Chapter 1

I stared at the 88% loyalty score above Natalie Farr’s head.

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

Natalie and I had dated for five years, then been married for five more.

Ten years in all.

Her loyalty score had stayed at 100% the entire time.

Natalie noticed me staring at the top of her head.

She smiled and asked, "What are you looking at? You seem fascinated."

I snapped out of it and casually said it was nothing.

But my chest felt tight and heavy.

Our son, Leo, still wore his birthday hat.

He held the boxed toy car Natalie bought him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Dad, look! Mom got me this for my birthday!"

I crouched down and stroked his cheek.

"That’s nice."

Leo sat on the rug and started opening the toy box.

The loyalty score above his head still read 100%.

So, there was nothing wrong with my eyes.

Something was wrong with Natalie.

It was our son’s birthday.

A month ago, Natalie and I agreed to celebrate it together.

She promised she would.

A week ago, I reminded her again.

She hadn’t celebrated his birthday with him last year, so she had to make it up to him this year.

She agreed.

Even last night, before bed, Leo took Natalie’s hand and reminded her not to be late the next day.

She gently tapped his nose and promised she wouldn’t be.

But just after six that evening, Natalie suddenly messaged me to say something came up at work and she couldn’t make it.

Something came up?

What could it be?

Did it really have to be her?

But I didn’t dare ask.

I could only tell her to come home as soon as she could.

Natalie did keep her word.

Just after eight, she knocked on the door.

She brought a cake and the boxed race car she’d promised Leo.

She seemed just as loving as ever.

The moment she came in, she threw her arms around me and leaned in for a kiss.

Then she handed Leo his gift and picked him up to kiss him.

If I hadn’t seen the score above her head change, I would have believed she really had been working late.

Natalie said she was tired. She took off her coat and tossed it on the sofa.

Then she got up and went to shower.

I picked up Natalie’s coat.

A faint trace of cigarette smoke drifted into my nose.

But I never smoked.

I glanced toward the bathroom.

The door was shut, and I could hear the shower running inside.

I thought it was time to pack my things and leave.

…

The next day, everything was the same.

I still got up early to make breakfast for the three of us.

I laid out the clothes Natalie would wear that day at the foot of the bed.

Then I woke Leo and helped him get dressed and ready.

At eleven that morning,

I packed a lunch and drove to Natalie’s office.

Natalie was the company’s vice president.

She always brought Leo and me to the company’s annual dinners, so most of the employees knew me.

When they saw me carrying a lunchbox, they smiled and greeted me.

The elevator took me up to the eleventh floor. I greeted the receptionist and headed toward Natalie’s office.

As soon as I pushed the door open, I saw a young man who looked fresh out of college sitting in the executive chair.

He had a youthful, bright-eyed look.

Natalie stood behind him, one hand braced on the chair and the other pointing at the computer screen.

At the sound, they both looked up.

My eyes went to the score above Natalie’s head.

Only three hours had passed, but her score had already fallen from 88% last night to 77%.

She looked startled to see me, then smiled.

"What brings you here?"

Her voice held a note of surprise and delight.

"Who’s this?"

I looked at the young man.

"Oh, Zachary Bennett. He’s Anson’s assistant."

Anson Reed was Natalie’s secretary. He was thirty-five and a very steady, dependable man.

She explained, “Anson’s out of town for his wedding and won’t return until next week. Zachary’s taking over his duties in the meantime.

"He just graduated and doesn’t have much experience, so I’m showing him the ropes.

"Yesterday’s overtime was because he messed up a set of figures!"

She said it so casually, as if getting the figures wrong were no big deal.

The young man looked at me nervously.

"Mr. Cook.”

Natalie noticed the lunchbox in my hand.

"You brought lunch?"

As she spoke, she called to Zachary.

"Come eat first! My husband’s a great cook!"

She said it so naturally that before I could react, Zachary had already gotten up and sat beside her.

Whenever I brought Natalie lunch before, I always packed enough for both of us.

Then I’d join her at the office to eat.

Even Anson had only eaten the lunch I brought once.

I thought Natalie wanted the three of us to eat together.

But then she handed her fork straight to Zachary.

Her movements were practiced, her tone casual.

"Go ahead. We’ll have to get back to work when we’re done."

Zachary took the fork and thanked her.

She never once asked if I’d eaten.

I sat across from Natalie and watched them eat.

Something about it left me with a strange, uneasy feeling.

Zachary picked up a shrimp.

His eyes lit up after the first bite.

"This is so good! Miss Farr, you’re lucky to have married such a great cook!"

Natalie wore a proud smile, but Zachary’s compliment made the score above her head drop another two points.

75%.

At last, I understood the feeling weighing on my chest.

They chatted as they ate, completely treating me like I wasn’t there.

When they finished, they both set down their utensils.

Natalie said, "Honey, clean this up, then you can head home. I still have work to do."

I looked at Natalie with a faint, humorless smile.

"Natalie, I haven’t had lunch yet."

Natalie froze.

Zachary froze too.

Natalie quickly realized the food was meant for the two of us.

But she gave my portion to Zachary.

Zachary panicked at once.

He fumbled for words. "I’m sorry, Mr. Cook. I—I didn’t know! I can go buy you something else. What would you like?"

I lowered my head and began clearing the leftovers from the table.

My voice was calm. "Don’t bother."

Zachary’s eyes reddened with worry.

"Mr. Cook, I swear I didn’t do it on purpose. Miss Farr told me to eat, so I did!"

"I..."

Natalie saw me quietly clearing the table.

Then she glanced at Zachary, who looked so pitiful.

At last, she spoke.

"All right, this has nothing to do with you!

"I forgot! But you’re partly to blame too. You should’ve made it clear!

"If you’d told me you hadn’t eaten lunch, I wouldn’t have let Zachary have it!"

She paused, took out her phone, and transferred ten thousand dollars to me.

"I sent you the money. You can grab something to eat at a restaurant downstairs later."

I didn’t answer. I put the containers back together, secured the lid, and stood up.

"Fine."

I turned to leave, but Natalie grabbed my wrist.

Her voice was low and apologetic.

"I really didn’t do it on purpose today."

"I know.”

She slowly let go of my hand.

I went downstairs and tossed the lunchbox straight into the trash.

Then I drove to the mall.

I didn’t know if I was trying to get back at Natalie or just let off steam.

I ordered enough food to fill the table and ate until I was satisfied.

Afterward, I did some shopping at the mall, then went to pick Leo up from preschool.

I took him back to the mall and had another huge meal.

Natalie called and asked why we weren’t home.

I told her we were eating out.

Her voice turned plaintive. "Why didn’t you wait for me?"

I scoffed. "You didn’t wait for me at lunch, either!"

She had no answer and fell silent, sulking.

…

The feast I’d had for lunch and dinner left me with an upset stomach that night.

I made more than ten trips to the bathroom.

By the end, I couldn’t even get out of bed.

Natalie filled a hot water bottle and helped me sit up to take my medicine.

“Honestly, you know you have a sensitive stomach, and you still went and ate spicy food.”

I wanted to argue, but I was too weak.

As soon as I swallowed the medicine, my stomach lurched.

I threw it all up.

Natalie gently rubbed my back, her face full of concern.

"This is bad. You must have gastroenteritis. We need to get you to the hospital."

Natalie called my mother-in-law and asked her to come watch Leo.

Then she helped me into the car.

After a battery of tests, the doctor confirmed I had gastroenteritis.

I got an IV and took some medicine to stop the diarrhea.

I drifted into a heavy sleep.

When I woke up, it was already two thirty.

The IV had already been removed, but Natalie wasn’t there.

I opened our chat and sent her a message.

[Where are you?]

She didn’t reply.

I called her three times in a row before she finally picked up.

Her voice was low.

"Honey, what’s wrong?"

"Where are you? Did you go home?"

There was a brief pause before she answered.

"Zachary called to say he had a fever. I was worried, so I came to check on him. He’s just taken some medicine and fallen asleep. Do you need something?"

When I heard her ask if I needed something, I was so angry I almost laughed.

"Natalie, you’re my wife. You’re taking care of another man, and you’re asking if I need something?"

Her voice was edged with exasperation.

"Charles, he works for me. Of course I should look after him. Besides, I only came over after your IV was done!"

"Natalie, I’m still lying in the hospital. You’re not taking care of me; you’re looking after your male employee?

"Doesn’t he have any other friends? Why does a married woman like you have to take care of him?"

Natalie was getting impatient.

"Charles, when did you become so petty? Zachary just graduated. He doesn’t know anyone around here. If something happens, who else can he turn to but me?"

She sighed. "How about this? I’ll call you a car so you can go home. I’ll come back once his fever’s gone down."

She hung up on me impatiently.

I gripped my phone, feeling cold inside.

By the time I got home, it was already three thirty.

When my mother-in-law heard the door open, she tiptoed out of the spare bedroom.

She looked puzzled to see me alone.

"Where’s Natalie?"

"Oh, she went to look after her male coworker."

"What?!"

My mother-in-law stared at me in shock.

I ignored her wide-eyed expression and went straight to my room to sleep.

Natalie came back early the next morning.

Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and she looked exhausted.

She must have stayed up all night taking care of him.

She saw my mother-in-law and me having breakfast at the table.

A flicker of guilt crossed her face.

"Zachary’s fever kept coming and going last night. I was afraid something might happen, so I didn’t come home.

"As soon as his fever broke, I came straight back."

I gave a quiet "Oh."

"Then remember to go keep him company again tonight."

"Charles! What are you talking about?"

She raised her voice angrily.

I glanced up at her.

After spending the night together, the score above her head had fallen below 70%.

It was down to 66%.

I lowered my eyes and said nothing more.

My mother-in-law left after breakfast.

Natalie went to change, then glanced at me as she came out.

"I was wrong last night. Once I’ve helped Zachary move, I’ll stop getting involved."

I said nothing.

After Natalie left, I turned to Leo.

"Do you want to leave with me?"

Three-year-old Leo didn’t understand what I meant.

Still, he nodded. "I’ll go wherever you go, Dad!"

"Good!"

I went to our room and began packing my things and Leo’s.

Then I bought train tickets to Roseville.

Before leaving, I put the divorce papers on the coffee table.

I took one last look at the house where I’d spent the past five years, then closed the door behind me. I’d once believed I’d never leave.