Chapter 234 The Voice in His Dream

Chapter 234: Chapter 234 The Voice in His Dream

Finally, the call connected.

For several seconds, there was nothing but silence.

"Hello?"

His voice came out rough and tired.

No reply.

Of course.

A faint, humorless smile touched his lips. What had he expected? Daisy couldn’t speak. He knew that better than anyone.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he had wanted to hear something from her. Even a small sound would have been enough to reassure him that she was there, listening.

He closed his eyes.

"Hello..." he murmured again.

And then, suddenly...

"Hello..."

Alessio froze. His eyes flew open.

That voice.

Soft, slightly hoarse and impossibly beautiful. It slipped through the haze clouding his mind and reached somewhere deep inside his chest, leaving him completely breathless.

For a moment, he forgot where he was.

Forgot the whiskey on his desk, the failed investigation, and the endless hours he had spent searching for his little sister.

All he could hear was that voice.

His fingers tightened around the phone.

"Daisy?"

He barely recognized his own whisper.

But before he could speak, a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders.

"Bro! Bro!"

Alessio’s head jerked to the side.

"Bro, wake up!"

Someone shook him hard enough to make his entire body move.

His eyes opened.

Rafael was standing in front of him, gripping his shoulders with an expression that could only be described as furious.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You drank so much that you passed out! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been trying to wake you up? Thank God Tora called me and told me you were still here!"

Alessio blinked several times.

The office slowly came into focus.

The whiskey bottles. The scattered papers.

His head throbbed, and his mouth felt terribly dry.

But the voice... He suddenly straightened.

"Daisy."

Rafael stopped talking.

"What?"

"Where’s Daisy?"

His younger brother stared at him.

Alessio grabbed his arm, his expression growing urgent.

"Where is she? Is she at home?"

Rafael’s eyebrows rose.

"She’s at home, obviously. Where else would she be?"

Alessio barely seemed to hear him. "She can speak."

Silence.

Rafael stared at him, then he burst out laughing.

"Holy shit, bro! Are you still drunk?"

"I’m serious," Alessio said with a serious expression.

"Daisy can speak?" Rafael repeated incredulously. "If Daisy can speak, then I can fly across the sky!"

Alessio frowned, pressing a hand against his aching forehead.

"I’m telling you the truth."

"And I’m telling you that you’ve drunk enough whiskey to start seeing things that aren’t there!"

"I heard her voice!"

Rafael pointed toward the bottle on the desk.

"Look at that! You drank yourself unconscious and now you’re telling me Daisy suddenly started talking?"

Alessio fell silent.

He could still remember it.

The greeting... the softness of her voice.

The way his heart had stopped for a fraction of a second when he heard it.

It had felt real, far too real to be a dream.

And yet...

He rubbed his forehead harder.

"Damn it."

Rafael sighed and picked up his jacket.

"Come on. We’re going home. You need to sleep before you do something even more ridiculous."

Alessio reluctantly stood but the room tilted beneath his feet. Rafael caught his arm before he could stumble.

"Careful! See? You can barely stand."

"I’m fine."

"You’re absolutely not fine."

Alessio didn’t bother arguing again.

He allowed Rafael to help him into the office bathroom, where he washed his face and changed into a fresh shirt. The cold water helped a little but the pounding in his head remained.

More importantly, he still couldn’t stop thinking about that voice.

What if it really had been Daisy?

No. That made no sense.

He had known her long enough to understand that she communicated through gestures, notes and her phone. She had never spoken a single word in front of him.

Why would she suddenly speak now?

And why would he be the one to hear her?

Perhaps he had dreamed it.

Perhaps his mind had created the voice because he had wanted to hear it so badly.

The thought made something inside him feel strangely empty.

He didn’t like that feeling.

During the drive home, Rafael continued scolding him.

"Forty missed calls, Alessio. Forty! Mateo was ready to come looking for you himself. Do you know how many times I tried calling?"

Alessio leaned against the passenger seat and closed his eyes.

"I was busy."

"Busy drinking?"

"Working."

"And drinking."

Alessio ignored him.

Rafael glanced at him before returning his attention to the road.

"Honestly, what would Daisy think if she saw you like this? She’s been staying with us for two days and you’ve barely been home. Now you’ve gone and gotten yourself drunk enough to pass out in your office."

At the mention of her name, Alessio opened his eyes.

Daisy.

He quickly pulled the phone from his pocket and unlocked it.

The screen was filled with notifications.

More missed calls from Rafael and Mateo.

However, his thumb hovered over her name.

He wanted to call her again. He wanted to hear her voice.

The realization made him pause.

What was wrong with him?

He knew she couldn’t speak. He knew he had been drinking. He knew the voice he remembered might have been nothing more than an illusion.

Still, the memory refused to leave him alone.

"Rafael."

"What now?"

"I really heard her voice."

Rafael let out an exasperated sigh.

"Bro, stop, please. You’re still drunk. Go home, sleep and stop thinking about it."

Alessio turned toward the window.

He didn’t argue again.

There was no point trying to explain something he couldn’t explain himself.

?┈┈┈┈?

When they reached the mansion, Rafael helped him inside and followed him upstairs.

"Straight to bed," Rafael ordered. "And don’t even think about drinking anything else tonight."

Alessio gave him an irritated look. "I know."

"Good. Because I’m not carrying you around again."

Once inside his bedroom, Alessio shut the door and immediately took out his phone.

He opened the call history and found Daisy’s name.

He tapped the entry.

Call duration: 1 hour