Chapter 2

The next morning, my side of the bed was still empty.

Delphine had not slept all night. At 7:30 AM, she changed into her usual fitted light gray pantsuit and headed downstairs in her heels. Halfway down, she turned back to the bedroom.

She stood by the bed and stared at the dent in my pillow for a few seconds, then bent down and smoothed out the comforter. It was as if she believed that as long as the room stayed neat, I had only stepped out for a while.

Breakfast was already set out for two. My favorite crab omelet was still steaming.

Our butler, Gilbert Tremaine, asked, "Ms. Dorsett, should we keep Mr. Dorsett's plate warm?"

Delphine hummed in agreement.

Bernard's face darkened. "You're still spoiling him after the scene he made?"

She picked up her coffee and only said, "Feeding him is one thing. What he did is another."

That was her favorite kind of logic. She punished me with one hand and took care of me with the other, as if hurting me did not count so long as she still coddled me sometimes.

Delphine’s younger sister, Miranda Stockwell, came downstairs, saw my empty seat, and laughed sardonically. "Harvey's really dragging this one out, huh?"

Delphine looked up. "Just eat your breakfast, Miranda."

Not long after, Miranda pulled a card from her wallet. "Are you still saving this one for Harvey?"

I recognized it immediately. It was a card linked to Delphine's account that she had given me.

In our second year of marriage, I had to check my balance before buying a $5 coffee. When she found out, she thought it was embarrassing and shoved the card straight into my wallet.

I asked her, "You won't mind me spending your money?"

Delphine looked up at me, hooked a finger in my collar, and pulled me down for a kiss. "What's mine is yours, isn't it?"

After that, I rarely used it.

That changed six months ago, when my card kept getting declined at the pharmacy. When I got home, I asked Miranda if she had touched it. She was offended by the accusation.

I insisted that my card having no balance did not make sense. In the end, the whole family decided I was a petty grown man who could not stop picking on his wife's little sister.

That night, Delphine took the card away for a month and only said, "You’ll get it back when you calm down."

I asked, "Why am I always the one who has to calm down?"

She did not answer. She just straightened my collar. "That's enough. I'll take you out for a candlelit dinner tomorrow."

Back then, I still believed that as long as she was willing to hold me and coax me, it meant she was on my side.

Now, Miranda held up the card and said half-jokingly, "Harvey's run off. What if he gets mad and blows a few million dollars of yours?"

Delphine frowned. "He wouldn't."

My heart had barely stirred when she held out her hand. "Give it to me for now. I'll give it back when he comes home."

The card landed in her palm.

Breakfast was not even over when her assistant, Jeremy Danforth, called.

"Ms. Dorsett, the hotel wants to confirm the fifth anniversary suite for this weekend. Should we keep the reservation?"

It was supposed to be our anniversary trip. She had claimed she was too busy, yet one night, she had secretly checked the weather at our destination and even reminded me to pack an extra jacket for that weekend.

Delphine glanced at the entryway. "Cancel it."

Jeremy hesitated. "Really?"

"Yes. We'll rebook once he comes back and apologizes."

My card was taken back, and our trip was canceled. That afternoon, the driver even returned the car I usually drove to the company. Piece by piece, she was taking everything of mine away.

However, each time she took something from me, she softened it with a small kindness. She had the staff keep my food warm, forbade anyone from touching the master bedroom, and would not let anyone put my clothes away.

Gilbert came down carrying my medicine box. "Ms. Dorsett, should we move these to the storage room for now?"

The white pill bottle on top made her pause for a few seconds.

I had once fought with her over it. I said the pills were wrong, but she said the packaging had not changed. I said I had been taking them for three years and could not possibly fail to recognize my own pills.

She grew irritated with my questions, yet in the end she still poured a glass of water and placed the pill back in my hand.

"Take it for now. I'll take you to get a new prescription this weekend."

However, something else came up that weekend, and the matter was dropped.

"Put them back where they were."

Bernard said impatiently, "No one even knows where he is. What's the point of keeping them?"

Delphine said evenly, "If he comes back and can't find them, he'll just pick another fight with me."

She was still certain I would come back.

That evening, before heading to the office, she opened her phone and changed my contact name from ‘Honey’ to ‘Harvey Dorsett’. Her finger hovered over the save button for a long time, but in the end, she pressed it.

"Let him see it for himself. This time, I'm not just trying to scare him."