Chapter 6

It was 2:00 pm on a Saturday. Inside Peninsula, a cafe in Bellmere, Alice Turner was biting down on her straw as she watched Teresa, who sat across the table. Teresa had just ended her third call and was now immediately switching back to her WhatsApp chat, her fingers tapping away furiously.

As someone who had known Teresa for over a decade, Alice was long used to the CEO's workaholic tendencies. She herself was a clinical psychologist who spent most of her time listening to people from all walks of life sharing their troubles. Thus, on her off days, she liked being as comfortable as she could.

Today, she wore a loose beige knit sweater and left the house without any makeup, which made her look like a graduate student working on her thesis instead of a working professional.

Sitting across from Alice, Teresa wore a high-end business suit that made her look like a business tycoon. The two of them looked like they belonged to entirely different worlds.

Just as Teresa was about to take a fourth call, Alice finally reached out and snatched the phone away, firmly flipping it face down on the table.

"That's enough, Ms. CEO." She leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed. "We agreed to set aside this afternoon for us to spend some quality friendship time together, with no work allowed.

"If you keep staring at that screen, I'm billing you at my emergency consultation rate. That's two thousand an hour, no negotiations allowed."

Teresa didn't get upset that Alice was interrupting her work. She rubbed her eyes, sore from staring at the screen for most of her waking hours, before taking a sip of her latte.

"The numbers from the acquisitions department didn't match up. I had to instruct Louisa to verify them again. Sorry about that. It's an occupational habit."

"That's not an occupational habit. That's a compulsion."

Alice's gaze swept over Teresa."You slathered on your concealer pretty heavily. How late did you stay out for your business meeting last night?"

"Sometime past 2:00 am, I think," Teresa replied without thinking much about it.

However, Alice keenly picked up on something. Raising her brows, she leaned forward and asked a probing question.

"How are things between you and Silas lately?"

Teresa was visibly caught off guard. She didn't expect the conversation to jump from her work to her husband.

After setting down her coffee mug, she replied with an unfazed expression, "Things are pretty good between us. The house is always in order, and he comes up with all kinds of food every day. We haven't gotten into any fights either. Why are you suddenly asking about him?"

"The house is in order, but what about your relationship?" Alice questioned, zeroing in on the crux of the matter.

Teresa leaned back against the armchair and settled into a more comfortable position before responding confidently, "We've been married for years now. It's not like we're still in the honeymoon phase. I work to bring home the bacon, while he manages the household. We're both fulfilling our duties. Isn't that the ideal setup for a marriage?"

Alice looked like she wanted to pour her iced coffee over Teresa's head. What Teresa said sounded more like a lecturer explaining how to set up a business.

Being a clinical psychologist, Alice had seen far too many patients who were blind to the problems in their marriage or had the wrong idea about what it was. But even so, someone like Teresa, who used business KPIs to quantify her marriage and even thought it was the perfect setup, was truly the most serious case she'd seen.

"Fulfilling your duties? Do you think your marriage is just a subsidiary branch of TRS Group?" Alice couldn't resist rolling her eyes.

"In that case, have you given your hardworking executive, Mr. Langston, a year-end bonus for fulfilling his supportive role all these years?

"Let me ask you this instead—do you even know what Silas has been working on lately?"

That question stumped Teresa. She had to search her mind to recall what Silas had been doing the last few days. Other than when he was cooking in the kitchen, he seemed to spend all of his time in his study, working on his computer.

"What else could he be doing at home? He's probably been taking on some small freelance design projects or working on that account of his where he posts cooking videos," she replied indifferently.

There was even a hint of a belittling tone in her voice as she added, "You know what he's like. He's just a mild-mannered man without any ambition. All he likes are these sorts of simple pursuits and little acts of self-improvement."

"No ambition, you say?" Alice snorted. "Don't you think you have the most egregious misunderstanding about what your husband is capable of in his career?"

Teresa frowned. "Just what are you trying to say?"

Alice sighed. Her teasing expression was swiftly replaced with a serious one. "Last Wednesday, after you left for your business trip, I dropped by your apartment to pick up the tax documents you left at the entryway. At the time, Silas was busy in the study. Since the door wasn't closed, I headed in to stay hi to him."

As she spoke, she kept her eyes fixed on Teresa the whole time.

"Do you know what project he was working on?"

Seeing how serious Alice looked, Teresa felt an unusual flicker in her heart. "What project?"

"The Haven, the luxury art hotel in Bellmere that's having its soft opening next month."

The name that escaped Alice's mouth was the hottest topic in Bellmere's business circle lately.

"Silas is the principal designer behind the entire branding and visual identity concept for The Haven. When I went there, he was working on a 3D render for the lobby. Considering the scale and level of the project, he's certainly not just working on some small design projects."

Teresa was completely stunned. She'd heard of The Haven, of course. It was a top luxury art hotel, a flagship project backed by several top-tier capital firms. They'd spent a fortune just on the pre-launch publicity alone.

Many of the most experienced design firms in the industry would kill to get their hands on a project of that scale. How did it end up in Silas' hands?

And, not only had he taken it on, but he'd been quietly working on it right under her nose this whole time.

"What? Why didn't he mention that to me before?" Teresa instinctively retorted, not noticing how her voice was a little shaken.

"Mention it to you?" Alice repeated as if it were some kind of joke. "You barely spend any time at home, Ms. CEO. By the time you're home, he has probably gone to sleep, and you always rush out the door the moment you wake up.

"Even if he wanted to tell you, have you ever given him the time to say anything? The only thing you think about is the ROI for your multi-million-dollar investments. Even if he gets hired to design the president's office, would you even have the time to hear him tell you about it?"

Alice's words were sharp, striking through all of Teresa's defenses. Still, she tried to use her usual set of logic to defend herself.

"I'm only busy for the sake of our family, too. Hundreds of people at the company count on me for their salaries. How can I not devote myself to my work? Since he got hired for such a major project, he should've volunteered the information to me. Why is he keeping it to himself?"

"This is not the way you used to act, Teresa." Alice interrupted Teresa's speech, her eyes flashing with pity.

Teresa had to swallow down the rest of her rebuttal.

"Do you remember what things were like when you two first got married?" Alice asked, her tone softening.

She stirred the ice in her drink as she said, "At the time, TRS Group was still trying to gain its foothold. You spent all your time trying to drum up business for the company, running yourself ragged until you even got gastritis as a result. Silas did his best to prepare the most nutritious meals he could to nurse your health back.

"Once you got better, you wanted to let him get more sleep each morning, so you'd head out to get the breakfast burrito from the famous diner in the West District and drive him to the design studio he worked at before heading to work yourself."

Alice glanced at Teresa's stiff expression before continuing, "Back then, no matter how busy you got, you'd still call him up when it was time for dinner. Even when all he did was draw a simple logo that looked nice to you, you'd happily share it on your social media to brag about it."

Teresa subconsciously ran her fingers against the rim of her coffee mug.

Those had been some of the most exhausting days of her life. The company had constantly been on the verge of collapsing due to a lack of funding. Yet, the tiny rented apartment they shared, with the lamp that was always left on for her when she came home at night, became her only refuge from the cutthroat world of business.

"When did all of that change?" Alice sighed. "Was it after the company went public, or after you moved into your massive luxury apartment? Either way, you began taking his sacrifices for granted. You started treating him the way you treat your subordinates. You think that just because you give him a financially comfortable life, he should stick to his role of managing the household for you, right?"

"I never thought that," Teresa refuted quietly, but without much conviction in her tone.

"Not outright, but that's how you've been thinking about it subconsciously." Being a clinical psychologist, Alice could mercilessly expose Teresa's true thoughts.

"Teresa, you've misconstrued the patience he has for the person he loves into a weakness of his that you could exploit. You think he can't live without you, but that's only because he still loves you. But you know, a person's love and patience will run out eventually."

For a time, Teresa didn't speak. In the end, she awkwardly said, "He's just too good-tempered for his own good. He's used to shouldering everything himself without ever saying anything."

Even now, she was subconsciously trying to make herself seem less at fault.

"Having a good temper doesn't mean he's a complete pushover," Alice pointed out before picking up her phone, having decided to end this conversation.

After rising to her feet, she looked down at the still-seated Teresa, whose brows were tightly furrowed. She gave the latter one final word of warning.

"I've worked in this field for many years, Teresa. I've seen far too many couples, so listen to me when I tell you this—those who don't kick up a fuss and choose to put up with their grievances are the most determined when they leave.

"Once they've been disappointed enough times, they'll leave without any hesitation. They won't even give you a chance to try to turn things around."

Alice paid the bill and left the cafe.

Teresa remained seated at the table by the window, watching as Alice's figure disappeared among the crowd on the street.

She picked up her phone. There were over a dozen unread messages in the chat group for work, but shockingly, she didn't check them right away. Instead, she tapped on her chat with Silas. The last few messages had been sent two nights ago.

Silas: "The soup is ready. Should I set aside a bowl for you?"

Teresa: "No. I already ate."

She scrolled upward and took in the sea of messages, an overwhelming majority of them from Silas, many of them going unanswered.

"Are you coming home for dinner tonight?"

"The temperature dropped. Remember to layer up when you go out."

"I left your gastric medication in the 2nd drawer of your office desk."

Teresa felt a sudden rise of a stuffy feeling in her heart.

Silas was the principal designer for The Haven. The man who spent much of his time busying himself in front of the stove, the one whom she dismissed as only being able to waste his time on trivial pursuits, was actually someone with such a huge trump card up his sleeve.

Out of nowhere, she felt a strong urge to call him. However, just when she was about to do it, she got a new message from Carlton.

"Seek Capital is satisfied with the revised terms. Dinner tonight at Ardor? Let's celebrate with a meal. I've already asked them to aerate a bottle of Romanee-Conti for us."

After staring at the message for a moment, Teresa took a deep breath and quashed that inexplicable flicker of restlessness she felt earlier.

She was the CEO of TRS Group, and right now, the deal with Seek Capital was her highest priority. She had no time to spare for such frivolous personal relationships.

As for Silas… he was always at home anyway. She could just ask him about his work with The Haven when she got home later tonight.

"Sure. See you later."

Once she tapped out a quick reply to Carlton, she picked up her handbag and strode out of the cafe, looking like the undefeated businesswoman she'd been all along.