Chapter 5

I stood there, completely stunned.

However, the locksmith had already called the police.

"Hello? 911? I suspect someone is impersonating this house’s homeowner and trying to break into the property! I'm the one who opened the door for him!"

I hurriedly reached out to stop him.

"No, that's not it! I'm the man of this house! If you don't believe me, I'll go to the housing complex management office right now and have them verify my identity!"

I had barely turned around when the locksmith suddenly grabbed me and swept his leg against mine.

"Trying to run? Not a chance!"

I lost my balance and crashed hard onto the floor.

He immediately pinned my shoulders down. Half my face was pressed against the cold marble, and I gasped in pain.

"You're a grown man, perfectly healthy and capable of supporting yourself! You could make something of your life, but instead, you choose to be a kept man!"

The locksmith continued cursing.

"If I let you get away today and the police come asking where you went, how am I supposed to keep running my business?"

I desperately tried to explain, but he had me pinned down so firmly that I could barely lift my head.

He finally let go when the police arrived.

I staggered to my feet, rummaged through a drawer, and pulled out the property deed and our marriage certificate. Then, I handed them to the officers.

After checking the documents and confirming my identity, the officers nodded.

The locksmith's face turned bright red. He rubbed his hands together and apologized awkwardly.

"Sir, I'm really sorry. But a huge portrait of another man was hanging in your living room. You can't blame me for getting the wrong idea, can you?"

I lowered my eyes to our wedding pictures in the drawer, where my younger self was smiling brightly, and decided not to pursue the matter.

"It's fine."

He had a point. What kind of marital home had another man's portrait hanging in the living room?

After the police left, I sat alone on the sofa, staring at Luis's enormous portrait in the middle of the living room.

With the front door gone, cold air swept straight through the house. Tissues from the coffee table scattered across the floor, but I did not move an inch.

It was only when I felt something wet and cool on my cheek and instinctively raised a hand to wipe it away that I realized I had been crying without even noticing.

I remained there until eleven that night.

The elevator chimed, and its doors slid open.

Jade and Luis stepped out, laughing and chatting as they carried several shopping bags between them.

However, the moment Jade saw the empty doorway, the smile vanished from her face.

"Where's the door? Steve, what happened?"

I remained seated.

"I couldn't wait for you to come home, so I hired someone to take it down."

Her expression darkened instantly.

"Do you have any idea how much research I did before choosing that door? And you tore it down just because Luis accidentally deleted your fingerprint?

"Couldn't we have simply registered it again? Did you really have to go as far as removing the entire door?"

Luis looked uncomfortable.

"Ms. Smith, is Mr. Hoffman this upset because of me? Maybe I should just move out.

"Even though my rental apartment still has a leak, I can just put a bucket underneath it. I grew up living in apartments like that, anyway."

With that, he turned and started walking away. However, Jade immediately grabbed his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She turned toward me, her voice growing even more impatient.

"Steve, what exactly are you trying to do?"

I slowly raised my head and looked at the hand wrapped around Luis's wrist.

"Me? What am I trying to do?

"This is my own home. My fingerprint no longer works on the front door, and there's another man's portrait hanging in my living room."

I pointed to the red marks that had yet to fade from my cheek.

"The locksmith even mistook me for an intruder trying to break into my own house."

Jade followed my gaze toward the portrait. Her expression stiffened for a moment. However, she quickly regained her composure and defended herself as if she had done nothing wrong.

"How many pictures have we taken together? We've had three or four wedding photoshoots, not to mention all the portraits we've taken over the years.

"Luis is different. He's never had professional portraits taken before. What's wrong with me taking him for a photoshoot?"

Watching her go out of her way to defend Luis, I could not even be bothered to argue anymore.

"Fine. And he’s never lived in a house this big either, has he?

"Then you two can live here. I'll leave."

The cool night air outside helped clear my head. Only after I reached the street did I realize I had left my ID at home.

With no choice, I turned around and headed back.

Since the front door was gone, I could hear Luis's voice before I even reached the entrance.

"Ms. Smith, why don't we take the portrait down? You should go make things right with Steve. I don't want you two fighting because of me."

Jade laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"You're so young, yet you worry about so many things.

"Don't worry. Steve has no parents. I'm the only family he has. Where else could he possibly go? Sooner or later, he'll come crawling back."

She paused, then added with a laugh, "You've never stayed in a five-star hotel before, have you? Well, tonight's the perfect chance to experience one."

Standing just outside the doorway, I felt as though someone had slammed a fist into my chest. My eyes burned.

Being abandoned by my parents when I was young had left the deepest wound in my heart. Back in college, on the night we were first intimate, I finally gathered the courage to tell her everything I had been through.

Her eyes had filled with tears. She held me tightly and whispered, “From now on, I'll be your family. My parents will be your parents, too. No one will ever abandon you again."

However, the very wounds I had trusted her enough to reveal had become the weapon she used to keep me under her control.