Chapter 1

Six years of marriage, and Julian and I were basically commuter spouses.

I stayed in our suburban house, while he lived in his luxury downtown condo during the workweek.

Every Friday night at ten o'clock, he would open the door, wrap his arms around me, and say, "Hey babe, I'm home."

Then on Monday morning at six, he would kiss my forehead and say, "See you Friday, honey."

I always thought this was just a compromise we made for his career.

Until three weeks ago. I had a sudden flare-up of acute appendicitis. I was curled up on the cold floor in agonizing pain, crying into the phone, begging him to come back.

He said, "Chloe, I have a major project presentation tomorrow at nine in the morning. I really can't leave right now."

"Just hang in there. I already called 911. The ambulance should be there any minute."

Late that night, I signed my own surgical consent form alone in the ER.

The day after I was discharged was our sixth wedding anniversary. It happened to be a Wednesday.

I decided to be the bigger person. I packed some nice champagne and steaks, drove over an hour downtown, wanting to give him a surprise.

Just as I was about to ring the doorbell, a young woman opened the door from the inside.

She froze when she saw me, but then she smiled warmly.

"Chloe? What are you doing here at this hour?"

Before I could say anything, a voice called out from inside the apartment.

"Amber, the fresh oysters Julian had flown in for you just arrived!"

"He knew you couldn't eat them raw, so he specifically had the chef cook them first."

I stood at the doorway, looking down at the steaks in my hands.

Suddenly, I really wanted to know.

Who exactly did Julian plan on spending this anniversary with?

Amber quickly recovered, stepping aside to let me in.

"Chloe, don't get the wrong idea. A few of us from the project team worked late last night, so we decided to get together for dinner today."

I walked in.

Sure enough, there were two other men in the living room. One was setting the table, and the other was unpacking the oysters.

When they saw me, they both froze.

Then, one of them immediately laughed.

"Chloe? No wonder Julian has been so distracted since this afternoon. Turns out he was waiting for a surprise."

Amber knelt down to grab some slippers for me.

In the very back of the shoe rack, there was a brand-new pair of women's slippers, with the tags still on.

"Here, use these. Julian bought them just last month."

I blinked.

"He bought them for me?"

"Yeah, he said in case you ever dropped by out of nowhere, he didn't want you walking around barefoot."

Amber spoke so naturally, as if she were the actual mistress of this apartment.

I looked down at the shoes, a bitter taste rising in my throat.

Julian remembered to buy slippers for me.

But in six years, I had never worn them once.

The apartment was completely different from what I remembered.

Six years ago, when Julian was first transferred to this city, I helped him unpack.

Back then, the living room was empty. We bought the couch, the curtains, and the dinnerware together.

But then his project dragged on from six months to a year, then to three years, and now, to six.

I had never come back since.

Now, the balcony was filled with lush green plants. There was a first-aid kit with daily vitamins under the coffee table, and sticky notes were cluttered all over the fridge door.

There were several sets of plates neatly arranged on the dining table.

Amber was in the kitchen mixing the dipping sauce.

I asked casually, "Did Julian buy these oysters?"

A colleague laughed. "Amber's been talking about them for a week. Julian had them specially flown in."

Amber immediately glared at him playfully.

"Hey, make it sound like they're only for me! You better eat less later."

They all laughed.

I forced a smile and laughed along.

Just then, the smart lock beeped.

Julian walked in.

He was holding grocery bags in his left hand and a dessert box in his right.

The moment his eyes met mine, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Chloe?"

Before I could speak, he quickly set the bags down in the hallway and walked over to me.

"What are you doing here?"

He looked completely oblivious to what day it was today.

There wasn't a hint of guilt in his voice.

I held up the steaks. "Wanted to surprise you."

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've driven to pick you up."

Julian took the steaks from me, looking down at my face. "Have you lost weight?"

Before I could answer, Amber giggled from the kitchen.

"Alright, Julian, that's enough. The rest of us are still in the room, you know."

The other colleague joined in on the teasing.

"Chloe, you have no idea. Julian is always the most eager to leave on Friday afternoons. Last week, a client dinner wasn't even over at eight-thirty, but he just put his glass down and left, saying his wife was waiting for him at home."

Julian laughed and shook his head. "Shut up."

I looked at him.

"Really?"

"Of course."

He gently pinched my cheek. "If I don't go back, who's going to cook for you?"

In that single moment, the heavy rock that had been weighing on my chest all the way here lifted just a little.

He was still the Julian I knew.

He was still the husband who would do whatever it took to come home to me every Friday, no matter how late it was.