Beyond the Divorce

Suspicious Keys

Neither I nor Melanie spoke in the elevator. She pouted and lowered her head while leaning against the elevator wall. Frankly, I couldn’t be bothered to engage with her. Although her brother often spoiled her, I

never had the patience.

When we reached Matthew’s office, he was indeed in a meeting. One of his employees saw me and Melanie and called Matthew out. Matthew seemed shocked as his gaze shifted between our faces before

stopping at me.

After some thought, he asked, “What are you-”

“Did I embarrass you? Why should I dress up since I only went to the market?” I interjected, knowing what he was about to say. Irritated, I retorted, “Pass me the keys. Ava’s still asleep.” Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Immediately after, Matthew rushed to his desk and retrieved the keys from his bag to hand them to me,

saying, “Didn’t you ask Mel to send them to you?”

I took the keys and glanced at a displeased Melanie. “Does she have the time to bring me the keys? Pretending to be Mrs. Murphy here seems more important than passing me the keys. You should have a proper chat with “Mrs. Murphy!”

“I don’t think I can address her the same way.” I didn’t spare Melanie’s feelings this time. “Your big brother is amazing to make you his ‘Mrs. Murphy.”

After saying that, I turned and headed out, not having the time to deal with them. After all, I needed to rush home before Ava woke up, or it’d be a disaster. I was fuming as I left the building with the keys and

hailed a cab home.

After opening the door, I noticed two new keys on the keyring. Among the keys were the ones to my house, my in–laws‘ house, and my office. I didn’t know where the other two keys belonged to.

I quickly made up my mind and left again. I knew a few places in the east of town that specialized in key duplication, so I chose the smallest one and got them to make two copies before hurrying back home.

Ava pulled a miracle today as she remained sound asleep. However, Matthew returned not long after I got home. My heart pounded as I asked, “Why are you back so early?”

I

“I just wanted to make sure Ava was okay because I was worried she would wake up and cry,” Matthew said as he walked past me and entered the bedroom. Then he looked at Ava and asked, “She hasn’t

woken up yet, right?”

Ava, previously asleep, must’ve heard Matthew’s voice and woke up. She blinked her big eyes and

Matthew’s eyes lit up, and he walked over with a radiant smile. He crouched and looked at Ava. “Hello,

my sweetheart.”

“Daddy! I want ice cream!” Ava licked her lips and looked at Matthew with big, hopeful eyes.

“All right, let’s play a bit more, and then Daddy will take you and Mommy out for dinner and ice cream, okay?” Matthew pinched Ava’s little nose, and she climbed into his arms, clinging to his neck.

“Daddy, you’re the best!”

Meanwhile, I noticed Ava might be thirsty after waking up from her nap and gave her some water. Soon after, Matthew carried her to the living room when I noticed his gaze briefly landing on the cabinet by the

door.

It seemed like seeing the keys there eased his mind.

I entered the kitchen without getting in his way and peeled some apples before cutting them and giving. them to Ava to eat. I happened to glance at the cabinet while I absentmindedly cut the apples. To my shock, the keys were no longer there.

My heart pounded again, and my hands trembled, causing the apple I held to fall onto the coffee table. It startled Matthew as he observed me curiously.