Chapter 3

“Jane Fox! You did that on purpose, didn't you?”

Chloe's shriek sent Cole rushing over. He shoved me aside in one motion.

He tore off his suit jacket and threw it over Chloe's shoulders, fumbling to dab the water off her collar.

“Chloe, where did it burn you?”

“Let me see. Is it red?”

Chloe leaned into him, her eyes going pink on cue.

“Mr. Henson, I'm fine.”

“Mrs. Henson probably just didn't mean to……”

She bit her lower lip and considerately stepped back.

“The documents are here, so I'll go now.”

“I won't intrude on your family time.”

She'd barely turned around when Cole caught her arm.

“Go where?”

“Your clothes are soaked, and it's windy out there.”

Then he turned his head and barked an order at me.

“Go upstairs and get a clean set of clothes for Secretary Fox to change into!”

I stayed put, one hand on the counter.

“I already told you. Right now the most important thing is taking care of Mom.”

“My clothes wouldn't suit Secretary Fox.”

“If she's cold, you can drive her home yourself.”

Cole's chest heaved, and he opened his mouth to curse.

“Enough!”

Veronica, who had been sitting off to the side watching the whole time, finally spoke. Her cane came down hard, with a heavy thud.

“First thing in the morning and the house is a shouting match. What kind of behavior is that?”

She turned and walked toward the living room.

“Since she's here, sit down and get the matter sorted out.”

When Chloe sat, she deliberately took the main sofa, and tugged at the collar of the coat the tea had soaked.

Below the slightly open collar, a red mark stood out sharply.

A fresh kiss mark.

Chloe opened her Hermès bag and bent her head, digging for a tissue.

A man's custom tie clip rolled out of the bag and knocked against the glass coffee table with a sharp, brittle clink.

Deep blue enamel, its edge ringed with tiny diamonds.

It was exactly the one Cole had been wearing when he left yesterday, the one I'd picked out for him myself.

Chloe's hand froze at the mouth of the bag, her eyes darting to my face in a panic.

I stared at the tie clip, swaying slightly, my eyes going red too, but I asked nothing and only bit down hard on my lip.

Cole's face changed. He stepped forward and reached to snatch the thing away.

At that moment, Veronica picked up the remote from the coffee table.

Beep, beep, beep.

The wellness program on the TV, its volume turned all the way up.

“Now, for calcium in the elderly, the key is……”

Chloe hurried to grab the tie clip and stuff it back in the bag, then raised her voice on purpose, trying to gloss over the awkwardness.

“Mrs. Henson, the investment market's been unstable lately.”

“The company has a few projects in the second half of the year……”

I didn't give her the chance to keep performing.

I turned and went to the storage cabinet, brought back a cashmere blanket, walked over to Veronica, and tucked it snugly around her knees.

As I smoothed down the edge of the blanket, my body just happened to block Chloe's line of sight to Veronica.

“Mom, it's damp in the mornings, and your legs aren't good. You need to be covered up well.”

I looked up and smiled.

Veronica looked down at me, and the tightness in her face eased a little.

“Jane's the thoughtful one.”

Seeing Chloe pushed aside, Cole's temper flared again. He walked straight over to her side and all but shielded her behind him.

“Mom, Chloe is here reporting on work.”

“Even if you don't like her, at least hear her out.”

“She does all this for the Henson family's business too.”

He went on and on, shielding Chloe the whole time, without once thinking about whether his own mother's legs hurt sitting there in the cold draft.

I bent my head over the blanket, my gaze falling on Veronica's hand around the teacup.

The veined fingers were tightening, closing harder and harder.

I nearly couldn't keep the corners of my mouth down.

Cole really was a fool.

What Veronica hated most were seductresses and men who sold out their own family, and he was serving up both right in front of her, and not just once.

He was digging up his own road with his own hands.

As for me, I only had to keep being the dutiful daughter-in-law.