LOGINSix weeks in Singapore passed the way real time passes when you stop watching the clock for it.The Hargrove properties opened two weeks ahead of schedule, both of them, the local team throwing a small celebration on-site that ended with the head contractor, a stern woman named Mei who had tested me relentlessly for the first month, pulling me into a hug and telling me I’d earned the right to come back anytime I wanted, project or not.Dominic visited twice more during those six weeks, each trip shorter than the last, each goodbye a little easier, both of us slowly learning the specific rhythm of a life that could hold distance without breaking. On his second visit, he brought me a small potted plant for the apartment, something that could survive the humidity, he said, unlike the ones I kept accidentally killing back home.On my last night in Singapore, I stood on the balcony of the now fully furnished apartment, city lights spread out below me, and called my mother.“Tell me you’re
Singapore hit me first as heat, thick and immediate, the second the airport doors slid open onto the taxi line.“You get used to it,” Dominic said, watching my face. “Give it three days.”“I don’t believe you.”“Neither did I, the first time I traveled here for work. Now I genuinely like it. There’s something honest about weather that just tells you the truth all the time instead of pretending.”We took a cab to the apartment I’d secured before leaving, a small, bright corner unit on the eleventh floor of a building overlooking a street lined with hawker stalls and old shophouses painted in colors that looked like they’d been chosen specifically to fight back against the grey of the sky on cloudy days.Dominic carried both suitcases up without being asked, and I let him, filing that under things that were fine to accept simply because they were kind, not because I needed rescuing.The apartment was empty except for a bed, a small table, and two folding chairs I’d ordered online before
I did not sleep.I lay in the dark going through every possible version of what Foster’s message could mean, and by six in the morning I had convinced myself of at least four different disasters, none of which turned out to be true.I called her the second her office opened.“Selene,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice before she said another word. “I’m sorry for the scare last night. I should have worded that message better.”“You’re smiling,” I said. “Why are you smiling?”“Because the discrepancy resolved itself,” she said. “The reviewer who flagged your file originally left something out of her notes, a secondary reference check that came back late last night confirming everything in the timeline we submitted. Your freelance work, the nonprofit rebrand, all of it checked out clean. There’s no further action needed on your end.”I sat down hard on the edge of my bed.“That’s it,” I said. “It’s actually done.”“It’s actually done,” Foster said. “Your visa clears final
I read the email three times before I understood what it actually meant, my coffee going cold beside my laptop.“What is it,” Dominic asked, watching my face go from confused to something closer to panic.“They found a discrepancy,” I said slowly. “In my employment history. Something about the years I wasn’t working full time. The gap when I was…” I trailed off, my stomach turning.“When you were married to me,” Dominic finished quietly.“They’re asking for documentation I don’t have,” I said. “Proof of continuous professional activity during the marriage years. I wasn’t employed anywhere during most of that time. I was your wife. That’s not a job title Singapore’s labor board recognizes.”Dominic’s hand stopped halfway to his own mug, his fingers curling slowly back into his palm instead.“This is my fault,” he said.“It’s not anyone’s fault. It’s bureaucracy.”“It’s my fault,” he repeated, standing up, pacing to the window, his reflection ghosting faintly against the dark glass. “Yo
Dominic read the email over my shoulder twice before either of us said anything, his breath warm and unsteady against my hair.“Call them now,” he said. “Tonight. Whatever this is, don’t let it sit until morning.”“It’s nearly ten,” I said. “Legal offices don’t answer at ten.”“Hargrove’s legal team works with three time zones. Someone will answer.”He was right. I dialed the number from the email, my finger slipping once on the screen before I got it right, and a tired-sounding paralegal picked up on the fourth ring.“This is Selene Whitmore,” I said. “I got an urgent email about a visa complication. I need to understand what’s happening.”“One moment.” Papers shuffled on the other end. “Yes. Ms. Whitmore. There’s a flag on your sponsorship application. Singapore’s labor board requires disclosure of any legal proceedings involving the sponsoring company within the last twelve months. Your file was cross-referenced against Hartley Industries due to the joint venture structure on the H
I did not call Dominic first.I sat with the email for two full days, turning it over the way I used to turn the sculpture over in my hands, testing its weight from every angle before I trusted myself to speak about it out loud. I read it in the shower, in my head, while brushing my teeth, the words rearranging themselves into different shapes depending on how tired or hopeful I felt that hour.On the third day, I called Nicolas instead.“I need to understand the real shape of this,” I said. “Not the pitch version. The actual version.”“Six months, maybe closer to seven if the second property runs behind schedule,” he said. “You’d be based in Singapore full time. Occasional trips back, but the bulk of the work happens there. It’s a real opportunity, Selene. The kind that doesn’t come around twice.”“I know what it is.”“I also know what it isn’t,” Nicolas said carefully. “I’m not going to pretend I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now. If this is a bad time, tell me, and







