CHAPTER 5 — THREE YEARS OF SILENCE
I remembered the day I first brought Hannah home.
She wore a simple light-blue dress.
No expensive jewelry.
No powerful family standing behind her.
Just a gentle smile.
My mother had looked her up and down.
Then she had asked:
“You're really going to marry this girl?”
I laughed.
I thought my mother simply needed time to adjust.
Hannah smiled too.
She said:
“I'll try my best to make you like me.”
My mother replied:
“Don't bother.”
I should have realized it then.
But I didn't.
For three years, Hannah kept giving in.
She never argued.
Never insulted my mother.
Never asked me to choose between them.
Until today.
When I saw those red marks around her wrists...
I realized her silence wasn't weakness.
It was endurance.
And I had taken advantage of that endurance simply because I didn't want to confront my mother.
I looked at Hannah.
“I'm sorry.”
She shook her head.
“It's not your fault.”
“It is.”
I spoke slowly.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“But I chose not to look.”
Tears filled her eyes again.
May you like
I held her.
This time, I didn't let her wipe away her own tears
