Chapter 3

Late Sunday night, a black sedan pulled into the Carrick estate.

The first thing Blaine did when he stepped out was check his phone.

No missed calls. No messages from Meredith.

Three days had passed. She had not asked whether their flight had landed. She had not reminded him when to give Nico his medicine. Nor had she checked what time to serve dinner before they came home, as she always did.

Her silence irritated him for reasons he could not explain.

But he quickly dismissed the feeling as another one of Meredith's moods.

She had seen Fiona get into the car. Of course she was upset. But Meredith could never stand to let the household fall into disorder for long. By Tuesday at the latest, she would be the one to reach out.

"Daddy, I want to show Fiona my new race car." Nico tugged on Fiona's sleeve.

Fiona smiled at Blaine.

"I can stay with him for a little while, if I won't be in the way."

"Of course not."

Blaine opened the door and let her enter first.

The lights were off, and the heat had been turned down to its lowest setting. For the first time, the house felt far too empty.

Fiona pulled her coat tighter around herself.

"Meredith isn't here?"

"She probably went to her sister's." Blaine set his briefcase on the entryway console. "She'll come back when she's finished with her tantrum."

Nico had already run into the kitchen. One cabinet door after another opened and slammed.

"Where are my star crackers?"

Blaine followed him and found the island bare. There was no washed fruit, no warm dinner, and none of the snack boxes Meredith always portioned in advance.

Fiona pulled a protein bar from her purse.

"How about this for now?"

Nico took one look and knocked it to the floor.

"I don't want it! I want the stars Mommy buys!"

He began to cry, his breathing growing faster with every sob.

Blaine felt a pulse throb at his temple. He had spent two straight days at the conference and had no energy left for a child's tantrum.

"Pick it up."

Nico did not move.

"I said, pick it up. Meredith can't keep spoiling you every time."

Frightened by his father's tone, Nico bent down and retrieved the bar. His tears fell even harder.

Fiona touched Blaine lightly on the arm.

"He just misses his mother."

The comment only made Blaine more impatient.

"She'll be back soon."

He said it with the same certainty he used when confirming an airtight contract.

When he entered the study, he noticed a manila envelope lying on the keyboard.

Only his name was written on the front.

Blaine stopped.

He could almost guess what was inside. Accusations. Demands. Perhaps a long list of things she expected him to explain.

Meredith always gave every problem too much weight, only to calm herself down in the end.

He reached for it.

Glass shattered in the hallway.

Nico cried out.

"Blaine!" Fiona called. "The vase fell!"

His arm swept across the desk as he turned. The envelope slid over the edge and dropped into the gap between the desk and the trash can.

Blaine did not notice. He was already out the door.

Nico refused to sleep that night. Fiona stayed until nearly midnight.

After Blaine finished answering emails about the Seattle project, he went straight upstairs to bed and never returned to the study.

Teresa arrived to clean the next morning, as usual.

She found the envelope beside the trash can. It was still sealed, but stained with spilled coffee. Teresa hesitated. Blaine did not allow dirty papers to remain in his study, and anything important to him was never left on the floor.

In the end, she placed it in the bag of paper waste.

An hour later, the cleaning crew hauled it away.

At that moment, Blaine was sitting in the top-floor conference room at Carrick Group, listening to his team present the Seattle project.

The valuation figures flashing across the screen pleased him.

Now and then, he glanced at his silent phone, still convinced Meredith would be home by Tuesday.

He had already forgotten the envelope that had fallen beside the trash can. When Meredith returned, he would tell her that this little performance was over.