Chapter 2

While clearing out the bedroom, I pulled an old charging cable from behind the nightstand.

Six months ago, Adrian’s phone had been charging in that exact spot.

That was the first time Mia had ever become the reason for a real fight between us.

It was after one in the morning. Adrian had gone to shower when his phone screen lit up.

Mia.

Good night, Adrian. Try to get some sleep.

A few minutes later, he came out of the bathroom, glanced at the message, and replied as naturally as if there were nothing strange about it.

Good night, Mia. You too.

I looked at him.

“Do you two always text like this at night?”

“Saying good night to each other at one in the morning.”

Adrian lifted his eyes.

“Mia is my assistant. We were working late tonight.”

“Does she still need to remind you to sleep after the work is over?”

The patience in his expression faded.

“Claire, it’s one message.”

“If a man texted me like that at one in the morning, would you be fine with it?”

That night, we had our first serious fight over Mia.

I asked him to keep a professional boundary with her.

Adrian’s only answer was, “What you should be asking yourself is why one good-night text makes you this angry.”

The next afternoon, he took Mia to a private furniture showroom in SoHo.

Together, they chose the sofa and dining table for the apartment we were supposed to move into after the wedding.

When he came home, I asked why he had taken her.

Adrian removed his coat.

“She’s helping with the new place.”

“I told you yesterday that I’m uncomfortable with how close you two are.”

“So because you’re uncomfortable, I have to do whatever you want?”

We fought again.

After that, it was always some version of the same thing.

One day, I found Mia sitting in the passenger seat of Adrian’s car.

I stood beside the car and asked him why she was there.

Adrian looked at me for a few seconds, then walked around the car and opened the passenger door for her.

“Get in.”

Mia hesitated.

“Adrian, I can sit in the back.”

“No.”

He leaned in and fastened her seat belt himself, then looked at me over the open door.

As if he were waiting to see what I would do.

I lost my temper that day.

Adrian stayed perfectly calm.

“Claire, who sits beside me doesn’t mean anything.”

“But you know I care.”

“Then learn not to.”

Later, I came down with a fever of almost 103.

Adrian had promised to stay home with me that night, but somehow we ended up arguing about Mia again.

In the end, he called her right in front of me.

“Get ready. We’re going to Hudson Valley.”

The Morettis owned a private estate there.

I pushed myself upright in bed.

“Adrian, I have a fever.”

“The medicine is in the cabinet.”

“You really have to take her tonight?”

He was already putting on his coat.

“I could have stayed. You’re the one who turned this into another fight.”

Then he closed the door behind him.

Rain poured over New York that night.

My fever kept climbing until I finally had to call a car and go to the ER alone.

While a nurse set up my IV, I took out my phone and typed:

I feel awful.

Before I could send it, I saw Mia’s latest post.

The terrace at the Hudson Valley estate was lit by the fire. Two glasses sat on the table.

Quiet nights are the best.

At the edge of the photo was Adrian’s watch, the one I knew on sight.

I stared at it for a while.

Then I deleted the message I had written.

After that night, I stopped asking.

If Adrian came home late, I didn’t ask where he had been.

If Mia sat in his car, I didn’t argue.

If he canceled our plans at the last minute, I answered with one word.

Okay.

Sometimes Mia called after midnight and Adrian stepped out to take it right in front of me.

I simply rolled over and went back to sleep.

Adrian was pleased.

I even heard him tell Luca and the others once, “She’s been much better lately. She used to question everything. Now she finally understands that some things aren’t worth making a problem over.”

Everyone thought I had become easier to love.

I looked down at the charging cable in my hand, wound it up, and dropped it into the garbage bag.

Once, I would have stared at Adrian’s phone waiting for an explanation.

Now, he could leave it unlocked in front of me and I probably wouldn’t bother looking.

This was what he had wanted.

Adrian thought the silence meant I had finally learned.