The Countdown Wife

I could see the countdown on other people's lies. When someone told the truth, there was nothing above their head. Only lies made a countdown appear. When I was a child, my father once said, "I'm just working late." The countdown had only two hours left. Two hours later, I saw him outside a downtown hotel with another woman. My mother said, "We're not getting divorced." That countdown lasted seven days. Then they divorced. After that, I stopped believing in promises. Every time I dated someone, I could see exactly how long their promises would last. I was never blindsided by a breakup. Then I met Adrian Whitmore. When he told me, "You're the only person I'll ever be responsible for," there was no countdown above his head. For the first time, I thought I could finally stop being on guard. But on our seventh wedding anniversary, he told me, "Chloe is just my secretary. There's nothing between us outside of work." Words slowly appeared above his head. 【COUNTDOWN: 48 MINUTES】 That was when I knew our marriage had begun to rot. ... By the time I reached the branch office, thirty-seven minutes remained on his lie. The receptionist smiled as soon as she saw me. "Mrs. Whitmore, are you here to see Mr. Whitmore?" "He's on the sixteenth floor?" "In the conference room." I pushed open the half-closed door. Chloe was holding a stack of materials for her permanent employment review. "Mr. Whitmore," she asked quietly, "do you think I'll get to stay?" "Finish revising the materials first. Don't scare yourself before anything's been decided," Adrian said gently. At the sound of the door, Chloe looked up and immediately stood. "Ava, you don't look well. Mr. Whitmore said you have stomach problems. Why did you come all the way to the office?" I looked at Adrian. His expression stiffened slightly. "It came up in conversation once." Words appeared above his head. 【COUNTDOWN: 21 MINUTES】 I didn't ask anything else. In twenty-one minutes, his version of "it came up in conversation" would become something else. I vaguely remembered something he'd told me before we got married. "I don't like bringing my personal life into the office. Especially not by chatting about it with female coworkers." I glanced at the documents in Chloe's hands. "Why are you personally revising her application for permanent employment?" Adrian set down his pen. "Her father used to be my mentor." "So?" He opened the file, his tone calm again. "Before Mr. Bennett died, he asked me to look after her for a while." "How far does 'look after her' go?" "Until she completes the employment review process." There was no countdown. That really was all he'd promised. Adrian lowered his head and continued revising the documents. I sat across from him and waited for almost half an hour. He never volunteered an explanation. I'd come here planning to tell him that after two years of hard work, I'd finally been offered the position at headquarters. But when the words reached my lips, I swallowed them. Chloe's phone rang. She answered, and the color slowly drained from her face. "I know, but I'm scared to go get it alone." She hung up and turned to Adrian. "Mom wants me to pick up the file Dad left behind today." Adrian checked the time. "I'll go with you." I asked, "Why do you need to go?" "To see Mrs. Bennett and get the file." "Are you coming home tonight?" Adrian picked up his car keys. "Of course." Another line appeared above him. 【COUNTDOWN: 2 HOURS】 There were only five minutes left before the forty-eight-minute countdown reached zero. Chloe put away her phone, picked up her bag, and headed for the door. "Mr. Whitmore, my mom wants me to bring the file home today. You promised you'd come with me." "Yeah. I remember." At the door, she turned and looked at me. "If it's inconvenient, I can go by myself. Your wife doesn't come by often. You should stay with her." "I'll go with you." Relief crossed her face before she quickly lowered her head. "Will that upset your wife?" "Don't overthink it." He picked up her bag and opened the door for her. I watched him walk toward her without hesitation, and suddenly I understood. Between the two of them, I was the one who didn't belong. Forty-eight minutes. Exactly. Chloe's phone rang again. Mrs. Bennett's voice came through the receiver. "Adrian, bring Chloe over. The file her father left is still with you. Don't forget to bring it for her." The office fell silent. I looked at Adrian. He didn't deny it. He simply picked up Chloe's coat and opened the door for her. The countdown above his head reached zero and disappeared. Exactly forty-eight minutes. I looked at him. "So this is what you meant when you said there was nothing between you except work?" Adrian stopped. "Ava, don't twist what I had with my mentor into something it wasn't!" There was no countdown above that sentence. He genuinely believed he had nothing to feel guilty about. Chloe stood by the door and said softly, "Ava, don't be angry." Adrian glanced back at her. "Go downstairs and wait for me." She obediently left. I stood there and watched him hurry after her. He'd promised me he'd come home tonight. The countdown still had two hours left. I could have waited for him to come back and listened to his explanation. But suddenly, I didn't want to wait anymore. I picked up my bag and went downstairs alone.

Adrian didn't come home until after midnight. I sat at the dining table, the cake for our seventh anniversary already sagging in front of me. When he came in, he casually draped his coat over the cabinet in the entryway. "Did you get the file?" "Yeah." "What was in it?" "Some things my mentor left for Chloe." He took off his coat, walked over, and reached out to stroke my hair. He'd done that for seven years. Tonight, I turned my head away. "When did you start keeping your mentor's things for her?" Adrian paused. "He gave them to me before he died." Words appeared above his head. 【COUNTDOWN: 3 DAYS】 I memorized the time. "You've always said you hate unnecessary trouble. You don't keep things for other people." "Those were his belongings." He picked up the glass on the table and took a sip. "Did you come to the office today just to ask me about this?" I didn't answer. Instead, I opened my phone to a bank notification. Adrian saw it and spoke before I could. "I took sixty-eight thousand dollars from our joint account and lent it to Chloe." That money was supposed to pay for an executive certification program I'd been preparing for. I'd spent six months getting ready and had even booked the hotel. "Why didn't you ask me before taking the money?" "It was urgent." "What happened to her?" "She owed a penalty for breaking her contract with her previous employer. If she didn't pay it, it would go on her record and affect future background checks." "So you used our money to cover it for her?" Adrian lowered his eyes, his voice turning serious. "I'll pay it back." "What gave you the right to decide who my money should go to?" "Ava, you can enroll again in the second half of the year. If she misses this chance, it'll be hard for her to recover." I frowned as I remembered my acceptance letter. I'd left it beside the computer in the study. A few days ago, Adrian had picked it up and said, "I'll put this in the folder so it doesn't get lost." He must have seen the date. The enrollment deadline was tonight. If I missed it, I'd have to wait at least another year. He knew. And he'd still transferred sixty-eight thousand dollars to Chloe. "You saw my acceptance letter, didn't you?" Adrian's hand paused. "I was just putting it away for you." There was no countdown. He really had only put it away. He simply hadn't told me he'd seen the deadline. Sometimes the truth hurt more than a lie. He hadn't deceived me. He'd just left the most important part buried in silence. A voice message from Chloe arrived. "Mr. Whitmore, I'll pay Ava back. Please don't fight with her because of me." I asked, "Why is she explaining herself only to you?" Adrian took his phone and walked onto the balcony. "She's afraid you'll misunderstand." 【COUNTDOWN: 9 MINUTES】 Nine minutes later, his phone lit up again. A second voice message from Chloe. "You promised you wouldn't let Ava fight with you because of me. Maybe I should just resign tomorrow." I heard it and looked at him. Adrian turned his phone facedown on the table. "She's just too sensitive. Don't hold it against her." I stared at him. "She says she's going to resign, and you immediately want to go see her. You took my money, and all you have to say to me is not to make a big deal out of it?" "Why are you talking like this all of a sudden?" "My own money was taken to pay someone else's contract penalty. Am I supposed to smile and see the two of you out?" Adrian's expression went completely cold. "I said I'll pay it back!" Then he grabbed his car keys. "I'm going to check on her." "You just got home." "She's afraid to go back to her apartment alone." I stared at him. "She's twenty-five. She has a job. She has a phone. Why do you always act like you're the only person she can turn to?" Adrian's hand stopped on the doorknob. "Because she trusts me." Then he left. I sat back down at the table and pushed aside the cake that had already started to melt. On our seventh anniversary, I ate dinner alone for the first time. I saved screenshots of our joint account on my phone and emailed the withdrawal records to myself. Only after I finished did I realize my fingers had been trembling the entire time.

I went to the office early the next morning. The receptionist told me Adrian was in the conference room. I had just reached the door when Chloe stepped out of the elevator. When she saw me, she stopped and gave me a cautious smile. "Ava, please don't fight with Mr. Whitmore about what happened yesterday." "What Adrian and I discuss is between us." "I know, but I'm the one who borrowed the money. I'll pay it back." She pulled a file from her bag. "These are the things my dad left me. Mr. Whitmore kept them for me for a long time." I asked, "He kept them because your father asked him to?" "Yeah." Then she added softly, "Some things mean even more to him than they do to me." Footsteps sounded behind us. Adrian came out. "Why are you apologizing again?" "I'm afraid you and Ava will fight." He turned to me. "What are you doing here?" "Here to ask about the money." "We'll talk in my office." Chloe stood beside us and quickly shook her head. "Ava, don't blame Mr. Whitmore. This is all my fault." I looked at her. "Who do you think I'm blaming?" Her eyes immediately reddened, and she fell silent. Adrian raised an arm and moved Chloe behind him. "Ava, don't do this in the lobby." Several people nearby turned to look. I'd come to ask about my own money, yet somehow I was the one being ushered into an office as if I'd caused a scene. Once inside, Adrian shut the door. "Send her an apology." I looked up. "What did I do wrong? Why should I apologize?" "She's just nervous. Reassure her." "She stood in the lobby with tears in her eyes while everyone watched. Somehow, I'm the one who looks like I'm bullying her." "She hasn't felt secure since her father died." "Her father died more than a year ago." Adrian looked at me, his brow slowly furrowing. "What exactly are you trying to prove?" "I'm trying to make you see that every time she shows the slightest weakness, you rush to protect her." "She's my secretary!" "She's carrying a file you've kept for her, telling me to my face that some things mean more to you than they do to her. Adrian, does that sound like an ordinary working relationship to you?" His eyes snapped up. "She said it without thinking. She didn't mean anything by it." I gave a humorless smile. "You remember the things she says without thinking better than you remember anything about me." He pushed a glass of water toward me. "Just apologize to her, and we can put this behind us." "She uses my marriage as a stepping stone, and I'm supposed to make sure it's steady for her?" "You're my wife. Giving in once isn't going to cost you anything." I stared at him. "What about her? Has she ever given in once?" Adrian said nothing. A soft knock came from outside. "Mr. Whitmore, I'm leaving. If Ava doesn't like me, I just won't come back anymore." Adrian immediately turned toward the door. I stopped him. "Where are you going?" "To walk her downstairs." "She can't walk by herself?" He turned back to me, irritation filling his eyes. "Ava, what do you want from me today?" I looked at the untouched glass of water. "I want you to stay." But Adrian acted as if he hadn't heard me. He opened the door and went after her. I was left alone in his office. The coffee mug on his desk was the one I'd given him for our anniversary. A faint ring of lipstick stained the rim. I picked up a tissue and wiped at it twice before stopping. What difference would it make if I cleaned it off? He'd already given my place to someone else. I opened my computer and sent an email to the group's HR director. It contained only three sentences: 【Please verify whether Mr. Whitmore's unauthorized payment of $68,000 on behalf of a subordinate complies with company policy.】 【The funds came from a joint marital account in my name, and I did not authorize the transaction.】 【Please retrieve the relevant approval and transfer records and investigate the matter according to company policy.】 After sending the email, I unpinned Adrian's chat. I didn't want to keep staring at my phone, waiting for him to use his next explanation to cover his last lie.