Part 3Married to My Childhood Friend: A Polite Arrangement

I didn't expect Caleb to sleep straight through to the afternoon.

Even after sleeping that long, he still had dark circles under his eyes.

[Looks like the quality of his sleep is really terrible. Good thing I didn't grope him last night, or he'd be even worse off. I guess I'd better behave myself from now on.]

Caleb, whose back was to me, suddenly turned around and stared at me darkly for a long time. "I slept perfectly fine."

"?"

[What does that have to do with me?]

Caleb ignored me.

[Men are so complicated. Annoying.]

Caleb slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

That evening, the high school alumni group chat started blowing up.

The reunion organizer was throwing a get-together.

My best friend Chloe called. "Liv, you're going, right?"

"Yeah, I'm free."

Chloe and I met in high school and coincidentally went to the same college. We've always been super close.

"What about your husband? Is he coming?"

She was talking loudly. I looked up at Caleb across the room.

He opened his mouth.

[Please say no. I really don't want to bring him.]

Caleb closed his mouth.

He gently shook his head.

Satisfied, I replied to Chloe, "He's not coming."

Chloe seemed to breathe a sigh of relief on the other end.

"Good that he isn't. Ethan is going to be there this time. You remember your high school boyfriend, right? He's been single since you guys broke up. I heard he still wears that woven bracelet you gave him."

Chloe's voice echoed clearly in the room.

"...Oh."

I gave a dry response.

"Awesome. Next Tuesday at 7 PM. Be there or be square."

I hung up.

Seeing Caleb's calm, unbothered expression, the slight anxiety in my heart faded.

[What was I worried about? Even if I actually cheated on him, he probably wouldn't care. How could he possibly get jealous over something so small...]

"Terrible!"

Caleb's expression suddenly turned ice-cold.

I jumped, staring at him in confusion.

[What is his deal?!]

Meeting my gaze, Caleb's brow twitched, and his expression relaxed. "I meant Maria's cooking... it's terrible today."

Maria, hurrying in with a spatula: "?"