To the Love of My Life

Steve stood at the doorway of the study for a while, then turned around and checked all the rooms on the second floor before going downstairs and continuing his search in the kitchen, terrace, and gym. After all that, he was sure that he was the only person in the massive 300-square-meter apartment.

–

After Madeleine and Howard Coleman got their marriage certificate, they lived directly in his apartment. Every night, Madeleine would hold the big red mandarin duck pillow given by Ruby and tossed around, thinking about which woman Howard was with, before falling into a daze and drifting off to sleep.

On the afternoon of the ninth day, Madeleine went to the Colemans’ house and had dinner with Howard’s parents.

Having known Madeleine since she was a child, Howard’s parents were genuinely satisfied with their daughter-in-law due to the good relationship between the two families and their equal social status.

During dinner, Mrs. Coleman asked Madeleine casually, “Has Howard been coming home these days?”

Madeleine’s hand holding the chopsticks paused, and then she raised her head, nodded at Mrs. Coleman, and smiled, “Yes.”

Though Madeleine hid it well, Mrs. Coleman still saw the strangeness in her expression.

After dinner, Madeleine watched TV with Mrs. Coleman for a while and then drove home. Like the previous days, she was alone in the empty house. She would lie on the bed and watch TV for some time before curling up under the blanket with her eyes closed, still feeling no sleepiness as her mind filled with all sorts of messy thoughts.

Not sure how long it had been, Madeleine was about to drift off to sleep when she heard a noise at the door. She suddenly became wide awake, threw off the blanket, quickly got out of bed, and ran out of the bedroom just in time to see Howard stumbling in.

Not knowing how much alcohol he had drunk, Howard’s footsteps were unsteady. Hurrying over, Madeleine helped him into the bedroom. When they were near the bed, Howard sensed a strong urge to vomit. Subconsciously wanting to move to the bathroom, he ended up bending over and vomiting all over the floor at the sight of Madeleine’s face.

Waiting for Howard to finish vomiting, Madeleine helped him onto the bed and took off his dirty clothes. Then she wiped his body with a damp towel, cleaned up his vomit, and crouched on the floor with a cloth, wiping the floor spotless.

Howard lay on the bed, watching Madeleine’s wife-like actions, a layer of sarcasm flashing in his eyes.

After cleaning up everything, Madeleine washed her hands in the bathroom and came out to stare at Howard on the bed for a while. Then, she slowly walked over and, with trembling fingers, pulled back the blanket to lie down next to him.

Before Madeleine could settle in, Howard turned over and pressed himself on top of her. He didn’t try to kiss her lips; instead, he roughly stretched out his hand and tore her nightgown apart.