1: 1

That night, while I was in the shower, the water heater exploded.

I went down on the bathroom floor, my whole arm shredded and bleeding where the shattered glass door had cut into it.

I called my wife twelve times. She never picked up.

She didn't show up at the hospital until dawn.

Joanna Gilbert took one look at my bandaged arm and frowned.

"It's over between us, so what did you drag me here for? You're a grown man. Can't even take a shower without hurting yourself?"

"Reg's nerves are shot. It took me forever to get him to sleep. If you wake him up, is that on you?"

I was in too much pain to answer.

Kerry Donaldson couldn't stand it. He pointed a finger right in her face.

"Do you even hear yourself? Toby Harding warned you before his business trip that the pressure valve on the water heater was faulty and to get someone to service it."

"Why did you lie to him and say it had already been fixed?"

Impatiently, Joanna tossed her phone down in front of me.

"Don't go making problems where there aren't any. Who lied to you?"

"The service order's right here. See for yourself."

Looking at the order on the screen, I suddenly laughed.

The repair appointment was real. And so was the fact that Joanna would never change the default address.

That address was her ex-boyfriend's home.

...

When I said nothing for a long moment, Joanna looked at the order herself.

A little uncomfortable, she explained.

"I forgot to change the address. Reg's water heater happened to be due for its regular service anyway."

"So the one at home blew up. So what. It's no big deal. I'll just buy you a new one."

Kerry laughed, sharp with contempt.

"You make it sound so easy, Ms. Gilbert. Whose family are you actually part of? You leave your husband to fend for himself and spend all your time waiting on your ex. I honestly don't get it. Is this Reg a beggar, or just starved for affection? How does he sit there so shamelessly and enjoy another man's wife taking care of him? What, tired of being the ex, now he wants to be the mistress?"

At that, Joanna's face went cold.

"Toby, tell your friend to keep his mouth clean. If you've got a problem, take it out on me and me alone. Why drag Reg into it?"

"His ex-wife cheated and divorced him. He has no other family to lean on, and he's got depression on top of it. We've known each other a long time. What's wrong with me looking out for him a little more?"

"Besides, you're not even that badly off. You're both men. Don't be so heartless."

I lowered my eyes to my bandaged right arm. Threads of blood were seeping through.

Even the smallest movement hurt enough to break me out in a cold sweat.

So in Joanna's eyes, this counted as being fine.

Before I could say anything, her phone rang with its special ringtone. Still that same song, "The Special One."

Joanna answered at once, her voice softer than she'd ever used with me.

"You're awake?"

"Don't cry, don't cry, I didn't leave. I just stepped out to grab you some breakfast. I'm coming right back."

She set the phone down and gave me one indifferent glance.

"Reg had another nightmare. I have to get over there."

"You've got your friend here anyway, so there's no point in me staying. Get some rest."

The hospital room fell quiet again.

Kerry poked me lightly on the forehead, exasperated with me.

"You clam. I don't even know what to say to you. Why didn't you tear into her just now?"

"I've genuinely never seen anything like this. She and Reg broke up five, six years ago. She won't change the ringtone, won't change the default address. How many times has this happened now? I can't believe you've put up with it."

I said nothing, but a number surfaced in my mind on its own.

A hundred and twenty times.

The first time, I'd had a sudden stomach attack at the office, and Joanna offered to order me some painkillers.

I waited two hours, only to find out the delivery had gone to Reg's place.

When I confronted her, Joanna was full of impatience.

"Reg happened to be out of painkillers. What if he needs some one day? Consider it stocking him up in advance. Can't you just place another order yourself? Nitpicking over something this small."

The second time, it was Valentine's Day. She was away on a business trip and said she'd ordered me roses.

I waited until the small hours, then found out from Reg's social media that they'd been sent to his place again.

All I did was comment that they'd gone to the wrong address.

Joanna called me up and laid into me.

"It's Valentine's Day. Everyone else has flowers, and Reg is the only one without. What's wrong with letting him have a little joy? Are you deliberately trying to humiliate him?"

In three years of marriage, this happened more times than I can count.

It wasn't that I never fought about it, never screamed at her to change the address.

Every time she said next time. And every next time was exactly the same.

I opened Reg's latest post.

In the picture, a repairman was servicing his water heater.

The caption read:

【Even though the heater was only replaced last week, he still insists on having the technician check it several times before he feels at ease. It really is a wonderful feeling, being looked after like this.】

The mirror on the side wall of the bathroom caught his reflection.

A slender hand was looped through his arm, the face hidden behind a sticker.

But I recognized the bracelet on that wrist.

It was the custom piece I'd had made for Joanna.

So she hadn't forgotten to change the address. She simply didn't want to.

And it wasn't that she didn't know a faulty water heater could be dangerous.

It was just that, next to my safety, keeping Reg safe mattered more.

I smiled at Kerry, still seething beside me.

"You're right. So I don't want to put up with it anymore."

"Once I'm discharged, come with me to a law office. I want to draw up divorce papers."

2: 2

Kerry kept me flat on a hospital bed for three days.

The bandages could come off, but the dozen-odd cuts on my arm weren't ready for the stitches to come out.

The whole time, Joanna never showed her face.

After the doctor ran through all his instructions, I stopped by a law office and had the divorce agreement drawn up.

Just as I was leaving, Joanna suddenly called.

"Are you discharged?"

"Yeah, just now."

"Oh, then come home. I've got a surprise waiting for you."

When I got home, Joanna opened the door.

She was smiling.

"I already changed the default address, and I bought and installed a new water heater."

"I even cooked you a big dinner myself. You can't still be angry now, can you?"

I didn't answer. My eyes went to the shoe cabinet she'd just opened.

Inside sat a pair of navy casual shoes. Not mine.

A noise came from the dining room, and I turned to look.

Reg Fox was setting a bottle of red wine on the table, greeting me with a smile.

"Toby's back? Go wash up and eat."

He was wearing the men's set of those couples' pajamas I'd once liked, the ones Joanna had "accidentally" shipped to the wrong address.

They matched the women's set Joanna had on.

As if they were the married couple in this house, and I was just a guest dropping by.

Joanna explained, "Reg's depression has been flaring up lately. He keeps having nightmares, and he can't be alone."

"It's not like we don't have room. Just let him stay a few days. It's easier for me to look after him this way."

I ignored the two of them and walked toward the master bedroom, its door half open.

The familiar wallpaper and bedding inside had been swapped out for the deep blue Reg liked.

The closet that used to be mine was full of his clothes, and our wedding photo had been replaced with a portrait of him.

The high-end skincare was still there, at least, just a third of it gone.

I looked at Joanna, who'd followed me in.

"A few days needs a full remodel? He gets the master bedroom. Where do I sleep?"

Joanna shut the door at once, terrified the man outside might overhear something upsetting.

Her voice, deliberately low, was full of impatience.

"The master's bigger, gets more sun, better for Reg's health. Setting the room up the way he's used to helps keep him stable."

"Your things are already moved to the guest room. Sleep there for now. It's just a place to sleep. Do you have to be so picky? Can't you be a little generous with someone who's sick?"

Every line was about caring for Reg, and she'd forgotten I'd only just gotten out of the hospital too.

From the moment I walked in until now, she hadn't asked once how my arm was.

Even her finally agreeing to change the default address wasn't for me.

It was only because Reg was living here now.

"Joanna, let's get a div—"

I'd barely started on the divorce when a knock came at the door.

Reg's frail voice drifted through.

"Joanna, aren't you two done yet? I'm a little hungry..."

Joanna grabbed my wrist.

"Toby, can we stop fighting? Tonight's dinner is my way of making it up to you. Reg didn't even dare pick up his chopsticks first, in case it upset you."

"When you go out there, don't wear that sour face like you did just now. Reg is sensitive. Don't make him feel like some outsider living off other people's charity."

I didn't ask whether that wasn't exactly what he was.

I let Joanna steer me to the table anyway.

Looking at a spread full of Reg's favorite seafood, I didn't touch my chopsticks.

Joanna sat down beside him, took the crab out of his hand herself, and started picking it apart, her voice gentle.

"Let me, you little dummy. You can never remember you're not supposed to eat the heart of the crab, or you'll get a stomachache."

"And don't drink the orange juice later. They say seafood and orange juice don't go together."

Reg smiled sweetly.

"Thank you, honey. All these years taking care of my health, you've practically turned into half a medical expert."

The air froze in an instant.

Reg clapped a hand over his mouth a beat too late and looked at me with a show of apology.

"Sorry, Toby. Back when Joanna and I were together, she used to help me like this too. I just got used to calling her that. Forgot to catch myself for a second."

Before I could say a word, Joanna cut in first.

"It's fine. Toby isn't the petty type."

I suddenly felt like laughing.

Right after we got married, I'd called Joanna "honey" too.

But she'd frowned.

"Toby, I don't like a mushy nickname like that. Say what you want, I'm a business owner now. It sounds undignified if other people hear it."

"Let's just do it the way we used to, call each other by name. That's nicer."

So it turned out her preferences could change depending on the man.

Seeing that I wasn't moving, Joanna pushed that plate of spicy stir-fried crab toward me.

"What are you sitting there for? Eat. You waiting for someone to feed you?"

I spoke, my voice sharp with mockery.

"Ms. Gilbert's already half a medical expert. Don't you know the cuts on my arm haven't healed yet, that I'm supposed to avoid spicy food and seafood?"

3: 3

Joanna paused, a flicker of displeasure crossing her face.

"The company keeps me busy all day, and I still have to look after Reg. Who has the spare energy to remember what other people can't eat?"

"Besides, you know what you can't have. Couldn't you have said so ahead of time?"

Right. So now I was "other people."

I didn't feel like saying anything more. I got up and went to the spare room to pack.

Joanna came in just as I was closing the suitcase.

She frowned, disappointed. "Toby, how long are you going to keep this up?"

"You walk out at a time like this, aren't you afraid Reg will think you don't like him? That it'll hurt his feelings?"

I answered flatly. "If anything, my staying here is what makes him uncomfortable."

I stepped around her and left without another word.

As the door shut, Reg's injured voice drifted out from inside. "Joanna, is it me being here that set Toby off? Maybe I should just go."

"Ignore him. He's just the spoiled young master, temper and all, acting like the whole world owes him something. His parents ruined him. Let him go wherever he wants."

By then my parents would already be asleep, and I didn't want them worrying, so I booked a room at a hotel.

The next day, just past noon, I'd barely woken up when Joanna called.

"Tonight's your mother's sixtieth birthday dinner. I'm taking Reg for a follow-up this afternoon, so let's just meet at the restaurant."

Joanna was always like this. Every time we fought over Reg.

The next day she could act as if nothing had happened at all.

She never once dealt with what was actually wrong. It was like skimming foam off a pot instead of turning down the heat.

I was about to say she didn't have to come, but she cut in first.

"Toby, that's enough. It's an elder's birthday. Don't pick a time like this to upset the family."

I thought it over and decided to wait until after Mom's birthday to tell them everything, slowly.

But I never expected that she wouldn't just arrive last. She'd bring Reg along too.

My father asked, taken aback, "Joanna, and this young man is?"

Joanna answered without missing a beat. "He's a very important friend of mine. His family's all passed away, and his health isn't good, so I've been the one taking care of him."

"Today's the anniversary of his parents' deaths. He's been low, and I was afraid he wouldn't eat properly, so I brought him along for a warm meal."

At that, my parents' expressions turned a little awkward.

Joanna had Reg sit in the seat beside her own.

At every family dinner, the arrangement was fixed. My father sat on Mom's left, I sat on her right, and Joanna after me.

Joanna knew this perfectly well. Even so, she let me stand off to the side like an outsider.

The relatives all wore odd, unreadable looks.

Mom glanced at me, her smile thinning, though she kept her composure. "Joanna, wanting to look after a friend is understandable, but that's Toby's seat. Have the server bring another chair for the young man."

It was a family dinner, only relatives invited, and we'd reserved a single large private room.

The relatives' seats had all been settled long ago, and it wouldn't do to ask anyone to move.

The server squeezed in a chair near the door.

Reg started to rise, flustered. "I'm sorry, that was presumptuous of me. Let me move."

He said it, but his eyes had gone red, as if someone were pushing him out.

Joanna pressed a hand over his. "It's fine. Sit and don't worry."

She turned to me, and it sounded like an order. "Toby, Reg only knows me here. If he's not beside me he'll feel unsafe."

"Be reasonable and take the seat by the door tonight. Don't make people think the Harding son has no manners."

The moment she said it, my parents' faces went dark.

The looks they turned on Reg carried weight.

But with guests present, they held it in.

In the end, Mom pressed me down into her own place at the head of the table and sat by the door herself.

I felt sick with guilt.

Today was her birthday dinner, and because of Joanna, she'd been made to look like someone who'd wandered in to mooch a meal.

My father patted my hand and murmured in my ear, "Your mother's holding the room together for you. Steady now."

Sensing the mood, my aunt stepped in to smooth things over. "Oh, we ought to give the birthday girl her gifts first."

Everyone brought out what they'd prepared.

Expensive tonics, fine tea, designer cashmere shawls. Mom took each one, smiling and thanking them.

Soon only Joanna and I were left.

Everyone waited to see what the daughter-in-law would produce.

But she rose with a glass in hand and said to Mom, "Mom, I'm sorry. I spent the day taking Reg to his follow-up and didn't have time to prepare a proper birthday gift."

"I'll make it up to you next time. Let me raise this glass to you instead. Happy birthday."

The words landed, and Mom's expression froze on the spot.

The relatives exchanged glances.

Their mother-in-law's birthday, and neither the son nor the daughter-in-law had so much as brought a gift?

The reproach and mockery in the looks around us all but scorched through me.

But I knew the shame wasn't only mine.

It was my parents' too.

I called Joanna out into the hall and asked her, "The custom jade Buddha pendant I had made for my mother, the two-hundred-thousand-dollar one. Why is it hanging around Reg's neck?"