Chapter 17

Tessa’s POV

“Then why are you allowed to be so affectionate with Mira?”

As the question passes my lips, I know I’ve made a mistake. I don’t regret it, though. It’s a fair question, and I want my answers.

And really, the way Evander’s face immediately contorts in anger just tells me it’s a question most definitely worth asking.

Just as his mouth falls open to deliver his retort, though, the doors of the ballroom swing open again, and a group of Alpha Council members sweep into the hall.

Evander pauses, gaze flicking towards the group of powerful men and women. He looks back at me, eyes narrowed, then breathes out a heavy sigh.

“Behave yourself,” Evander warns me, tone thick with chastisement. He turns away.

Mira wraps her arms around Evander’s muscular forearm, manicured red nails glinting like bloodstone in the ballroom’s golden chandelier glow, and the two of them walk off.

I stand frozen in my spot, watching with a broken heart as Evander and Mira work their way through the crowd. No one’s paying me any mind now–everyone in attendance is watching as the pair darts and weaves their way around. It’s clear that they’re together. It’s clear that they’re here as a couple.

It’s clear that I’m just a token of Evander’s past.

I begin to weave my way through the crowd as subtly as possible, picking up snippets of chatter as I do. Everyone seems to have already accepted Mira as Evander’s new Luna–and, as I’m hearing over and over again, she’s a much better match for him than “that sickly deaf woman.”

Word after word hits like a punch to the gut.

“You’re such a lovely couple!” Comments one simpering woman and she approaches Evander a Mira.

“Mira, that dress is absolutely stunning,” a young girl gushes. “Please, who’s your stylist?”

“Congrats on the upgrade,” a nobleman tells Evander, clapping him on the shoulder.

My jaw is set so tightly it’s a small wonder I haven’t broken a tooth by now.

I scowl and begin to drift to the fringes of the crowd. As I take a seat in the corner, though, I catch another snippet of conversation that has my stomach sinking.

“I heard Mr. Redding has finally submitted the last of the documentation to the Alpha Council,” whispers a stuffy-looking businessman to his wife. “So what’s left of the old Everly accounts will be fully transferred over. Rumour has it the approval will be going through today, which means things will start to shake up real soon.”

“Good riddance he’s finally free of that family,” the woman says with a scoff.

My eyes widen in horror. So Evander is in an even bigger hurry to divorce me than he’d said before–transferring the assets by end of day today?

That’s way sooner than the three months he’d said it would take before.

There’s my answer, I guess.

Evander and I will be over in no time, so he doesn’t need to pretend to be affectionate with me anymore.

He can be as open with Mira as he wants.

And it won’t matter one bit.

As I’m lost in the devastating tangle of my own thoughts, I’m caught off-guard by a strange ringing sound in my left ear.

At first I think it’s just a byproduct of how distraught I am, but the ringing grows in volume to an almost painful pitch, and now it’s not just my left ear it’s my right, and now there’s static blaring at me a sharp vicious crackle that makes my eyes water and–

All of a sudden, my hearing cuts out entirely.

It feels like all the air has been pulled right out of my lungs. I gasp and stumble to my feet, looking around in a panic. My heart begins to race. As I start to walk in a strange, unsteady gait, I can feel the eyes of partygoers shifting over to me, and I can see them starting to whisper to each other but I can’t hear a thing they’re saying.

Tears spring to the corners of my eyes. My head whips back and forth frantically, searching hopelessly for an exit.

I breathe out a sigh of relief when I finally spot a door to my left.

Still dazed, still deaf, still panicking, I manage to stumble towards the door and slam it shut behind me, fleeing into the cool air of the night.

Evander’s POV

As I’m caught up socializing with the rest of the partygoers, I catch my gaze drifting occasionally towards Tessa.

She’s sitting alone in the corner of the ballroom, eyes scanning the crowd. She looks isolated and unsure of herself. I’m sure she was much more put-together when she left the house today, but now her hair and dress are rumpled. The words of that man–Gabriel–flash back to me.

She’d been harassed by a group of girls earlier.

Evidently, without my presence to protect her, she’s easy prey for the social scene.

I remember when Tessa’s parents were still alive, before she’d fallen into her depression and lost her hearing. Back then, she seemed to burn. She was every bit as bright and optimistic as Mira is now–she had the sort of passion that could change the world.

But ever since her hearing went, she’s become more and more quiet and withdrawn with every year that passed.

Seeing her now, all alone in the corner of the ballroom…

A strange emotion wells up in the pit of my stomach, one I can’t quite place. Something uncomfortable. Something a little sad.

Just as I’m about to look away, I suddenly watch Tessa stand up, eyes flaring with panic. She looks around a couple times, clearly worked up about something, then slips out through a side exit.

My brow furrows. A sense of unease wells up in me as I watch her leave.

I do my best to return to the conversation at hand–Mira and I are talking to a group of Alpha Council members. But as we chat about politics and the upcoming election circuit, I can’t shake that sense that something is deeply wrong.

A couple more hours slip by, but the night is still young when I decide I need to leave. I look over at Mira, who’s wrapped up in conversation with a group of young socialites.

“I need to head out,” I tell her.

“Just let me gather my things!” Mira says with a quick smile.

I shake my head. “No, you stay here and enjoy the festivities. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

I turn and leave the way I came, mind rattling with thoughts and worries all throughout the drive home.

Once I’ve made it back to the villa, I creak open the door to my bedroom. The moment I step into the room, I spot Tessa curled up in the corner, staring vacantly into the distance.

She sees me as soon as I enter, gaze locked onto me like a vise, but doesn’t say anything.

I glance at the high heels on the ground beside her, then at the blisters on her feet. Tessa hardly ever wears high heels–always says she hates how they feel.

My heart softens ever so slightly as I look at her.

“I was just giving Mira extra attention tonight because it was her first time at the Alpha Ball,” I begin awkwardly, blurting out the explanation.

Tessa doesn’t respond.

I narrow my eyes, scoffing. “Seriously, Tessa? You’re giving me the silent treatment right now?”

She blinks up at me, still silent.

Whatever softness I was feeling before quickly fades. I don’t want to deal with Tessa’s jealousy right now. My frustration begins to flare. I reach down and grab her shoulder, shaking her ever so slightly.

“Don’t push your luck,” I snap, voice rising in anger. “Stop throwing a tantrum.”

At my display of anger, Tessa suddenly seems to grow frightened, shrinking away from me as her eyes widen. She points to her ears and shakes her head over and over again.

I scowl down at her in confusion, trying to figure out what’s going on.

But then the realization hits me.

Tessa can’t hear.