Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 32: Pillow Talk

Isaac reached out and picked Kiki up, tickling her.

Kiki giggled, her pretty little face flushing pink, and her doll tumbled to the floor.

Isaac kept an arm around her as he bent down to pick up the doll and handed it to her.

Kiki hugged the doll and signed to Isaac: Brother, when can we go see Sister-in-law?

Sylvia hadn’t expected her daughter to like Natalie so much—her feelings were complicated.

Isaac signed: Why do you want to see her?

Kiki raised the doll in her hands.

Isaac understood, signing: You want to give her this doll?

Kiki nodded and snuggled back into his arms, shy.

Sylvia hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

——

During class, Natalie couldn’t help pulling out her phone to scroll through her chat with Isaac.

They’d been out of contact for three whole days now.

That day, when she overheard Isaac telling Jason on video that he might not come back to Seaharbor, she’d been tempted to reach out afterward—but in the end, she hadn’t contacted him.

After class, as she left the classroom, Natalie ran right into Jessica.

Jessica was hanging on the arm of a tall, mixed-race-looking guy, chatting and laughing; suddenly, the guy pinned her against the wall and started to kiss her hungrily.

It was just between classes so the corridor was crowded, but the two acted as if no one else existed, totally uninhibited.

Natalie walked right past the two of them.

Jessica, arms around the guy’s neck, had her eyes lazily closed—until Natalie passed by. Then she suddenly opened her eyes, catching Natalie’s silhouette.

Restroom.

Natalie came out of a stall to see Jessica fixing her makeup in the mirror.

Her lipstick had been all but eaten away, and her lips were slightly swollen—a testament to what just happened.

Natalie went to wash her hands. As she was drying her hands and about to leave, Jessica called out to her.

"We do know each other. There’s no harm in saying hi, is there?"

Natalie looked at her, expression icy and indifferent.

Jessica pulled out a box of ladies’ cigarettes from her bag and lit one, inhaling slowly.

"The night Jason was hospitalized, I went to a hotel with Isaac."

Hearing that, Natalie’s cool, blank face suddenly tensed up, her brows knitting together.

Jessica caught her reaction, smiling. "But nothing happened between us."

She paused, then went on. "My paperwork for transferring schools is done. We might run into each other occasionally from now on. But if you want to play strangers, let’s just be strangers from now on."

Natalie: "Why are you telling me this?"

Jessica shrugged. "Isaac’s got dirt on me."

She picked up her bag and, passing by Natalie, tossed over her shoulder: "I was just afraid you’d badmouth me to him when you got home."

*

That night, Natalie went to the hospital, holding bags of the little eats Jason specifically asked for.

Some of the shops were far apart, and she spent quite a bit of time running around and packing things up—she was sweating by the time she finished.

Outside the hospital room.

She reached out to push open the door, and instantly heard a familiar male voice.

Wasn’t he not coming back to Seaharbor?

Natalie pressed her lips together and walked in.

"Took you long enough to grab a few things."

Jason called out, "Isaac, come eat with us."

Isaac gazed at the sweat beading on her forehead, his expression unreadable.

Natalie propped up the little bedside table, then placed all the takeout containers neatly in a row, opening them one by one.

Isaac stood to the side, casually dressed—tall and striking. His presence was impossible to ignore.

But from the moment Natalie walked in, she hadn’t given him a single glance, not even a sidelong one.

Isaac was so pissed he had to laugh.

Fine.

Really impressive.

Is the little deaf girl going to pretend he’s invisible now?

Natalie handed chopsticks to Jason.

"My hand’s hurt, feed me."

The minute Jason said that, Natalie almost chucked the steamed rice rolls at his face.

Her face was cold as ice. She’d barely moved to take the chopsticks when someone snatched them from her hand.

"Uncle, let me." Isaac said.

Jason was taken aback.

"Huh? Isaac..."

But before Jason could refuse, Isaac picked up a fishball and stuffed it straight in his mouth.

"Hot, hot, hot!"

Jason spat out the fishball, mouth burned and tongue numb, his face ugly.

"Uncle, are you alright? Sorry about that."

Looking at Isaac’s innocent face, Jason accepted the chopsticks with a forced smile. "I’ll just feed myself, thanks."

Isaac stepped aside, shooting a sidelong glance at Natalie—his expression hard to read, but his eyes were icy.

If he hadn’t stepped in, would she have really spoon-fed another man in front of him?

"Jason, we’re here."

At that moment, two of Jason’s rich-kid friends arrived—the very two who’d bumped into Isaac and Natalie at the bar that night.

"Yo, eating already. If you’ve got an appetite, you must be pretty much healed."

"At this rate you’ll be out in a few days and back out there raising hell again."

Jason scoffed. "Healed? I’m far from fine. I’m seriously hurt, you know."

He was deliberately saying this for Natalie’s benefit.

The two guys laughed awkwardly and said, "Well, uh, focus on recovery then."

While they chatted, Natalie quietly slipped out of the room.

She heard footsteps behind her. Pushing open the door to the nearby emergency stairwell—

"You..."

Just as she turned and was about to speak, she caught a clear look at the person behind her—and froze in shock.

It wasn’t Isaac.

It was one of Jason’s friends.

He was the one who’d been staring into the car at her that night.

Natalie’s heart dropped—she frowned, and started toward the stairwell exit.

"Hey?"

The guy stepped to the side to block her path, a sly grin on his face. "What’s the rush? Brought me here on purpose, didn’t you? Playing hard to get?"

She’d only brought him here because she thought it was Isaac behind her...

Natalie’s expression iced over. As the man inched closer, she said coldly, "Get lost!"

The guy’s expression darkened. He grabbed her shoulders, shoving her against the wall.

Natalie was caught off guard and no match for his strength—her back slammed into the wall, hard, with a dull thud.

"Quit pretending. You think no one knows your little secrets?"

The man pinched her jaw. "If you’re that easy, why not be with me? I’ll treat you real good."

As he finished, he bent down to kiss her.

Natalie turned her face away, shoving him with all her strength.

"Tch. Acting coy, are you? Not afraid I’ll spill your secrets? You and Isa—"

He hadn’t finished when a powerful force yanked him away.

He lost his footing, falling back and landing hard on his ass, cursing in pain.

Looking up, he saw Isaac looming over him, and his face changed instantly.

Isaac stared down at him, eyes cold and shadowed, lips twisting into a chilly, mocking smile. "What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

The guy scrambled to his feet, brushing himself off, trying to act tough. "Isaac, what the fuck was that for?"

"Shouldn’t I be asking you that?" Isaac’s smile vanished, leaving only an icy chill.

The man glanced at Natalie behind Isaac and sneered. "Isaac, don’t think I don’t know."

"Oh? What exactly do you know?"