Chapter 2

2

Landry didn't stumble home until the early hours of the morning. He stank of bourbon and leaned his full weight on me the moment he walked in.

"I told you to wait for me. Why did you come back on your own?"

Normally, I would have hurried to get him a glass of warm water and scolded him for drinking too much.

This time, I just pushed him away.

"I didn't feel like waiting."

Landry's body stiffened, but then he grabbed my wrist.

"Why are you being so cold today? I drank so much for these clients I can barely stand. Don't you even care about me?"

He didn't even bother to hide his lies well. I looked at the faint lipstick smudge on his collar. It was tragic and hilarious at the same time.

"I'm tired. I want to sleep."

Landry thought for a moment and nodded. "You're right. You need your rest so you have energy for work tomorrow."

"Go on then. I won't pester you."

He stood up shakily. He was telling me to go earn more money, but he dressed it up as concern.

I looked into his eyes and couldn't help but ask, "Was it really a client you were seeing?"

His drowsy face instantly cleared. He stood up straight.

"Are you spying on me?"

"We've been married for years. Don't you trust me at all? I'm out there killing myself for your company, and you're being this petty?"

I hadn't even accused him of anything yet.

I watched the veins bulging in his forehead. I swallowed my disappointment and turned toward the bedroom.

After a few steps, Landry wrapped his arms around me from behind.

Maybe he realized he overreacted. He whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm just exhausted. My temper got the best of me."

His hand accidentally brushed against my lower belly. I flinched.

Thinking of the tiny life that hadn't even formed yet, I murmured, "What if we had a child…"

"No!"

He rejected the idea too quickly, too firmly. In that second, years of bottled-up resentment came flooding back.

Landry let go and turned me around to face him. He cupped my face and tried to explain. "I just can't bear to see you go through that kind of pain, sweetheart."

I already had my answer. The hesitation I felt because of the baby vanished.

"Fine."

A man like him didn't deserve a child of mine.

Finally sensing my mood was off, Landry changed the subject. "You've been working so hard lately. Weren't you looking for new investors this week?"

There it was. The real reason he was playing nice.

"I didn't find any," I said shortly.

The atmosphere in the room turned icy. I looked Landry in the eye and asked, "Landry, if my company goes under one day, would you leave me?"

A flash of panic crossed his eyes. He quickly recovered. "How could your company fail? Stop overthinking things."

I smiled faintly. "Right. Go take a shower. It's late."

The moment the water started running in the bathroom, his phone buzzed on the table. Several messages popped up from a contact named "The One."

I didn't hesitate. I picked it up. The passcode was 0823―a date I'd seen him use before.

Looking at the profile picture, I confirmed it was Cynthia Rivers.

"You must be exhausted after spending the day with me. Get some rest, babe."

"When are you finally going to marry me? I hate having to sneak around. It makes me feel so small."

Below that was a photo of Cynthia lying in bed in a silk nightgown, faking a pout for the camera.

I scrolled up. There were several transfers of fifty thousand dollars each.

"It's getting chilly. Here's a little something for my girl to buy some warm clothes."

He threw around tens of thousands like it was nothing. Yet, for our last anniversary, I had to beg him for ages just to get a fifty-dollar bouquet.

Back then, I didn't care about the money. I was just happy he remembered. Now, I felt like a fool.

I put his phone back and sent a text to my company's accountant.

"Audit every single account in the company. Do it privately. Report back to me this weekend."