Chapter 1
I'd been a translator for eight years, fluent in seven languages, but my husband, Edward Harper, always thought I was just an order coordinator at some trading company.
One day, he took some clients out for dinner and asked me to help pour drinks.
During the meal, a client Otto Schmidt said to Edward in Germian, "Your wife is really sweet. Not like that little minx of yours. She's a real handful."
Edward nodded with a smile and replied in Germian, "Yeah, I'll have to coax that bossy one when I get home."
I switched to Germian and asked Otto, "How long do you want the red wine to breathe?"
Both of them froze.
I wiped my hands and smiled at Edward. "I forgot to tell you, Germian is my second foreign language."
*****
"When did you learn Germian?" Edward asked.
His smile vanished as he held my wrist.
There were six clients sitting around the table, and all eyes were on me.
"I took it as an elective in college, and I use it a lot at work," I said, pulling my hand back. "What, is it messing with your business?"
Otto put down his glass and spread his hands in apology toward me.
"Sorry, Mr. Harper told us you didn't understand any foreign languages, so that's why we joked about it," Otto said.
"So, in your eyes, chatting about your mistress behind your wife's back is just a joke?" I said, switching to Germian as I poured myself a glass of water.
Edward placed his hand over my glass.
"Julie, don't drink cold water. You know your stomach's not good," he said.
He passed me his hot water and lowered his voice.
"There are clients here. Don't embarrass me, okay? I'll explain everything when we get home," he said.
The warmth of the cup seeped into my fingertips.
He knew I had a weak stomach and always remembered I couldn't handle alcohol without eating first.
I swallowed the question that was on the tip of my tongue.
Maybe that "little minx" was just Otto shooting his mouth off, and maybe Edward was just playing along to smooth things over.
Just then, the door to the private room swung open.
Melissa Lane walked in, carrying her laptop, wearing the same black trench coat Edward had brought home last week.
He said he'd bought the wrong size and had already returned it.
"Sorry, I had to go fix the contract. Hope I didn't keep you waiting," Melissa said.
She sat down next to Edward and, like it was nothing, grabbed his water cup and took a sip.
Edward reached for the cup, but ended up grabbing a napkin and gently wiped the water from her lips.
"Why are you in such a rush? Did you bring your inhaler?" he asked.
"Yeah, I brought it. You reminded me eight times, Mr. Harper. Like I'd dare forget," Melissa said, turning to me. "You must be Julie, right? Edward always mentions you, says you're quiet, the best kind of wife anyone could ask for."
Otto burst out laughing.
"Melissa, you're the one we're all familiar with. When Mr. Harper's away on business, he totally relies on you for everything, meals, travel, even his daily routine," he said.
I held my hot water, staying silent.
Melissa pulled out a box of meds from her bag and pushed it over to Edward.
"You left your migraine pills at my place again. Next time, stop leaving your stuff on my nightstand," she said.
Edward slipped the medicine into his pocket.
"We booked different hotel rooms. She was just dropping off some paperwork for me, so don't read too much into it," he said.
"I didn't even ask," I said.
He paused for a moment, then used his fork to serve me some fish.
"Julie, this is your favorite. Come on, eat something," he said.
I just stared at the fish in my plate, not touching my fork.
Melissa flipped open the contract and walked us through three revisions in Germian. When she got to the third one, she mixed up the delivery deadline with the payment deadline.
Otto frowned.
Just as I was about to correct her, Edward's mother Genevieve Harper called.
As soon as the call went through on speaker, Genevieve jumped right in: "Is Melissa there? Hand her the phone, she still needs to pick the menu for tomorrow's family dinner."
The private room went dead silent.
Melissa took the phone, sounding warm and familiar.
"I'm here, Auntie Genevieve. Don't worry, I remember, Edward hates black beans and can't have too much seafood," she replied.
"You're always so considerate. Not like some people, three years married and still can't help her husband with his work," Genevieve said.
I lowered my head, staring at the fish in my plate.
Edward was allergic to seafood.
The fish he just put in my plate was the only dish on the table made with black pepper sauce.
Melissa gently took my plate away.
"You can't have black pepper sauce, right? Edward's always saying your stomach's sensitive, so I always keep that in mind," she said.
She replaced it with an empty plate, giving me a polite smile.
"Oh, and tomorrow's the Harper family dinner. Auntie Genevieve asked me to sit next to her. Hope you don't mind?" she asked.
Edward didn't even look at me.
"She's just helping out with the Germian guests. Don't overthink it," he said.
Otto pulled up a photo on his phone and handed it to me.
In the picture, Edward was holding Melissa close, the two of them standing in front of a snowy mountain, wrapped up together in a single scarf.
"Hey, isn't this your honeymoon pic? Edward showed it to us just last month," Otto said.
Edward reached out to grab the phone.
But Otto just turned the phone so I could see it.
There was a line of Germian written below the photo.
[Melissa, you were the best decision of my life.]