Chapter 2: The Truth
“Ugh-” I instinctively pulled my foot back in pain, but my mother grabbed it firmly. “Now you’re scared? Why didn‘ you watch where you were going earlier?”
This foot looks so ugly!” My mother’s expression was filled with disdain.
Her pale fingers stood in stark contrast to my foot, which had been darkened by years of exposure to the sun.
The cruel scars stretched from the top of my foot to my ankle, resembling a coiled centipede at first glance–hideously ugly.
With tears in my eyes, I looked at my mother and signed, trying to explain, “These are the scars from when I was
beaten.”
My mother froze for a moment, then sighed, her expression complicated as she signed: “Coco, you need to be good! You must disinfect your wounds!”
“Otherwise, the wounds will get infected!”
She reluctantly switched the alcohol for iodine, gently applying it to my injuries.
Just then, my phone rang.
She set the disinfecting tools aside and answered the video call.
Her complex expression faded away, replaced with a gentle and loving smile.
I glanced at the screen and froze for a moment. The girl on the screen looked strikingly similar to my adoptive
parents‘ son, Chad.
A soft, sweet voice came through the receiver: “Mom, you’re not going to abandon me, are you?”
“Of course not, Xena will always be mommy’s precious girl!” My mother reassured her, smiling.
Noticing my dazed expression, she gave a perfunctory sign: “This is your cousin.”
I nodded, pretending to believe her, and pointed at the wound on my knee that hadn’t been treated yet.
Her expression briefly flashed with annoyance, then she signed, “Coco, can you do it yourself?”
I was about to say something, but my mother was distracted by the voice on the other end, as Xena began sharing stories about her time in Paris.
Xena was currently studying in Paris, while I had only graduated from middle school.
05:12
When Love Whispers
10.0
Chapter 2: The Truth
A wave of helplessness rose in my chest, and a bitter taste spread through my heart.
My mother, completely absorbed in the conversation with Xena, didn’t even notice me standing there:
“Don’t eat so much junk food, be careful with your health!”
“Don’t drink too many sodas or alcohol!”
She carefully lectured, just like she used to when I first arrived at this house, with that same gentle tone.
From the phone, Xena’s carefree voice came through: “It’s fine, didn’t you already find me a kidney?”
“I’ll just get one of hers when the time comes.”
“You’re not worried she’ll hear you?” Xena suddenly asked, puzzled.
At this, my body stiffened. My mother’s voice whispered in my ear like a demonic hiss: “Don’t worry, she’s just a deaf girl. What’s she going to hear?”
“What happened to her ears?”
That poor couple in the countryside said she stole something and got caught, and that’s why she’s deaf!” My mother’s tone was filled with disdain.
‘She’s nothing like you, her character is awful!”
My ears were deafened by my adoptive parents‘ abuse! I didn’t steal anything!
I wanted to explain, but then I remembered I hadn’t told her my hearing had been restored.
No wonder my mother’s attitude had been so terrible–my adoptive parents had probably been saying bad things
about me.
was trembling with anger but had no idea how to reveal the truth.
she suddenly flashed me a smile: “You should go back to your room and rest.”
As she turned away, I overheard her complain to Xena:
Finally, she’s gone. I don’t want to see her at all.”
She’s so unpresentable, always so timid, like a quail. It’s so annoying to look at.”
Then she and Xena both laughed. I quickened my pace, feeling the bitter, sour sensation in my chest spread all over ny body.
06:12
