The Day Silence Spoke novel Chapter 10

The bottle shattered with a sickening crack. Liquor and blood streamed down Nikita’s face, blurring her vision. It happened so fast that no one had time to react. No one could have imagined she would be so vicious—to herself.

“Nikita!” Killian’s eyes widened in horror. He caught her as she swayed.

“What are you doing?” he roared. This stubborn girl would rather break her own head than bow it.

Nikita leaned against him, taking a moment to steady herself. She looked at Clifford. “Is that enough? If not, I can go again.”

She reached for another bottle, but Killian stopped her. He was furious now. He turned to Clifford, his eyes red with rage. “Clifford, we’ve known each other for almost thirty years. Are you really going to take it this far tonight?”

It was at that moment that Latisha walked in. She rushed to Nikita’s side, her eyes filling with tears of guilt as she saw the blood matting her friend’s hair.

“What are you doing here?” Nikita asked weakly.

Clifford’s brow furrowed. “Who told you to come?”

From his corner, Flint mumbled, “Uh… I did.”

Latisha’s gaze shifted from Nikita to Clifford, and then to Yesenia, who sat beside him like a queen on her throne.

Latisha walked purposefully toward them.

Yesenia instinctively grabbed Clifford’s arm, a gesture that was part fear, part a declaration of ownership.

Nikita started to move toward her, but Killian held her back, pressing a wad of napkins to her bleeding head.

Yesenia tightened her grip on Clifford’s arm, terrified he might soften.

Latisha tilted her face up, and a single tear rolled down her cheek, making her look utterly pitiful. She raised her hands again. *Clifford, I won’t go back to work. I’ll never go back. Please, don’t do this to Nikita. Please.*

He stared at her slender fingers. He remembered when she was first learning sign language, asking her what a certain sign meant. She had told him it meant “brother.”

Only she knew the truth. It was his name. She had never once called him brother.

The room was deathly quiet. Everyone watched as Latisha humbled herself before her husband and his mistress, her dignity stripped away.