Chapter 2

I stared at the lawyer's message, my finger hovering over the screen.

Ralph leaned in. "Who's that?"

I switched off the phone and answered lightly.

"Something for work."

He didn't doubt it.

Or rather, it had never once crossed his mind that I might actually leave him.

He only bent his head, touched my belly, his voice soft.

"Penelope, I have to fly out on a business trip tomorrow."

I looked into Ralph's eyes.

There wasn't a trace of guilt in them.

Only the anticipation of a man about to rush to someone's side.

I was quiet for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Okay. Go."

Ralph smiled, satisfied, and dipped his head to kiss my cheek.

"You're the best, sweetheart."

There was a time that worked on me.

All he had to do was call me that, and every bit of anger drained out of me.

But now that little bit of warmth on my cheek only felt filthy, like something I wanted to wipe off.

That night, Ralph had me help him pack.

He stood in the walk-in closet, directing me like it was only natural.

"Bring those few shirts too, and the perfume in the drawer."

"Oh, and get out that box at the very back of the wardrobe."

I did as he said, laying it all into the suitcase piece by piece.

Until I opened that box at the back of the wardrobe.

Inside was a black shirt, thin fabric, cut in a way that left little to guess at.

My fingers paused.

Ralph saw it, and there wasn't the slightest awkwardness on his face. He smiled instead.

"A married man can't let himself go completely."

"If I'm meeting clients, I should look the part."

So he was calling Edith a client now.

I put the shirt in the suitcase, and then I saw the perfume he'd asked me to bring.

A heavy cedar scent.

But Ralph never liked perfume.

He always said the smell was too strong, that it gave him a headache.

Once I bought a bottle of orange blossom and asked him, carefully, whether he liked it.

He only frowned and said,

"Penelope, don't go copying other people with these fussy little things."

After that I never wore it again.

Yet now he was tucking that bottle carefully into a padded pouch.

Like he was carrying it to some very important date.

Ralph reached over and picked up a passport holder.

There was a photo tucked inside.

Ralph, head bent toward Edith, smiling.

A smile I had never seen.

Ardent, bright, holding nothing back.

Suddenly I thought of our wedding day.

Ralph had walked toward me in his suit, and the look in his eyes had been calm. Perfectly calm.

When we exchanged rings, his mind had even drifted somewhere else.

I asked him quietly what was wrong.

He said, "Nothing. I just suddenly thought of someone from before."

Back then I assumed he was only nervous.

I understand it now.

In the moment he married me, the person he was thinking of was Edith.

A second later, a watch slipped out of a compartment in the suitcase.

And my whole body went rigid.

That watch was a gift I'd given Ralph in the first year of our marriage.

He'd said at the time that the style was too expensive, not something to wear every day.

I'd laughed and said,

"Then let it be a token for the two of us."

"You don't have to wear it. Just keep it, that's enough."

When Ralph saw the watch, his expression finally shifted.

But he recovered quickly, easily.

"Edith's always liked this brand."

"I thought I'd bring it over for her."

I lifted my head slowly and looked at him.

"I gave that to you."

Ralph blinked.

He probably hadn't expected me to speak in that tone.

He frowned, a little impatience creeping into his voice.

"Penelope, it's just a watch."

"How can you be petty over something like this?"

"Edith's all alone abroad right now, with nothing around her."

"You have me, you have a home, you have the baby. Why be so small about it?"

So my hurt could be set aside for later.

My things could be given away.

And my marriage could be borrowed as his safety net after a brief spell of indulgence.

I looked down at the watch and, out of nowhere, I smiled.

"You're right. It's just a watch."

Seeing that I didn't press further, Ralph's expression eased.

He reached out to take the watch back.

But I picked it up first and set it in the outermost pocket of the suitcase.

"Put it here. Easier for you to get to."

He looked at me, as if something felt off.

"Penelope, why are you acting strange today?"

I pulled the suitcase zipper shut, my voice level.

"I'm not."

"I just think this trip of yours is going to make you very happy."

Ralph paused, then laughed.

"Of course it will."

He glanced down at my belly, a tender light rising in his eyes.

I watched him smile.

And the last bit of warmth in me went completely cold.

He still didn't know.

While he was getting ready to fly to Edith's side,

my lawyer was already on the way.

That night, before sleep, Ralph did something rare and pulled me into a hug.

"Penelope."

"When I get back, I'll be a good father. I promise."

I kept my eyes closed and didn't move.

Ralph fell asleep fast.

His breathing steady, the corners of his mouth curved up.

Like he'd already met the person he wanted to see, somewhere in his dream.

I sat up and picked up my phone.

The lawyer had sent the final version of the agreement.

I read it through and replied at once.

"Bring it tomorrow morning."

"I want him to sign before he boards that plane."