Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I was very satisfied with the husband I’d acquired through a strategic marriage alliance.
Ethan Sterling kept himself above reproach. He understood boundaries. He had what I privately considered excellent husbandly virtue.
So when I saw him peel a shrimp for his female assistant at a dinner, I didn’t say a word.
That night, after we got home, I bought ten pounds of shrimp and dumped them in front of him.
“Peel them,” I said. “You seemed pretty good at it.”
A man with no sense of marital boundaries could be kept if he learned his lesson. If he didn’t, he could be replaced.
After all, I had obsessive cleanliness standards of my own.
When I walked into the private dining room, an unfamiliar young woman was placing a piece of sea cucumber into Ethan Sterling’s bowl.
She hadn’t used serving chopsticks.
I smiled and greeted the managers seated around the table, then turned my gaze to the girl who remained comfortably in her seat, making no move to shift aside.
The Sales Manager beside her shot her a warning look. “This is Mrs. Sterling. Our CEO’s wife.”
The girl stood at once and smiled at me. “Hello, Mrs. Sterling. I’m the new executive secretary. My name is Ava Hayes. It’s my first time meeting you. I hope you’ll take care of me.”
I lowered my eyes with a faint smile and did not answer. I simply took the nearest empty seat.
As usual, I exchanged a few polite words with everyone at the table while quietly watching Ethan and Ava across from me. I watched Ethan naturally eat the piece of sea cucumber she had placed in his bowl.
Then I watched Ava pick up a shrimp, stare at it with an expression of helpless difficulty, and let her pleading gaze drift toward Ethan.
Ethan frowned slightly. Then he took the shrimp from her, put on a disposable glove, and peeled off the shell with practiced elegance before dropping the shrimp meat into Ava’s bowl.
My eyes narrowed.
I looked down, took out my phone, and sent a message to Martha Walker at home.
“Buy ten pounds of fresh shrimp and cook them.”
I had only just sent it when Ava, who had been mostly quiet until then, suddenly spoke.
“Mrs. Sterling, I really envy your good fortune. You married such a successful man like Mr. Sterling, so all you have to do is stay home and be a proper wife. It’s not like us corporate workhorses. We still have to work ourselves to death just to make a living.”
I lifted my head and let my gaze settle with interest on her pretty young face.
“You really are new,” I said. “No manners at all.”
Ava stiffened, probably not expecting me to be so direct. Then, almost perfectly on cue, a flicker of fear and hurt appeared on her face.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Sterling. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m just used to speaking my mind. Please don’t take it personally.”
Her gaze landed openly on my handbag and Chanel suit.
Chapter 2
“It’s just that you seem so generous and well dressed. I feel a little bad for Mr. Sterling, that’s all. After all, he’s worked so hard to build Sterling Holdings to where it is today.”
I couldn’t help laughing.
Resting my forehead lightly against my hand, I said nothing.
The others at the table, however, had gone pale. The Product Director snapped, “What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think Mrs. Sterling is just some housewife? We call her Mrs. Sterling here out of courtesy, but outside this room, who wouldn’t respectfully address her as Ms. Bennett?”
Ava looked blank, as if she still didn’t understand.
The Sales Manager beside her lowered his voice and hurriedly reminded her, “Ms. Bennett and Mr. Sterling are in a power-couple alliance marriage between two major families. Ms. Bennett is also the sole heir to Bennett Group. What the hell are you saying? Apologize to Mrs. Sterling right now.”
Ava’s pretty face went white. She bit her lip, her large eyes quickly misting over as she looked to Ethan for help.
Ethan met my half-smiling gaze and shook his head with helpless resignation. Then he reprimanded her lightly.
“Apologize to my wife. And from now on, pay attention to where you are before you speak. More importantly, learn your place. If you don’t understand something, ask. If you don’t know how to behave, learn.”
Ava had no choice but to look at me. In a small, pitiful voice, she said, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Sterling.”
I rose from my seat without looking at her.
Smiling at the others, I said, “My side of the dinner isn’t over yet. Please, enjoy yourselves. We’ll get together again next time.”
By the time my own dinner ended, it was already ten at night.
When I reached the parking garage, Ethan was still waiting there. As soon as he saw me, he opened the car door for me as he always did.
On the way home, we chatted casually about nothing in particular. The atmosphere remained mild.
After we arrived, Ethan went upstairs to shower first. When he came out, I set the ten pounds of shrimp Martha had prepared directly in front of him.
The shrimp had been cooked and neatly piled into several large serving bowls, filling the entire long dining table.
Under Ethan’s puzzled gaze, I smiled gently.
“Darling,” I said, “peel them for me.”
Ethan stared at me, astonished. “Didn’t you eat enough at dinner? And did you really have to buy this much? There’s no way you can finish it.”
He reached for his phone, clearly about to call Martha down to deal with the mess.
I stopped him. “I want you to peel them for me. By hand.”
Ethan froze. Then, almost imperceptibly, his brows drew together. “Chloe, you know I’m particular about cleanliness.”
I smiled mildly. “Are you? Because tonight at dinner, you seemed perfectly comfortable peeling shrimp for your new little assistant.”
He went still for a second.
Chapter 3
Then understanding dawned, and he let out a helpless laugh. “So that’s what this is about. You’re jealous?”
He sat down beside me with a smile and slipped an arm around my shoulders. “It’s rare to see you like this. I thought Ms. Bennett was always calm and untouchable.”
Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “She’s just a new intern. Fresh out of school, no sense of boundaries, no filter when she talks. I only helped because she’s young. If it bothers you, I promise it won’t happen again.”
I looked up at the handsome face inches from mine.
We had been married for three years. He was already thirty, but time had left no harshness on him. If anything, it had only added a steadier, more mature charm.
I lifted my hand and lightly touched his cheek. “Ethan Sterling, do you know why I chose you back then, out of all the men offered for a strategic marriage alliance?”
Ethan tilted his head.
I smiled gently. “Because you were clean.”
“Your parents said you had obsessive standards about cleanliness. That you didn’t like unnecessary physical contact with people you weren’t close to. That you didn’t like anyone crossing your boundaries.”
“As it happened, I was the same.”
His expression shifted, faintly dazed under my gaze.
“Our marriage ties the Bennett family and the Sterling family together through mutual interest,” I continued. “And over the past few years, we’ve gotten along well enough. I want this marriage to remain clean. Smooth. Proper. Whether it’s you and me, or Bennett and Sterling, I want everything to proceed without ugliness.”
I held his eyes. “Don’t disappoint me.”
Then I stood, bent down, and kissed him on the lips. With a slight lift of my brow, I said, “Peel these shrimp for me. Consider it your punishment for failing, for the first time, to keep proper boundaries with another woman. Be good.”
I had no idea what time Ethan finally came to bed that night.
I put on a face mask and went to sleep early.
When I got up the next morning, several large bowls of neatly peeled shrimp sat on the dining table. Ethan had left for the office before dawn because of an emergency meeting.
Martha stood quietly to the side.
I smiled at her. “You have a fairly large family at home, don’t you, Martha? Take these with you. Mr. Sterling peeled them himself, so they should be very clean. Don’t mind them.”
After that day, life between Ethan and me returned to normal, as if that unpleasant little episode had been nothing more than seasoning in our marriage—minor, harmless, almost amusing.
If anything, he treated me better than before.