Chapter 2

Dinner was much livelier than I expected.

Julian sat right next to me. As soon as the food was served, he pushed a salad bowl away from me. "Don't eat this one. It has onions."

I felt a bit embarrassed. "I can see that, Julian."

"Just making sure you don't grab it by mistake. You know how bloated you get."

As he spoke, he leaned over to cut my steak into bite-sized pieces.

A colleague clicked his tongue. "Chloe, seriously, we usually ask Julian to cut some cheese for us and he complains about getting his hands dirty."

Julian didn't even look up. "Are any of you my wife?"

Everyone at the table laughed.

I smiled, too.

Halfway through the meal, I casually put a grilled chicken wing onto his plate.

But Amber instinctively blurted out, "Julian can't eat spicy food right now."

My fork froze in mid-air.

Amber also realized her slip. She quickly smiled and explained, "His stomach has been acting up these past two days. The doctor put him on a bland diet."

I turned to Julian. "Your stomach is hurting again?"

"Just a minor thing."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Julian smiled softly. "It's already better. Why worry you?"

He winked at me. "I don't want Mrs. Miller worrying from sixty miles away."

I remained silent.

The others quickly changed the subject.

After a while, a colleague opened a bottle of wine.

Amber immediately snatched Julian's glass away. "You are not drinking tonight. Your stomach pain was so bad two nights ago, have you already forgotten?"

Julian frowned. "Just one glass."

"No."

"Half a glass?"

"No way."

The colleague laughed. "See, Chloe? Amber is the only one who can keep Julian in check. She nags him to leave the office at midnight, and she bans him from drinking when his stomach hurts. We all joke that Amber is basically Julian's nanny."

My grip on my fork tightened.

Amber quickly waved her hand. "More like a team captain. We just live in the same neighborhood, so we see each other all the time. If he actually gets a stomach ulcer and ends up in the hospital, who's going to finish our project?"

Julian laughed too. "She just worries too much."

Their tone was so open and casual that if I made a scene, it would only make me look petty.

I kept my head down, chewing my food.

Technically, there was nothing going on.

Amber didn't call him babe.

There was no physical touching.

No hiding in the shadows.

Everyone here knew I was Julian's wife, and they all knew he went home to me every single Friday.

But for some reason, I felt suffocated.

I knew Julian didn't eat onions.

I knew which football team he rooted for in college.

I knew he got drunk for the first time when he was twenty-three.

But Amber knew exactly what time his stomach started hurting yesterday.

She knew he couldn't drink right now.

She knew what time he should log off on weekdays.

And I knew none of these things.

After dinner, the colleagues began to leave.

Amber was the last to walk out.

Before leaving, she even helped clean up the kitchen. "Chloe, you should come over more often. Julian keeps bragging on Snapchat about how your Beef Bourguignon is the best in the world, but none of us have ever gotten to taste it."

I gave a polite smile. "I'll make some for you guys next time."

"It's a deal then!"

The door clicked shut.

The living room suddenly became very quiet.

Julian wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You got really quiet during dinner."

I turned around to face him. "Are you and Amber really close?"

Julian answered without a second of hesitation. "We've been project partners for six years. Of course we're close."

"She knew your stomach was hurting."

"My stomach flared up during the meeting yesterday. Everyone saw it."

"And she controls your drinking."

Julian stared at me for a couple of seconds, then suddenly chuckled.

"Chloe, are you jealous?"

"No."

"Your face is practically dragging on the floor, and you're saying you're not?"

I shoved him lightly. "Who would be jealous over you?"

But Julian only held me tighter. "I'm actually happy you're jealous."

"You're crazy."

"I'm serious."

He leaned down and kissed me gently. "At least it proves my wife still cares about me."

The sourness in my chest was slowly washed away by his kiss.

Julian took my hand and led me to the front door. He pulled out his phone. "I just deleted her fingerprint access from the smart lock."

I was stunned. "I didn't ask you to do that."

"Do you think I'm stupid? I could tell you were upset. Why keep it?"

"What if she needs to grab something for work when you're busy?"

"She can knock."

He said it firmly.

After deleting the print, he showed the screen to me. "I won't invite them over anymore."

I looked at the screen.

Suddenly, my earlier jealousy felt a bit ridiculous.

If there was really something going on between Julian and Amber, how could he delete her access so easily right in front of me?

Seeing that I was still silent, he reached out and ruffled my hair. "She's really just a colleague, Chloe."

"Okay."

"If I actually liked her, why would I exhaust myself driving three hours back and forth every single weekend just to be with you?"

His words made perfect sense.

I had absolutely no counterargument.