Chapter 2
Jasper didn’t come home all night. When he returned the next evening, he had changed clothes. He walked to me with a bouquet of jasmine, arranging them in a vase one by one. “Jasper,” I called his name, “Have you gathered all the evidence? About Celeste.” Hearing Celeste’s name, Jasper’s hand paused, a hint of guilt in his eyes, but he quickly said, “Not yet. Those people took hush money from the Liang family and are tight-lipped, afraid of retaliation.” At seventeen, Jasper went to study in the U.S., and I stayed home to accompany my grandmother. Because I helped a classmate, Celeste and her group targeted me. Dirty water poured over my head, centipedes in my water cup, dead mice in my pencil case… shards of glass in my knee, cigarette burns on my shoulder, and a curling iron burn on my arm. I sought help, but the Liang family had connections, and no one assisted me. Until one time, I stumbled upon Celeste dating some thugs, and she called me, “Hey, cripple.” She had the thugs drag me away, and I fought hard, biting a piece of flesh off her arm. She went mad, slapped me dozens of times, and slammed my head into the wall. When I woke up, I saw Jasper, who had rushed back to the country, holding my hand, his eyes red, repeating the same sentence. I could only understand through lip-reading, he was saying: “I’ll kill them.” To my horror, I realized I couldn’t hear. The thugs and those who bullied me ended up in jail thanks to the Shen family’s influence, except Celeste, who was sent out of the province the next day. Five years ago, the Liang family had a scandal involving a real and fake daughter, and Celeste, the fake, was kicked out. Two years ago, I saw her again, kneeling on glass, apologizing with tears: “I’m sorry.” But I wanted more than an apology; I wanted legal justice. “I want to see her tomorrow,” I told Jasper. Jasper agreed. Celeste seemed to have something on Jasper, and he made her apologize to me on her knees every month. She complied, month after month. He said it would continue until she atoned for her sins, and I forgave her. But as I returned to the room, he made a call, seemingly instructing someone, “Give those people more money, keep them quiet.” “Ugh, it’s because Nora somehow brought up Celeste again. It’s been so long, and she still can’t let it go, so troublesome.” The tone was clear annoyance, and I clutched the doorframe, heading back to my room. At that moment, my heart shattered into pieces. It wasn’t that Jasper hadn’t gathered evidence; he didn’t want to hurt Celeste, so he pretended he hadn’t. When did Jasper change? I leaned against the door, hearing him make another call, this time speaking softly and intimately to the other end: “Go back to where you were, Nora wants to see you. Don’t be scared, she won’t do anything to you.”