Chapter 2

I thought about it for a long time, and I made up my mind: I'd move out of Denys's place first.

I opened the notes app on my phone to start a list of what to take, and then Fern's post scrolled up on my feed:

Thanks for treating me, Denys.

Below it was a photo of the two of them together.

It was nearly midnight when Denys got home.

He came in, saw the suitcase lying open on the floor, and kicked it.

The case flipped over, clothes spilling everywhere.

"Florence, who's this little show for?"

"What is wrong with you?" I stood up.

"What's wrong with me?" He tossed his car keys onto the shoe cabinet.

"You made a face and walked out tonight in front of everyone. Do you have any idea she blamed herself the whole way back? Can you not have a little tact, Florence?"

I listened to him firing off one accusation after another, and I couldn't hold it in. "Denys, in all these years, have you ever once come to pick me up?"

He froze for a second, his face shifting through a few expressions, and his tone came back harder. "How many times do I have to tell you? In front of coworkers, we keep our distance."

"Why do you keep dragging up this same thing? The whole company is watching. If I'm the boss and I'm picking you up every single day, what are people supposed to think?"

"Then tell me this. Ever since Fern arrived, you leave more than an hour early every day to go get her, and you've never missed once. So the keeping-distance rule only applies to me?"

He let out a cold laugh.

"Florence, I really misjudged you."

"She's just a young girl, new in town, doesn't know a soul. What's the harm in me giving her a ride?"

"Tonight she kept telling me not to blame you. She said you left in such a hurry you couldn't have eaten dinner, so she had me pack a meal to bring home for you."

He lifted the takeout box in front of my face, then slammed it hard against the floor.

Broth splashed across my leg, and the skin flared red on the spot.

"She's worried about whether you're going hungry tonight, and you? You're in here throwing a fit? A kindness wasted on an ingrate, and the food too!"

With that he slammed the bedroom door, not sparing me another glance.

That night the scalded skin started to blister, burning and raw.

I pulled back the covers, got out of bed, and went for my coat.

Denys rolled over, irritated. "Where are you going in the middle of the night?"

"The hospital. I got burned."

"Tsk, can't you keep it down? I've got an early meeting tomorrow."