Chapter 120

Every evening, as soon as she finished her dinner, she would leave the table, regardless of whether he was still eating. Every morning, she was gone before he came downstairs, and Erma would have breakfast prepared for one.

Those were the obvious changes. The more subtle ones happened in bed.

She no longer moaned softly, or wrapped her arms around his neck, or lost herself in his embrace. Several times, he looked down and saw her eyes, wide open and crystal clear, completely devoid of passion.

These small things piled up in his mind, one by one, until he found himself repeatedly losing focus during a board meeting.

After the meeting ended, Timothy approached him. "Mr. Forrest, are you feeling unwell?"

Cedric pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm fine."

Timothy's stomach fluttered with anxiety. The peace had only lasted a couple of days. Why did it suddenly feel like Mr. Forrest was more troubled than ever before? His gut told him it had to do with his wife, but he didn't dare ask.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Cedric asked unexpectedly.

Timothy blinked, then shook his head, then nodded. "I have, but not at the moment."

"If her attitude toward you changed drastically, a complete one-eighty, what would that mean?"

Cedric's life was consumed by work. The people he interacted with most were clients and business partners, and he was a man who kept his personal and professional lives strictly separate. He had no interest in befriending clients, no matter how much they tried to court his favor. As a result, he had few friends to turn to for advice on such matters, so he asked Timothy.

"It means the love is gone," Timothy said bluntly. He thought of his ex, who was five years younger than him. When she loved him, she called him sweet, affectionate names and was an expert at flirting. The day she broke up with him, she called him a washed-up old man. A change that drastic could only mean one thing.

*The love is gone?*

The three words made Cedric's eyes narrow. His jaw clenched as he replayed Liliana's behavior over the past few days in his mind, frame by frame.

He wanted her love. He wanted her to look at him with that soft, adoring gaze again. He wanted her to revolve her life around him, just like before.

Liliana couldn't have stopped loving him.

That afternoon, he called Erma. "Make a sweet and sour fish for dinner tonight."

"Of course, I'll go buy the fish now," Erma agreed readily, then hesitated. "But I've never made it before. I'm not sure I can do it right."

"My wife knows how," Cedric said pointedly.

Erma understood immediately. "Madam is very skilled! Her sweet and sour fish must be delicious!"

That evening, Cedric could smell the

sweet and sour sauce before he

even stepped out of the car. But as

he

got closer to the house the smell

seemed off. He walked inside

changed his shoes, and went

straight to the kitchen.

The open-plan kitchen was filled with smoke. Erma was bustling about, flustered. On the kitchen island sat a plate with a mangled, burnt piece of fish on it.

"Young Master, this dish... it's from the south. I've never cooked it before. I'm afraid I've ruined it."

The fish was a rare, boneless deep-sea variety, and quite expensive. Erma was mortified to have wasted it.

A deep, bottomless darkness filled Cedric's eyes. His heart sank. "Where is my wife?"

"She's upstairs," Erma said, not to

shift blame, but simply stating the facts. Madam seemed tired and didn't want to cook.

she told me to

follow a recipe online."Content

But a recipe could only provide the measurements for the sauce; it couldn't teach

you how to control the heat. She had messed it up completely.

"Throw it out," Cedric said, turning and heading upstairs. On the second floor, only the bedroom door was slightly ajar Liliana had just showered and was sitting in bed, reading a book on interior design.

Hearing his footsteps, she looked up and said, in that same perfunctory tone, "You're back."