The Day Silence Spoke novel Chapter 178

After passing through the main gate, they drove down a long, winding road flanked by several low-rise villas, with a towering thirty-story building at its center.

Once inside the grounds, Clifford turned to her. “Stay here. You can go anywhere you want, as long as you don’t leave the hotel. Understand?”

Latisha stared at him, then made one last desperate attempt: *When can I go see—*

Before she could finish, he seized her wrist, cutting her off. “Latisha, I’m only going to say this once. Don’t ever mention Mrs. Dashiell to me again. If you dare to go see her, I promise you, it will be the last time you ever see her.”

Latisha’s pupils contracted. The threat was unmistakable. She couldn’t understand it. Why was he forbidding her from seeing Mrs. Dashiell? If he was worried about Nikita being a bad influence, what harm could an old woman do? Was she not allowed to have a single person in her life?

A surge of anger, hot and sharp, finally broke through her fear. Her eyes, red-rimmed, glared at him as she twisted her wrist, trying to break free.

She signed furiously: *Why? I’m not your dog! You have no right to stop me!*

Clifford’s gaze turned glacial.

Even the wind blowing in through the window felt sharp, piercing every cell in her body. Her suppressed grief and resentment erupted.

*Even a dog has the right to have friends!* she signed, her hands shaking. *If you want to control me that badly, why don’t you just put a chain around my neck?*

He suddenly grabbed her wrist and yanked her toward him. The seatbelt, still fastened, dug painfully into her chest. He gripped her jaw. “A dog has those rights,” he hissed, “but you don’t. Understand?”

Latisha immediately unbuckled her own belt and pulled at the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. She pounded on the window.

Ignoring her pleas, Clifford walked away without a backward glance.

She watched his retreating back until he rounded a corner and came face to face with Yesenia.

Yesenia’s face lit up as she threw herself into his arms. A fond smile touched Clifford’s lips as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. They stood there, embracing, a perfect, enviable couple.

Latisha’s hands fell from the window. She stopped pounding and simply stared at the two of them, a witness to their public display of affection.