5
In the bedroom.
My mother-in-law sent me a message: “My precious daughter-in-law, how are things going living with Nhiên Nhiên?”
I replied, “Very well.”
Honestly, I didn’t really understand why my mother-in-law had let Đào Nhiên stay at our house.
Because Đào Nhiên wasn’t like the rumors said—she didn’t try to sabotage Đoàn Châu’s relationships. If anything, she seemed to be trying to set… us up?
I went back, then opened the message thread I’d pinned to the top of WeChat.
The last message was one I’d sent: A Thu, I’m getting married soon. I’m saving you a bridesmaid’s dress.
The timestamp showed it was from a year ago.
And this woman hadn’t replied to me once in an entire year.
In the more than twenty boring years of my life, I hadn’t felt much love at all. Aside from my mother-in-law, who treated me well, the only other person who’d loved me was A Thu.
She and I had been classmates in high school.
One of us had a fiery temper, the other was quiet. She stood up for me, while I helped her with her studies, and together we struggled our way into the same college.
She was the only—and best—friend I’d ever had. We’d promised to be each other’s bridesmaids.
But just before my wedding, we had a huge argument.
At the time, A Thu had quit her job because she couldn’t take her boss’s constant mistreatment anymore. Her family was having some financial difficulties, and I happened to have a little money.
So I gave her all my savings.
But that silly girl gave the money back and even called me a fraud, saying I was using money to humiliate her.
A Thu actually disliked rich people. She hated the haughty attitude of people who thought having money gave them the right to act superior.
I didn’t find out about this until we were in college.
But back then, I couldn’t bear to lose my best friend, so I hid my family background from her.
At the time, I didn’t understand why she was so angry when I’d done everything I could to help her. So we started a long, drawn-out cold war.
In the end, I was the one who couldn’t take it anymore and went to make up with her, but that brat ignored me for a whole year.
After Đoàn Châu finished his work, he was fiddling with his phone beside me when he suddenly asked, “How do you pin a chat to the top of WeChat?”
I took out my phone and showed him how.
Then he asked, “Why does this feature even exist?”
I thought for a moment. “Maybe so we don’t miss messages from someone important.”
Đoàn Châu set his phone down, his voice cool.
“Then why haven’t you pinned me to the top?”
He looked as serious as if he were discussing a major business deal, but what he’d said was a little childish.
Did he really need this?
A big-company CEO, and he cared whether I’d pinned him to the top of WeChat?
Even though I thought that, I still pinned him to the top to humor him.
But when I searched my notes, I forgot to keep the person in question from seeing my screen.
The three characters for “Big Iceberg” appeared right in front of me. Looking through my phone screen, I clearly saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
Fortunately, my husband didn’t say anything.
I quietly changed the note, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
After the lights went out, the bedroom was pitch-black. Đoàn Châu moved close to me.
His body was so warm that I couldn’t help edging toward the side of the bed.
Then I heard the man behind me say in a low voice, “Am I that cold?”
Oh, no, that’s not what I meant…
6
A few days later, Đoàn Châu went on another business trip, leaving only Đào Nhiên and me in the villa.
Đào Nhiên was clearly thrilled to have the place to herself with me. Every day, she called me “sister-in-law” over and over.
One morning, I was putting on moisturizer in the living room when Đào Nhiên sidled up to me and said,
“Your skin is so beautiful, sister-in-law, and you smell so good. You’re just like a honey peach.”
Her praise made me a little bashful.
Đào Nhiên added, sounding surprised, “I bet my brother’s never complimented you, sister-in-law. If I had a beautiful wife like you, I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to go on business trips.”
……
At noon, I was cooking in the kitchen when Đào Nhiên sidled up again. “I’m so jealous my brother has such a kind, virtuous wife. Your cooking smells amazing, too.”
“He doesn’t eat the food I cook very often, actually,” I sighed.
Đoàn Châu was very busy. Usually, I wouldn’t see him all day.
By the time he got home at night, it was already eleven or twelve, and he usually didn’t have time to eat.
“Really?” Đào Nhiên’s eyes widened. “My brother really doesn’t know what he has. A beautiful, virtuous wife like you deserves to be cherished.”
Cherished?
Actually, when I thought about it, whenever Đoàn Châu was home, I hardly had to worry about meals at all.
……
Đào Nhiên stuck by my side all day, calling me “sister-in-law” over and over until I was grinning from ear to ear.
That evening, as I was getting ready for bed, Đào Nhiên showed up at my bedroom door with her blankets and pillow.
“Sister-in-law, the villa is so big. I get really scared sleeping alone.”
Before I could answer, I heard Đoàn Châu’s furious roar come through the hallway camera.
“Đào Nhiên, I’ve been watching you all day. Stay away from my wife.”
Wait… wasn’t he a CEO with a million things to do? How did he have time to keep his eyes glued to the security cameras?
But that was the first time I’d ever heard Đoàn Châu call me “my wife.”
Đào Nhiên gave me a pitiful look and pouted. “Sister-in-law, my brother is so mean. Now I’m even more scared to sleep alone tonight.”
My five-foot-seven sister-in-law lowered her head and nestled into my neck. I could only pat her back and lead her into the bedroom.
The moment the bedroom door closed, I could hear Đoàn Châu give an enormous snort.
7
Đoàn Châu’s six-day business trip was forcibly cut down to four.
That evening, when he got back, Đào Nhiên and I were lying in bed, chatting before sleep.
“My brother—he’s always been one way on the outside and another on the inside…”
The sound of the villa’s front door opening suddenly came from downstairs. Đào Nhiên immediately fell silent and burrowed under the covers, while I went out to see who it was. Đoàn Châu was home.
He headed straight up to the second floor.
I closed the bedroom door, a little surprised. “Wasn’t your business trip supposed to last seven days? Why are you back so early?”
“I was afraid my harem would catch fire.”
The man said it with a straight face, but when he saw me blocking the bedroom door, his voice jumped an octave.
“Is Đào Nhiên in there?”
Only heaven knew how much effort we’d gone to covering every camera to avoid Đoàn Châu’s surveillance. But we hadn’t expected him to come home so early.
“No.” I shook my head, shamelessly lying.
Đoàn Châu was somewhat hostile toward Đào Nhiên, especially when he saw the two of us sleeping in the same room.
I stood guard at the bedroom door, trying to ignore the pressure radiating from Đoàn Châu.
But suddenly, the bedroom door swung open from the inside.
Đào Nhiên came out barefoot, her lips pale and what looked like two tear tracks still on her face.
“I know my brother doesn’t like me. I’ll just go to sleep by myself. Otherwise, I’ll put my sister-in-law in an awkward position.”
My heart ached for her.
How could a big brother refuse to give his little sister a little leeway…?
I couldn’t help giving Đoàn Châu a reproachful look, then reached out to support Đào Nhiên by the arm.
“Aren’t your feet cold? I’ll come see you in your room later.”
Đào Nhiên refused. “Please don’t, sister-in-law. Don’t ruin your relationship with my brother because of me. I’d end up being guilty for all eternity.”
Đoàn Châu sensed my reproach and was thoroughly displeased with Đào Nhiên, but in the end he still spoke up. “Đào Nhiên, you win. I’ll sleep in the living room.”
Worried that Đào Nhiên’s bare feet would get cold, I immediately led her into the bedroom and even closed the door behind us.
Đoàn Châu didn’t even have a chance to unpack before the door slammed in his face.
In the middle of the night, I woke up shivering. Then I remembered there was only one very thin blanket in the living room.
Was Đoàn Châu cold?
We’d been married for nearly a year, after all, and I couldn’t help worrying about him.
Actually, I hoped I could treat both Đoàn Châu and Đào Nhiên fairly, but it felt like I often fell short.
So I quietly took a thick blanket from the closet and went to the living room.
The man, who was over six feet tall, had curled up beneath the thin blanket from the cold. He didn’t seem to be sleeping well.
I covered him with the thick blanket, but just as I was about to leave, he suddenly grabbed my wrist in a daze.
I couldn’t break free, so reluctantly I lay down beside my husband.
I’d meant to leave a little later, but I ended up falling asleep.
The next morning, I woke to a knock at the door and Đào Nhiên’s worried calls.
“Hey, have you seen my sister-in-law? I woke up and she was gone.”
Đoàn Châu opened the door, while I sheepishly hid behind him.
“She came to see me in the middle of the night,” he said mildly. But if you listened closely, you could hear a hint of smugness in his voice.
Đào Nhiên lowered her head. “I’m glad sister-in-law is okay. I’m only staying here, after all. Of course I can’t compare to my brother.”
She’d lived in Đoàn Châu’s home since she was little, with neither a father nor a mother.
She must have had a very hard life…
As her sister-in-law, I hadn’t taken good care of her at all. I was a complete failure.
Lost in my guilt, I of course failed to notice Đoàn Châu’s expression growing darker by the minute.
By the time we finished breakfast, the two of them had somehow reached an agreement. Đào Nhiên obediently moved her things from the master bedroom to her own room.
Afraid Đoàn Châu had bullied her, I quietly asked if she was all right.
Đào Nhiên shook her head. “I can’t keep being a third wheel. You and my brother just got married, so this is when you need to grow closer.”
I was surprised by what she said. After all, I’d always thought Đào Nhiên had come to make things difficult for Đoàn Châu.
But it was a long time before I learned that the real reason Đào Nhiên had agreed to switch rooms was that Đoàn Châu had threatened her: if she still refused to listen, he wouldn’t hesitate to have their mother take his adopted little sister away.
8
I still hadn’t received a reply to the message I’d sent A Thu that day, and I had a vague sense that something was wrong.
A Thu wasn’t one to hold a grudge for long.
Once, while we were talking, that girl told me that if she ever knew she was going to die, she’d secretly slip away without telling me. That silly girl was afraid her friend would be heartbroken.
Back then, I told her not to say such ominous things.
But in reality, I’d had a vague premonition a year ago.
But I’d kept trying to ignore it. The chat window with A Thu was like Schrödinger’s cat: as long as I didn’t open it or expect a reply, A Thu’s state remained uncertain.
But a few days ago, I broke that equilibrium and messaged her.
She didn’t reply. Maybe… my premonition was about to come true.
After making up some excuse to greet Đào Nhiên, I took the high-speed train to the neighboring city.
It was where A Thu and I lived.
When I got off the train, I relied on my memories of the past to find A Thu’s home.
I knocked for a long time, but no one answered.
The woman across the hall opened her door.
“You can stop knocking. No one lives there now,” the woman said.
“Do you know what happened?”
The woman was quite chatty. “Oh, that poor girl across the hall had such a hard life. First, the grandmother she’d depended on for years died of a brain hemorrhage, and then the girl herself died in a car accident. I heard it was a terrible death…”
A car accident?
I fought back the pain in my heart and asked again, “Do you know where she was buried?”
The woman shook her head, then added something else.
“When the girl had just died, there was a young woman about this tall—around five foot seven. I thought she was pretty, so I took a picture. I was going to show it to my son for a blind date.”
The woman was very helpful and pulled out the photo to show me.
Wasn’t this… Đào Nhiên?
I was astonished.
They lived in two different cities. How could Đào Nhiên possibly have known A Thu?
No, that couldn’t be right…
Đào Nhiên’s personality had changed in a strange way, too. She used to cling to Đoàn Châu all the time. Why was she clinging to me now that she was back in the country?
Where had things gone wrong?
After I finished looking at the photo, I returned the phone to the woman. She was especially friendly and asked me, “Young lady, are you married? Your husband looks quite handsome…”
I gave a strained smile and turned down the woman’s offer to set me up on a blind date.
A figure slowly made their way downstairs.