When I was upset, she'd speak to me softly until the storm passed.
She told me that once the company was stable, she wanted to have a child together—a happy little family of three.
Today was the first time she'd felt like a different person entirely.
I went home.
I stood in front of our wedding portrait, staring at it, unable to stop the question gnawing at me—had three years of tenderness all been an act?
Then something caught my eye.
The portrait looked like it had been shifted recently. I reached up and lifted it off the wall.
Behind it was another photograph.
Marlene and Miles.
It looked like it had been taken years ago. They were young, sitting beneath a canopy of cherry blossoms, their smiles sickeningly sweet.
In that moment, everything crystallized. No matter how much life had battered her, Marlene had never forgotten Miles Sullivan. Not for a single day.
Everything she'd done—the devoted wife, the perfect partner—had been a performance. All for the company.
Buzz. Buzz.
My phone vibrated. Marlene's name on the screen.
"Dad wants us to come for dinner."
In private, she used to call me "honey" without a second thought. Now it was just one clipped sentence—and the line went dead.
So they weren't even bothering to pretend anymore.
The only question was how Marlene's parents—and the rest of the Henson clan—would act when I got there.
I arrived at the Henson family villa to find every elder already assembled.
The way they looked at me was different.
"Sit down."
Spencer Henson waved a dismissive hand.
He used to greet me warmly, calling me his "wonderful son-in-law." Now his voice dripped with cold indifference and barely concealed arrogance.
Every detail told me this dinner was anything but ordinary.
I didn't say much. I took my seat at the table and had just picked up my chopsticks when Marlene walked in—with Miles Sullivan at her side.
"Uncle Henson, and greetings to all the elders." Miles flashed a brilliant smile.
Beside him, Marlene kept her head slightly bowed, stealing glances at me when she thought I wasn't looking.
She wanted to see my reaction.
Unlike the reception they'd given me, Spencer and the others all rose from their seats, falling over themselves to welcome him.
"Miles! It's been too long. More handsome than ever, and such presence! So much better than some backwater nobody."
"How can you even compare some stray mutt to a top-tier talent like Miles?"