Are you game?

One57, located on the 57th Street in Manhattan, New York, stands tall as the symbol of luxury and uniqueness,boasting the title of the world's most expensive mansion. Its prime location aligns perfectly along the central axis of the Central Park in New York,overlooking the whole garden. Every inch of real estate is whispered to be as valuable as solid gold. On the top of One57, she is alone in the penthouse suffering from a two-year asexual marriage. The thick floor-to-ceiling glass windows form an impenetrable barrier, shutting out the hustle and bustle of the metropolis below, transforming the interior into a serene oasis. Looking through the window of the bedroom with empty eyes, she feels like being isolated from the whole world. Emma slowly turns around towards the bed. Her long eyelashes tremble a few times. Sadness flashes into her eyes. Last night, Austin didn't come back again. Every morning, the first thing after opening her eyes is to look at the other side of the bed subconsciously. The quilt is flat, and there are no sleeping traces. In the past two months, the number of times Austin goes home has been getting less and less. Emma recalls that she had not seen him for almost a week. After freshening up, she goes to the living room, and finds that the person she was thinking about is sitting on the sofa. There is a cigarette burning between his fingers. Nobody knows how many cigarettes Austin has smoked. Hearing the sound of her opening the door, Austin raises his head, his eyes are bloodshot. Austin reaches out his hand and stubs the cigarette in the ashtray on the table, slowly leaning on the sofa:“Come here.”his voice is low and dull. Emma looks at the watch:“I'm almost late for work.” Austin seems to hear something funny. The corner of his mouth gently hooks, but for a short time, his lip line slowly flattens. Then his expression becomes serious:“I have something to tell you.” She stands still without moving, and she is digesting the deep meaning in his words. The two have stalemated for a long time. Emma first compromised. She walks to the sofa and sits down:“What do you want to tell me?” Emma actually called him last night, and it was a woman who answered the phone. The woman said:“He is sleeping right now, please call him later.” She predicted this moment when she heard the woman on the phone last night was Austin's ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth. This day has finally come. It is the anniversary of their two-year marriage in a month. But now, he wants a divorce. Austin sits facing her. He seems to be restless. After pulling his tie irritably, he reaches out and pinches his eyebrows, a clear sign of distress. Emma takes the lead:“Do you want to talk about……Divorce?” She clearly sees that Austin has a moment of amazement after hearing her, then returns calm:“Yes.” “Because of Elizabeth?” Emma couldn't help asking. After a long silence, Austin says:“Yes.” At this moment, Emma feels it is hard to breathe. It's as if a dagger has pierced her heart unexpectedly, causing a searing pain that she couldn't help. She fears her vulnerability would unravel, exposing her fragility to him. If it aren't for the two hands tightly clasped by her side, she would definitely give herself away. Emma takes a deep breath, suppresses the pain, and asks him:“When do you want me to do it?” It's not decent to entangle with him, and it's unrealistic to reunite. It's better to let it go. She knows him too well. When it comes to vital decisions in business, he always listens to the sole solution of his own. Since he said it, which proves that he had thought about it very clearly. There is no room for negotiating. Austin frowns:“As soon as possible. What compensations do you want? I will try my best to satisfy you. If you have any requests, say it.” Emma sees him lighting up a cigarette and holding it in his hand, but does not smoke again. She turns her face and looks out the window:“I don't have any requirements, I can sign the divorce paper anytime.” She takes out her cell phone, but her hands couldn't stop shaking. She has to walk to the floor-to-ceiling window and turns her back to avoid his sight. Austin's calm voice comes from behind:“This house will be yours, and the villa in the eastern suburbs is also yours. You can live wherever you want. Besides......” Emma doesn't want to hear it anymore. She directly turns around to interrupt him:“I said I don't need any compensation. I have my own place to stay.” She pretends to look at the time:“I'm sorry, I still got things to do today, let the lawyer draw up the agreement and then notify me.” She doesn't look at his expression again as it is heartbreaking to look at him one more time. She grabs her bag on the sofa heading out. “Emma......”Austin's voice comes from behind with a little bit of sadness in his voice. She doesn't turn back, closes the door of the elevator rapidly, and leans against the door for a long time without being able to speak. On the other side of the door, Austin finally picks up the nearly burned out cigarette and puts it in his mouth, inhales deeply, then rises his head and exhales a long smoke ring with an unreadable face. Emma walks aimlessly down the street without the mood for neither work nor school. She is currently still a graduate student in Parsons School of Design, studying Fashion Design and Society. Instead of getting a student loan from the bank, Emma accepted the job from Austin’s company so that she could afford her school. On one hand, she could earn the tuition by herself. And on the other hand, she could have more opportunities to see Austin. It is her way of getting close to him. Since everything has come to an end, Emma pulls out her mobile phone and calls for resignation. She doesn't want to work in Austin's company for another minute. She believes that she will find another way to solve the tuition problem. Then she goes to the company and finishes all the resignation procedures. When she comes back to the house of One57 around noon, the butler says:“Mrs.Wells, Mr.Wells has just left, you missed him.” “Yes, we have missed.”Emma is thinking. It will be Christmas Eve in two days. There is an appointment with Austin’s family tonight to celebrate Christmas in advance,which has been the Family custom of the Wells family for years. It is strange that the Wells family never spends Christmas Eve together like other families do. Emma tried to find the answer why when she spent Christmas eve alone for the first time after getting married to Austin, but no one told her why. Every one in this family has been avoid this topic, including the maids and butlers. Austin only told her to keep her mouth shouting for good and never ask this kind of question again. As usual, tonight is the night for them to go back to the villa of Austin’s family for a fancy dinner. Emma doesn't want to go to such a family feast at all, but they have not divorced yet. Emma has to attend this kind of occasion. In the entire family of Austin, only the grandmother likes Emma, Austin's parents and sister all have a deep hostility towards her. Emma knows that they all think Emma is a gold digger because Emma's mother is just an ordinary working-class person, while Austin is the brightest business star in New York City. They are not a perfect match at all. They believe Emma only married Austin for money. For the whole afternoon, Austin did not come back home as usual. The time is close to five o'clock, she takes a taxi to the villa of Austin’s family without calling Austin after a long hesitation. Austin is not at the villa as Emma predicted. She sits in a good manner at the dinner table, waiting for Austin mother's routine reprimand. Surprisingly, no one says a word about her at all this time, not even asking why Austin didn't come together with Emma. The dinner table is surprisingly quiet. Only the grandmother is loving, smiling and pinching food for her:“Emma, have some steak. It seems that you've lost weight again recently. Girls don't need to pay too much attention to their figures. Health is more important, you know?” Emma nods and says with a smile:“I know, Grandma. Thank you.” Emma is not a fool. Under such a situation, she knows that, apart from grandma, everyone else must already have known that Austin and she are getting divorced. This meal is quiet and unusual. Suddenly, Austin comes back. He undoes his tie, takes off his suit and hands it to the maid. Then, he walks straightly to sit beside Emma. After Austin joins the dinner, the atmosphere becomes even more strange. His parents' attitude towards Austin is more like awed. Emma could not understand these emotions. There seems to be a lot of unexplained relationships among this family. In short, it doesn't look like the way parents and children get along, and it has always been like this. This wealthy family in New York City seems to have many unknown secrets. A faint scent of perfume wafts from Austin and penetrates into Emma's nose. Emma frowns. She feels like losing her appetite. She pokes the steak in her plate with the fork, then an extra piece of cabbage suddenly appears in her plate. Emma turns her head looking at Austin. He doesn't look at her, quietly eating his meal. After years of knowing each other and two years of marriage, it is surprising that he doesn't know Emma doesn't like cabbage. She flicks the piece of cabbage to the side, finishes the steak in one bite and stands up. “I'm full, thanks for the dinner.” “Sit down.”Austin pulls her to sit down. Emma is stunned. Everyone at the table looks over. Austin doesn't even look at her, and says expressionlessly:“Eat the cabbage.” This is not a tone of discussion at all, but an order. He has always been this overbearing. Grandma smiles:“Emma, don’t be picky, cabbage is very nutritious.” Emma knows that she can't go without eating. She picks up the piece of cabbage and puts it into her mouth quickly. She swallows the cabbage even without chewing a lot. Then,she deliberately opens her mouth for Austin to check. Austin inclines his head, pulls up the corner of his lips: “Still want more ?” She hurriedly closes her mouth:“no, I am full. I am going to take a walk in the garden. Enjoy your dinner.” She gets up, walks out of the house and steps into the garden. Emma gracefully sits down on a chair in the garden listening to the laughter coming from the inside of the house. The chill of the evening's gentle breeze is caressing the garden, hushing it into a serene world, which makes their laughter even harsher. The corner of her mouth couldn't help but turn upward into a mocking smile that hints a deep sarcasm to herself.