His Kindness to Me Is Not Favor, But Guilt From Cheating

Gavin Voss came through the door carrying a paper bag from Erica Hartnell's boutique. "Why didn't you get some rest?" He changed out of his shoes and looked at me. "Doesn't the dress fit?" I sat at the dining table in front of a meal that had gone cold. "It fits fine." "Erica said it's her best-selling style and that the color suits you, too." He sounded perfectly casual, as if he'd simply picked up a gift as a favor to a friend. I looked at the dress in the paper bag. The tag was still attached. From Chanel to Valentino, each gold logo on the bags was more eye-catching than the last. "She knows me so well." Gavin missed the sarcasm. "She's been in the clothing business for years. She has a good eye." "What about you?" "What do you mean?" "You've bought me more than 100 pieces of clothing, and you don't even know my size?" His hand went still on the back of the chair. "Don't they all fit?" "A few are about three-quarters of an inch too loose at the waist. And I don't like wearing things that leave my shoulders bare." "Erica said that's what's in right now." Only after he'd said it did he realize something was wrong. "Vanessa, what's gotten into you today?" I stared at him. Not long ago, he'd looked at Erica with such tenderness as she leaned against him. Now, when those same eyes met mine, all I saw was wariness. "Nothing's wrong." I put the dress back in the bag. "I just think someone who picks out that many clothes for you to give me must mean a lot to you." Gavin's expression faltered. "She just helps me choose them." "I see." I didn't call him out on the lie. He sat down to eat, his voice returning to normal. "There have been some problems with the accounts at Erica's boutique. She wants me to take a look." "Are you going out now?" He looked up at me. "When Voss Group ran out of money, Mr. Hartnell put up everything he had to help my father keep it afloat. I promised him I'd never turn my back on the Hartnell family if they needed me. What exactly are you trying to say?" I smiled and served him a bowl of soup. "I was just asking." Halfway through the meal, he suddenly said, "I'll take you shopping for your birthday present next month." In the six years we'd known each other, he'd never brought up my birthday on his own before. I used to think that if I just waited a little longer, he'd finally notice me. Hearing it now, I felt nothing but exhaustion. "I'd like that." "What do you want?" "I haven't decided yet." He looked down and ate his soup as though nothing had changed. I no longer doubted what I'd seen. 'How much longer is he going to keep lying to me?' The next day, I wore the dress to work. Erica spotted me from a distance and came over with a smile. "Do you like it, Vanessa?" "I do." She adjusted my shoulder strap and lowered her voice. "Gavin says you're so easygoing. Nothing ever makes you angry." I looked down at her hand. "He's right." Erica's smile widened. "That's a relief." She deliberately brushed against me as she passed, leaving a familiar perfume clinging to my clothes. It was the same scent I'd smelled in the staff lounge the night before. Then she walked over to Gavin and casually straightened his collar. He didn't pull away. He didn't look at me, either. I took out my phone and sent my lawyer a message. Vanessa: Please inventory my premarital assets and investigate where our marital assets have gone. He replied almost immediately. Lawyer: Ms. Keene, are you planning to file for divorce? I watched the two of them a short distance away and typed my reply. Vanessa: Let's find out what's happened first. 'How much have I lost over the past year, besides my marriage?'