Paul blinked a few times, staring at the screen in disbelief. Skylar had read his message. The realization hit him with a strange, almost surreal weight. He quickly typed out a response, trying to shake off the odd sensation that lingered in the air.
“Ms. Sullivan, I hope I’m not disturbing you. I just wanted to check if you’ve had a chance to look at the emerald charms I mentioned earlier.”
He stared at his phone, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Was this really the right time to continue the conversation? But just as quickly as the thought entered his mind, a reply popped up on his screen.
“Are you done bothering me now?” Skylar’s message was short, but there was a sharpness in her words that made him pause.
Paul’s stomach twisted. He had only intended to ask a simple question about the charms, but her response felt more like an abrupt dismissal. He quickly typed back, trying to steer the conversation in a safer direction.
“I apologize, Ms. Sullivan. I just thought you might have an opinion on the emeralds. I’ll leave you to your evening.”
His fingers hovered for a moment before he hit send. The silence between them seemed louder now, and Paul couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d just crossed a line. He glanced back at the door where Joe had disappeared behind it earlier, wondering if the situation had anything to do with their marriage—if Skylar had some hidden intentions or if Joe was simply too distracted by her presence.
Back inside the room, Joe sat with the tonic soup in his hand, staring at the swirling liquid with a furrowed brow. He wasn’t sure what bothered him more: the headache that was starting to creep up on him again or the lingering thoughts of Skylar from earlier. It wasn’t lost on him how she had been so attentive with Gloria, so at ease around her, and yet when it came to him, there was always that cool detachment.
Just then, the sound of the water turning off caught his attention. He quickly turned his phone screen down, knowing full well that the last thing he wanted was for Skylar to catch him distracted.
The door clicked open, and Skylar emerged, freshly showered in a soft, simple nightgown. She glanced at him for a brief moment but then turned her attention to the soup he was holding, her face unreadable.
“Is that for me?” she asked, her voice quiet.
Joe hesitated but then nodded, pushing the bowl toward her. “It’s from Gloria. She wants you to have it.”
Skylar raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she took the bowl and sipped it quietly, her gaze drifting around the room as she did. Joe couldn’t help but notice the shift in the air. There was something different about her tonight, something that made it harder to decipher her intentions.
He cleared his throat, trying to break the silence. “You’re really not interested in any of this, are you? The marriage, the dinner, the tonic soup. It’s all just part of the act for you.”
Skylar looked up from the soup, her eyes narrowing slightly. “It’s not about being interested, Joe. It’s about getting through this without any more drama. If you think I’m going to start pretending like I care about all this—about you—you’re wrong.”
Her words were blunt, but there was a sharpness in them that made Joe pause. He didn’t respond immediately, his gaze lingering on her as she finished the soup. For a moment, it seemed like the two of them were caught in an invisible web, each trying to make sense of the strange situation they found themselves in.
Joe let out a slow breath, running a hand through his hair. “So, what now?” he asked, his voice quieter than before.
Skylar set the empty bowl aside and crossed her arms, her posture calm but assertive. “Now, I’m going to bed. But don’t worry, I’m not planning on staying here forever.”
There it was again—the coldness, the distance that made everything between them feel like a façade. But Joe couldn’t shake the feeling that, somewhere beneath her words, Skylar was more than just the scheming woman he’d assumed her to be.
And somewhere deep down, he felt an unsettling curiosity about what it would take for the two of them to stop pretending.
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