Chapter 2

The doorbell rang early the next morning.

When I opened the door, Giselle was standing outside with a thermal flask. Hector stood behind her, carrying her handbag.

"You barely ate anything last night, so I made you some soup." Giselle smiled as she stepped inside and slipped on the pair of house slippers she took from the shoe cabinet, looking completely at home.

I didn't buy that pair.

She walked into the kitchen, took out the exact mug Hector used the most, and poured herself some water. Her movements were so natural it felt like she was the lady of the house.

Hector noticed that I was staring and frowned. "Giselle used to come over all the time. Don't start imagining things again."

Giselle ladled out some soup and set it in front of me. "Come on. Dig in. I woke up bright and early to make it for you."

My stomach churned. I pushed the bowl away. "You don't need to do this for me anymore."

The smile on Giselle's face stiffened. She lowered her eyes and asked softly, "Did I do something wrong?"

I didn't answer.

Just then, Giselle's phone rang with a call from Mom. She took the call out onto the balcony, but when she returned, her eyes were red.

It wasn't long before my own phone rang. Mom launched straight into a furious tirade.

"Your sister went to all that trouble to make you soup! How dare you take that attitude with her?"

Within half an hour, my parents and my younger brother, Duncan Lloyd, rushed over.

Mom called me ungrateful. Duncan leaned against the couch and scoffed at me, saying, "You're lucky Giselle puts up with you. Anyone else would've stopped caring about you long ago."

When I refused to back down, Mom got even angrier.

"So now that you've got it good after becoming Mrs. Greene, you're too stuck up to even be nice to your sister, is that it?"

Upon hearing the words "Mrs. Greene", Dad seemed to think of something. He took a document out of his briefcase and slid it across the table toward me.

"Duncan needs a loan for his project. Since you have the time to throw a tantrum, you can take a moment to sign this. With you being Mrs. Greene, it'll be easier for us to get the approval."

Giselle immediately spoke up for me, "Dad, Evelina isn't in a good mood. Don't pressure her."

Mom took her hand, looking at her sympathetically. "You're just too considerate. That's why she keeps walking all over you."

This whole time, Hector was standing right beside Giselle. He looked at me as though I were some irrational lunatic throwing a fit for no reason.

"Evelina, why is it that whenever someone treats you well, all you do is grow suspicious of them?"

Out of nowhere, I remembered our wedding night. Hector had placed the keys to the house in my hand and told me he knew I'd never felt secure growing up. However, from this moment onward, this home would belong to just the two of us.

He said that no matter what happened, he'd always hear me out first. But now, even before I'd said a word, he'd deemed me guilty.

Right then, Giselle raised her tearful eyes and mentioned that a pipe in her home had burst. She was planning to stay at a hotel for a few days.

"It's fine, really. I should just go."

She reached for her suitcase, but Hector grabbed her hand. "Your health is frail. How can you stay in a hotel?"

I looked up and said, "I can book her one of the serviced apartments nearby."

But Hector acted as if he hadn't heard me. He wheeled her suitcase straight into the guest room, then took the spare keys out of a drawer and placed them in her palm.

"You can stay here. Feel free to come and go as you please. You don't have to worry about anyone else's opinion."

Only then did he turn to me, his voice turning cold as he said, "Giselle is your sister. She has a place in this home."

Standing in the marital home I'd decorated with my own hands, I watched my husband hand the keys to our home to his mistress.