Chapter 1

"Mabel Pruitt, I called you a hundred and twenty-five times this week. A hundred and twenty-five. And you didn't pick up once!"

Lee Gilbert sat in the living room, the air thick with cigarette smoke, his eyes bloodshot, his jaw dark with stubble.

Those eyes that had always looked at me with such patience and tenderness were fixed on me now, like I was a stranger he had a blood debt with.

I looked at the suitcase he'd thrown on the floor.

That nameless anger flared up in an instant, and I flung my bag onto the couch, out of patience.

"Lee, how long are you going to keep this up?

So I went to Miami with my best guy friend Rudolph Dickerson for a few days to clear my head. So what?

You had to make up a lie like this to trip me up? A hundred-plus calls? Are you paranoid or something?"

Lee didn't come over to soothe me like he always did. He didn't go to the kitchen to bring me warm soup.

He just looked at me coldly, his voice cracked and rough.

"I'm not lying. A week ago your father had a massive heart attack.

I stood watch outside the ICU for five days and five nights.

And while I did, you were posting on your feed from Miami, calling it the freest time of your life."

The air froze. The words I was about to fire back caught in my throat, and my heart skipped half a beat.

Two weeks ago, it was Rudolph's thirtieth birthday.

In that dim booth at the bar, Rudolph swirled the drink in his hand and complained to me, looking lost.

"Mae, don't you think I'm a complete failure?

Thirty years old, I want to go see an exhibit in Miami, I asked everyone in the group chat, and not one person answered me."

I couldn't stand seeing him like that, so deflated. Something tightened in my chest, and I grabbed the glass out of his hand and reassured him.

"What are you talking about? You're amazing. Those women just don't know what they're missing.

Besides, who says you're going alone? I'll go with you!"

Rudolph's eyes lit up in an instant, then dimmed again, and he looked at me, hesitant.

"Really? But... would that block of wood you married actually agree to it?

It's half a month, after all. Just the two of us."

The mention of Lee set my nerves on edge.

Three years married, and Lee was like a glass of plain water. Ordinary background, ordinary job, and a personality that was dull and joyless on top of it.

Every day it was work, then home to cook, and you couldn't beat a word out of him if you tried.

If it hadn't been for how honest he was, how he gave me whatever I wanted, and the fact that he was an orphan with no mother-in-law to fight with, I never would have married him.

"Why bring him up? In this house, I call the shots."

I set the glass down hard on the table and clapped Rudolph on the shoulder.

"What does it matter whether he agrees? I'm informing him, not asking his opinion.

What's between us is pure friendship. If he dares to think anything else, that's his own dirty heart, his own filthy mind."

Rudolph broke into a smile and reached out to pinch my cheek fondly.

"Mae's still the best to me.

Then it's settled. These fifteen days, I'm going to have the time of my life, and you should relax too."

It was already eleven at night when I got home.

Lee was still sitting on the living room couch, a glass of water gone cold in front of him.

He saw me come in and stood up, his brows drawing together.

"Why are you back so late?

Dad wasn't feeling well today. He just called me, said his chest felt tight.

I was thinking I'd take him to the hospital tomorrow for a full checkup."

I changed my shoes impatiently, not even sparing him a glance, brushing him off.

"If his chest feels tight, he can take some fast-acting heart pills. People get sick. What's the big deal?"

"Oh, right, I need to tell you something. Next week I'm going to Miami, about half a month, to celebrate Rudolph's birthday with him."

Lee froze for a second. His face darkened instantly, and his tone turned serious.

"Mabel, have you lost your mind?

You're a married woman. Going abroad alone with some grown man for half a month?

Do you have any sense of boundaries at all?"

"And I just told you, Dad isn't feeling well.

I have to travel out of town next week for a big project, I really can't get away.

Can you please just stay home and take Dad to the hospital for a checkup?"

Hearing that, the anger inside me shot straight up.

I decided Lee was just making excuses to control me, that he was jealous of what I had with Rudolph.

I slammed the water bottle down on the table and jabbed a finger at his face.

"Lee, what are you trying to say?

Rudolph is my best friend. There's nothing between us, we're clean!

How does it come out of your mouth sounding so filthy?"

Lee drew in a deep breath, fighting to hold his temper down, trying to reason with me.

"I'm filthy?

A man and a woman, alone, in a foreign country, eating and living together for fifteen days. What am I supposed to think?

Mabel, that's your own father!

He's not well. Can't you stay for his sake?"

"Quit using my dad as a shield! You know what, don't go on your trip either. You just don't want me to go!

My dad's perfectly healthy. He was out at the park playing chess two days ago!

How is it that the second I want to leave, he gets sick?"

The more I talked, the more worked up I got, and I screamed whatever came out.

"Lee, you're so selfish!

You'll even tell a lie like this just to keep your wife tied to your belt!"

Lee finally snapped. He grabbed the glass off the table and hurled it to the floor.

There was a deafening crash.

Shards flew everywhere, a piece slicing across my shin, and blood welled up at once.

I stared at Lee in disbelief.

In three years of marriage, this was the first time he'd lost his temper and thrown something.

I clamped a hand over the cut and gave a cold laugh.

"Oh, nice, Lee. You've got the nerve to smash a glass? You've got the nerve to hurt me?

Fine, you've got a spine. This trip to Miami, I'm going for sure. Nobody's stopping me!"