Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 113

Posted by Adminj, ? Views, Released on December 22, 2025

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Chapter 113

Aurelia had been busy until after ten. Feeling exhausted, she was about to lie down and sleep.

That was when she noticed Ella had slipped two gifts under her pillow.

En fit Vouclists

Ever since Aurelia could remember, Ella had always given her two gifts for every New Year and her birthday.

Aurelia had once asked her why she always gave her two.

Ella had replied, “Because other kids get two, so you should, too.”

Aurelia knew Ella was letting her know through her actions that she was making up for the absence of a father with double the love of a mom.

So even though she grew up with just her mom, Aurelia never felt like she was missing out on anything.

She never felt self–conscious about her family situation.

Because she had the best mom in the world.

Aurelia was cuddling her gifts, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, when her phone buzzed.

She didn’t even need to look to know who it was from.

She opened WhatsApp and saw that Benjamin had sent her a gift.

Just like every year, it arrived right on time.

This time, Aurelia didn’t accept it. After all, she and Cassian had broken up, and it didn’t feel right to take the gift from him

anymore.

Aurelia sent Benjamin a message: [Peace and Joy.]

Benjamin usually didn’t reply in previous years.

But this year, to her surprise, he actually responded: [Peace and Joy to you as well.]

He added a reminder for her not to forget the gift.

Aurelia: [Mr. Locke, Cassian and I aren’t together anymore.]

What she meant was that she no longer had any reason to accept his gift.

Benjamin: [What’s it got to do with him? If you still want to call me Mr. Locke, take it. If not, don’t bother.]

So, Aurelia didn’t dare refuse. She claimed the gift right away.

She quickly added. [Thank you, Mr. Locke.]

At midnight, the fireworks outside went off with a bang, filling the night with noise and excitement.

Aurelia thought it was getting a bit too loud, so she popped on her headphones, tuned out the chaos outside, and drifted off to sleep in peace.

The next morning, Ella asked, “Did you catch the fireworks at midnight?”

Aurelia shook her head. “Nah, I already watched a show around nine. Didn’t feel like seeing another round.”

‘Honestly, fireworks all look the same to me. Once is plenty. Why bother sitting through it again?‘ Aurelia thought.

Ella looked a bit regretful. “Mrs. Kellough from downstairs said the fireworks at midnight were wild. Apparently, they lasted ages. She even sent me some pictures. Look, there were words in the sky!”

Aurelia glanced at the photo, mostly just to humor her mom.

In the picture, fireworks exploded brilliantly across the night, and right in the center, two glowing words stood out.

‘Peace and Joy‘

Aurelia’s hand froze mid–peel as she was working on her egg.

“It’s not your average fireworks show, huh? Kind of a bummer you missed it,” Ella said.

Aurelia just shrugged. “If I missed it, I missed it. Guess it wasn’t meant to be. No point dwelling on it.”

Ella glanced at her, hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Aurelia, have you been doing okay lately?”

“I’m good,” Aurelia replied, not sure why her mom was suddenly asking.

“Would you be willing to talk to me about your breakup with Cassian?” Ella asked gently.

It was a question Ella had kept to herself for a long time.

Ella’d been worried it would make Aurelia sad, or remind her of things she’d rather forget, so Ella’d never dared to bring it up. She kept it buried in her heart.

Aurelia was stunned. “When did you find out?”

“When I was discharged from the hospital, I saw Cassian with another girl and figured it out. Later, when he came to see me, I just asked him directly, and he admitted it,” Ella said.

‘So she knew way back then,‘ Aurelia realized, a wave of surprise washing over her. ‘But she never said anything, probably because she was afraid it would hurt me.‘

Guess that was something they both did. They hid things to protect each other.

They were always hiding how they felt, acting like nothing was wrong, just to protect each other.

Ella reached out and held Aurelia’s hand. “Do you still feel sad sometimes?“/

“It’s all in the past now,” Aurelia replied.

Sure, it still hurt sometimes.

But Aurelia didn’t want to keep overthinking what had happened before. That would make her feel worse and never move

on.

Aurelia just wanted to move forward.

Ella, as someone who’d been through it all, told her, “You’ve got to have the guts to start fresh. Don’t get stuck in your own

head.”

“Okay,” Aurelia replied softly.

Ella gave

“By the

her

a gentle pat on the head. “Come on, let’s eat.”

way, Mom, since you knew we broke up, why did you still have Cassian over?” Aurelia asked.

14:28 Mon, Dec 22 OM

Chapter 113

“It was only that one time, and you just happened to be there,” Ella said with a sigh.

“What about the follow–up appointment?” Aurelia pressed.

Ella explained, “You were busy, so I went to the hospital for my check–up on my own. But I couldn’t figure out the process and ended up making two wasted trips. He somehow found out about it and helped me set up the appointment.”

“After all you did for him before, this was the least he could do. I didn’t feel guilty about accepting his help at all.

“But I told him straight up. Don’t bother me anymore.”

Aurelia couldn’t help but laugh. “Honestly, you’ve got a point. I’ve got nothing to say to that.”

Aurelia never thought the thing she’d been stressing over would get sorted out so easily.

‘Actually, that’s great, Aurelia thought.

The holiday was supposed to last until the fifth day, but Aurelia only stayed home until the third before heading back to work early.

When she left, Ella stuffed two big boxes with food for her.

There were homemade dumplings, pork chops, and more.

Ella told Aurelia to stick them in the freezer when she got home, and reheat whenever she wanted a meal.

She was mainly worried that Aurelia would get so busy she’d skip meals.

As Aurelia headed downstairs, she ran into Greta Kellough, her neighbor.

Greta asked, “Aurelia, your boyfriend didn’t come to pick you up?”

“We broke up,” Aurelia replied.

65

Greta looked genuinely surprised. It wasn’t until Aurelia had already left that she muttered to herself, “How could they break up? He was such a nice

young man.”

On the seventh day of the new year, Aurelia and Tyson were invited to a government–business symposium.

They ran into Gideon there.

And of course, Cassian and Tessa were there, too.

After all, it was a government–organized event, and pretty much every private company in Ashmont was attending. So seeing Cassian and Tessa was pretty much expected.