Chapter 1 My husband is the captain of an international cargo ship, spending ten months out of the year out on the ocean. I had always trusted him implicitly. But I had a little private ritual that no one ever noticed. Every time his ship docked for supplies, I would invite the First Officer’s wife out for a few drinks. Her husband was a man of few words, but she was chatty and a terrible lightweight. We’d talk about family gossip, ship drama, and usually, by the third drink, she’d lean in and say something revealing. “Your husband is incredibly romantic. Last month when the ship docked in Marseille, he actually tracked down a local artisan to custom-make a whole set of ocean-wave diamond jewelry. A necklace, bracelet, earrings—the works! He even had it sent back on the supply ship. I’m so jealous.” I lowered my voice. “Is that right? I never received it.” I didn’t press the issue, and she tactfully changed the subject. That night, when I got home, I opened the voyage logbook. On the manifest for the Marseille port delivery, under the jewelry section, the shipping address was not my house. The wind and waves at sea are unpredictable. It was time for me to get off this ship. Shipping Address: 1203, Building 17, Bayview Apartments. Note: Must be signed for by recipient personally. Do not hand over to family members. I stared at the last five words for a very long time. Do not hand over to family members. Gavin and I had been married for six years. Every time before he set sail, he would leave his keys in the second drawer of the entryway console. He would say, “Sarah, I’m leaving the house in your hands.” I took care of his parents, ran his vehicle inspections, and sent out notifications to the crew’s family group chats. I had always thought I was his family. It turned out, on his manifest, ‘family’ were the people who were not allowed to touch that diamond set. My phone buzzed on the table. It was a message from Gavin. [Just passed the Suez Canal. Signal is spotty.] I replied with one word. [Okay.] He probably didn’t expect such a short response. Two minutes later, he texted again. [You didn’t ask me if I’ve eaten today.] I closed the voyage logbook. [Have you?] He replied instantly. [Yes.] I looked at the screen and gave a small laugh. For someone with a spotty signal, he sure replied fast to that one. The next morning, I drove to Bayview Apartments. It was the most expensive luxury oceanfront complex in the city, just a ten-minute drive from the port. The security guard asked who I was looking for. I showed him the delivery manifest on my phone. “Building 17, Unit 1203. Cargo verification.” Seeing the official note, the guard’s attitude immediately became respectful. “Please wait a moment, ma’am. Ms. Quinn in 1203 happens to be home.” Ms. Quinn. I memorized the name. As the elevator went up, I received a FaceTime request from Gavin. I didn’t answer. He called three more times. The fourth time, it was a text. [Where are you?] I replied: [Grocery shopping.] He sent back: [Don’t run around too much. I’m not home, and there are a lot of things you don’t know how to handle.] The elevator doors opened. The door to 1203 opened as well. The woman was wearing a silk loungewear set. Around her neck was the ocean-wave diamond necklace. Seeing me, her fingers instinctively brushed against the necklace. “Who are you?” I said, “Sarah Davis.” The smile on her face faltered for a second, but she quickly recovered. “Ah, Mrs. Sterling.” The way she said ‘Mrs. Sterling’ was neither polite nor guilty. Chloe Quinn invited me in. Several opened delivery boxes were sitting on the floor in the living room. Local French artisanal wrapping paper was scattered on the coffee table. I saw the earrings, the bracelet, and a small card. The handwriting on the card belonged to Gavin. [Ocean waves should be worn by someone who understands the ocean.] The year Gavin and I got married, he gave me a nautical watch. The strap was stiff, and wearing it for a long time chafed my wrist. He had said, “The captain’s wife should have something from the ship.” I wore it for six years. And later, he gave ocean waves to someone else, claiming she understood the ocean. Chloe poured me a glass of water. “Did Mrs. Sterling come here to take these things back?” I didn’t touch the glass. “The things Gavin bought for me were delivered to you.” She laughed. “Mrs. Sterling, you should ask him about that. To see who something belongs to, shouldn’t you check the shipping address?” I said, “I did.” I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the card on the coffee table. Chloe reached out to block the camera. “You’re not being very dignified.” I looked up at her. “Is accepting diamond jewelry from a married man dignified?” Her expression turned cold. “Gavin must have told you, right? We knew each other long before you did.” I nodded. “So you’ve been waiting in line for six years. That must be exhausting.” Chloe hadn’t expected me to say that. She unclasped the necklace and placed it on the coffee table, her movements slow and deliberate. “If you want to take it, take it.” I didn’t move. She added, “But what’s the point of taking it? The person he wants to see when he’s out at sea is still me.” Her words didn’t sting. It was just a pathetic display of self-delusion. I stood up. “I’ll leave it with you for now. Don’t lose it.” Chloe frowned. “What do you mean?” I said, “Someone is going to be investigating it later.” As I walked to the door, my phone rang again. Gavin. I answered. He snapped immediately: “Sarah, what are you doing at Bayview?!” I glanced back at Chloe. She had her head down, her fingers already tapping away on another phone. She was fast. I asked Gavin, “How did you know?” He paused for two seconds. “Chloe said some strange woman was harassing her. I figured it was you.” I said, “She’s not a stranger. If you gave her diamond jewelry, I should probably know who she is.” The line went dead silent. Then, suppressing his anger, he said, “That was a client gift. Stop overthinking it.” “A client?” “She helps the shipping conglomerate with port promotions. She’s a business partner.” I let out a laugh. “A business partner who lives in an apartment where your delivery note specifically says ‘Do not hand over to family members’?” Gavin’s voice turned icy. “Sarah, don’t make me deal with your emotional tantrums while I’m at sea.” I hung up the phone. That evening, my mother-in-law showed up. She arrived in a rush, not even bothering to take off her shoes at the door. “You went to see Chloe?!” I was in the kitchen, cooking oatmeal. “Did Gavin tell you that?” My mother-in-law threw her purse onto the sofa. “He was frantic! Does it matter who told me? Sarah, why are you becoming so unreasonable?” “My husband gave diamond jewelry to another woman, and I’m the unreasonable one?” Her face hardened. “Gavin is a captain. He has to network. When a man is out in the world, certain social obligations are unavoidable. You sit at home all day, you don’t understand the pressures he faces.” I pulled out a photocopy of the delivery manifest and placed it on the dining table. “Obligations that require this level of secrecy?” She glanced at it, not bothering to read the details. “It’s just a set of jewelry. Are you lacking jewelry? If you like it so much, just wait for Gavin to come back and ask him to buy you one.” I said, “What I’m lacking is a husband who doesn’t lie to me.” She slammed her hand on the table. “What did he lie to you about? Doesn’t he bring his paycheck home? The house you live in, didn’t he buy it by sailing the seas?” I stared at her. The down payment for this house came from the money my dad left me when he passed away. I was the one who oversaw the renovations. Gavin was at sea so often he didn’t even remember the color of our bedroom curtains. Seeing me stay silent, she assumed I was backing down. “Go apologize to Chloe tomorrow. Let’s put an end to this. Don’t you dare ruin Gavin’s chances of being promoted to Chief Captain.” I poured the oatmeal into a bowl. “I am not apologizing.” She was shaking with rage. “Do you really think you’re that important? You get to live the glamorous life of a captain’s wife. What are you without him?” I set the bowl down. “I’ll be myself again.” Gavin’s ship docked five days later. I didn’t go to the port to pick him up. In the past, whenever he docked, I would start preparing three days in advance. Fresh bedsheets, a fridge stocked with his favorite foods, hangover pills in the car. This time, I stayed home, organizing the logbooks. When the lock clicked, I was just scanning the Marseille port page into my computer. Gavin dragged his luggage in, still wearing his uniform. The first thing he saw was the logbook on the desk, and his face instantly darkened. “Sarah, you’re investigating me?” “Are you afraid of what I’ll find?” He tossed his captain’s hat onto the sofa. “I just got off the ship. Do we really have to fight right now?” “I’m not fighting.” He walked over and snatched the logbook away. “Where did you get this?” “It’s the family copy of the ledger. It’s always been kept with me.” He glared at me, heavily displeased. “Don’t touch the ship’s documents ever again.” I laughed. “When you used the ship’s supply channel to smuggle diamond jewelry to Chloe, did you think about not touching the ship’s resources?” My words choked him. A few minutes later, he changed his tune. “That jewelry set isn’t what you think it is.” I asked, “Then what is it?” “Chloe helped me out in the past. She’s had a hard time these last few years. I was just giving her a gift.” I said, “You gave her diamonds. What did you get me?” A flash of irritation crossed his face. “Do you have to compare yourself to her?” I didn’t say anything. He dug into his luggage, pulled out a small bag, and placed it on the table. “I brought you something.” Inside the bag was a fridge magnet. From a port souvenir shop. The price tag on the back hadn’t even been peeled off. Two euros. I put the magnet back into the bag. Gavin’s face grew even uglier. “You’re not happy with this either?” I asked, “Do you honestly think I should be?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sarah, I am exhausted from being at sea. Chloe understands the maritime industry, and she understands the pressure I’m under. You sit at home obsessing over these tiny, insignificant details. Is this really necessary?” In his eyes, a complete set of custom diamond jewelry was just a “tiny, insignificant detail,” and our six-year marriage was equally trivial. I pulled out my phone and pulled up the visitor logs for Bayview Apartments. “You said she was a client. Does a client live in an apartment where you are registered as a resident with temporary access?” “Who told you that?” “The security guard.” He lunged and snatched my phone away. He scrolled through the gallery, realized I had backed it up, and stopped. “What exactly are you trying to do?” I said, “Get a divorce.” He froze. The next second, he laughed. “Sarah, stop using the word ‘divorce’ to scare me. How are you going to survive without me?” “You’ve been out of the workforce for so long, you have absolutely zero marketable skills. Without me, you are nothing.” I looked at him. “You’ve never once asked what kind of leverage I hold.” He tossed my phone back onto the desk. “You’ve been sitting at home for too long. You’ve seen too little of the real world. Your thinking is incredibly naive.” That night, he voluntarily moved into the guest room. At 1:00 AM, I heard muffled talking through the wall. The door wasn’t shut tightly. He was keeping his voice low. “Don’t worry, she can’t do any real damage. She’ll throw a fit for a few days and then get over it.” “Just wear the jewelry, you don’t need to return it. I bought it for you anyway.” “My mom will step in and put her in her place. She wouldn’t actually dare to divorce me.” I stood in the hallway, completely silent. So that was it. To him, all my pain and grievance were just temporary tantrums that would blow over in a few days. The next day, the shipping conglomerate hosted a small docking banquet for Gavin. My mother-in-law called me first thing in the morning, ordering me to go. “If you don’t show up, what will people think of Gavin?” I asked, “Is he bringing Chloe?” She sounded impatient. “Chloe is a business partner. Of course she’s going. Stop being so petty.” I went. I wore a long black dress and left my wedding ring at home. The banquet was held at a portside hotel. When I walked into the private dining room, Chloe was sitting to Gavin’s immediate left. She was wearing a white dress, the ocean-wave diamond necklace sparkling around her neck. The earrings were there, too. The complete set. My mother-in-law saw me and immediately waved me over. “Sarah, come here. Sit over there, near the door. It’s easier for the servers to bring out the food.” Gavin didn’t object. Chloe looked up, offering a faint smile. “Mrs. Sterling, please don’t misunderstand. I needed this jewelry for a photoshoot today, and Gavin said I could hold onto it for a bit.” People at the table started teasing them. “Captain Sterling has great taste! That ocean-wave design looks incredible on Ms. Quinn.” “He’s a captain, after all. Only someone who understands the ocean truly understands him.” “Mrs. Sterling shouldn’t be jealous. Ms. Quinn is practically family.” Gavin picked up his glass. “Alright, enough joking around.” He said “enough,” but the smirk on his face betrayed him. I sat near the door. A server placed a cold seafood platter in front of me. I had a bad stomach and couldn’t eat cold seafood. Gavin used to know that. Now, he was busy placing hot food onto Chloe’s plate. Chloe walked over to me, holding her wine glass. “Mrs. Sterling, I want to toast you. In the past, Gavin always talked about how hard you worked taking care of the elderly at home. I really admire you.” I stared at her necklace. “What else did he say?” A triumphant glint flashed in Chloe’s eyes. “He always said you were perfect in every way… except you could never understand the ocean in his heart.” The room went dead silent. Someone immediately tried to laugh it off to break the tension. “Well, you know how it is with crew families. You’re apart more than you’re together. It’s all about mutual understanding.” My mother-in-law hissed at me from the side. “Drink the wine. Don’t embarrass us.” Gavin looked at me. “Sarah, if you have a problem, we can talk about it privately. Let’s not lose our dignity in public.” I picked up the glass. I didn’t drink it. I poured the wine into the potted plant next to me. Chloe’s face changed. My mother-in-law shot up from her chair. “Sarah Davis!” Gavin also stood up, reaching out to grab me. Right at that moment, the First Officer’s wife, Emily, pushed open the door and rushed in. Her face was flushed from drinking, and she was clutching a folded piece of paper. “Sarah, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She shoved the paper into my hand, unable to keep her voice down. “That Marseille delivery wasn’t just jewelry. There was a signed authorization form. It has your name on it, but I know for a fact you never signed anything like that.” Gavin’s face went deathly pale. He reached out to snatch it from me. I stepped back and unfolded the paper. At the very bottom, on the signature line, were three distinct words. Sarah Davis. It was not my handwriting.
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