Chapter 3

No wonder he never remembered what flavor I liked.

I walked out of the shop in a daze, standing under the scorching sun for what felt like eternity.

Long enough for the ice cream to melt completely over my fingers.

Nathan didn't lack romance.

He wasn't incapable of love.

He just didn't love me.

He could be meticulous and attentive—to another woman, and even to a cat.

I tossed the melted cone into the trash and drove straight to a lawyer's office nearby.

I was going to divorce Nathan.

There was no point in holding onto this marriage anymore.

I was done humiliating myself.

With the freshly printed divorce agreement in hand, I drove back home.

I planned to hand it to Nathan the moment I walked through the door.

But Chloe was already there.

She had long black hair, pale skin, and was communicating with Nathan in American Sign Language.

Seeing me return, Nathan pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh."

Then my phone vibrated.

"Chloe can't speak, so we're using ASL. Don't talk out loud for now—we don't want to make her feel uncomfortable."

Nathan took the grocery bags from my hands and headed into the kitchen to start cooking.

The cat was curled up in Chloe's lap, stretching lazily. I placed the divorce papers on the bedside table in the bedroom, deciding to wait until after dinner.

When I stepped out, Chloe held up her phone with typed text to communicate with me.

"You probably don't know sign language, so let's text."

"So nice to meet you."

I typed back,

"Nice to meet you too. I heard you just got back from a competition. How did it go?"

She typed:

"I won first place in the national ASL competition! It's all thanks to Nathan. He's such an amazing teacher."

"He's not only caring in daily life, but he's also so patient with my studies. If he weren't married, I think I would've fallen in love with him."

My whole body stiffened.

I hadn't expected her to provoke me so openly.

Just then, Nathan came out carrying plates of food. I stood up immediately and showed him Chloe's text.

He glanced at it and chuckled dismissively.

"Chloe's just joking. Don't take it seriously."

"But..."

I tried to speak.

Nathan cut me off.

"Her world is different from ours. Can't you show a little more compassion and empathy toward people with disabilities?"

His words caught in my throat, choking me into silence.

Nathan placed the steaks on the table and signed to Chloe that dinner was ready.

Throughout the meal, they chatted constantly in ASL. At one point, while Chloe was signing with both hands, Nathan even leaned over to gently feed her a bite of steak.

Noticing my stare, Nathan explained casually,

"When we eat lunch at school, our hands are busy signing, so I feed her all the time. Don't overthink it."

I asked quietly,

"What are you two talking about?"

Nathan's eyes darted away.

"Nothing much. Just the competition."

I didn't press. I just watched their hands move in silence.

After dinner, Nathan offered to drive Chloe and the cat home.

The second the door closed, I went into the bedroom and started packing my bags.

The truth was, I understood every single word they had signed at the dinner table.

I had learned ASL in secret.

I had planned to surprise Nathan on his birthday. I never imagined I'd use it to witness his betrayal.

They hadn't been talking about the competition at all.

Nathan was asking her if she had felt uncomfortable traveling, and how her days had been.

He told her he would never let her travel alone again—he would personally accompany her next time.

And then, Nathan had signed something that pierced right through my chest:

"If your next competition overlaps with your period again, don't push through the pain like you did this time. It's bad for your health."

He even tracked her menstrual cycle.