Chapter 3

Anderson was unusually restless tonight.

Instead of staying in the hospital properly, he insisted on following me home.

I knew tomorrow was Rachel's wedding day. He was afraid I'd cause a scene, so he stayed by my side to monitor me.

Even though he didn't want Rachel marrying another man, he wanted her to find happiness.

He was always so good to Rachel.

When we got home and saw the clean dining table, Anderson froze.

"Alice, today's our anniversary. Where's the food you made?"

I looked annoyed. "Who told you to drink yourself into the hospital? You weren't going to eat it anyway, so I fed it to stray dogs."

Anderson stared at the table in long silence.

Exhausted from the day, I went to shower, too lazy to guess what he meant.

Anderson used to travel for work, eating irregularly, which caused his stomach problems.

After that, I started cooking, bringing every meal to his office to watch him eat.

Later, for Rachel's sake, he stood me up again and again.

I reheated the food countless times until it was unrecognizable.

When Anderson came home and saw the cold food on the table, he only had one word: sorry, he'd already eaten out.

I dumped the food in the trash. After that, I never saved meals for Anderson again.

But Anderson only noticed now.

When I came out of the shower, Anderson was waiting by the door with a glass of warm water.

"We're husband and wife. We can't keep sleeping in separate rooms."

"No thanks, I don't want it."

"You used to drink warm water every time you finished showering. I measured it to your preferred temperature."

"This cup is the matching couple's set you bought with Rachel."

I looked directly at Anderson.

"When I accidentally broke your cup, Rachel was furious. You didn't come home for a month. I lost twenty pounds. When you came back, you demanded to know if I understood my mistake."

"This is the second one she bought. You specifically told me never to touch it, never to damage Rachel's thoughtful gift."

Anderson froze slightly, hastily putting it down. "I forgot."

He looked at me hesitantly.

"What do you want to say?"

"Are you going to see the house tomorrow?"

Seeing me nod, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm free tomorrow. I'll go with you."

I snorted inwardly.

To ensure I didn't make a scene at Rachel's wedding, Anderson was really putting in effort.

"Fine."

Anderson seemed very excited.

I don't know if it was Bob's words from earlier, but I kept dreaming about the miscarried child that night.

I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Just as I was about to get up for some air, a pair of warm hands wrapped around my waist from behind.

I smelled alcohol and broke out in goosebumps, instantly jumping up.

"Anderson, how shameless are you? Rachel's getting married and you don't want to stay faithful to her, so you come touch me?"

The anger I'd suppressed erupted, disgust showing on my face despite myself.

Anderson flinched at my expression.

"I just thought we should move to the next stage."

"Time to turn the page."

I smiled. "Fine."

Before Anderson could feel happy, I opened my phone, scrolled a few times, and pointed the lit screen at him.

"How many children do you want? We can go adopt tomorrow."

The photos showed blind, deaf, and deformed orphans.

"Infidelity, emotional abuse, shirking responsibility."

"I'm afraid children in our home would pick up bad habits. Only children who can't see or hear would stay in our house."

Anderson fell silent.

"Get lost. Don't disgust me."

I pushed him out the door and locked it.