Chapter 2

At 10:00 pm on Sunday, I heard the front door open. Joanie was back.

She looked exhausted as she wheeled her suitcase into the corner without a second thought. As she changed her shoes, she pulled a small square box from her coat pocket and handed it to me.

"Passed by a duty-free shop and thought I'd pick this up for you."

I took it and glanced at the box. It was a perfume, a classic citrus-scented one from a well-known brand. "Thanks."

I set it on the shoe cabinet without opening it.

Joanie took off her coat and frowned. "Why don't you open it and give it a try? It took me forever to pick one."

"I'm allergic to citrus."

She froze for a moment. "Oh, really? I forgot. I'll get you something else next time."

With me, it was always "next time".

She walked over to the couch and sat down, rubbing her temples. "I'm exhausted. This business trip was such a nightmare."

I poured her a glass of warm water and set it in front of her. "How did the M&A deal in Bernum go?"

Her hand paused around the glass, and her eyes darted away. "Pretty well. Everything went smoothly. The other party was just difficult to deal with. I had to drink with them for two days."

I looked at the short strand of chestnut-colored hair caught in her collar. The shade was almost the same color as Forrest's hair.

"That does sound exhausting."

I turned around and started helping her unpack. I unzipped the suitcase.

A few changes of clothes had been shoved back inside in no particular order. At the very bottom was an empty orange box of a famous luxury brand.

I pulled it out and set it on the floor. "This from the duty-free shop, too?"

Joanie walked over. When she saw the orange box, her face dropped. "Oh, that? I was picking something up for a client. The box was too bulky, so I sent the bag to them separately."

"Which client?"

"You don't know them. Even if I told you, you wouldn't know who I was talking about," she said, snatching the box from me and tossing it into the trash.

"Enough. Stop digging through my stuff. I'll unpack it myself."

I could hear the irritation in her voice.

Standing up, I brushed the dust off my hands. "Fine. You do it."

Just then, Joanie's phone rang. The screen lit up with Forrest's caller ID.

Her phone was on the couch. I walked over and picked it up. "Joanie, you've got a call."

She hurried over, snatched the phone from my hand, and hung up. "Telemarketer."

"A telemarketer named Forrest, huh?"

She sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep her temper in check. "Tom, do you have to be so passive-aggressive?"

"And how exactly am I being that?"

"Forrest is studying abroad all by himself. He ran into some trouble and needed my help. What about it? We grew up together. We're practically siblings. Can you stop getting jealous over nothing?"

There she went again, calling themselves siblings.

I looked at Joanie's unapologetic face. "Do siblings really need to fly 5,000 miles every weekend just to fix each other's heater?"

She froze. "You went through my phone?"

"I'm not that bored. He posted it online himself, thanking you."

Joanie's face darkened. "It was probably just a joke. Do you have to make such a big deal out of it? You weren't this senseless before, Tom."

Senseless. Sure.

I laughed. "Yeah. I'm senseless."

I walked over to the closet and pulled out a set of pajamas. "You should get some rest. You have work tomorrow."

I didn't argue with her like I used to. I didn't demand an explanation either.

My calmness seemed to catch Joanie off guard. She stood there watching as I walked into the bathroom.

"Tommy…" she called out from outside the door. "I promise you I won't go on another business trip for your birthday next month, okay? I'll stay home and spend it with you."

I turned on the faucet and let the warm water run over my hands. "Sure."

It wasn't like I would be around then anyway.

When I came out of the shower, Joanie was already fast asleep.

Her phone lay beside her pillow, the screen still lit with a chat conversation.

Forrest wrote, "I got the bag, Joanie. I love it. But if Tom finds out you spent that much on a bag for me, he's going to get mad, isn't he?"

She replied, "He doesn't know. And even if he did, it wouldn't matter. He has a good temper. I'll just sweet-talk him a little."

So, that was how little I was worth to her—just a man she could sweet-talk out of her mistakes.

I continued digging through her phone until I came across her transfer history. Over the past year, she had sent Forrest more than 40,000 dollars.

Last month, I had wanted to replace my old laptop, but she had told me, "The old one still works. Just make do with it for now. The company's been having some cash flow issues lately."

I put her phone back where I found it. Then I went into the living room, opened my laptop, and continued working on my handover documents.

Three days weren't long. I had to erase every trace I could.

At 2:00 am, I finished the documents. I closed my laptop and stared out at the deep night.

Tomorrow, we were supposed to have dinner at her parents' place. It would be the last time.

"Joanie, you'd better pray everything goes smoothly tomorrow."