Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
That winter, our whole family went to Harbin to see the snow.
My husband wouldn’t let me buy a down parka. He said it wasn’t cold enough to waste money on something like that.
So I listened to him and packed only a light coat and thin shoes.
But when no one was looking, I quietly searched on my smartphone:
How long does it take for an adult man to freeze to death in minus thirty degrees?
Near the end of the year, my husband, Victor Bennett, said work had slowed down and he was planning to use some vacation days to take the family on a trip.
Our son had been saying for ages that he wanted to see snow in the north, so this time our destination was Harbin.
A week before we left, I was browsing down parkas online.
Victor happened to glance at my screen, and his face darkened instantly.
“You wasteful idiot. Who told you to buy a parka? A coat that costs over a thousand and gets worn once? What the hell do we need that for?”
I hurried to explain. “It’s supposed to get down to minus thirty over there.”
“The cold up north is physical. The cold down south gets into your bones. Northern winters aren’t anything like this damp southern chill.”
Where we lived, it was hot all year round. Even at the coldest time of year, a fleece-lined jacket was enough.
The impatience on Victor’s face was obvious.
He snatched my phone out of my hand and deleted every parka in my cart.
Then he threw the phone back at me.
It struck me right in the eye socket. Pain exploded through my face, and tears sprang out at once.
Victor only grinned, pleased with himself. “I bust my ass outside earning money, and you spend it like it’s nothing. How did I end up marrying a woman as cursed as you?”
I didn’t say a word. I just got up and went to the bathroom to run cold water over my swelling eye.
Because I knew that if I talked back to Victor, what I’d get in return would be a much worse beating.
When I went back into the bedroom, he had already turned off the light and gone to sleep.
I crept to the bedside and stared at his sleeping face without blinking.
If I did something now, he probably wouldn’t notice.
No. For my two children, I had to hold back.
They could grow up without a father.
They could not have a mother with a stain on her.
Just as Victor ordered, all of us packed only light coats and thin shoes.
I didn’t even bring thermal leggings.
One small suitcase each, and there was still space left over.
On the way to the airport, Victor drove with one hand and lectured the children the whole time.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“When you grow up, don’t be like your mother. She makes a big deal out of every little thing. We’re used to this damp southern cold, so we’re not scared of winter up north. Once we get off the plane, you’ll see.”
Our son and daughter were still in elementary school, at that age where all they cared about was noise, fun, and getting out of the house.
Their minds were full of the trip. They hadn’t understood a word Victor was saying.
I smiled at him gently. “You know so much, honey.”
He took one hand off the wheel and grabbed my cheek hard between his fingers, smiling in satisfaction.
“That’s more like it.”
In his eyes, I was nothing but a doll he could handle however he pleased.
If the food I cooked wasn’t to his liking, he dumped it straight over my head.
It didn’t matter when or where. If he wanted sex, he forced me to cooperate like an animal in heat.
If anything upset him—even something as small as a bad dream—that was enough reason for him to beat me.
Every day I lived with him was lived in a state of unbearable tension and fear.
The plane roared as we climbed high into the sky.
Victor’s ears were popping, and he kept slapping at them in irritation.
I leaned close to his ear and whispered softly,
“Have a nice trip, honey.”
The plane touched down at Harbin Taiping International Airport.
By the time we stepped into the jet bridge, the cold had already started seeping in from outside.
Victor’s face had gone a little pale, but he still refused to admit it.
“See?” he said. “I told you it wasn’t cold. No need for a down parka at all.”
A few passengers getting off the plane heard him and turned to stare at him like he was an idiot.
Inside the arrivals hall, even more tourists from the south were stopping in the changing area to put on proper winter gear.
Victor muttered that they were making a fuss over nothing.
My son tugged on my hand and said in his small, childish voice, “Mom, I’m cold.”
I stroked his hair, my heart tightening.
It’s okay. Our rescue is almost here.
My ride-or-die best friend, Sophie Lane, had come to pick us up with her boyfriend, Evan Cole.
The two of them were loaded down with shopping bags.
The second Sophie saw me, she threw her arms around me in a huge hug.
I heard the catch in her throat when she whispered into my ear.
“You finally made it.”
I hugged her back and forced down the ache rising in my chest. “It’s been forever. Victor and I have both been talking about you.”
Sophie, Victor, and I had all been college classmates.
Back then, the three of us had been close, practically inseparable on campus.
Only then did Sophie turn to Victor with a teasing smile.
“What, did you lock Claire up? You’ve kept her from coming to see me all these years.”
In public, Victor always wore the mask of a good husband. He slipped an arm around me gently and pulled me against his side.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
“You moved all the way out here,” he said. “I just couldn’t bear to let my wife go through all that trouble.”
Sophie’s eyes moved between Victor and me, complicated and unreadable. Then she gave a meaningful little smile.
“Still the same devoted husband, huh?”
She opened the two big bags she had brought.
She said she’d picked up down parkas for all of us.
Victor’s expression darkened a little, but he still kept up the act. “I don’t need one. You Northeastern people exaggerate. It’s not even that cold.”
“Oh, come on, don’t make this awkward. I already bought them. Do me a favor and at least take it.”
As she spoke, Sophie handed his to him.
Back in college, Victor had had a crush on Sophie. She’d had a boyfriend at the time, so he’d settled for pursuing me instead. I was young, stupid, and dazzled by sweet talk, stupid enough to say yes.
Now the one who got away was standing in front of him, smiling at him, and Victor was so flattered he took the coat without another word.
The kids and I changed into our ankle-length down parkas.
When I looked back, Victor was shoving his arms into the sleeves with a look of annoyance.
Sophie snickered. “Wow, Victor. You’ve filled out a lot over the years. I bought that based on your college size.”
Humiliated, Victor yanked the coat off and flung it at my head.
“I’m burning up. I don’t want to wear it. Put Sophie’s little gift away.”
My hair got knocked messy, strands lifting with static until I must have looked half-electrocuted.
Sophie instinctively started toward me to help, but I shot her a quick look, stopping her where she was.
Sophie’s younger boyfriend, Evan, was eight years younger than her—tall, handsome, and the definition of a sweet younger boyfriend.
He came over at once and gently offered to help me with the luggage.
Victor didn’t stop him, but his eyes stayed on me, dark and watchful.
I lowered my head, took the two children by the hand, and hurried toward the exit.
The moment we left the hall and met the real temperature outside, I saw Victor freeze.
For one brief second, he looked stunned.
His whole body went stiff, and every step after that looked painfully hard.
He was obsessed with saving face and public image. Even if he was so cold he felt like he was pissing blood, he still wouldn’t admit a thing.
Luckily for him, the car was right there.
He was the first one to dive inside.
Sophie drove us back to her villa.
The second we got inside, Evan insisted on dragging Victor out for a smoke. At last, I had a chance to talk to Sophie alone.
The door had barely shut before she exploded, cursing Victor up one side and down the other.