003 - Consider It Carefully, My Dear

Their dinner ended on an unsatisfactory note.

Adrian had to leave because of a work emergency. Sophie couldn’t even tell if it was real or not—if Adrian was just stealing fractions of time to be with Julia Hall.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Adrian had said.

But it had been two days, and Adrian was nowhere to be found.

Let alone making it up to her, he hadn’t even had a meal at home since. For two days, Sophie slept by herself. This had happened before, back when Adrian was still establishing his company. Sophie had been understanding, so she tried to be now.

But by the third morning, Sophie grew restless.

Sophie really didn’t want to do this. Her role was a calm and understanding wife, not clingy and insecure. But whether it was insecurity or simple curiosity, she couldn’t help but call Adrian.

No. This made sense. An understanding wife would want to know where her husband was after two days of not seeing him.

One call. Two, then three. On the fourth call, Adrian’s phone was turned off altogether. Weird. Adrian had never done this to Sophie’s calls.

So Sophie called Adrian’s assistant.

“Hello, Mrs. Beckett,” the call was picked up on the first ring.

“Good day, Mr. Abbott. Is Adrian with you?”

“No. He went on an emergency business trip.”

“You’re not with him?”

“No, Mrs. Beckett. I’m needed here to act on Mr. Beckett’s behalf.”

“I see… Is it really busy there?”

“Yes,” Mr. Abbott audibly sighed. “One of our partners suddenly encountered a problem and it directly affected their project with us. Mr. Beckett is currently handling it. I believe he is in Wyoming right now.”

“I understand. Would you please tell me when you hear from him? He’s not answering my calls…”

“I will, Mrs. Beckett,” Mr. Abbott replied readily. Almost too readily. But Sophie brushed it off. Mr. Abbott had always been efficient like that.

Wyoming. Sophie tried to recall all of Beckett Holdings’ partners, and see if there were any in Wyoming. She couldn’t. Was it new?

She started typing on her phone. Only two words. “Investigate Wyoming.”

After receiving an affirmative reply, Sophie packed her purse and began to leave for her own office.

Sophie's office was not what people assumed. What began as Adrian's offhand gift—a boutique to keep her occupied—had quietly become something else entirely. New York's upper class wives wore her pieces without knowing her name. She had made sure of that.

“Mrs. Beckett! People from Fash magazine contacted us.”

When facing her cute subordinate, and seeing how energetic they were, Sophie’s heart settled. Her mind immediately shifted focus and now, she was no longer just Mrs. Beckett. Here in her own little respite, she could finally reclaim a bit of ‘Sophie Langham’.

“Really? What did they say?”

Her subordinate, Lyla Orwell, smiled widely. She couldn’t even hide her excitement, seeing how her body trembled. “They want to feature us!”

“That’s good news,” Sophie nodded, her smile wide. “What is the feature about?”

“Timeless Elegance,” Lyla replied, full of energy. “They like our newest loungewear collection. I knew they would. We emphasize so much on the softness and fabric quality, after all. Not to mention,” Lyla stopped, her eyes scanning Sophie’s attire from top to bottom. Her simple white blouse, neat and effortless, combined with her knee-length navy skirt. “Our Mrs. Beckett here always has that graceful, classy look, so of course all the rich people recognize it!”

Sophie chuckled, ushered everyone in. “Well, then we’ll get busy now, right?”

“Of course!” Lyla said, “I will make sure our feature will be the best feature on Fash ever!”

Sophie couldn’t hold her laughter. It was a good decision to come here. This place could always restore her energy.

But as if not allowing even that, her phone rang.

Adrian.

Her muscle memory took place, “Hello, Adrian! I heard from Mr. Abbott. You’re in Wyoming?”

“Yes, I know. Sorry for not telling you. I’ll be back tonight. I swear.” Adrian’s voice came up, breathy and ragged. Without him here, Sophie didn’t even bother to hide her frown.

“I’m sad, Adrian. You used to tell me even the smallest thing. Now you’re all the way in Wyoming and you didn’t even leave a voice note?”

“Yes, sorry,” Adrian sounded apologetic. “Not good, I’ve made my darling sad. What should I do?”

Sophie smiled. The kind that didn’t reach her eyes.

“You’re gone for two days. Isn’t it right that you spent two days with me as a payback?”

She could hear Adrian laughing. “Of course, darling. Everything for you.”

Before Sophie could say anything, she could hear him gasping, followed by a faint voice of a woman, and the call ended abruptly.

Sophie stood there, stunned.

She looked at her phone, then opened her calendar app.

The private investigator she hired had clearly listed information on Julia Hall. Of course, it included her birthday, which falls exactly two days from now.

“Now, my dear Adrian,” Sophie muttered, “let’s see who you will choose.”