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Watching Johnathan leave through the foyer, Harriet turned to look at Ellsworth, her expression gradually fading.

He wasn’t polite to her, nor did he allow others to be polite to

him.

Entering the bedroom and seeing Johnathan’s discarded jacket on the sofa, Harriet said calmly, “I’ll go make some tea.”

“Mm,” Ellsworth replied softly, tugging at his tie.

A short whileter, when Harriet returned to the bedroom with

the tea, Ellsworth was already sprawled on the bed, asleep.

He hadn’t showered or changed, just fell asleep with his arm

draped over his eyes.

Standing quietly to the side, Harriet stared at Ellsworth for a

long moment, then bent down to ce the freshly brewed

green tea on the side table.

Turning around, she looked down at Ellsworth on the bed. She didn’t know whether to approach or keep her distance.

As she stared at him in a daze, Jacquelyn suddenly knocked

and entered the room.

Harriet snapped out of it, turned her head toward the door, and

said, “Jacquelyn.”

Jacquelyn approached with another pot of tea, saying, “Mrs.

Townsend, this sobering tea works even better.”

Harriet replied gently, “He’s already asleep. No tea will help

now.”

Jacquelyn set down the sobering tea, then stood beside Harriet,

looking at Ellsworth on the bed. “Mr. Townsend signed a big

project today. He should be happy, but he doesn’t look it at all.”

Harriet shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Sylvia Graham!”

Just as Harriet finished speaking, Ellsworth suddenly

murmured a name.

Both Harriet and Jacquelyn’s expressions changed at once. Though they hadn’t caught the full name, the ‘Graham’ part was unmistakably clear.

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Staring at Ellsworth in shock for a long while, Jacquelyn finally

came to her senses and hurried tofort Harriet: “Mrs.

Townsend, Mr. Townsend is just drunk and confused. Don’t

take it to heart, please don’t.”

At Jacquelyn’sfort, Harriet tucked away her lonely gaze

and smiled faintly. “I know, I’m fine.”

Why was Ellsworth unhappy?

Maybe it was because she was an eyesore.

Later, while Ellsworth slept, he murmured Sylvia’s name several

more times.

Harriet ignored him, gathered her things, and went to the room

next door.

***

The next morning, as Harriet left her room, Ellsworth also came

out of the master bedroom.

He had showered and changed, once again the spirited

Ellsworth.

They ran into each other in the hallway. Harriet greeted him

openly, “Morning.”

Ellsworth replied nonchntly, “Morning.”

A littleter, as they sat across from each other at the dining table, each ate in silence, not speaking a word to the other.

It wasn’t until Harriet received a phone call and got up to

answer it that Jacquelyn quietly scolded Ellsworth from the

side. She said, “Mr. Townsend, honestly, you called out Ms. Graham’s name all nightst night. How embarrassing for Mrs.

Townsend.”

“You should drink less in the future, so you don’t get confused.”

Last night, seeing the loneliness in Harriet’s eyes, Jacquelyn

had barely slept.

Hearing Jacquelyn’s words, Ellsworth paused with his fork in

hand, then looked up at Harriet.

Seeing Harriet act as if nothing had happened, greeting him so

casually earlier, Ellsworth let out a coldugh. She really didn’t

care at all, not the slightest bit affected.

At the table, seeing Ellsworth not respond, Jacquelyn quietly added, “Mr. Townsend, did you hear what I just said? Drink less

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from now on.”

Ellsworth withdrew his gaze from Harriet and smiled. “Alright, I’ll listen to Jacquelyn.”

“That’s more like it.” Jacquelyn beamed, then reminded him,

“Mrs. Townsend is a good woman, very capable too. Mr.

Townsend, you should cherish your life with her.”

Ellsworth took a spoonful of porridge. “Alright.”

A moment passed.

After finishing her call, Harriet returned to the table, ate a few

bites absentmindedly, then got up to leave for work.

As she walked down the steps toward the garage, Ellsworth’s

car pulled up in front of her.

The window rolled down. Ellsworth, hands on the steering

wheel, looked at Harriet with a rxed expression and said,

“Get in.”

Looking down at Ellsworth, Harriet finally opened the passenger

door and got in.

Perhaps Ellsworth wanted to talk about the divorce as well.

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As the car drove out of Auburn Heights, neither of them spoke for a long time.

When Ellsworth cracked the window and lit a cigarette, Harriet finally turned to him and said, “Now that the project is signed, let’s go handle the paperwork.”

The smoke drifted out through the crack in the window, leaving

no trace of cigarette smell in the car.

Ellsworth flicked the ash out the window, half-smiling. “The

press conference was just yesterday, and you want to handle

the paperwork today? Is Ms. Chavez always this efficient?”

Harriet’s face darkened slightly. “Ellsworth, you said yourself

that after a month or so, once the project was signed, we’d go

handle the paperwork.”