2: 2

Moira kept me flat on that hospital bed for three days.

The bandages could come off, but the dozen-odd cuts on my arm weren't ready to have the stitches out.

In all that time, Marvin didn't show his face once.

After the doctor finished running through every instruction, I stopped by a law firm and had the divorce papers drawn up.

I was on my way out when Marvin suddenly called.

"You get discharged yet?"

"Yeah, just now."

"Oh, then head home. I've got a surprise for you."

Marvin was the one who opened the door when I got there.

He was smiling.

"I already changed the default address, and I bought a new water heater and had it installed."

"I even cooked you a big meal myself. You can't still be angry now, right?"

I didn't answer. My eyes had landed on the shoe cabinet, still hanging open.

Inside sat a pair of rose-red stilettos. Not mine.

A sound came from the dining room, and I turned to look.

Hilda Swanson was setting a bottle of red wine on the table, smiling as she greeted me.

"Kate, you're back? Go wash your hands and come eat."

She had on the women's set of those couple's pajamas, the ones I'd had my eye on before, the ones Marvin had supposedly sent to the wrong address.

They matched the men's set he was wearing.

As if the two of them were the married couple in this home, and I was just an outsider who'd dropped by.

Marvin explained, "Hildy's depression flared up recently. She keeps having nightmares, can't stand to be alone."

"It's not like this place is short on rooms. Just let her stay a few days. It's easier for me to look after her this way."

I ignored them both and walked toward the half-open door of the master bedroom.

The familiar wallpaper and bedding had been swapped out for the pink and blue Hilda liked.

The closet that used to be mine was full of her clothes, and our wedding photo had been replaced with an artistic portrait of her.

The designer cosmetics were still there, at least, though a third of them were gone.

I turned to Marvin, who'd followed me in. "A few days needs a whole redecoration? She gets the master bedroom. Where do I sleep?"

Marvin shut the door at once, terrified the person outside might hear and be upset.

His voice, deliberately lowered, was full of impatience. "The master bedroom's bigger, gets more sun. It's good for Hildy's health. Setting the room up the way she's used to helps keep her stable."

"Your things are already moved to the guest room. Sleep there for now. It's just a place to sleep. Do you really have to be so picky? Can't you show a little grace toward someone who's sick?"

Every sentence out of him was about Hilda, and he'd forgotten I'd only just been discharged myself.

From the moment I walked in until now, he hadn't asked once how my cuts were.

Even his finally agreeing to change the default address hadn't been for me.

It was only because Hilda was living here now.

"Marvin, let's get a div—"

I'd barely started to bring up divorce when there was a sudden knock at the door.

Hilda's frail little voice came through. "Marvin, aren't you done talking yet? I'm getting a little hungry..."

Marvin grabbed my wrist. "Kate, can we not fight? This dinner tonight is my way of making it up to you. Hildy didn't even dare pick up her chopsticks first, she was afraid you'd be upset."

"When you go out there, don't wear that long face like just now. Hildy's sensitive. Don't make her feel like some outsider living off other people's charity."

I didn't ask whether that wasn't exactly what she was.

I let Marvin steer me to the dining table anyway.

Looking at the spread of seafood, all of it Hilda's favorites, I didn't touch my chopsticks.

Marvin sat down right beside her and took the crab from her hands, prying it open for her, his voice gentle. "Let me. You little dummy, you can never remember you're not supposed to eat the heart of the crab, or your stomach will hurt."

"And don't drink the orange juice later. You know seafood and orange juice don't sit well together."

Hilda smiled sweetly. "Thank you, sweetheart. These past few years, taking care of my health, you've practically turned yourself into half a doctor."

The air froze in an instant.

Hilda covered her mouth a beat too late and looked at me with feigned apology. "Sorry, Kate. Back when Marvin and I were together, he used to help me just like this. I got used to calling him that. Slipped for a second and forgot to catch myself."

Before I could even say anything, Marvin got in first. "It's fine. Kate isn't the petty type."

I felt a sudden urge to laugh.

Right after we got married, I used to call Marvin sweetheart too.

But he'd frowned. "Kate, I don't care for a nickname that mushy. I'm a business owner now, after all. If someone heard it, it'd make me look unserious."

"Let's just do it the way we used to, call each other by name. It's better that way."

So it turned out his preferences could change depending on who the other person was.

Seeing that I wasn't moving, Marvin pushed the plate of spicy stir-fried crab toward me.

"What are you sitting there for? Eat. Or are you waiting for someone to feed you?"

I said, cuttingly, "Mr. Gilbert's practically half a doctor now. So how is it he doesn't know the cuts on my arm haven't healed, that I'm supposed to stay off spicy food and seafood?"

3: 3

Marvin blinked, a trace of irritation crossing his face.

"The company keeps me busy all day, and I've got Hildy to look after. You think I've got the spare energy to remember what other people can't eat?"

"Besides, you know what you can't have. Couldn't you have said so ahead of time?"

Huh. So now I was other people.

I didn't want to say anything more. I got up and went to the guest room to pack.

Marvin walked in just as I clicked the suitcase shut.

He frowned, disappointed. "Kate, how long are you going to keep making a scene?"

"You walk out now, and Hildy's going to think you don't like her. You want her upset over that?"

I kept my voice flat. "If I stay here, she's the one who'll be uncomfortable."

I stepped around him and left.

As the door shut, Hilda's innocent voice drifted out behind me. "Marvin, is it because I'm here? Did I make Kate angry? Maybe I should just go..."

"Ignore her. That's just her, spoiled little princess with a temper, acting like the whole world owes her. Her parents raised her rotten. Let her go wherever she wants."

My parents were already asleep by then, and I didn't want to worry them, so I booked a room at a hotel.

The next day, I'd just woken up around noon when Marvin called.

"Your mother's sixtieth birthday party is tonight. I'm taking Hildy for her follow-up this afternoon, so let's just meet at the venue."

Marvin was always like this. Every time we fought over Hilda.

By the next day, he could act like nothing had happened.

He would never touch the root of the problem. It was like ladling water out of a pot to stop it boiling.

I was about to tell him he didn't need to come, but he got there first.

"Kate, that's enough. It's the old lady's birthday. Don't pick a time like this to upset your elders."

I thought about it and decided to wait until after Mom's birthday, then tell them everything slowly.

But I never expected him to be the last to arrive, and to bring Hilda with him.

My father asked, surprised, "Marvin, who's this young lady?"

Marvin answered without so much as a change in his expression. "She's a very important friend of mine. Her family's all passed away, and her health isn't good. I've been the one taking care of her."

"Today's the anniversary of her parents' death. She's not in a good place, and I was worried she wouldn't eat properly, so I brought her along for a warm meal."

My parents' faces went a little awkward at that.

Marvin sat Hilda down in the seat beside his own.

At every family dinner the arrangement was the same. My mother's left was my father, her right was me, and then Marvin.

Marvin knew this perfectly well. He still let me stand off to the side like an outsider.

The relatives all wore odd expressions.

My mother glanced at me, the smile on her face thinning, though she stayed gracious. "Marvin, caring for a friend is understandable, but that's Kate's seat. Have the waiter set another place for this young lady."

It was a family dinner, only relatives invited, so we'd only booked one large private room.

The relatives' seats had all been settled long ago, and it wouldn't do to ask any of them to give theirs up.

The waiter squeezed in a seat near the door.

Hilda started up nervously. "I'm sorry, I overstepped. Let me move..."

She said it, but her eyes had gone red, as if someone were pushing her out.

Marvin pressed her hand down. "It's fine. Sit tight."

He turned to me, and it came out like an order. "Kate, Hildy only knows me here. She won't feel safe unless she's next to me."

"Be reasonable. Take the seat by the door for today. Don't make people think the Fox daughter has no manners."

The second the words landed, my parents' faces darkened.

The way they looked at Hilda turned heavy with meaning too.

But with guests present, neither of them made a scene.

In the end, my mother pressed me into the head seat that had been hers, and took the seat by the door herself.

I felt sick with it, and ashamed.

It was her birthday party, and because of Marvin, she'd been turned into someone mooching a meal.

My father patted my hand and murmured close to my ear, "Your mom's holding the room together for you. Steady now."

Seeing the mood had soured, my third aunt stepped in to smooth things over. "Oh, we should give the birthday girl her gifts first."

Everyone took out the presents they'd prepared.

Expensive tonics, top-grade tea, designer cashmere wraps. My mother accepted each one, smiling and thanking them.

Soon only Marvin and I were left.

Everyone waited to see what the son-in-law would produce.

But he stood with his glass raised and said to my mother, "Mom, I'm sorry. I was busy all day taking Hildy for her follow-up and didn't have time to prepare a proper birthday gift."

"I'll make it up to you next time. Here's a toast to you. Happy birthday."

The moment he finished, my mother's expression froze.

The relatives exchanged glances.

Their mother-in-law's birthday, and the daughter and son-in-law hadn't even prepared a gift?

The blaming, mocking looks all around nearly burned through me.

But I knew I wasn't the only one being shamed.

It was my parents too.

I called Marvin out the door and looked up at him. "The custom jade pendant I spent two hundred thousand having made for my mother. Why is it hanging around Hilda's neck?"

4: 4

If it hadn't been for that moment during the gift-giving.

Hilda had deliberately tugged the pendant out from under her collar and looked straight at me, daring me.

Until then I hadn't even known he'd give away the birthday gift meant for my mother.

Marvin frowned and pulled me off to the side.

"Can't you keep your voice down? If your family hears you, they'll take it out on Hildy."

"It's your mother's birthday. Don't cause a scene now, don't embarrass her."

I laughed.

"When you brought your ex-girlfriend to our family dinner and sat her in my seat, you weren't worried about embarrassment then?"

"Get the pendant back. Now."

At that, Hilda came over, eyes brimming with tears.

"Kate, I'm sorry. I really didn't know it was your mother's gift."

"When it was delivered to your house, my name was on it as the recipient. I've been having nightmares lately, and Marvin said good jade calms the nerves, so I thought he'd bought it for me."

"I know you don't like me. I'll give it back to you, so please stop making things hard for Marvin…"

She lifted the pendant off her neck and made as if to press it into my hand.

Then let go before it ever touched me.

The jade shattered into pieces on the floor.

Hilda burst into tears at once.

"Kate, is it because you think I'm filthy?"

"I'd rather die than be humiliated by you like this. I'm only in your way as long as I'm alive anyway!"

She ran out crying.

Marvin shoved me hard, and I went down onto the floor.

My palm came down on the sharp edges of the broken jade, and my whole hand was covered in blood.

Marvin glared at me, seething.

"Kate, you knew perfectly well that Hildy has depression, and you still provoked her like that, so cruelly. Are you satisfied now?!"

"I'm the one who forgot to change the recipient's name, and I'm the one who said it was for Hildy. If you've got the nerve, come at me!"

"It's just a birthday gift. It's not like your family is short one piece of jade. Or do you think your mother won't live to see next year? Making a huge deal out of nothing, nitpicking over every little thing. You're impossible!"

With that, he rushed out after Hilda without a second thought.

I slumped on the floor and pulled the corner of my mouth into a bitter little smile.

So changing the address had made no difference. The recipient was still Hilda.

And for her sake, Marvin would even curse my own mother.

Back home that night, my mother dabbed medicine on my palm, her heart aching for me.

I didn't want her to worry, so I'd deliberately worn long sleeves to keep the cuts on my arm hidden.

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry. I made you lose face."

My mother opened her mouth to ask something, but my father stopped her.

He handed me a partnership letter of intent.

"Katie, whether we lose face doesn't matter. What matters is whether my daughter has been wronged."

"You're not in a good mood right now, and there are things you don't want to talk about yet. We won't press you. But whether or not you still give him this letter of intent, that's for you to decide."

This year Marvin's little company wanted to expand, and I was the one who put in a good word for him.

That was why my father had agreed to hand one of our outsourced supply chains over to him.

The plan had been to give it to him today, right after he presented the birthday gift.

Instead Marvin ground our whole family's face into the dirt.

I said quietly, "Dad, don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Three days later, Marvin texted me.

【Your dad's got the partnership letter of intent drawn up by now, right? Everything's ready on my end.】

【A lot of friends and clients heard our families are partnering up and want to come congratulate us, so I've thrown a reception. Bring it over and sign today.】

His breezy way of papering over everything was nothing new to me.

I only replied: 【Understood.】

When I arrived, the banquet hall was already packed with guests.

Hilda was in a mermaid gown, her arm hooked through Marvin's.

The two of them kept leaning in, heads close, murmuring and smiling. Very cozy.

A friend they both knew teased them.

"If you ask me, after all these years, you two are still the best match."

A few clients joined in.

"Mr. Gilbert, this must be your wife? A talented man and a beautiful woman, just as they say."

Hilda flushed pink, and Marvin thanked them politely without correcting a thing.

When he saw me, Marvin came over and frowned at my casual clothes.

"Why aren't you in a gown? Even Hildy knows to dress the part for an occasion like this. You're regressing more by the day."

"I was rushed. Besides, the gown I picked out earlier, isn't that the one you mailed to Hilda? It's the one she's wearing."

Marvin froze for a moment, then changed the subject, uncomfortable.

"You brought the letter of intent? Your dad signed it?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go up on stage and hand it over. Everyone's waiting. Oh, and remember to apologize to Hildy in front of everyone later."

"That night, you bullied her so badly she nearly slit her wrists."

I said flatly, "Sure."

Marvin hadn't expected me to agree so readily. He nodded, satisfied.

"Katie, you've finally learned some sense."

On stage, after a few words thanking the guests, he held out his hand to me.

"Katie, hand over the letter of intent. Once I sign too, the partnership between our families is officially in effect."

I took out a document, but I didn't give it to him.

Instead I took the microphone and spoke slowly to the crowd below.

"Everyone, I did come today with something to hand to Mr. Gilbert in front of you all."

"Only it isn't a partnership letter of intent. It's divorce papers."