Chapter 2

However, my throat tightened and, when I spoke, my voice came out rough.

"He treats you really well."

Whitney lowered her head and gently brushed her fingers over the petals in her hand.

"Yeah. He says the flowers I arrange have the most life in them. He says every bouquet looks like a painting.

"He also says these hands of mine should only ever touch flowers. Anything else would be a waste."

She looked up at me, her eyes crinkling with a bright smile.

"How does he come up with so many sweet things to say? Sometimes, it all feels too good to be real."

Her smile was so sweet, yet it felt like a blade stabbing straight through my heart, especially the way her eyes seemed to glow as she talked about him.

I knew that glow all too well.

I used to have it too.

Back when Joshua and I had just fallen in love and gotten married, he could not get enough of pampering me. He treated me like I was something precious, as if he wanted to hold me in the palm of his hand.

However, it did not take long for his love to be worn away by the endless little things that came with marriage.

For years, I had told myself that our love had not disappeared. Maybe we had simply stopped showing it and tucked it away somewhere deep inside.

Now I knew the truth.

His love had not moved into his heart. It had moved on to another woman.

When I got home, I was greeted by the same mess in the kitchen and the pile of clothes waiting to be washed.

My hands were meant for housework, but Whitney's hands were meant for arranging flowers. The thought made me pull out my phone and call for housekeeping service.

...

An hour and a half later, the housekeeper had finished every chore that would normally have taken me half a day.

All it had cost me was 120 dollars.

When Joshua came home that evening, his eyes swept across the living room and kitchen. His eyebrows knitted together.

"You hired someone?"

I did not try to hide it.

"Yeah. A housekeeper. They charge by the hour. Eighty dollars an hour."

The moment he heard that, he tossed his car keys onto the cabinet by the door. The sound was not loud, but it was heavy.

"Do you even know what the economy is like right now? I spend all day at the company and out entertaining clients, yet you are telling me you cannot even handle a little housework?"

I simply looked at him without saying a word.

He had helped Whitney open such a large flower shop in one of the most expensive parts of downtown. Even on the low end, the annual rent had to at least be $500,000. Then there was all the fresh flower stock he bought from her shop every day. That was hardly a small expense either.

I had spent only $120 on a housekeeper, but he was already furious.

I curled my lips into a bitter smile.

"I can do it. I just do not want to anymore."

He stared at me for two seconds, as if he did not understand the chill behind my words.

After a long silence, he finally spoke again.

"What has gotten into you these past few days?"

I looked up. The first thing I noticed was the beige curtains in the living room.

I remembered that when we had picked them out, I had actually fallen in love with a light gray set. Joshua had said the color was too gloomy.

I could not argue with him, so I changed them.

Afterward, he said they were fine. However, every time he sat on the couch, he complained that the sunlight was too harsh and blamed me for not talking him out of the choice in the first place.

"Joshua." I suddenly called his name. "I have not gotten flowers from you in a long time. Could you buy me a bouquet of red roses tomorrow?

"Just get them from the flower shop downstairs from your office."

Something flickered across his face, so quickly I almost missed it. Then his voice suddenly rose. "Since when did you become so tacky?"

I said nothing.

"Flowers are for people with taste to appreciate. You spend all day at home standing around the stove. Buying flowers for you would just be a waste."

He turned and headed toward the bedroom. When he passed me, he paused for a moment.

"If you have nothing better to do, think about something that actually matters. Stop wasting your time obsessing over useless things."