Chapter 2 The Most Familiar Strangers

Seeing that, Josephine trembled slightly. She thought he was mad, so she quickly signed, “You don’t like the porridge?”

Lewis tugged at his collar, looking somewhat annoyed. “It’s not that. Finish up quickly.”

If he wouldn’t eat, Josephine wouldn’t too. She stood up and started cleaning up the dishes.

Lewis stared coldly at her, wordless.

Once she was done, she went upstairs to get changed. Lewis was already waiting for her inside the car.

As the car drove on the road, the scenery on both sides quickly receded. Josephine turned to watch the view passing by outside.

Josephine first went to Alvarez Manor at a very young age. It was Alan Alvarez who had brought her there. Old Mr. Alvarez loved her very much and treated her like his own granddaughter.

Before he passed away, he was always saying how he couldn’t let his Josie go.

Three years ago, as Alan was approaching the end of his life, he urged Lewis to marry her so that he could finally rest in peace.

He said that he would be worried if Josie married someone else, but if she married Lewis, then he could die with no regrets.

At that time, Lewis had a girlfriend, Sierra.

Perhaps it was because they grew up together or perhaps it was because he had made a promise to Alan, Lewis was forced to marry Josephine. He didn’t give her the cold shoulder, nor did he make things difficult for her.

But that was all. He didn’t love her.

He would never call her Josie in a gentle voice anymore.

They became the most familiar strangers.

Alvarez Manor was exceptionally lively today. They were having a celebration party because Lewis’ younger sister Daphne had given birth to a son.

Josephine trailed behind Lewis as they navigated through the throng of crowds and arrived in the main hall.

There, Nancy Alvarez was playing with her grandson in her arms, smiling and laughing. But as soon as she caught sight of Josephine, her face immediately darkened.

Josephine greeted her, but she pretended as if she didn’t see it and continued talking to her daughter.

“They say that nephews usually look like their uncles. But I must say that this little guy looks exactly like Lewis did when he was young.”

Daphne Alvarez caressed the baby’s cheeks and smiled. “Everyone keeps saying that he looks like Lewis, but I just don’t see it.”

Nancy shook the baby’s little hand and grinned kindly. “Of course, you don’t. When Lewis was your age, you weren't even born yet.”

Even though Josephine was ignored, she wasn’t angry. She just stood quietly on the side.

“Mom,” Lewis called out.

It was only then that Nancy turned and responded nonchalantly, “You’re here? Don’t just stand there. Come sit.”

Daphne glanced at Josephine and asked as soon as Lewis sat down, “Lewis, you guys need to hurry up. When are you planning to have a child?”

Without waiting for a response, Nancy snorted disdainfully. “Don’t cheer him on. It’s already embarrassing enough for our family to have someone who can’t speak. If they give birth to a mute baby, how are we going to uphold our reputation?”

Upon hearing this, Lewis glanced at Josephine who was standing quietly beside him. Her head was hung low, so he couldn’t see her emotions clearly.

Daphne obviously hadn’t come with good intentions considering how she mentioned having a child at this moment.

Everyone knew that Josephine was pregnant last year, but Nancy was afraid that she would give birth to a mute child, so she forced her to have an abortion.

When Lewis found out, he didn't say anything, which made Josephine, who already had a low status in the family, even more insignificant.

If that child was born, they would be nearly half a year old by now.

Except for Alan, no one in the family liked Josephine.

Daphne hated her even more than Nancy did, and it started when they were really young.

Josephine came to the Alvarez family when she was five years old, and Daphne bullied her because she couldn't speak. She locked her in the storage room, burned her hair with a lighter, and even pushed her down from the top of the stairs once but was caught by Lewis.

After that, he gave Daphne a scolding. At that time, she already disliked her grandfather's favoritism toward Josephine, so how could she not hate her when even her beloved brother scolded her because of the girl?

Back then, Josephine didn’t know how to use sign language or write, let alone complain. Later, Daphne became even more ruthless in bullying her. She would take it out on Josephine whenever she was even slightly unhappy.

Now that they had grown up, she stopped using such lowly means. Her favorite trick now was to kill with words.

"Muteness is a recessive genetic trait. As long as you have regular check-ups, the chances of passing it on are not that high," Daphne said.

Nancy massaged her temple and responded, "Alright. Why are you talking about this? I'm just worried for Josephine. If the child has a problem, she’ll be the one who suffers. Am I right? Lewis, don’t you agree?"