Seven Years of Stolen Silence

Seven Years of Stolen Silence

Noah · Completed · 7.1k Words

940
Hot
1.2k
Views
57
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

For seven years of marriage, I've been silent in front of my wife.
It's not that I don't have anything to say; it's just that she can hear everyone's voice—except mine, which seems to trigger her sensitivity.
I've tried everything to change my voice, even going under the knife to fix my vocal cords.
But no matter how hard I try, she just ends up in pain, covering her ears.
I've broken down countless times, feeling like I've let her down.
Until the day of our daughter's birthday.
My daughter stood at the front door, grinning, and said, "Mom, can I pretend to be voice-sensitive like you?"

Chapter 1

For seven years of marriage, I've been silent in front of my wife, Elena.

She can hear everyone's voice, but my voice gives her unbearable headaches. Doctors say it's an extremely rare case of "auditory hypersensitivity," and there's no cure.

To ease her discomfort, I've tried everything, even sneaking off to a hidden clinic in Brooklyn for a vocal cord surgery to permanently lower my pitch. But no matter what I do, as soon as I speak, she covers her ears in pain.

I've broken down countless times, drowning in self-loathing, feeling like a burden to her. So much so that when I was knocked down by a speeding e-scooter, I bit my lip hard to keep from crying out.

Today is our daughter Chloe's sixth birthday.

As I heard the door open, I hid in the kitchen, holding a cupcake with a lit candle, ready to surprise them.

They just walked in.

Chloe yanked the special noise-canceling earplugs off Elena and tossed them onto the Persian rug in the foyer.

"Mom, can I pretend to be sensitive to sound like you?" Chloe's bright voice echoed in the living room. "That way, I can talk to Dad Liam every day and ignore that annoying mute!"

My hand trembled, nearly dropping the cake.

Elena didn't get mad. Instead, she gently ruffled Chloe's golden hair, soothing her, "What if your dad finds out? Just wait a few years; when you're in high school, you can tell him you suddenly became sensitive to sound too."

"No way! He's too dumb to notice I'm faking it," Chloe laughed, showing no respect for her father.

Elena hesitated, then chuckled, "Alright, just be careful."

My heart felt like it was gripped by a cold hand. For years, I've anxiously taken Chloe to the best medical center on the Upper East Side, terrified she'd inherit Elena's "condition." Every time the specialists said her hearing was normal, I'd hide in the hallway, tearing up with relief.

Now, I realized I was the real fool.

After they changed clothes and went to their room, I numbly walked over and picked up the earplug, shoving it into my own ear.

A catchy pop song flooded my senses, the sound crisp and painfully clear.

I felt like I had plunged into an ice pit, utterly hopeless.

That evening, we celebrated at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

Halfway through the meal, Chloe suddenly covered her ears, feigning pain. "Dad, my ears hurt a bit. Can you take me to the hospital?"

Faced with her poor acting, which I already knew was a ruse, I suddenly found I didn't even have the strength to gesture in sign language.

For the first time in seven years, I spoke in front of Elena: "Okay."

Due to severe damage to my vocal cords, my voice came out hoarse and broken, like sandpaper scraping glass—so unfamiliar even to myself.

Chloe frowned, seemingly disappointed by my lack of reaction. If I didn't know the truth, I would've been tearing up, scooping her up and rushing to the ER.

But now, I just felt nauseous.

"Dad, how can you talk?" Chloe slammed her silver fork down, raising her voice to scold me. "Mom's going to get a headache again! Can't you just shut up? And your voice is really awful, did you know that?"

She paused, puffing up her cheeks. "And you're not even concerned about me! You always pretended to care about my hearing, but it was all a lie! Because of you, I don't even want to eat my steak!"

I looked at this child I had raised, finally seeing her for who she truly was.

"My voice is awful because I did it for your mom," I said coldly, "and after your birthday, you can go to the hospital with her. I'm busy."

Because of Elena's "sensitivity," I had silenced myself, suppressing my voice every day.

Seeing her in pain because of me twisted my heart like a knife.

Once the lead singer of a college rock band, I had now become a half-mute with a terrifying voice.

Elena suddenly looked up, pressing her hands to her forehead, spasming in pain.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry. Hearing your voice makes me feel sick again..." Elena frowned tightly. "It's my fault; otherwise, you wouldn't be so unhappy. But Chloe might have inherited my condition. If she ends up as sensitive to your voice as I am, please don't be mad at her, okay?"

Chloe seemed touched by her words and hugged Elena's arm, cooing, "Mommy loves me the most."

I silently watched this mother-daughter duo perform in front of me, feeling the absurdity of it all.

"I won't get mad." I took a sip of soda, my tone eerily calm. "But we've been married for seven years, and you still haven't adjusted to my voice. Maybe we just aren't meant to be."

I set down the glass, staring into her blue eyes. "If that's the case, let's contact a lawyer for a divorce."

Elena froze, seemingly shocked that I, the usually submissive one, would dare to say those words.

But Chloe suddenly jumped up, excitedly waving her arms. "Mom, let's text Dad Liam the good news! He'll be so happy!"

Just then, Liam walked in, dressed in a trendy Burberry coat, carrying a bunch of expensive shopping bags.

Chloe couldn't contain herself and rushed over, wrapping her arms around his leg.

"Dad Liam!"

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

919.6k Views · Completed · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

430.4k Views · Completed · Lily
"White wolf! Kill that monster!"
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

3.7k Views · Ongoing · Miranda Carr
I never knew my blood could kill a king—until I met one. Sebastian, the ruthless and immortal King, rules with precision. For centuries, he's ruled with ruthless precision, his heart as cold as the stone throne beneath him. One moment, I'm nothing. The next, I'm his obsession. His touch burns like ice fire. His stare follows me through shadows. And when he feeds from me—God help me—it feels like drowning in darkness and craving more. He tells me my blood is unlike any he's tasted, that my scent drives him to the edge of madness.


He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
Goddess Of The Underworld

Goddess Of The Underworld

910.1k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Left at a pack border with a name and a stubborn heartbeat, Envy grows into the sharpest kind of survivor, an orphaned warrior who knows how to hold a line and keep moving. Love isn’t in the plan…until four alpha wolves with playboy reputations and inconveniently soft hands decide the girl who won’t bow is the only queen they’ll ever take. Their mate. The one they have waited for. Xavier, Haiden, Levi, and Noah are gorgeous, lethal, and anything but perfect and Envy isn’t either. She’s changing. First into hell hound, Layah at her heels and fire in her veins. Then into what the realm has been waiting for, a Goddess of the Underworld, dragging her mates down to hell with her.

When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
The CEO's Unspoken Love

The CEO's Unspoken Love

358.9k Views · Completed · Lily Bronte
"You want my forgiveness?" he asked, my voice dropping to a dangerous timbre.

Before I could answer, he moved closer, suddenly looming over me, his face inches from mine. I felt my breath caught, my lips parting in surprise.

"Then this is the price for speaking ill of me to others," he murmured, nipping my lower lip before claiming my mouth in a real kiss. It began as punishment but quickly transformed into something else entirely as I responded, my initial rigidity melting into compliance, then active participation.

My breathing accelerated, small sounds escaping my throat as he explored my body. His touches were both punishment and pleasure, drawing shudders from me that I thought he felt reverberating through his own body.

My nightgown had ridden up, his hands discovering more of mine with each caress. We were both lost in sensation, rational thought receding with each passing second...

Three years ago, to fulfill the wish of his grandmother, I was forced to marry Derek Wells, the second son of the family that had adopted me for ten years. He didn't love me, but I had secretly loved him all along.

Now, the three-year contractual marriage is about to end, but I feel that some kind of sentiment has developed between Derek and me that neither of us is willing to admit. I'm not sure if my feelings are right, but I know that we can't resist each other physically...
The Deadly Mafia Princess

The Deadly Mafia Princess

9.2k Views · Ongoing · Tonje Unosen
Ro was taken from her real family when she was 1 year old. Those she believed is her parents have been abusive towards her do years. Despite she being a very feared gang leader of a well known gang, she can’t find it in her to stand up against what she think is her parents. The little girl in her wants their love which she never will get.
Her gang take the matter in their own hands, to try to save their leader from the horror of her home. What none of them know, they wasn’t her real parents, and now Ro will be sent away to live with her real family. That makes her closest members in her gang pack up and move as well. They don’t want to be far away from their leader.
Reborn To Rule: I Will Seize The Throne!

Reborn To Rule: I Will Seize The Throne!

2.2k Views · Ongoing · Khira
"Aveline Ashkaar." Rhaedon's voice was low as his golden eyes held mine. "The moment you offered yourself to become my Luna, everything about you became mine. Your life, your obedience, your blood... including the abilities that flow through it."

He paused, his gaze never leaving mine.

"And I don't share what's mine."



I died on my son's death anniversary, betrayed by the man I'd devoted my entire life to, and the woman who stood by, smiling as I took my last breath… was my very own sister.

When I opened my eyes again, I was five years in the past—before the betrayal, before my death and before the beginning of it all.

This time, I refused to marry the man who destroyed me.

Instead, I walked straight into the arms of the only man the entire Empire feared—Crown Prince Alpha Rhaedon Ashkaar.

Rhaedon was everything Lucien wasn't.

Dangerous. Competent. Powerful.

And the perfect weapon for my revenge.

He wanted the throne. I wanted vengeance.

It should have been the perfect alliance, but revenge was never that simple.

With every step I took toward my revenge, another secret from my first life came to light. The deeper I dug, the more I realized I wasn't the only one playing this game.

And by the time I uncovered the truth...

Walking away from Rhaedon Ashkaar was no longer an option.
LOVING MY BILLIONAIRE STEPSON

LOVING MY BILLIONAIRE STEPSON

2k Views · Completed · Michael UDE
Before meeting Elliot Winter, Michelle’s life was a routine of beatings from her drunk dad to juggling part-time jobs. He was handsome, loaded, and had a smile that could melt ice.

There was also a twenty-year age gap between them, Michelle didn't care because their relationship was the only ray of sunshine in her rather bleak world. And when he popped the question she was more than happy to say yes. Michelle thought she had found her happily ever after, but she couldn't have been more wrong. With each year that passed Elliot became more of a stranger and less of the man she had fallen for, neglecting her and looking the other way when his mother treated her poorly, that was until the day their 5th anniversary rolled around, she caught him in bed with her sister.

Her love is replaced by hate, a swooning affection now burning rage. Well, two could play that game. That night, she dials her stepson's number with a single text that will change their lives forever.

‘I need you tonight’
Taking what she wants ( Love and Revenge )

Taking what she wants ( Love and Revenge )

1.9k Views · Completed · Nia Kas
Rayna: Why?, why did i agree to Marry Aridan Wolfe?. REVENGe thats why. I thought by doing that i would be repaying my sister and parents for the shit they put me through but no. what started as a contract ended up being more. Adrian made it clear he wanted me but i didn't want him. a few months ago i returned to the house i was kicked out of to seek help from my parents to save my grandfather. I ended up in a car crash that i couldn't remember and who did i hit?. Manfred Wolfe. From going to jail and marrying Adrian all to prove i wasn't guilty. I thought i was free but life had other plans for me. my sister Camry wanted Adrian and I was out for revenge so i took him away but what i didn't expect was for him to drop the act and be real with me.

Adrian : Her careless and don't give a fuck attitude bothered me. when it was confirmed she wasn't responsible for the accident , i let her go but truth be told she had gotten under my skin. When I saw the chance of having her i took it. i could help that I had fucked her sister months prior. her family wanted me to leave her and marry her sister but that wasn't happening and they weren't going to stop. Some of my family members decided they wanted the family business and thought they could use Rayna to get to me but little did they know , the woman I married was a fucking demon and she was out for blood, her family and mine.

I looked at her laying in my arms and couldn't help but smile. she was finally mine.
Let Them Kneel

Let Them Kneel

235.1k Views · Ongoing · My Fantasy Stories
Kaelani spent her life believing she was wolfless.
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.

But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.

Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.

When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.

For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.

Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.

But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.

And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.

Especially him.

She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.

Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

1.5m Views · Ongoing · Louisa
Dear readers, this novel is coming to an end soon. I highly recommend another fantastic story of the same genre:


I’d appreciate all your support, thank you so much!
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.

On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...

Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.

George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.

His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"

Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.

When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.

"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"

George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
Where The Ice Gives Way

Where The Ice Gives Way

32k Views · Ongoing · Sheridan Hartin
Charlotte Pierce is used to surviving in motion. New towns, new schools, the same old house on the edge of nowhere, and the same rule that keeps her standing. Keep her twin brother, Charlie safe. Keep his hockey dream alive. Keep her own needs quiet. She works too much, sleeps too little, and saves the one thing that still feels like hers for the middle of the night, when she can lace up her worn skates and carve freedom into dangerous frozen ice. Charlotte and Charlie shifted once, years ago, and never understood what it meant. They had no pack, no guidance and no protection. Just two twins clinging to each other and pretending the voice in their heads was stress, imagination, or loneliness. Then they move to Wellington.
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)

Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.