Ficorpio
Chapter 1
My cousin Evelyn Ashford had opened a women-only spa back in Riverton.
An admission pass cost eighteen thousand eight hundred dollars, and they were almost impossible to get.
My wife, Grace, had been dying of curiosity. She begged me to ask Evelyn for a pass, and I finally got her one.
When she came home, her face was flushed, and she said she wanted to go again.
The cost made my chest ache.
But Grace, who had always been so considerate, turned on me without hesitation.
I couldn’t make sense of it.
Evelyn was an Elite University graduate. Why would someone like her come back to a small town like Riverton and open a spa?
And how could she charge eighteen thousand eight hundred dollars for a single visit?
What was even stranger was the line outside. The wealthy women of Riverton queued for hours outside The Elysian Women’s Spa, desperate for a chance to get in.
Every woman who left the place looked radiant. Full of energy. As though she’d shed years overnight.
Grace had always cared about her appearance.
She wanted to try it so badly that she pleaded with me to ask Evelyn for an extra admission pass.
I didn’t want to spend the money. One pass was equal to two months of my salary.
But Grace had finally given me a big, healthy son. She’d worked hard for this family, and she kept nagging me about the spa until I finally gave in and bought the pass.
She came home late that night.
Before bed, our son had cried and cried for his mother.
Luckily, my mother had been there to look after him.
Grace had always hated leaving the baby. Whenever she absolutely had to go out, she rushed through whatever she needed to do and came straight home.
But after one visit to that spa, she had stayed there for hours before finally dragging herself through the door.
I was annoyed, but she looked rosy-cheeked and pleased with herself, so I kept my tone as mild as I could.
“What is there, anyway? Something so special you can forget about your own son?”
Grace’s expression shifted for a second before she smoothed it over.
“Nothing. It’s just… more elaborate than an ordinary spa. More services.”
I frowned.
The most expensive resort in Riverton only cost a few thousand dollars, and you could stay overnight.
What kind of services did Evelyn offer that made a single visit worth that much?
No matter how I pressed, Grace refused to tell me.
“It’s late,” she said. “Go to sleep.”
She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed.
She seemed exhausted. Before long, she was softly snoring beside me.
Chapter 2
Maybe it was because she’d just been to the spa, but her skin looked fairer and firmer than before. Her figure seemed softer, more graceful.
Even the marks that had once been on her body were gone.
She gave off a gentle, moonlit sort of glow, along with a faint fragrance I couldn’t place.
I lay down beside her and reached toward the collar of her pajamas.
With my eyes closed, I let my hand linger against the smoothness of her skin. My breathing grew heavier.
Just as I was about to go further, Grace suddenly caught my hand.
“Baby, I’m exhausted,” she murmured, her voice thick with sleep. “Next time, okay?”
Exhausted?
She’d only gone to a spa. How tired could she possibly be?
Besides, after having the baby, Grace’s body had changed. I hadn’t touched her in a long time.
Now that I was finally in the mood, why should she get to refuse me?
I reached for her pajama bottoms anyway.
Grace resisted.
She shoved me away, an unfamiliar glint flashing in her eyes.
“Not unless you buy me another pass.”
I froze.
Sure, Grace had spent freely before we got married. But after the wedding, especially after having our son, she’d learned to watch every dollar.
She compared prices at several stores before buying something as basic as sanitary pads.
And now one visit that cost nearly twenty thousand dollars wasn’t enough? She wanted another?
I put an arm around her neck and coaxed her.
“Grace, think about it. Do you know how many cans of imported formula we could buy for the baby with that kind of money? Whatever kind of spa treatment you want, I’ll recreate it at home. Exactly the same. How about that?”
She shook off my arm. A trace of contempt crossed her face.
“You?”
It was only one word, but it stung.
I tried to keep my voice from hardening.
“What’s wrong with me? I’m your husband. Whatever my wife wants, I make it happen. I’ll take such good care of you that you’ll never want to leave the house again.”
Trying to laugh it off, I moved over her.
Grace kicked me away.
“No pass, no chance.”
That did it.
I snapped on the light and shouted, “Grace Everett, I’m your husband! Why the hell won’t you let me touch you?”
My gentle, considerate wife shouted right back.
“If you won’t give me twenty thousand dollars tonight, then you don’t get to!”
The anger made my head spin. Before I could stop myself, the words came out.
“Twenty thousand dollars for one night? Go look in the mirror and tell me you’re worth it.”
Grace went still.
Then she understood exactly what I meant.
She grabbed a pillow and threw it into my face.
“Get out!”
Sick of the noise, I pulled on my clothes, slammed the door behind me, and walked out.
The restless heat inside me had nowhere to go.
After thinking it over, I decided to visit Lily Harper.
Chapter 3
Lily was a junior employee under my supervision. Young, lively, and bright-eyed, she had a body even softer and tighter than my wife’s. I didn’t need twenty thousand yuan, or even two thousand, to enjoy myself with her.
Afterward, I draped an arm around Lily’s delicate shoulders, my thoughts drifting.
Grace and I had known each other for ten years, ever since college. It had taken me two years to win her over.
From the time we started dating, I’d never once stopped her from buying whatever handbags, clothes, or cosmetics she wanted. Even after we married, when she stopped chasing those things, I almost never refused her when she wanted something.
But Grace had always been considerate. She knew how hard I worked to earn money, so aside from necessary household expenses, she rarely asked me for anything.
I didn’t know when she’d changed from a gentle, thoughtful partner into such a vulgar, money-minded woman.
Especially tonight. After visiting my cousin Evelyn’s spa, she’d actually had the nerve to ask me for twenty thousand yuan.
Maybe I’d spoiled her too much. I’d let her get so used to being indulged that now she thought she could keep pushing her luck.
But what kind of power did that spa possess? How had it suddenly turned my wife into a completely different person?
“Derek.”
The woman in my arms called my name sweetly.
“Do you know about the spa that just opened on South Street?”
Lily’s voice was cautious as she tested the waters.
I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, but my heart sank.
A moment later, I heard the words I least wanted to hear.
“Derek, could you buy me an admission pass? I want to go too.”
I lightly brushed my stubble against her skin and pressed her beneath me.
“That depends on how you behave.”
She twisted away from the tickling sensation and giggled.
I took the opportunity to have her again.
Early the next morning, Lily was sleeping deeply, exhausted from the night’s exertions. I transferred 520 yuan to her phone, then slipped away without waking her.
I took my time over breakfast before finally heading home.
When I reached the entrance to our apartment building, I found my neighbor, Mark Reed, crouched nearby with a cigarette between his fingers and worry written all over his face.
We exchanged a few words, and I learned that his wife had recently started demanding a divorce.
The reason was astonishingly simple: Evelyn’s spa.
Rebecca had secretly visited the place several times. Every time, she would linger for ages before coming home. She stopped looking after the children and ignored her responsibilities to Mark’s parents, leaving the entire household in chaos.
Mark didn’t want her wasting money, and he certainly didn’t want the family left without anyone to care for it, so he forbade her from going back.
They had argued about it every day. Now things had escalated to the point where Rebecca was actually asking for a divorce.
I was secretly stunned.