The Day Silence Spoke novel Chapter 166

He pulled the blanket away from her head. “Sit up and eat.”

Latisha just shook her head. But he slid an arm behind her, forcing her into a sitting position. He held a spoonful of soup to her lips. She clamped her mouth shut, refusing.

“Be good. Open your mouth.”

She turned her head away, her defiance clear.

“Latisha,” he said, his tone sharpening. “It seems this soup isn’t to your liking.”

She froze.

He continued, his voice dangerously calm, “Then it seems this chef is no longer necessary.”

Her head snapped back around, her eyes wide with disbelief. His gaze was glacial; he wasn’t joking. She stared at him, her heart pounding. In the past, she might have thought he was just trying to scare her, but after what happened with Nikita, she no longer doubted his capacity for cruelty.

“Are you going to eat or not?” Clifford asked one last time.

Latisha lowered her eyes for a moment, then leaned forward and accepted the spoon.

Clifford’s expression relaxed, a faint smirk playing on his lips. He began to feed her slowly, methodically. She ate in silence, swallowing each spoonful until the bowl was empty.

Only then did he let her lie back down. She turned her back to him, but her eyes were wide open. Sleep was impossible. She stared at the window, where fine droplets of rain clung to the glass. The sky outside was a dreary, uniform gray. Though it was daytime, the bedroom lights cast a reflection on the pane.

In it, she could see him, sitting beside her, looking down at her.

She closed her eyes, refusing to see anymore.

A few moments later, he left. Only when she heard the door click shut did she open her eyes again.

For the next few days, Clifford checked on her morning, noon, and night, making sure she ate her meals and took her medicine. As her body began to mend, his visits became less frequent. He went back to the office as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Santino nodded. “Thank you for your trust.”

Clifford’s smile widened as the elevator doors opened. They stepped inside, the silence between them thick with unspoken tension.

As soon as Clifford reached his office, Selah Madison knocked and entered.

“Mr. Lambert,” she began, “Latisha has been out for almost half a month. It’s strange. Ziven was the one who brought her in, but when I asked him about her, he said he had no idea what was going on.”

Clifford picked up a file from his desk, not looking up. “File a leave of absence for her.”

Selah paused. “Very well. For how long?”

“A month.”

“A month? That’s… against company policy. Especially for a new hire. It might cause some resentment among the other staff.”