juniper's spine. Nelson's mood swings were terrifyingly abrupt, flipping like a deranged lunatic with absolutely zero emotional regulation.

She swallowed hard and turned to Alistair. "Alistair, go."

"But..."

Alistair was clearly worried about leaving her alone with him.

Juniper softened her tone. "I'll be fine. Please. I'm begging you."

Alistair was not the kind of man to make things harder for her. He turned and walked out, pausing only to say, "Be careful."

The front door clicked shut. Nelson stared at the blood dripping from his palm onto the floor, his voice raspy. "I'm bleeding. Do you have a first-aid kit?"

The puppy, sensing the aggressive energy in the room, ran over and started barking at Nelson.

But Moonlight was so tiny that to Nelson, the barking sounded more like an adorable whine.

He crouched down, reaching out with his uninjured hand to pet her.

Moonlight immediately backed away, baring her tiny teeth and growling fiercely.

Juniper couldn't help but think: *Like owner, like dog.* They both despised the exact same man.

Nelson let out a humorless laugh. Just minutes ago, this dog had been wagging its tail at Alistair. Now it was treating him like a monster.

He aggressively snatched the puppy, roughly rubbing its belly. "Shut up. You're so small I could crush you just by sitting on you."

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Provoked, Moonlight struggled wildly, but she was no match for a full-grown man.

Juniper's voice was ice. "Don't treat her like that."

The dark smirk slowly vanished from Nelson's lips. He repeated, "I'm bleeding. Do you have a kit or not?"

"Go home, Nelson. You have plenty of people perfectly willing to patch you up."

The wound on his hand looked horrific, and the blood-soaked knife was still in her grip.

As if destroying the evidence, she tossed the knife into the nearby trash can, crouched down, and tied the bag shut.

Now that she had a puppy in the house, she couldn't risk leaving something like that in the trash. She would have to take it outside to the dumpster later.

Reaching up, she removed her hearing aid, placed it on the cabinet, and sat there, letting him kiss her with total, unfeeling apathy.

Nelson knew she wasn't into it. Yet he couldn't stop. The sheer panic consuming him was so overwhelming that he desperately needed to prove something—anything—to stop the violent trembling in his chest.

He lost himself in the kiss. He didn't care about his bleeding hand. He desperately craved some form of response from her, only to hear her calmly state, "Eight times left."

The words hit him like a bucket of ice water, chilling his boiling blood instantly. He froze, the color draining from his lips.

Juniper was back in that completely disconnected state, refusing to look at him or hear him, enduring the intimacy like it was a physical torture.

Nelson hunched his shoulders, resting his forehead heavily against hers.

Her utter indifference made his desperate lack of control look like a pathetic joke.

His breathing hitched. If he had even a shred of dignity left, he would have pushed her away and walked out.

But he couldn't.

Juniper just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. Whether it took a long time or a short time, it still counted as one session.

He was the one physically dominating her, yet he was the one who had lost entirely.