Chapter 1

As the live-in son-in-law of the Quimby family, I wasn't allowed to sit at the table to eat until I'd carried on the family line.

Nadia urged me to bear with it, and not to put her in a hard spot in front of the family rules and the elders.

So at every family dinner, all I could do was crouch in the kitchen with my bowl and eat.

Until this Thanksgiving, when I announced the news that the IVF embryo had successfully survived, thinking that this time I could finally sit at the table.

But Nadia had her new little assistant sit in the seat beside her that had been empty for five years.

Sophie objected.

"Sis, this is a family dinner. The seats are all accounted for."

"Besides, that's Jesse's seat. It's not proper to let an outsider sit there, is it?"

Nadia only frowned.

"I'm the head of the Quimby family. The rules are mine to make. It's not up to anyone else to point fingers."

Then she turned and saw me still standing there in my apron.

Nadia lowered her voice and said, gently,

"Jesse, Phineas has no family left. Spending the holiday alone is pitiful. Don't make him feel bad."

"There's no seat left at the table anyway, and you've crouched in the kitchen for five years already, so one more time won't make any difference."

Watching her go to such lengths to protect her little assistant.

I suddenly felt ridiculous, after all the pain I'd gone through testing those drugs.

So it turned out the seat I hadn't gotten to sit in for five years, she could hand to an outsider with a single word.

Then I don't want her, or the child, anymore.

...

Sophie, my sister-in-law, had always hated rules and dogma of every kind.

She stood up and looked at the man beside Nadia.

"Phineas, right? The seat next to my sister is only for my brother-in-law. Even empty, it can't go to an outsider. It isn't right."

"As it happens, I've got something to do, so I'll head out first. You take my seat."

At that, Mrs. Quimby glared at her.

"Don't be ridiculous. You only come home once every few years, and tonight is your welcome-home dinner. What would it look like if you left?"

Everyone could tell Sophie was giving Phineas a graceful way out.

But he acted as if he didn't understand, his eyes reddening in an instant.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault for telling Ms. Quimby I missed my parents. She felt sorry for me, so she brought me here to feel the warmth of family."

"I've caused everyone trouble. I really should just go..."

As if someone had wronged him.

Nadia pressed a hand to his shoulder and soothed him softly.

"Sit here and don't worry. With me here, no one would dare call you a nuisance."

She ignored Sophie and turned to me.

"Jesse, Phineas is timid and shy. Sit next to me so I can look after him."

"It's just a seat. Don't make a fuss over something so small, all right?"

I quietly gripped my apron tighter.

I thought back to the first family dinner after we married, when, because I hadn't yet carried on the Quimby line, I could only eat in the kitchen.

Nadia had used the very same tone to persuade me then.

"Jesse, I've only just become head of the family. I can't be the one to break the rules and give people something to hold against me."

"Don't put me in a hard spot, all right?"

So it turned out that seat was wrong for me whether I sat in it or not.

Sophie laughed coldly.

"Showing up uninvited at someone else's family dinner and taking the host's seat—that's what you call timid and shy?"

"Jesse, come on, let's go eat out. Greg's been missing you, and wants to video call you."

Before I could untie my apron, Nadia blocked my way, a warning in her eyes.

"Sophie, I know you've got yourself a boyfriend from abroad, but don't go using his unruly ways to lead your brother-in-law astray."

"You can leave, but as the host, it's against the rules for Jesse to abandon his guests. And besides, the Quimby family and my husband are none of your business."

The two of them were half-sisters, same father, different mothers.

Nadia's birth mother had died many years ago, and the current Mrs. Quimby was the second wife.

Even without any mistress drama, Nadia still couldn't stand her younger sister.

What I never expected was that one day the one standing up for me wouldn't be my own wife.

It would be the sister-in-law I'd once secretly thought was too rebellious.

Under her mother's warning look, Sophie couldn't bring herself to humiliate her in public.

She left behind one flat, cutting line.

"So the Quimby family rule is to grind the husband's face into the floor and stomp on it. Truly ridiculous."

After she left, Nadia pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.

But the family dinner still had to go on.

"Jesse, go make two more dishes. Phineas likes sweet-and-sour crispy fish and braised sea cucumber with scallions. A family dinner should have some favorites on it."

Some favorites.

She'd never once said that to me.

Because I couldn't sit at the table, so there was no need.

I looked at her.

"I've told you, the drugs I'm taking have serious side effects. I can't stand the smell of seafood. Have Uncle Wang make it."

Uncle Wang was the cook who usually handled the meals at the old estate.

Even the Quimby elders, picky as they always were, had for once been understanding—no one asked for seafood.

Nadia knew this perfectly well, and still she made the request.

Phineas spoke up, sounding aggrieved.

"Ms. Quimby, never mind. I'll just eat something simple. Don't wear Jesse out."

His expression looked utterly long-suffering.

Nadia frowned.

"If you can't stand the smell, then wear a mask for now. It won't take much effort."

"Phineas rarely gets to come. Don't let people think the Quimby family mistreats its guests—that's undignified."

It was the third time tonight she'd used rules and dignity to press me down.

But her rules depended on who you were.

With all the relatives and elders watching, I still nodded. "Fine."

The two dishes took nearly forty minutes, and I gagged more than a dozen times.

My appetite was long gone.

I leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching Phineas sit in the seat I'd waited five years for.

Nadia thoughtfully picked out the fish bones for him and blew on the sea cucumber to cool it.

Not one glance at me.

Something inside me suddenly went cold.

I took out my phone and sent a message to the attending physician.

"Hello. That embryo that successfully survived—please destroy it."