Chapter 2

When I got home, I went straight to bed.

In the middle of the night, I heard the door open. I knew it was Leopold.

His footsteps stopped beside my bed, and I knew he was staring at me.

I didn't open my eyes and kept sleeping.

Back then, whenever Leopold came home late, I'd leave all the lights on and wait up for him in the living room.

We'd end up shouting at each other until we lost control.

He'd look at me with that icy stare, like I was nothing but a pathetic joke to him.

Eventually, he didn't even bother to explain himself anymore.

Thinking about it now, I couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic I was back then.

I rolled over and slipped into an even deeper sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Leopold was already gone.

I went to work as usual, and after work, I stopped for a bowl of spaghetti before heading home.

When I walked in, Leopold was sitting on the couch.

"You're home early today," he said.

I nodded. "Yeah."

He paused. "About your birthday..."

I cut him off, "It's fine.

"By the way, the cake was good. Thanks."

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

I went to the study, fired up my laptop, and started grinding through practice questions.

Lately, I was prepping for a certification exam. Back when I was always orbiting around Leopold, I let my real priorities fall by the wayside.

The new hire, who was a girl, was working her asses off. It was about time I got moving, too.

This time, we gave each other the cold shoulder for a whole week.

Leopold crashed in the guest room, and I had the master bedroom all to myself. My sleep quality shot through the roof.

I no longer had to wake up early to make him breakfast. I got an extra half hour of sleep every morning.

I didn't have to worry about whether he'd be home for dinner or not. If I was hungry, I would grab whatever I wanted.

I finally binged that show I'd been meaning to watch for ages, finishing it in three days. I was already halfway through my practice question bank.

One night, while I was grinding through practice questions in the study, I got a message on WhatsApp from Leopold.

It was a photo. There were two plates of food on the table and two sets of silverware.

In the corner of the photo, I could see a hand, and on the wrist was the watch I'd given him.

I knew he was doing it on purpose and trying to make me jealous.

But I didn't get mad. I didn't even bother to call and ask him about it.

I glanced at the photo and kept grinding through my questions.