Chapter 2
It was two in the morning when Edward finally came home.
The entryway was filled with the scent of alcohol and a woman's perfume.
Sophia stood there, wrapped in his coat, looking at me with a timid, guilty expression.
"Charlotte, I'm sorry for bothering you so late," Sophia said.
Her eyes were red, and she wore a pair of pearl earrings.
They were the same style I'd admired at the mall counter last month, when Edward told me he couldn't afford wedding rings for us.
Edward guided her inside, gently supporting Sophia as they entered.
"Sophia was really shaken up tonight. She'll stay over," he said.
I stood in the living room, still wearing my apron.
"There's only one guest room," I said.
Linda came out of her room.
"Then let Sophia sleep in your bedroom," Linda said.
The place that was supposed to be our wedding home.
I rented this two-bedroom apartment myself.
When Edward was struggling to get his business off the ground and money was tight, I let him have the master bedroom for his makeshift office, while I slept on the couch for half a year.
Later, when his company finally stabilized, he said he wanted to turn this place into the home we'd share together.
I picked out the clock on the wall.
I bought the vase on the dining table.
Even the slippers by the door were matching his-and-hers pairs.
Sophia bent down to change her shoes, slipping her feet into my off-white slippers.
"Don't worry, Charlotte, I won't get them dirty," Sophia said.
Edward set her bag down.
"Charlotte, you'll sleep on the couch tonight," he said.
He didn't even bother to ask.
Just made the decision for me.
I looked at him.
"I'm the one paying the rent here," I said.
His face darkened.
"Do you really have to make a big deal about this right now?" he snapped.
Sophia's tears started falling right away.
"Edward, maybe I should just go. Charlotte doesn't want me here," Sophia said, her voice trembling.
Edward pulled her back.
"No one's kicking you out," he said.
He turned to me, his voice cold and hard.
"Charlotte, don't embarrass me," he said.
Seven years ago, when he first brought me home, Linda looked down on me because my parents were divorced, saying my family background was bad.
He stepped in front of me, shielding me from her.
"Mom, Charlotte is the only one I stand by," he said.
That night, he held my hand as we stood outside in the cold, his palm burning hot.
He said, "From now on, if anyone ever tries to embarrass you, I'll turn against them."
Now, he was the one making me feel humiliated.
Sophia slipped into the master bedroom.
The door hung half-open.
She whispered, "Edward, I'm really scared to sleep by myself."
Edward lingered at the doorway, uncertain.
Linda quickly pushed him forward.
"Go stay with Sophia. She nearly got scared out of her wits today," Linda urged.
I clenched the armrest of the couch.
"Edward," I called out.
He stopped in his tracks.
"Don't start," he said.
The bedroom door closed.
Through the door, Sophia's sobs slowly faded away.
Not long after, I heard her laugh—so faint it was barely a whisper, her voice almost lost in the silence, like a needle slipping quietly into water.
I sat on the couch until dawn.
At six in the morning, Edward came out of the master bedroom, his shirt wrinkled and a faint red mark on his neck.
When he saw me, his expression froze.
"Sophia must've grabbed me during her nightmare," he said.
Linda walked out, carrying a steaming bowl of porridge.
"What's there to explain? Charlotte's sensible—she won't make a scene," Linda said.
Sophia lounged against the doorframe, casually wearing my nightgown.
"Charlotte, you won't misunderstand, will you?" Sophia said.
That nightgown was a birthday present from Edward last year.
The tag was still attached.
He told me to save it for the night we got married.
I walked over and tugged the shawl draped over her shoulders.
"This is mine," I said.
Sophia's eyes welled up with tears.
Edward seized my wrist.
"It's just a dress," he said dismissively.
His grip was painfully tight.
I stared at him.
"So, you'll just hand her anything she wants?" I shot back.
He let go of my wrist and rubbed his brow in frustration.
"I'll make it up to you once she's okay," he said, his tone distant.
Suddenly, Sophia's phone started ringing.
She glanced at the screen, and her face went white.
Edward grabbed her phone right away.
A man's rough voice barked through the line. "Sophia, if you don't pay up today, I'll drag your mom out myself!"
Sophia threw herself into Edward's arms.
"Edward, I really don't know what else to do," she sobbed.
Edward turned to me.
"The PIN," he demanded.
I didn't move.
His voice dropped, low and tense.
"Charlotte, don't make me do this," he said.
At that moment, I suddenly remembered how my mom gripped my hand before she passed away.
"Money isn't your life, but when you don't have any, someone can take everything from you," she'd said.
I told him the PIN.
Edward stepped out onto the balcony to make a call.
Before the glass door closed, I heard him say, "Transfer seven hundred thousand first. I'll handle the rest."
Linda let out a sigh of relief.
"See? If you'd just done this sooner, everything would've been fine," she said.
Sophia leaned against the dining table, wiping her tears.
But a faint, self-satisfied smile played at the corners of her lips.
My phone vibrated in my hand.
A bank alert flashed across the screen.
Seven hunderd thousand dollars vanished from my account.
The money didn't go to the debt collector.
It went straight to Sophia.