Chapter 1Broken Frequencies: The Price of Silence

Liam Parker was a stray dog.

When he finally got bored of me, he threw me to his new flame, Tiffany Sterling, and her pack of wolves.

That day, my hearing aid was ripped from my ear.

It tumbled down the concrete stairs, shattering into pieces.

I felt the warm, metallic taste of blood filling my mouth.

Everything went blurry as a crowd gathered.

"Call 911!"

"Is Clara Miller dying?"

"Are they going to jail for this?"

Liam shoved through the crowd, his hands trembling as he wrapped his jacket around me.

He screamed, his voice raw with a desperation I hadn’t heard in years, as he carried me toward the emergency room.

He finally looked like he regretted it.

He regretted leaving me to rot in Tiffany’s shadow.

* * *

When I was five, my parents’ marriage was a battlefield. My father was a heavy drinker.

I remember walking up to him, my voice tiny. "Daddy, please. No more beer."

Crack.

"You're the reason we're stuck in this hole! I work my tail off just to keep a roof over your head, you little brat!"

His palm collided with my face.

The force sent me sprawling across the hardwood floor.

The pain was a white-hot flash.

Then came the ringing—a high, sharp whine that seemed to come from inside my skull.

Something wet and warm leaked from my ear.

I touched it, staring at my crimson-stained fingers in a daze.

"You monster! How could you lay a hand on her?"

My mother screamed, rushing into the room to scoop me up.

She checked my face, her eyes wide with terror.

"Clara? Why is there blood?"

"Mommy, my ear hurts... I can't hear you. Why are you so quiet?"

"You can't hear? Clara... baby, don't scare me."

She rushed me to the ER.

After the tests, she held my hand so tight it hurt.

"Doctor, please. Tell me she's okay."

"Her left eardrum is ruptured," the doctor said, his voice grim. "She’s going to need a hearing aid. Likely for the rest of her life."

My mother’s face went pale. "A hearing aid... you mean she’s... deaf?"

"She’s just a child. What kind of person hits a kid that hard?"