Chapter 6 Three Months of Silence\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u3001(46\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the bedroom door creaked open, Vincent automatically reached over and flipped off the lamp. The room plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the faint glow of the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pulled his robe off one shoulder, his voice flat-no warmth, no greeting. \u201cIt\u2019s late. Let\u2019s get this over with. I have plans later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The light from the hallway seeped in, falling on the figure at the door, making it look blurry and indistinct. A beat of silence. Then, a nervous voice spoke up, not Scarlett\u2019s. \u201cMr. Stewart\u2026 it\u2019s me. Freya.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent froze. He reached over and turned the lamp back on, squinting at Freya standing in the doorway, her hands folded tightly in front of her. \u201cShe\u2019s not back yet?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Freya nodded, her face flushed. \u201cNo, Mr. Stewart. Not yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air in the room turned thick with tension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Freya could tell Vincent was angry-she\u2019d worked for the Stewarts long enough to recognize that tight jaw, that cold glint in his eyes. She tried to soften the blow. \u201cMrs. Stewart usually comes home by six. Last month, she was here early. Maybe something came up at the hospital?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent knew what she was trying to do, but he just shrugged. \u201cGot it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Freya hesitated, wanting to remind him to get some rest early, but before she could, Vincent\u00a0<\/p>\n
swung\u00a0<\/p>\n
his legs over the bed and stood up. She clamped her mouth shut-now wasn\u2019t the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five minutes later, he was dressed and heading for the door, his keys in hand. Freya followed him downstairs, still vaguely feeling that she had forgotten something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until Vincent\u2019s car disappeared around the corner that she smacked her forehead. She\u2019d forgotten the things in the study that Scarlett had told her about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the car, Vincent had just pulled out of the neighborhood when his phone rang. It was Sabrina. His face softened instantly-all the sharpness gone, replaced by a gentle warmth he\u2019d never shown Scarlett.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d he asked, his voice low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sabrina\u2019s voice was soft, almost apologetic. \u201cVincent, I have a big concert tomorrow night\u2014you know how important it is. But Vanessa\u2019s kindergarten has a parent-child event tomorrow afternoon, and I\u2026 I can\u2019t make it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:27 Sat, Jan 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 6 Three Months of Silence\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
46\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t need to say more. Vincent knew what she wanted. \u201cI\u2019ll have Scarlett go. Don\u2019t worry\u00a0<\/p>\n
about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sabrina let out a relieved sigh. \u201cThank you. I already talked to Vanessa-she\u2019s excited. Just let Scarlett know, okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI will. Go practice. You\u2019ll be great.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hung up and pulled over to the side of the road, reaching for his phone to text Scarlett. But when he scrolled through his contacts, he paused. He couldn\u2019t find her number.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only then did he suddenly realize-Scarlett hadn\u2019t taken the initiative to call him in what seemed like ages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back when Scarlett was staying home full-time to take care of Vanessa, she\u2019d call him every day to ask if he\u2019d be coming home for dinner. He rarely did, and even when he did, he only spent time with their daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After they started talking about having a second child, she\u2019d still check in every now and then to ask if he was coming home, but he didn\u2019t answer every single one of her calls. Sometimes he\u2019d hang up, other times he\u2019d just let the phone ring until it stopped. Yet whenever he needed to reach Scarlett, he\u2019d always found her contact info easily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But now, after scrolling through several pages, that familiar number was nowhere to be seen. He had no idea how long he\u2019d been scrolling before he finally found her number\u2014and the last call log entry was from three months ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had it really been that long since their last contact?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent couldn\u2019t even remember whether he\u2019d answered Scarlett\u2019s last call to him or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He dialed it, expecting it to ring. Instead, a cold automated voice played, \u201cThe number you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vincent frowned. That had never happened before. He tried again-same result. He called four more times, each time getting the same message, before giving up. He didn\u2019t have her video chat info saved, either-they\u2019d never used it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the end, he sent her a text, \u201cVanessa has a parent-child event at Sunshine Kindergarten tomorrow at 2 PM. She wants you to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hit send, then pulled back onto the road. Scarlett was probably just busy at the hospital, he told himself. She\u2019d see the text eventually and go-she always did what he asked. She was good\u00a0<\/p>\n
at that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
*****\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:27 Sat, Jan 3 \u2191\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 6 Three Months of Silence\u00a0<\/p>\n
(46)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the countryside, it was nine o\u2019clock. Scarlett had just finished her last health check at the small town school, packing up her medical bag and saying goodbye to the teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was staying in the school\u2019s teacher dorm\u2014a tiny room with a single bed and a small desk- but it felt more like home than Oakland Villa ever had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She washed her face, changed into pajamas, and collapsed onto the bed, her phone tossed onto the nightstand. She\u2019d set it to silent earlier, too tired to deal with work emails or calls. Within minutes, she was fast asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next morning, she was woken up by her phone buzzing. She groaned, grabbing it\u2014 expecting it to be her alarm-but it was a calendar reminder, \u201cRichard\u2019s birthday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every year, she\u2019d wake up at 5 AM to hit the market, buying fresh ingredients for a feast. She\u2019d spend the entire day in the kitchen, cooking Richard\u2019s favorite dishes, then spend the evening serving guests, smiling and pretending to be the \u201cperfect daughter-in-law\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year? She deleted the reminder with a single tap. She wasn\u2019t doing that anymore. She wasn\u2019t going to be the Stewart family\u2019s unpaid cook and entertainer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She rolled over and went back to sleep, then woke up again at ten, ready for the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Friday afternoons were slow at the clinic-she\u2019d be off by two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d decided to drive back to her parents\u2019 house that night. Tomorrow was her father\u2019s birthday, too\u2014something she\u2019d forgotten for the past five years, too busy celebrating Richard\u2019s. This year, she was going to make it up to her own father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had no idea about Vincent\u2019s text. It was buried under a pile of notifications from the hospital and the rural clinic, unread.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She arrived at her parents\u2019 house around six, the smell of her mom\u2019s famous beef stew wafting through the door. The living room was full-her dad, Henry Theron, reading the newspaper, her mom, Diana Theron, stirring a pot in the kitchen, her brother Nathan and his wife Violet folding laundry, and her niece, Clara, sitting on the floor playing with a puzzle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clara looked up when Scarlett walked in, her eyes widening. She dropped her puzzle pieces and ran over, wrapping her arms around Scarlett\u2019s legs. \u201cAuntie! You\u2019re home!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett knelt down, pulling Clara into a tight hug and kissing her cheek. \u201cI am. Did you miss\u00a0<\/p>\n
me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clara nodded, burying her face in Scarlett\u2019s neck. \u201cSo much! I told Mom to save you smoked salmon-you love that, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She locked her arms around Scarlett\u2019s neck, gave her a kiss too, and then yelled toward the kitchen, \u201cMom! Auntie\u2019s here! Can we have the smoked salmon now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:28 Sat, Jan 3 \u2191\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 6 Three Months of Silence\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
M\u00a0<\/p>\n
46\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the sound of her voice, both Nathan and Violet came out of the kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they saw it was Scarlett, the surprise in Nathan\u2019s eyes faded away in the next moment- he\u2019d never approved of her marriage to Vincent, had warned her about the Stewarts, but she\u2019d never listened. Noticing his stern expression, Violet nudged him in the elbow before turning to Scarlett with a smile, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s good that you\u2019re back-dinner will be ready soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clara stepped in front of Violet, took her hand, and said, \u201cMom, Auntie loves smoked salmon\u00a0<\/p>\n
the most! Last time I wanted to eat some, you insisted that we had to wait for Auntie to come back first. Now that Auntie\u2019s back, can I\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet tapped Clara\u2019s nose and said fondly, \u201cYou little glutton-I\u2019ll make some for you, then.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clara jumped for joy, clapping her tiny hands, her two ponytails swinging back and forth nonstop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathan, however, didn\u2019t even glance at Scarlett. He just frowned and scolded Clara coldly, \u201cYou\u2019re wasting your warmth on someone who\u2019s cold to you, yet you still keep fawning over them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett has a very happy family-her parents, elder brother, and sister-in-law all love her very much. But she had poured all her energy and love into the Stewart family, even devoting herself to that family without any regrets or complaints. Yet those sacrifices never got her as much as a thank you; instead, they only hurt her own family\u2019s feelings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, she was too ashamed to come back tonight. But when she knew the love from her family was real after all-her tough-talking but soft-hearted brother and father, her mother who wept for her every night, her gentle and sensible sister-in-law, and her cute, lively niece\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
She decided she should hold onto those who loved her and gave her warmth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Stewarts? Their coldness, their lies, their indifference? It was time to let it all\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.0K\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
A\/A\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:28 Sat, Jan 31\u00a0<\/p>\n
Awakened Housewife ignore Betrayer\u2019s Begs\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silent Dreams Never Die \u2014 Author: John Miller 6 Chapter 6 Three Months of Silence\u00a0 \u3001(46\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 When the bedroom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-impossible-condition-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}