Hold My Tear, I’m Getting My Wife Back!

Chapter 3

Curtis emerged from the bathroom with the soft sound of his footsteps padding across the carpet toward the other side of the bed. The mattress dipped as he slipped beneath the covers, a corner of the duvet lifting.

Leanne caught a whiff of a subtly cold fragrance, a crisp, penetrating scent that seemed to seep into her bones, the woody notes mixed with his body heat, with a hint of tobacco lingering in the background.-

It was Curtis’ signature scent.

The dim glow from the nightlight barely reached the bed, and the night was so still that their even breaths were the only sounds breaking the silence.

Each occupied half of the bed, setting a cold, invisible barrier between them.

After lying quietly for a while, Leanne gazed in Curtis’ direction. Maybe it was the darkness, but his features seemed more chiseled and distant.

“Aren’t you asleep yet?” she ventured.

Curtis’ weary, slightly irritable voice broke the silence of the dark, “Keep it down.”

Leanne touched the pendant around her neck and then turned her back to him.

When Leanne woke up the next day, Curtis was already up.

She got up, freshened up, and when she walked into the living room, she saw Curtis neatly dressed, sitting at the dining table, browsing the real-time stock quotes on his tablet.

He looked up briefly when he heard her. “Where’s Laura?”

Leanne opened the fridge. “I let her go.”

didn’t

whipped up a couple of eggs, thought better of it, and added slices of ham, lettuce, and

this what you usually eat?”

Rushing to work in

retorted, “Take it or

the sofa, and Leanne turned to see a timid feline head. poking

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11:13

Chapter 3

huddled by the hospital during a downpour weeks ago. The newborn kittens were trembling, soaked to

bones.

they were old enough

his time away, she had rescued a stray and wanted to bring it home. When she asked for his opinion over the phone, he

the cat confined to a spare room, but somehow, it had been clever enough

did this stray

made Leanne uncomfortable. She went

lightly. “Then you should apply for a Nobel Prize.”

in the room, Leanne returned to find Curtis donning his coat and the untouched sandwiches on the table.

was adjusting his tie in the mirror and sentenced the cat to exile without looking back.

Leanne didn’t engage.

a few kittens. Why must Curtis b

wealthy, yet his heart

“What are you silently

I’ll disinfect the house daily,