When we fought, Noah would take off his hearing aid and throw it away. He never allowed me into his real social circle. Once, at a college reunion, someone asked him, "How do you put up with the Sterling heiress's temper?" Noah pointed to his hearing aid. "I take it off." The entire room erupted in laughter. 01 Three days after I got back from Europe, I finally returned to the apartment Noah and I shared. The moment I opened the door, it was obvious no one had lived there in a while. Even though the cleaning service came regularly, the lack of human presence was a very tangible thing. I dropped my bag at the entryway and checked the security camera logs. The logs only saved the last thirty days. In that entire month, Noah hadn't come home once. Fine. At midnight, the speakers in the master bedroom were blasting a heavy bass track. I was lying on my stomach playing a game on my phone. The music was so loud I didn't hear the front door open. When my music suddenly paused, I thought the house was haunted. I whipped my head around. Standing at the foot of the bed was Noah, wearing his silver-rimmed glasses, looking like the absolute textbook definition of a cold, calculated intellectual. "You're back?" I turned back to my game, replying casually, "Yeah, got back three days ago." Noah was silent for a long time. It wasn't until my match ended that I realized he was still standing there. He said he had been too busy lately, but promised he'd definitely come with me to my next art exhibition abroad. I looked up at him. "No need. I had a great time with my girlfriends." Later, when Noah finished his shower and got into bed next to me, I instinctively rolled over, turning my back to him. It suddenly hit me. I don't think I love Noah anymore. Tears instantly welled up, soaking my pillow. I used to think that just being by his side was enough, but human nature is greedy. I wanted Noah to love me back. On the surface, Noah played the role of the perfect, devoted boyfriend. Until that day. That was the day I realized there was an uncrossable chasm between us. He refused to let me truly get close to him. 02 The tech startup Noah currently ran was co-founded with his college roommate. When that friend got married, the invitation was sent to our apartment. Naturally, I assumed Noah would take me to the wedding as his plus-one. I picked out a wedding gift in advance, booked a makeup artist for the morning of, and selected a tasteful, elegant dress that wouldn't upstage the bride. Then the day of the wedding arrived. From quiet anticipation, to crushing disappointment, to absolute humiliation... the only thing I saw of the wedding was a group photo posted on Instagram by a mutual friend. Noah was a groomsman. And the bridesmaid standing next to him was looking up at him, her eyes sparkling with adoration. When I refreshed the app, the post was gone. I had been blocked from seeing it. I didn't want to act like a bitter, hysterical girlfriend, crying and demanding, "Why?!" I forced myself to swallow my emotions. When Noah finally came home, I was sitting on the couch scrolling through my iPad. I just casually mentioned, "You're back." As he walked through the living room, I pointed to the wrapped gift box on the coffee table. "This is the jewelry I bought for the bride. Make sure you give it to her." Noah just gave a brief "Mhm." That incident ripped a massive hole in my heart. 03 The wound finally festered and burst on Valentine's Day. I went to Noah's company to take him out to lunch. As I walked past the reception desk, I paused. The receptionist asked, "Hello, who are you here to see? Do you have an appointment?" I was just about to answer when her eyes lit up. She smiled brightly—a genuine, sweet smile, completely different from her customer-service face. "Mr. Wright! Good afternoon!" In that split second, the group photo from the wedding flashed in my mind. I remembered. This receptionist was the bridesmaid. I took a step forward, and Noah's executive assistant, Mark, tactfully took a step back. I hooked my arm directly through Noah's. "I'm here to see your boss. Do I need an appointment?" I was looking at Noah, but the words were aimed entirely at the receptionist. It was Mark who answered, though. "No, no, of course not, Ms. Sterling. You never need an appointment. Just call me next time and I'll come down to get you," Mark said with a forced, nervous laugh. Noah frowned slightly. "Why didn't you call ahead?" "Because then it wouldn't be a surprise," I said. Though, for Noah, it was probably more of a shock than a surprise. When we stepped into the executive elevator, the receptionist suddenly came sprinting over, clutching a stack of folders, yelling to hold the door. Mark instinctively pressed the 'open' button. When she stepped inside, Mark looked like he wanted to die. His face screamed that he wanted to phase through the elevator floor to escape the awkwardness. "Sorry about that!" she said breathlessly. "Mr. Harris needs these files immediately." Noah nodded. His hearing aid, resting in his ear, was quite visible. Out of nowhere, the receptionist asked, "Noah, does wearing that mean you can hear perfectly now?" She pointed to her own ear. I stared at her, completely stiff. Before Noah could answer, she suddenly realized she crossed a line and quickly apologized. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked that." I slowly pulled my arm out of Noah's grip. He turned his head to look at me. I glared right back. Noah looked back at her and spoke. "If you know it's rude, you should learn to keep your mouth shut." His expression was deadpan, his tone completely flat. But the damage was lethal. The young receptionist’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. When she practically ran out on her floor, Mark was the one who had to smooth things over. "I apologize, Ms. Sterling. That girl is Mr. Harris's wife's younger sister. She's just interning here and doesn't know professional boundaries yet." I honestly felt bad for Mark. When we reached the top floor, I didn't step out. I looked at Noah. "Sorry, I forgot I already had lunch plans today." I was officially canceling our Valentine's lunch. Mark looked like he wanted to intervene and save the situation. But Noah just stood there and said, "Alright. Call me when you're done." The elevator doors slid shut. As the elevator descended, Noah and I held eye contact through the glass doors until the darkness swallowed us. I would never know the conversation he and Mark had after I left. "Sir, aren't you going to go after her and apologize?" Noah replied, "My only job is to accept whatever she decides. Isn't that right?" Mark remembered his boss's background and shut his mouth. After all, the 'Sterling' in Chloe Sterling meant Sterling Enterprises. 04 A year later, a mutual friend from our high school got married and invited us both. Noah had a board meeting that day, but after I strongly insisted, he went with me. Watching the bride in her pristine white gown walk toward the groom, my heart suddenly gave a sharp twinge. So this is what a wedding feels like. When the officiant told them to kiss, I looked at Noah. He was already looking at me. After the reception, we drove home in complete silence. My phone buzzed. It was my dad, asking if Noah wanted to come over for family dinner this weekend. I spun my phone in my hand and asked casually, "Are you free this weekend?" Noah was checking his rearview mirror in traffic. "Why?" "My dad... asked if you wanted to come over for dinner." The visible half of his face stiffened for a second before he said, "I have a business trip this weekend." I pushed harder. "What about next weekend? Or the weekend after?" Noah said nothing. We drove through a tunnel, the amber lights washing over us and disappearing behind. In the darkness, I asked him, "Noah, do you hate me, or do you hate my dad?" My pent-up frustration spilled over. "Every single time my dad invites you, you always have some excuse." "Did my dad do something to offend you?" Noah reached out and grabbed my hand. When he finally spoke, he said, "We'll talk about it when we get home." His avoidance only made me more furious and reckless with my words. "Noah, are you just completely ungrateful?! My dad has done so much for you!" The brakes slammed hard. Even with the seatbelt locking, I was thrown violently forward. Noah leaned over, gripping my chin with one hand. For a second, I swore I saw pure resentment in his eyes. "You're right. I'm just the pathetic charity case your family sponsored." I couldn't understand. "Noah, this is between you and me. Why do you constantly have to bring up the fact that you were a charity case?" Did he think I looked down on him? Did he think I cared about that? Noah slowly let go of me, his eyes looking dazed. His voice was raspy. "Because that's exactly what I am." He reached up and pulled the hearing aid out of his right ear. "I'm also a deaf cripple." Before I could even process what he had just done, he put the car back in drive. He left one final sentence hanging in the heavy air: "I told you a long time ago." "We aren't a good match." It was true. When Noah finally agreed to date me, he had said, "Even if I never fall in love with you?" It was the first time he had given an inch. I was so shocked I just nodded frantically. So he said, "Fine. Let's try." Yes. I was the one who was wrong. The moon was never going to come down just because I asked it to. 05 After that night, without telling him, I flew to London for an art exhibition. For three months, I didn't initiate contact with Noah once. Noah, however, acted entirely out of character. He would occasionally send me messages—usually when it was night for me, but 3:00 AM for him. "It's raining. Remember your umbrella." I ignored him. I went to galleries, went skiing in the Alps, went bungee jumping... After checking off everything on my bucket list, right before I planned to return to the States, I finally sent Noah a text. "When I get back, we need to talk." He didn't reply. But the moment I jumped off that snowy peak in Austria, a sudden realization hit me. I needed to stop holding onto him. I had been so obsessed with achieving the "and the princess and the prince lived happily ever after" ending with Noah. But if I actually got it... would it magically erase all the agony I endured to get there? I only went back to our shared apartment on my third day back in the States. Checking the security logs, I saw he hadn't been home in a month. But he came back at midnight. He told me he would go on the next trip with me. I knew this was his awkward, stunted way of trying to make peace. But I responded with polite detachment. "No need. I had a great time with my girlfriends." That night, half-asleep, I felt warm skin press against my palm. He was holding my hand. Even someone as emotionally walled-off as Noah must have sensed the shift. The next day, I slept until the afternoon. When I got up, I started packing my things. I had even brought an empty suitcase from my family's estate specifically for this. When I was cleaning out the nightstand, I opened a drawer and saw a velvet jewelry box I had never seen before. I felt a spike of anxiety. But I reached out and opened it anyway. It was a ring. The exact ring I used to desperately dream Noah would give me. The fading evening sun filtered through the sheer curtains, reflecting off the metal and catching my eye. Engraved on the inside of the band was the word Apple. It gleamed in the light. Inside the box was a small note. It read: "You are the apple of my eye." You are my most precious person. The date written at the bottom was Valentine's Day. Two years ago. The sunlight cast a second shadow onto the hardwood floor. I looked up. Noah was home. I picked up the ring, walked right up to him, fighting desperately to keep my tears from falling. I fought so hard the veins in my neck bulged. I shook the ring in his face and demanded, "So what is this?! Is this what you meant when you said—" "'We aren't a good match'?!" Noah glanced at the note that had fluttered to the floor and bent down to pick it up. I slapped his hand away. "Speak!" "Did you lose your voice too, Noah?!" 06 Noah always knew exactly how to trigger my deepest emotions. But the truth is, when we first met, we weren't consumed by this toxic friction and opposition. Noah was a scholarship student in the elite Honors Program. The Sterling Foundation fully funded the tuition and living stipends for all the students in that program. But Noah was unique even among them. Because he was hearing impaired. "Low-income," "Hearing Impaired," "Valedictorian"—these buzzwords made him a magnet for local journalists looking for a feel-good human-interest story. The very first time we met, a swarm of reporters was aggressively interviewing him about how it felt to receive the scholarship. One sharp-eyed reporter spotted me getting crushed against the wall by the crowd. "Noah, the girl standing right behind you is Chloe Sterling, the daughter of your benefactor. Is it awkward interacting with her on a daily basis?" Help me. Noah didn't even know who I was. But Noah just smiled, asked the reporters to step back, and pulled me out of the crushing crowd to a safe spot beside him. "Chloe is wonderful. She's always been incredibly kind and friendly to everyone." After surviving that excruciatingly awkward interview, we walked back to the academic building together. As we passed each other in the hallway to go to our respective classrooms... I noticed the device sitting in his ear. "If you wear that, can you hear perfectly?" I asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't until Noah stopped and turned around that I realized I had said that highly intrusive, rude thought out loud. Noah looked at me with a half-smile and gave a completely irrelevant answer: "I have another ear that works just fine." If the twenty-seven-year-old Chloe had been there, she would have missed the high school version of Noah so much. Because back then, Noah wasn't a mute wall of ice. But the girl standing there was seventeen-year-old Chloe. And that bizarre, charming response struck her right in the heart. I decided I wanted to be his friend. I constantly sought him out to chat. Since he was a genius, I used "needing a tutor" as an excuse to hang around his classroom every single day. I even audited some of his classes. During a group English conversation exercise, Noah mentioned that his favorite fruit was apples. So, that Christmas, every single student in the Honors Program found a bright red apple stuffed in their locker. From that day on, the entire Honors Program knew exactly who I was. But only Noah knew that his apple was different. He received a one-of-a-kind Christmas card—the absolute peak of my teenage emotional intelligence. The card read: "You are the apple of my eye." Even though Noah never formally responded, I could feel his hardened, defensive shell softening toward me. One day after school, I practically dragged Noah to a boba shop to share my favorite drink. Sitting across from him, I kept stuttering, struggling to get the words out. Noah saw me agonizing and finally sighed. "Just spit it out. What do you want?" I gave a victorious grin and stirred my boba with the straw. "Okay, but promise you won't get mad! I was just curious..." "I googled it, and it said some hearing-impaired people aren't entirely deaf. What about you?" Noah gave a very gentle smile. "Yeah, that's right. If there's a very loud noise right next to my ear, I can hear a little bit." "Can you take it off?" I asked. Noah was being so compliant that day. He actually took it off. I leaned close to his ear and spoke at a slightly elevated normal volume: "How about this?" Noah didn't react at all. I got so caught up in the moment that I completely forgot his left ear worked perfectly fine. I leaned into his "deaf" ear and screamed: "I LIKE YOU!" Because I did that, it wasn't just Noah who found out. The entire boba shop found out.
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