He Mocked the Voice I Ruined to Save Him novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Voice

Gianna's POV

My mother's office had a window that looked down on the lake.

She laid the scan on the desk between us, and she did not push it toward me.

"The odds are the same as the day of your scan," she said.

"Six chances in ten that it improves. Three that nothing changes. One that it gets worse."

"I remember."

"I will do it whenever you say. Or never. You are my daughter, and the choice is yours."

It was a month since the wedding.

Chicago had not paid the Sartoris a cent since.

Salvatore's first check to Dario had come on the twenty-ninth day, with no note. The Sartoris' first repayment check to Chicago had come on the thirtieth.

Nobody had locked a door on me once.

"Can I say it out loud?" I asked.

"You can say anything."

I looked at the lake.

"I thought I would feel different when it was over," I said.

"I thought I would want the old voice back. The one that sang in the school choir."

"And?"

"I don't miss her." I turned to face my mother.

"She never dragged a man forty feet. I like who I got instead."

Teresa did not smile. Her eyes filled.

"That is not an answer about the surgery," she said gently.

"It's the answer. No."

"Not now?"

"Not ever. Not for them, and not so anyone will like the sound of me better."

I put my hand flat on the scan.

"If I ever want it, it will be because I want it. You'll be the first one I call."

My mother stood and came around the desk and held my face in both hands.

"There's the woman I wanted to raise," she said, and her voice shook.

She kissed my forehead and went out, to give me the room.

← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →

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