The Day Silence Spoke novel Chapter 118

Latisha realized she was now on the sofa. She remembered Clifford’s warning, and looking at Santino’s face, she felt a chill run down her spine. If he knew everything and could still act so nonchalant, then his deception was truly terrifying.

*Thank you. I’m fine now.*

“Good to know,” Santino said, his smile never wavering. His gaze drifted to the packets of medicine on the coffee table. “Are you feeling unwell?”

Latisha snatched the medicine and shoved it into a drawer. *Just a small cold.*

Santino nodded. “You should still be careful. The flu this season is nasty.”

She stared at him. He seemed to have no intention of leaving. She signed, *Clifford is with Yesenia. He probably won’t be back tonight.*

The subtext was clear: he should leave.

But he either didn't understand or chose to ignore it. “This is his home. Of course he’ll be back. I can wait. I’ve already been waiting this long.”

Latisha fell silent. Being alone with him filled her with a sense of unease, a familiar dread like the suffocating feeling from her dream. She even wondered if he had been the one to cover her mouth and nose while she was unconscious, trying to kill her.

She stood up and, on the pretense of getting him a glass of water, moved to a chair across from him, putting some distance between them.

Santino’s smile never left his face. His slightly curled, medium-length hair cast soft shadows on his features, making him look deceptively gentle.

“Latisha,” he said suddenly, “there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

She looked up at him.

“Clifford spends all his time with Yesenia Winslet. Doesn’t that bother you?”

Latisha was taken aback. She hadn’t expected him to ask such a direct question.

Latisha glanced at it. It had only a name and a phone number.

“You can contact him.”

With those quiet words, Santino stood up. “It seems Clifford isn’t coming back after all. I should go.”

He turned and left, disappearing as quickly as he had arrived. Other than the business card on the table, it was as if he had never been there at all.

Latisha reached out and picked up the card. She stared at the phone number, her mind a blank. Her fingers tightened around the card as memories of the past few weeks flooded her mind: the baby that had been torn from her, Nikita being humiliated in the street, Mrs. Dashiell being taken away… and the doctor’s warning.

All of it was choking her, making every breath a struggle.

Almost as if in a trance, she took out her phone, typed in the number, and added the contact on WhatsApp. The friend request was accepted in three seconds.