Old Wounds Find No Spring, So I Chase My Own

"Mr. Pruitt, I'll take the North America project. And I want to start as soon as possible." The reply came fast. Flight details landed in my inbox before long, departure set for three days out. When that job offer first came, leaving had never once crossed my mind. As far as I was concerned, nothing in the world, all of it combined, could ever outweigh Duke Gilbert. But now I finally understood just how absurdly wrong I'd been. When I got home, Duke was in the kitchen, apron on, busy at the stove. Eight years married, and he'd never once been willing to let me set foot in the kitchen. Every chore, big or small, he handled himself. Anything I so much as glanced at twice would show up on my vanity the next morning. Everyone envied me for marrying such a good man. Friends in our circle used to tease him: "The great Mr. Gilbert, who runs the whole business world, and he still comes home and circles obediently around his wife." He always smiled, warm and easy, and said it outright: "A man should spoil his own wife." I walked straight to the couch and sat down without a word. Seeing me low, Duke came over, lifted a hand to pat my shoulder, then pulled it back at once. As if the smallest touch of me stirred a physical revulsion in him he could barely hide. "Honey, if it doesn't work this time either, we'll go to the best hospital abroad, together. We'll have a baby. I promise." That earnest look. For a while it made me believe he truly wanted a child of his own blood with me. A deep, heavy ache rose up in me. "Duke, we need to talk." The words had barely left my mouth when the fingerprint lock beeped open. Leah Henson pushed the door open and walked in, as familiar with the place as if it were her own home. It struck me all at once. Back when I'd deleted her fingerprint from our door lock, I remembered the clear flash of displeasure on Duke's face. He'd explained that keeping her print made it easier for her to come over and keep me company. I hadn't thought much of it then. Now I understood it had only ever made things easier for the two of them to meet in private. "I could see the IVF's been wearing on you lately, and your sister just got back from overseas. You two are so close. I asked her to come stay and keep you company." I didn't answer. I turned my head and let my eyes drift over the dining table. The whole spread was heavy and spiced, sharp enough to sting tears into my eyes. Duke knew perfectly well I'd just come out of surgery and needed to eat bland. I held the tears back and forced them not to fall. "I'm tired. I'm going to lie down." He barely spared me a glance, brushing me off with a distracted told me to rest. As I turned to shut the bedroom door, I caught Leah lifting a bite with her chopsticks, taking one taste, then frowning and complaining: "It's too bland. Here, try it." Duke calmly took that same leftover bite into his own mouth, then stroked her hair, doting. "My fault. I'll make you a new batch." But anything I'd touched, he'd always kept his distance from. A little while later Duke pushed the door open, a takeout container in his hand. "Honey, I just ordered you some goji porridge. Drink it while it's hot." I looked at the goji berries floating in the bowl and pulled a bitter little smile at the corner of my mouth. I'm allergic to goji. One bite and my throat swells shut, and I can't breathe. Three years ago I ate some by accident and was rushed to the ER. Duke knelt at my bedside, sick with guilt. And now, just like that, he'd forgotten it clean. Seeing how cold I was, he simply set the porridge aside, turned, and went back to the living room. I hesitated a moment, then opened the living-room security camera anyway. On the screen, Duke, the man who was allergic to any contact with women, held Leah tight against his chest. She leaned into his shoulder and asked, aggrieved: "Duke, when are we going to lay it all out for her? Every time I see the two of you together in the same room, it turns my stomach." He stroked her hair, his voice gentle. "Give it a little more time. She's still your sister. We can't be too ruthless about it. Back when you were set on going abroad to study, I went along with what you wanted and married her first. And that was only to hold the Mrs. Gilbert seat for you, wasn't it?" He patted her back and went on: "I've never forgotten what I promised you. Eight years, and I never once touched her. You know that. There's only you in my heart." Leah let out a soft laugh. "Who would've guessed? My little sister, married all these years, still untouched. I really can't imagine how she's been taking care of her needs on her own all this time."

His tone was flippant. "How else would I handle it? Just grit my teeth and hold it in." I stared at the screen, cold all over. Leah pushed away his roaming hands, a trace of worry in her voice. "But what if Brenda finds out the truth and makes a scene?" Duke's voice was certain and cold. "Look at the state of her now. Bloated and heavy from the hormone shots, needle scars all over her. What right does she have to make a scene with me?" A flicker of smugness crossed his face. "You know why the IVF failed so many times? I swapped her fertility drugs for ibuprofen. Works against the treatment." "Just the day before yesterday, the doctor told me to talk her out of the IVF, said her life came first. I ignored it. I want her to try until she gives up completely." I froze on the bed, the blood in my veins turning to ice in an instant. Their laughter drifted over, as if mocking my stupidity. On the camera, Duke was still thoughtfully putting food on Leah's plate. "I like playing it risky right under her nose. And the child I want, Duke Gilbert only wants to have it with you." My fury hit its peak. I shoved the door open and rushed out in front of them. My body wouldn't stop shaking. "Eight years of lying to me. Aren't you two tired of the act?" Duke frowned faintly, and after a brief pause he immediately turned, shielding Leah behind him. His voice was full of impatience. "I saw Leah's your sister, so I chatted with her a little longer. What are you throwing a fit about now?" Leah went right along with it. "That's right, little sister. The worst thing between a husband and wife is groundless suspicion. Stop dragging out small things to give your brother-in-law a hard time." Duke's frown deepened. I stopped staying silent and slammed the camera footage down on the table. For an instant panic flashed across his face, but he quickly recovered his calm. He stepped forward, reaching to pull me toward him. I turned aside and dodged. "I know I've wronged you. But think about it, I hid this from you because I didn't want to ruin the bond between you and your sister." Hiding it was for my own good? My hatred erupted completely. I raised my hand and flipped the dining table over. Cups, plates, and chopsticks crashed to the floor, shards flying everywhere. Leah looked at the man beside her, displeased. "Look at her! Completely out of control. If she keeps making scenes like this, there'll never be any peace in this house." Then she shot me a cold glance, turned, and walked out. Duke had no time to stand off against me. He rushed out the door after her. He ran fast, his shoulder slamming into the entryway cabinet. The fertility charm figurine that had sat there in worship for so long crashed hard to the floor. The shattering sound burst out, and a sharp shard of porcelain sliced across my calf, blood running out without stopping. At the sound, the man's steps halted. He turned his head, saw the scene behind him, his eyes cold, then chased out the door without a backward glance. Three years ago, Duke, who had never been superstitious, made a special trip to an old chapel on the city outskirts to bring back this figurine, and every day he worshiped it with me. Only today did I learn that day was the first night he and Leah spent together. Eight years of hoping shattered to pieces along with that figurine. I stumbled into the study, wanting to find more evidence, to pour out every grievance to Mom and Dad. Duke's personal computer sat lit on the desk. I tried typing in my sister's birthday, and it logged in smoothly. In the chat app synced to it, a four-person group jumped into view. Trembling, I opened it. The members were my husband, my own sister, and my own parents. Only I had been left out. Our original five-person family group chat, the last message frozen on the New Year's greeting I had sent. The pale glow of the screen lit my face as the conversation inside slammed into my eyes. Leah had tagged everyone in the group. "The thing between me and Duke can't be hidden anymore. Be ready. She might come to you looking for justice." Mom was the first to jump in. "Justice? The Mrs. Gilbert spot was yours to begin with. She took your man for eight whole years and actually thought she was the lady of the house. What face does she have to make a scene with you?" Dad wasn't about to be outdone. He even used three angry emojis in a row. "It was going to come out sooner or later. If Duke hadn't been unwilling to let you suffer alongside him back then, how would it ever have fallen to her? She got to enjoy eight easy years for nothing. Now that you're back, she should hand the spot over to you on her own." I laughed until I cried. When I married him, Duke wasn't the Mr. Gilbert everyone stands in awe of now. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy. After the wedding, to prop him up, I gritted my teeth and earned six professional certifications in a single year. I saw him through countless crises and forced that company all the way to going public. They couldn't bear to gamble my sister's marriage, afraid she'd suffer. But I was a daughter too, and somehow it was my lot to pave the road for her. The group chat kept going. Leah seemed to feel a flicker of pity. "But she went through a lot for the IVF too. Wouldn't this be too cruel to her?" The group went suddenly quiet, and my heart tightened along with it.

Duke finally spoke. "Lee-Lee, you're too kind. Always defending her. The IVF was her idea. I never forced her into it. You're just pregnant now. The most important thing is to take care of the baby." Mom jumped in right after him. "Duke's right. Don't blame yourself. She was born unlucky, weak, can't carry a child. Our Lee-Lee is the capable one. One try and she's already carrying my little grandbaby." My shin was still weeping blood, and somehow I felt no pain. It was deep into the night when Duke got home. He was as gentle and attentive as ever, warming a bowl of porridge in the kitchen, then fetching the first-aid box. He crouched in front of me and carefully wiped away the dried blood. If I hadn't seen that group chat first, this tender, aching-for-me act of his might have moved me all over again, softened me all over again. "Lee-Lee is the regret of my younger years. Back then it was her stepping aside that let us happen. All these years I've felt I owed her." "Now that she's back, of course I should make it up to her. You're so sensible, you'll understand, won't you?" A few light words, and an affair inside his marriage got dressed up as fate. Then he slid straight into what came next. "Lee-Lee just got back to the country. I want to bring her into Gilbert Group. That southern-region project you're handling, I'll hand it over to her from here on..." I'd poured half a year of work into that project, ground it into shape, and it was one step from going live. Once it changed hands, every result would be hers. Not that any of it mattered now. Before he could finish, I answered: "Fine." Duke's body went visibly rigid. He'd braced for me to cry, to fall apart, to demand answers. He hadn't imagined I'd be this calm, this obedient. A flicker of confusion crossed his face, but he let out a breath just as fast, deciding I was only sulking. The next day, Leah was dropped straight into Gilbert Group as director of marketing. And I was demoted, made her deputy. On her first day, eager to prove herself, Leah skipped layers of risk review and signed a contract off her own decision. The terms hid a trap. The project could never launch. Cutting the losses in time meant paying a ten-million penalty. That evening, when Duke knocked on my door, I was packing my luggage. His face was grave. He didn't talk about the hole in the contract, didn't fault Leah for being reckless. He only sighed and spoke slowly. "Lee-Lee just entered the field. If this gets out, her name is finished, and she'll never find her footing in the industry. Besides, she's pregnant. She can't be under this kind of stress." After a short silence, his voice went even softer. "Bren, tell everyone you signed the contract. Lee-Lee has the baby now, and you won't have to go through the pain of IVF anymore. Once this blows over, whatever you want to do, I won't stand in your way." I looked at him, not a trace of feeling in my eyes. "Fine. I'll give the company an answer tomorrow." His tight shoulders eased in an instant, and he reached out to hold me. Eight years of marriage, and it was the first time he'd reached for me on his own. I froze for two seconds, then came clear. He was doing this only because I'd taken on every disaster for the person he loved most. I turned slightly aside, out of his reach. His hand hung in the air, and before he could think it through, his phone rang. Mom's shrill accusation came crashing through. "You wretched girl, it was you signing that contract wrong and dragging your sister down, wasn't it. You'd better know your place and step up to clear things, give your sister back her good name, or don't call me your mother." Dad's agreement drifted through faintly behind her. "Your mom's right. What matters now is protecting Lee-Lee's name. Own the blame like a decent person, or don't come back to this house again..." Duke stood off to the side, hearing every word on the line. Out of the corner of my eye I caught something shift in his face, a flicker that almost looked like he couldn't bear it. He cut in abruptly. "That's enough, Mom, Dad. Leave her alone. We'll handle it." The old me would have rushed to explain to my parents, hoping for one scrap of fairness. Now there was nothing moving inside me at all. "Understood." Before they could keep piling on, I hung up. Just as they wanted. That house of theirs, I would never go back to it again. Only then did he sense something off, the room somehow emptier, a chill in every corner of it. I threw out a careless excuse. "Haven't cleared out the stuff I don't need in ages. Got off early today, so I figured I'd just purge it all at once." He didn't press. He turned and left. I sat where I was and wrote out the resignation letter, word by word. Took on full responsibility for the contract, used that as my reason to resign, then screenshotted it and sent it to the five-person family chat. The moment it went out, the parents who were normally cold and distant with me replied in seconds for the first time. Praise after praise for being sensible, for seeing the big picture, and they didn't forget to @ my sister for show, a painless little reminder to be more careful next time. Only Duke said nothing in the chat. Not long after, his message popped up in a private thread. "There's still room to talk this through. It doesn't have to go as far as resigning." I pushed down the sting at the bridge of my nose. "Business has never dealt in feelings. You make a mistake, you carry the consequences." Seeing how firm I was, he stopped arguing, but a strange unease crept over him. Early the next morning, Duke hurried to the company to deal with the fallout of the penalty. The house was quiet and empty. I set the divorce papers and my wedding ring together, right in the middle of the coffee table. Once that was done, I dragged my suitcase and went to the airport alone. The plane had just lifted off the ground when Duke posted in the chat. "The contract matter is moving along well. Head office is very satisfied with how we handled it." My parents sent three voice messages in a row, relieved Leah had dodged this one, their tone noticeably lighter. The next second, Mom, rarely, @'d me: Come home for dinner tonight. After I got married I hardly ever went back, and even when I did I was put to work in the kitchen. My parents were always heaping food on my sister's plate, and I wasn't even allowed a seat at the table. In the end I could only stand in the kitchen, picking at cold rice with the leftover broth. Just as I was leaving the chat, Duke sent a private message. "I'll come home early tonight and pick you up so we can go to your parents' for dinner together." He tacked on another line right after. "Bren, don't worry. Once this blows over, when there's a chance I'll arrange for you to come back to the company." I didn't reply. I pulled the SIM card out. I lifted my eyes to the window, nothing but indifference at the bottom of my heart. From now on, I wouldn't intrude on their family reunions anymore.