She said sorry for the trouble. I said no trouble at all. One thing led to another, and we got close.

When she smiled, her eyes curved into little crescents. She spoke softly, gently. She was the kind of girl who made you want to protect her.

I fell hard.

After graduation, I stayed in Riverport for her. She landed a government position in the city.

By our third year together, I'd bought us a place. I got down on one knee.

She cried and said yes.

On our wedding day, Rufus Gilbert stood right beside me as my best man.

Crisp suit, handing me the ring.

He was my childhood friend. We'd grown up together, tearing through the same neighborhood since before we could tie our own shoes.

He'd started working two years before me. When I was scraping together the down payment on the house, he lent me fifty thousand dollars without blinking.

At the reception, he raised his glass and said, "Brother, Marjorie's a good woman. You better treat her right."

I had my arm around Marjorie. "You know I will."

He grinned. A wide, genuine grin.

Back then, I never could have imagined that Rufus Gilbert's name would reenter my life the way it did.

I replayed that message in my head over and over, countless times.

"Hey sis, whenever Edmund's away on a trip, just plant a couple cabbages in FarmVille. I'll see it and come over."

Planting cabbages. A coded signal.

Every time I left on a business trip, she'd plant cabbages in the game, and he'd see them and come over.

Come over to do what?

I didn't want to think about it. My brain didn't listen.

Every single time I'd dragged my suitcase to the door and said Babe, I'm heading out, she'd wave from the doorway and tell me to come home soon.

Then she'd turn around, open the computer, plant two cabbages in that virtual little field, and signal my best friend.

Coast is clear.

Maybe in the bed I slept in.

Maybe under the comforter I'd paid for.

The more I thought, the worse it hurt.

My fists clenched until my nails bit into my palms.

By the time the sky began to lighten, I'd made a decision.

I carefully lifted her hand off my chest and slid out of bed.

She rolled over, mumbled something unintelligible, and drifted back to sleep.

I picked up my phone and pretended to answer a call.

"Hello, Mr. Wang?"

"Something came up and I need to head back today to handle it, that right?"

"Sure, no problem. I'll call you when I get in."

I kept my voice low on purpose, but clear enough to carry.

I hung up and started packing.

Quiet movements, but enough noise to wake a light sleeper.

Marjorie sat up rubbing her eyes, hair tousled, one strap of her nightgown slipping off her shoulder.

She watched me stuff clothes into my bag, disappointment settling across her face.

"Another emergency trip?"

"Client's got an issue. I need to go back and sort it out."

I coiled the charging cable and tucked it into the side pocket.

She sighed and said she'd been planning to take me to a movie today. She'd already bought the tickets. Now they'd go to waste.

She pouted as she said it, that particular brand of wifely complaint, half whine, half flirtation. Perfectly calibrated. Not too much, not too little.

She kicked off the covers, padded barefoot over to me, and straightened my collar. Then she unpacked my overstuffed bag and reorganized it properly.

She did it all with quiet focus, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Honey, at least eat breakfast before you go?"

"No time. The train won't wait."

She didn't push it.

At the door, she rose on her tiptoes, one hand curling around the back of my neck, and pressed her lips to mine.

A deep kiss.

Her lips were still soft, carrying that particular warmth of early morning.

She kissed me like she meant it, the tip of her tongue tracing the outline of my lips, slow and deliberate, like she was completing some kind of ritual.

Same as always.

"Be safe out there."

She stood in the doorframe wearing that silk camisole nightgown, smiling at me.

I nodded, turned, and stepped into the elevator.

The moment the doors closed, her smile vanished into the narrowing gap.

I took a cab to the train station and found a corner seat in the waiting hall.

I opened my phone and logged into Messenger.

My finger hovered over the screen for a few seconds.

Then I tapped into her social media feed.

Rufus's name wasn't in the recent visitors list. Or rather, he was probably using a burner account I'd never recognize.

But in the activity feed, the latest entry was crystal clear.

Fifteen minutes ago.

Marjorie had planted two cabbages in FarmVille.

Something seized my chest and squeezed, inch by inch, tighter and tighter.

Cold spread from my sternum out to my limbs. Even my fingertips went numb.

I stared at those two virtual cabbages sitting quietly on the screen, bright green and plump, their pixelated leaves almost garish against the plain little plot of farmland. Next to them were the carrots and corn she'd planted, neat rows, clearly tended every day.

She really was obsessed with that game. Never missed a day.

I used to tease her about it. Told her nobody still played browser games from the Stone Age, that it was ancient history.

She'd laugh and swat my arm. You don't get it. It's nostalgic.

Now I understood.

The nostalgia was real.

It just had nothing to do with the game.

I sat there for a while, then left the train station.

I hailed another cab and went back to the apartment complex.

I didn't go upstairs. I found a quiet spot with a clear line of sight to the building entrance and stood there.

About ten minutes later, a black SUV turned the corner at the end of the street.

A license plate I knew by heart.

Rufus's car.

It pulled up beside the entrance. The engine stayed running.

Two or three minutes passed. Then Marjorie came out.

She'd changed into a dress. A white floral sundress I'd never seen before. Her hair was down, draped over her shoulders, and she'd put on light makeup.

She walked with a bounce in her step, pulled open the passenger door, and slid in.

Before the door even closed all the way, they were kissing.

Rufus had one hand on the steering wheel. The other cradled the back of her head.

She leaned into him, half her body pressed against his.

The kiss went on and on.

I watched from roughly a hundred feet away. Every detail, perfectly clear.

A sharp sting flared in my chest, like the jab of a needle.

Then it was gone.

Everything was gone.

No pain. No anger. No grief.

Just emptiness.

And numbness.

After Rufus drove off, I flagged down a cab. Told the driver to follow the black SUV ahead of us, not too close.

He glanced at me in the rearview mirror. Said nothing. Just nodded.

About twenty minutes later, the SUV pulled into the underground parking garage at Galleria Mall.

I got out two spaces behind them and followed at a distance.

Marjorie had her arm looped through Rufus's. They walked side by side, shoulders touching, tilting their heads toward each other now and then to talk.

Something he said made her laugh, her eyes crinkling into little crescents.

I knew that laugh too well.

She used to laugh like that in college.

After we got married, it almost disappeared.

She smiled when she held my arm too, but it was different. That smile was gentle, composed. A wife's smile.

Now, on Rufus's arm, she laughed like a girl.

They went into a clothing store first. Marjorie tried on two outfits, spinning in front of the mirror after each one, turning back to ask Rufus if it looked good.

Rufus was leaning against a nearby rack, hands shoved in his pockets, head tilted to one side.

"Gorgeous. You look gorgeous in everything."

She handed the clothes to the salesgirl and said she'd take both.

Rufus pulled out his phone and scanned the code to pay. Not a second of hesitation.

She smiled, tilting her face up to look at him. There was something in her eyes.

Something that looked a lot like devotion.

I watched from several counters away, and the pain flared again.

Not the sharp kind. A dull ache. Like someone punching me in the chest, slow and steady, over and over.

In all our years of marriage, the number of times we'd gone shopping together could be counted on one hand. Every time I offered to take her, she'd wave me off. Shopping is exhausting. Isn't it nicer to just stay home?

I'd always wanted us to catch a movie together, but she'd say theaters were too loud, that watching on the projector at home was the same thing. So I bought a projector. Then she said she was tired, said maybe another day.

Another day became another week, became never.

I'd always believed she genuinely didn't enjoy shopping. Didn't enjoy movies.

Now I knew.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy them.

She just didn't enjoy them with me.

They left the mall and headed to a steakhouse on the third floor.

I stood in the fire escape at the end of the corridor, watching through the small window in the door.

They sat by the window. Rufus ordered two steaks and a bottle of red wine. When Marjorie cut into her steak, she sliced off a piece and lifted her fork to his lips.

Rufus opened his mouth and took it. He chewed slowly, watching her with a gaze so tender it practically melted.

Then he raised his wine glass and clinked it against hers.

They looked at each other across the table and smiled.

When Marjorie smiled, she tilted her head slightly, and a strand of hair slipped from her shoulder. She reached up with her free hand and tucked it behind her ear.

The motion was slow. Effortless.

And impossibly alluring.

I hadn't seen her do that since we were dating.

Halfway through the meal, Rufus set down his knife and fork.

"Marjorie, how come Edmund's away on business again?"

She laughed, picked up her napkin, dabbed the corner of her mouth, and turned the question back on him.

"Isn't it a good thing he's away?"

Her tone was light, casual, like she was talking about the weather.

Rufus stood up, walked around the table, and sat down beside her. He slipped an arm around her shoulders, leaned in, and kissed her on the lips.

The kiss wasn't deep, but it lingered.

"Of course it's a good thing. I wish he traveled every single day. Better yet, a whole year straight."

He paused, then kissed her again.

"That way we could be together every day."

Marjorie didn't push him away. She leaned into him instead, resting her head on his shoulder, one hand settling on his thigh.

The expression on her face was perfectly clear from where I stood.

Contentment.

The kind that comes from being loved. From being wanted.

After dinner, they went downstairs and got in the car.

I hailed another cab and followed.

The car finally stopped in front of a hotel. Not some budget chain. A high-end business hotel.

The two of them walked into the lobby hand in hand.

I trailed behind, watching through the glass of the revolving door as they approached the front desk. Rufus pulled out his ID. The clerk processed them. The whole thing took less than two minutes.

Smooth. Practiced.

Then they turned and walked toward the elevator.

I stood where I was, staring at the motionless floor number above the elevator doors, and I stood there for a long time.

People passed through the lobby around me. Someone glanced my way, but nobody cared who I was.

I walked to the lounge area and sank into one of the sofas.