Deirdre was moved into silence. Her tongue failed her, and it took her minutes to recover her voice finally. “Tobey, I… I’m not worth it.”She did not deserve his concern. She was a hideous, blind, formerly-incarcerated ticking time bomb whose very presence could spell trouble at any time. She did not deserve to be with a man whose life was on the ascent. Tobey’s tone darkened. “Don’t you dare look down on yourself, Deirdre. Or was that a dig at my romantic preferences?”Deirdre fell silent. “You want me to tell you the ugly truth? Okay,” he added. “Truth is, I’m taking advantage of the current you. You’re at your most vulnerable, a lonely soul crying out for companionship and a place to belong. I’m merely seizing this moment. You know why? Because I know that even now, even when it seems like I’m at the height of my life, I don’t measure up to even a fragment of the blinding splendor you used to emanate.”Deirdre had always been their school’s brightest star. Her destitute fami

Suddenly, a lone rock coursed through an arc and slammed onto her forehead. A sharp pang jolted her.Deirdre moved her hand and felt warm blood on her fingers. Her head swam in a dizzy sea of pain as she heard the children's remarks.“We know you’re in there, you freak! Don’t pretend not to hear us! It’s your eyes that are busted, not your ears! Haha, she thinks she can stay inside and say nothing, guys! Then we’ll play ‘try to hit the freak’ with her!”The children did exactly what they said they would. Rocks began to shower at her, and the fact that every single one landed at her quickly removed the possibility of coincidences. Her visage turned pale. Enough was enough. Deirdre was just about to rise when she heard the child’s unkind delight turn awry. “H-Heeeey! Who the h— What are you doing!?”There was a crash. Something was chucked onto the ground. Deirdre opened the gate and was immediately greeted by the sound of the leader’s angry tears. “How dare you lay your hands on

Deirdre lifted her head and pursed her soft lips into a polite smile. She was mesmerizing. Despite the absence of life in her damaged eyes, something in her face radiated. It summoned a wave within Kyran’s chest so violent that he had to press his lips thin to battle the urge.He extended his fingertip and wrote on her palm, ‘No need.’ Then, a moment later, he wrote, ‘Sorry for last time.’Deirdre stiffened a little, then she understood him. He was talking about their meeting during the musical. He had hurt her forehead.“It’s okay,” Deirdre replied, smiling. “I misunderstood you, that’s all. You just wanted to help. Besides, my forehead was pretty much healed by nighttime.”The man gave no response for a long beat before writing, ‘I’m still sorry.’He knew how uncomfortable Deirdre was when a stranger touched her, so he had been writing on her palm with a tin layer of tissue between his finger and her skin. His fingertip lingered in the middle of her hand before waltzing around

As for the man’s looks… The anxiety bubbling within her mind made Madame Russell frown. She had always believed her son to be handsome, so much so that he could sit comfortably among typical male leads in a romantic drama. But this guy?He looked like what happened when God decided to show her just how premature her conclusion was.Madame Russell quickly took up Deirdre’s hand. “Mr. Reed?”The man did not answer.Deirdre spoke on his behalf. “He can’t speak, Madame Russell. He’s mute.”“Mute?” The older woman parroted. A new hint of pity colored her gaze. She could not help herself—she had imagined a man who looked as gorgeous as this young one would speak with a dulcet voice.“Yea. He helped me, Madame Russell. Some of the kids in the village threw rocks into the yard while I was walking, and it was Mr. Reed who chased them away. Then he helped me plow.”At that moment, Madame Russell turned her attention away from Kyran to the bandage on her forehead. Her heart ached. “What

“Well, there you have it!” Deirdre chuckled. “He’s handsome and a friend of Mr. King, which means he’s also rich, isn’t he? Why would someone like that take a liking to a random blind woman in some backwater village? It’s just weird! I mean, I doubt his disability hardly hurt his desirability. I wouldn’t meet his standard even if he lowered it!”“Lord, I swear…” Madame Russell faltered. How was she supposed to tell her about Kyran’s stormy scowl the moment she emphasized on Deirdre being hers?And which handsome, rich Prince Charming would deign himself with menial labor for a woman he just met? Aristocrats like these probably lived their entire lives without ever touching any kind of work tool!“Come on, Madame Russell.” Deirdre cooed reassuringly. She wrapped her arm around the older woman’s. “Mr. Reed accidentally injured my forehead last night, so today, he came to apologize and help to make it up for me. He’s not interested in me, okay? And it’s impossible, too. My conditions a

To Eilis’ credit, she would not let some old woman walk all over her. Scowling, she rebuked, “Oh, really? Your Bobby is also the same gremlin who stole O’Connor’s harvest and beat up other kids every few days in a week, ain’t he? How many people complained to the village head about this? I lost count. Now you’re telling me the same lad is somehow incapable of lying?”Mrs. Boebert’s eyes widened in rage. Livid, she knocked over their potatoes to the ground.Glaring, Eilis yelled, “What the heck!?”Everyone in the village knew just how much trouble Mrs. Boebert posed. She had always been the type to bully others with her seniority. “You just accused my grandson without proof, Eilis!” Mrs. Boebert shrieked. She yanked Bobby’s arm and pulled him into the fray, her wrinkled finger training at a little sore spot on his forehead. “You see this? Bobby has never—I say never!—been bullied by anyone all his life, so how about one of you do some explaining right now before I drag this out all

Few could endure the optics of a bawling old woman. Naturally, some of the bystanders were compelled to mediate.“Come on, Eilis! Look at Mrs. Boebert. She’s so old and can barely walk on her own these days. You can’t possibly think she came to you, despite the difficulty, just so she could slander you in public, right?“Besides, nobody wants an unresolvable conflict among ourselves, right? This is a small place, Eilis. Tell, uh, that girl to apologize and get this over with.”“Amen to that! We are a tight-knit community. We know everyone here, drink the same water, and live under the same sky. It doesn’t do any of us good if the community splits because of something so trivial, right? Something as trivial as picking a fight with a little kid, too! If I may be frank, Eilis, do you really think that young lass is as trustworthy as you hope?”Their comments were like thorns stinging Deirdre’s chest. Eilis, however, was having none of it. “That’s enough!” She erupted in rage.Even

Mrs. Boebert was shocked. She could not even find the words to refute them. “W-Why you—”Suddenly, a steady rhythm of footsteps approached them. Declan King’s jocular tone sounded. “Whoa! What’s going on here? Are you guys having a party here?”Deirdre clenched her fists instinctively. She could not help but be worried. Kyran could not possibly be with him, right? If he were… Bobby might suddenly switch his target and name Kyran, the culprit. Then, because the young man was mute, Mrs. Boebert would bulldoze him even harder with a one-sided argument!To Deirdre’s relief, Declan added, “Okay. Why does everyone look so intense? Is this because I’m crashing the party or something?”He said ‘I’, not ‘we.’ Declan was alone this time.Mrs. Boebert had seized the chance to slink away from the fray with Bobby in tow. Maybe she was afraid of taking up Deirdre’s medical costs after all. Either way, the rest of the crowd broke off soon enough, leaving a slightly nonplussed Declan with Deirdre

No, it was not because she had the compassion of the Virgin Mary. Nope, it was definitely not because her heart bled for the pitiful and destitute. She only agreed to join the party as a form of thanks. Yeap, definitely as a form of thanks for those two times Kyran helped her. Deirdre had received Tobey’s call by the time she got out of the vehicle. Standing by the roadside, she could not help but note the fatigue in Tobey’s voice, no matter how gentle he was. “Going to a dinner tonight with my mom, Dee?”Deirdre was not surprised that he knew. Madame Russell must have told him. “Yeah.”“Okay. Be careful, please. Don’t drink. If I recall correctly, you aren’t exactly a drinker. Just tell them you’re allergic to alcohol, and they will definitely leave you alone in fear.” Tobey quipped. “Go home as soon as it’s over, please.”“I know, Toby. I know.” She chirped. His voice was reassuring—the way a kind-hearted big brother’s was. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your mom won’t drink too

The stairs proved themselves to be almost a little too fancy. Sometimes it was a wide, flat platform. Sometimes, it had a series of narrow steps. And that was not counting the twists and bends, too!Deirdre was hopeless against the stairs’ unpredictable aesthetics. She finally miscalculated and missed her step. Before she fell, though, she felt a firm hand holding her tightly by her waist. It was warm and strong, and it helped her regain her footing. Deirdre immediately knew it belonged to Kyran.Eilis panicked so hard that her face turned white. She only sighed in relief when she saw Deirdre was all right. Patting her chest, she cried, “Thank God you’re here, Mr. Reed! Thank you! She could have seriously hurt herself if she fell from here!”Declan snickered. “Well, it’s not like Kyran’s famous for being seriously meticulous and observant… Or that he’s been quietly guarding Miss McKinnon’s six… Or that he’s readied himself to catch her the moment she trips, right?” he teased.D