After the argument the day before, Adrian kept to himself for the rest of the night and didn't bother Vivian again.
The next morning, Vivian woke, got ready, and sat on the edge of the bed to check her email.
After returning to the bedroom the previous night, she'd sent her resume to a number of design companies that were hiring. Responses took time, though, and so far she'd received nothing.
All she could do was keep applying elsewhere while she waited.
Around noon, lively voices drifted up from downstairs.
Vivian was still wondering what was happening when someone knocked on her door.
"Mrs. Pierce, Mr. Pierce is home."
Vivian blinked. Adrian was home, so why did someone need to make a special announcement about it?
She opened the door and went downstairs.
Adrian was downstairs, but he wasn't alone.
A woman stood beside him, and Vivian recognized her instantly.
He had actually brought Chloe into their home.
They had argued about Chloe only yesterday, and now Adrian had brought her here as though Vivian's feelings meant nothing at all.
Chloe stood next to Adrian, tilting her face up and smiling sweetly as she said something to him. When she heard Vivian coming downstairs, she hurried over.
"Vivian, you're awake. We've been waiting for you forever." Vivian's expression was icy, but Chloe acted as though she didn't notice. Instead, she reached out and clasped Vivian's hand with exaggerated warmth. "Vivian, why aren't you saying hello to Adrian?" Then she smiled apologetically. "Sorry for showing up uninvited so early. Adrian asked me to come with him. You don't mind, do you?"
"What do you want?" Vivian pulled her hand away, her voice flat.
Chloe clearly hadn't expected Vivian to brush her off so bluntly.
In the past, Vivian would never have spoken to her this way. Even after realizing there was something between Chloe and Adrian, Vivian had never treated her this coldly.
Chloe had no choice but to withdraw her hand and force a smile. She held out a gift box.
"Adrian picked this out for you. He said you'd definitely like it."
Vivian didn't take it. She simply watched as Chloe opened the box herself.
Inside was a necklace from a luxury brand's newest collection. Vivian had seen it in a magazine before. Adrian had been there when she found the picture, and she'd excitedly pointed to it and asked whether he thought it was pretty.
What had he said?
He'd told her she stayed home all day and that a housewife didn't need a necklace like that.
Maybe what he had really meant was that she wasn't worthy of it.
She hadn't understood then. She had foolishly convinced herself that he was only pretending not to care and would eventually surprise her with the necklace.
But the necklace never came.
After that, she never opened that magazine again.
Vivian pulled herself back to the present and stared at the necklace without moving.
She didn't want it anymore. More importantly, she had learned not to expect anything. Adrian could lay a fortune at her feet now, and she still wouldn't care.
Then Chloe lifted a hand and deliberately brushed her fingers over her own neck.
The necklace she was wearing was the same design as the one in the box, except Chloe's was clearly larger and more dazzling.
A closer look revealed the tag tucked beneath the necklace in the gift box.
The tag read, "Complimentary gift."
Vivian understood instantly.
She laughed.
Adrian frowned at her reaction. "What are you laughing at? Take it already. Are you going to make Chloe stand there holding it forever?"
"Why can't she?" Vivian shot back. "She's your assistant, isn't she? I'd say holding things is well within her job description." Vivian turned to Chloe. "Keep holding it. You can put it down when I'm satisfied. If you're going to be Mr. Pierce's secretary, then you should be competent enough to do your job and professional enough to remember that you're only his assistant. Stop coveting things that were never yours. Don't you agree?"
Chloe's arms began to tremble. Her eyes slowly reddened.
The necklace around her neck glittered brilliantly.
In Adrian's eyes, apparently only Chloe deserved a necklace like that. A mere assistant was somehow more worthy of it than his own wife.
Vivian was done talking. She walked past both of them toward the kitchen.
Adrian's expression darkened. He took Vivian's behavior as a deliberate slap in the face, meant to humiliate him.
He grabbed Vivian's hand. "Are you finished? You were the one who didn't prepare a birthday gift for me yesterday. Now I've brought you one, and you're still unhappy."
"You bought it especially for me?" Vivian repeated, her lips curling in mockery.
Then she picked up the box.
Adrian thought she'd finally come to her senses. His anger had just started to subside when Vivian turned and dropped both the box and the necklace straight into the trash.
The box landed with a dull thud.
"Did I beg you to buy me anything? If you were really trying to be thoughtful, why did it take you this long to remember I might want a gift? Or was this necklace always meant for Chloe, while mine was just an afterthought? Your assistant gets the real necklace, and your wife gets the freebie. If that's your idea of sincerity, then on your next birthday, I'll buy something and give you the freebie that comes with it."
Adrian looked at the trash can, then back at Vivian. His lips moved, but for once he didn't know what to say.
"Do you really have to make such a big deal out of this?" His voice dropped. "It's just a necklace. If you don't like it, fine. But I'm not so cheap that I'd give my wife a freebie."
'You wouldn't?'
Vivian looked at him and laughed softly.
The smile was so faint it barely existed.
"You wouldn't?" she asked. "But that's exactly what you did."
Chloe immediately put on another wounded look. Tears gathered in her eyes as she reached for the clasp of her own necklace.
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault. Vivian, you and Adrian are fighting because of me. If you like mine, I can trade with you..."
"Sure."
Vivian agreed so quickly that Chloe froze.
Chloe had only been putting on a show. She had never intended to hand over her necklace. But now that Vivian had called her bluff, she could only grit her teeth and reluctantly unclasp it.
The instant it touched Vivian's hand, Vivian tossed it into the trash too.
"Vivian, what are you doing?" Adrian roared. "Chloe's already given in to you. What more do you want?"
"Nothing. You said the necklace was mine, didn't you? That means I have every right to decide what happens to it." Vivian gave him a mocking smile. "You're the only one here who can't tell the real thing from the freebie. And apparently, you can't tell the difference when it comes to people either."
Aksara