The Heiress He Thought Would Stay

Callum did not follow me when I walked out of our home.

Behind me, his friends kept laughing.

"Callum really stepped up the game this year."

"Don't surrender too quickly, Lucia."

Callum gave a quiet laugh, his voice full of confidence. "She's only angry. Give her three days at most. She'll come back on her own."

That evening, he reopened the betting pool in their group chat. Callum put down thirty thousand dollars that I would not last seventy-two hours.

To force me to make the first move, he formally added Sienna's fingerprint to the security system and handed her the spare key reserved for the woman of the house.

Wearing my slippers, Sienna posted a photograph of the key beside the breakfast Callum had prepared for her.

[Mrs. Ashford Experience, Day One.]

Their friends immediately joined in.

[Does she get to try the primary bedroom tonight?]

[You should let her drive Callum's car too.]

Callum did not object. He simply replied:

[The keys are in the second drawer by the front door.]

I saw the post while packing at the old apartment my mother had left me. No one had lived there in years. Dust coated the windowsill, and rust had begun to bloom around the kitchen faucet.

Still, no one there treated my place in my own life like a prize in a party game.

During the first year's challenge, Sienna had taken one of my custom gowns without permission. I ended the game in front of everyone.

Callum followed me outside, wrapped his arms around me, and spent nearly an hour explaining himself. He only wanted to know whether I would get jealous over him, he said.

Then he kissed my forehead and promised, "This was the first time, and it will be the last."

Now Sienna was trying on my dresses one after another in my walk-in closet.

She even pulled out my watches and jewelry, started a livestream, and asked their friends to choose the look that made her seem most like Mrs. Ashford.

She fastened a pair of earrings and turned toward the camera. "What about this one?"

Callum sat nearby. He looked up briefly. "The silver suits you better."

Laughter burst from the livestream.

Someone asked why I had not appeared.

Sienna settled back against the sofa with a helpless smile. "Lucia must still be upset. I only agreed to help Callum with his anniversary challenge. I didn't expect her to move out for real."

Callum answered for her. "Give her a few days of space. She'll come home when she's done being angry."

Not long afterward, his messages arrived.

[Tell me when you reach the apartment safely.]

[This is the same anniversary game we play every year. There is no reason to question our entire marriage over it.]

[If you want your things, I had the staff pack them for you.]

I did not reply.

The following afternoon, I returned to the house and discovered that the lock no longer recognized my fingerprint.

Sienna eventually opened the door for me.

She wore my watch on her wrist and my slippers on her feet. The bed in the primary suite had been remade with the pale blue linens she preferred. My toiletries had been swept into a cardboard box.

Even our wedding portrait had been taken down and propped against the wall. Stacked boxes concealed half of my face and half of Callum's in the photograph.

Callum was standing in the living room. The moment he saw me, relief flashed unmistakably in his eyes.

"I knew you'd come back."

He pushed the box toward me, gentling his voice. "Lucia, we've been married for seven years. You know Sienna is only a friend. Once the game ends, everything will go back to normal."

Sienna leaned against the bedroom doorway. "Would you like me to move into the guest room?"

She asked the question, but did not move an inch.

Callum glanced at me.

I picked up the box.

"Is this everything?"

The smile faded from his lips. "You came back only for your things?"

"Yes."

He studied me for several seconds. A trace of unease crossed his face before familiar certainty covered it again.

"Fine. If you need a few days to calm down, I'll give them to you. But when the seven days are over, we are going to talk."

I said nothing. I carried the box through the front door.

Callum did not stop me this time either.

By the end of the week, I would no longer be Lucia Ashford.