Chapter 4

Liam carried Trixie to the bathroom. Just before the door closed, Trixie looked over his shoulder and stuck her tongue out at me.

There was no love for me in her eyes. She looked at me like she had won.

Lunch was a feast. There was baked salmon, garlic butter shrimp, and a pot of crab chowder.

It was all rich, filling food.

I couldn't eat a bite of it because I was allergic to seafood.

Gina knew that, and so did Liam.

"Oh dear!" Liam had barely sat down when he gasped and covered his mouth. "Jordan, I'm so sorry. I was so caught up with everything that I forgot about your seafood allergy. All this food…"

He looked guilt-ridden. "Why don't I make you something else? It'll only take a few minutes."

Gina took a bite of salmon and shrugged. "Why bother? Jordan, you're so fussy. Just pick out the salmon and shrimp. And can't you give the chowder a try? Liam spent ages making it. Don't be so ungrateful."

I looked at the bowl of chowder. It was thick and creamy, and it looked good enough to make anyone hungry.

I knew Liam loved seafood, and I had always hated the smell of it.

"No, thanks." I got up, went to the kitchen, and poured myself a glass of cold water.

Their laughter carried in from the dining room.

Liam wore disposable gloves as he peeled the shrimp and placed one on Trixie's plate. He peeled another and casually gave it to Gina, too.

"Try this. The shrimp are especially fresh today."

Gina ate it without even saying thank you, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"You're such a good cook," she said. "Jordan can't even make scrambled eggs without nearly blowing up the kitchen."

"Jordan has bigger things to worry about. He doesn't have time to fuss over cooking." Liam smiled as he complimented me, but every word was meant to sting.

He continued, "Still, you've got it tough. You work hard to support the family and don't even get much care in return. Every woman wants someone who knows how to take care of her."

Gina sighed and reached for Liam's hand. She held it only for a second before letting go, but I saw it clearly.

The shirt Gina was wearing had cost me over a thousand dollars when I bought it during a business trip overseas last month.

Trixie went to an elite private preschool that cost 30 thousand dollars a year. I paid the tuition.

I had emptied my savings to make the down payment on this apartment, and I was still paying the mortgage.

And now, in the home I had sacrificed everything to protect, they were eating the food I had paid for, talking about me behind my back, and enjoying their little moment as a family.

I felt like an intruder who had wandered into someone else's home.

That was the very moment when I stopped caring about this family.

If they wanted to play happy family so badly, then I would give them exactly what they wanted.

But first, I would make sure they paid back everything they had taken from me with interest.

…

On Monday, I went to work as usual.

Gina thought I had backed down. Before she left, she even gave me an order with a smug smile. "Come home early tonight. Liam wants that cake from downtown. Pick one up on your way home."

I replied with a smile. "Sure."

As soon as I turned away, I put her on mute in all my messaging apps.

When I got to the office, I didn't call a meeting. The first thing I did was call in the CFO.

"Look into something for me. Pull up the transaction history for the authorized card I gave Gina. I want the past year's records."

Gina was a government employee with a modest salary, so I had always covered the household expenses to spare her the embarrassment.

But I didn't want to hurt her pride by simply giving her money, so I added her as an authorized user on my credit card with a 70-thousand-dollar limit.

I told her it was for household expenses, but I had never checked the expenditures.

Back then, I had always believed that married couples should trust each other.

Half an hour later, the CFO placed a thick stack of printed statements on my desk. There was something strange about his expression.

"Mr. Glasby, there's been quite a lot of activity on this card."