So Close to Happiness

As the live-in son-in-law of the Quimby family, I wasn't allowed to sit at the table to eat until I'd carried on the family line.

Nadia urged me to bear with it, and not to put her in a hard spot in front of the family rules and the elders.

So at every family dinner, all I could do was crouch in the kitchen with my bowl and eat.

Until this Thanksgiving, when I announced the news that the IVF embryo had successfully survived, thinking that this time I could finally sit at the table.

But Nadia had her new little assistant sit in the seat beside her that had been empty for five years.

Sophie objected.

"Sis, this is a family dinner. The seats are all accounted for."

"Besides, that's Jesse's seat. It's not proper to let an outsider sit there, is it?"

Nadia only frowned.

"I'm the head of the Quimby family. The rules are mine to make. It's not up to anyone else to point fingers."

Then she turned and saw me still standing there in my apron.

Nadia lowered her voice and said, gently,

"Jesse, Phineas has no family left. Spending the holiday alone is pitiful. Don't make him feel bad."

"There's no seat left at the table anyway, and you've crouched in the kitchen for five years already, so one more time won't make any difference."

Watching her go to such lengths to protect her little assistant.

I suddenly felt ridiculous, after all the pain I'd gone through testing those drugs.

So it turned out the seat I hadn't gotten to sit in for five years, she could hand to an outsider with a single word.

Then I don't want her, or the child, anymore.

...

Sophie, my sister-in-law, had always hated rules and dogma of every kind.

She stood up and looked at the man beside Nadia.

"Phineas, right? The seat next to my sister is only for my brother-in-law. Even empty, it can't go to an outsider. It isn't right."

"As it happens, I've got something to do, so I'll head out first. You take my seat."

At that, Mrs. Quimby glared at her.

"Don't be ridiculous. You only come home once every few years, and tonight is your welcome-home dinner. What would it look like if you left?"

Everyone could tell Sophie was giving Phineas a graceful way out.

But he acted as if he didn't understand, his eyes reddening in an instant.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault for telling Ms. Quimby I missed my parents. She felt sorry for me, so she brought me here to feel the warmth of family."

"I've caused everyone trouble. I really should just go..."

As if someone had wronged him.

Nadia pressed a hand to his shoulder and soothed him softly.

"Sit here and don't worry. With me here, no one would dare call you a nuisance."

She ignored Sophie and turned to me.

"Jesse, Phineas is timid and shy. Sit next to me so I can look after him."

"It's just a seat. Don't make a fuss over something so small, all right?"

I quietly gripped my apron tighter.

I thought back to the first family dinner after we married, when, because I hadn't yet carried on the Quimby line, I could only eat in the kitchen.

Nadia had used the very same tone to persuade me then.

"Jesse, I've only just become head of the family. I can't be the one to break the rules and give people something to hold against me."

"Don't put me in a hard spot, all right?"

So it turned out that seat was wrong for me whether I sat in it or not.

Sophie laughed coldly.

"Showing up uninvited at someone else's family dinner and taking the host's seatthat's what you call timid and shy?"

"Jesse, come on, let's go eat out. Greg's been missing you, and wants to video call you."

Before I could untie my apron, Nadia blocked my way, a warning in her eyes.

"Sophie, I know you've got yourself a boyfriend from abroad, but don't go using his unruly ways to lead your brother-in-law astray."

"You can leave, but as the host, it's against the rules for Jesse to abandon his guests. And besides, the Quimby family and my husband are none of your business."

The two of them were half-sisters, same father, different mothers.

Nadia's birth mother had died many years ago, and the current Mrs. Quimby was the second wife.

Even without any mistress drama, Nadia still couldn't stand her younger sister.

What I never expected was that one day the one standing up for me wouldn't be my own wife.

It would be the sister-in-law I'd once secretly thought was too rebellious.

Under her mother's warning look, Sophie couldn't bring herself to humiliate her in public.

She left behind one flat, cutting line.

"So the Quimby family rule is to grind the husband's face into the floor and stomp on it. Truly ridiculous."

After she left, Nadia pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.

But the family dinner still had to go on.

"Jesse, go make two more dishes. Phineas likes sweet-and-sour crispy fish and braised sea cucumber with scallions. A family dinner should have some favorites on it."

Some favorites.

She'd never once said that to me.

Because I couldn't sit at the table, so there was no need.

I looked at her.

"I've told you, the drugs I'm taking have serious side effects. I can't stand the smell of seafood. Have Uncle Wang make it."

Uncle Wang was the cook who usually handled the meals at the old estate.

Even the Quimby elders, picky as they always were, had for once been understandingno one asked for seafood.

Nadia knew this perfectly well, and still she made the request.

Phineas spoke up, sounding aggrieved.

"Ms. Quimby, never mind. I'll just eat something simple. Don't wear Jesse out."

His expression looked utterly long-suffering.

Nadia frowned.

"If you can't stand the smell, then wear a mask for now. It won't take much effort."

"Phineas rarely gets to come. Don't let people think the Quimby family mistreats its gueststhat's undignified."

It was the third time tonight she'd used rules and dignity to press me down.

But her rules depended on who you were.

With all the relatives and elders watching, I still nodded. "Fine."

The two dishes took nearly forty minutes, and I gagged more than a dozen times.

My appetite was long gone.

I leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching Phineas sit in the seat I'd waited five years for.

Nadia thoughtfully picked out the fish bones for him and blew on the sea cucumber to cool it.

Not one glance at me.

Something inside me suddenly went cold.

I took out my phone and sent a message to the attending physician.

"Hello. That embryo that successfully survivedplease destroy it."

After the family dinner ended, we saw off all the elders and relatives.

Out of habit, I walked toward the car.

But Nadia blocked the car door.

"Jesse, I have an online meeting in three minutes, so I can't leave yet. Phineas has to stay and help me."

"Staying up late is bad for you. Go ahead and grab a cab home first."

I froze for a moment.

"But the mansion is halfway up the hill. It takes an hour to walk down. It's already ten at night, and the road is dark..."

The moment I said it, Phineas poked his head out from the doorway and said, with a pointed edge to his words:

"Ms. Quimby, are you ready? The old lady is looking for you."

Nadia nodded, then looked at me helplessly.

"Jesse, it's not your first time back at the old estate. You could walk that road with your eyes closedand there are streetlights anyway."

"It's not good to sit around getting lazy all the time. Just think of it as a walk to get some exercise."

I pressed my lips together.

I wanted to remind her that the streetlights had broken the last time we came back and still hadn't been fixed.

I also wanted to say that, to honor the Quimby rule that the man of the house must cook the family dinner himself for it to count as sincere, I'd already been at it for five hours.

Because Nadia's egg viability was low, her IVF embryos kept failing to survive.

For five years I'd taken piles of kidney-tonifying, blood-activating medications, hoping to raise the quality of my sperm so she'd suffer less.

Some of those drugs had severe side effects. The doctor had warned me to get plenty of rest.

But Nadia gave me no chance to speak, because Phineas sneezed.

She ran to him anxiously, draped her own coat over him, and said with concern:

"It's turned cold tonight. Hurry inside, don't catch a chill."

Phineas glanced at my thin shirt, and the corner of his mouth curved up, ever so faintly.

The door of the old estate closed in front of me.

I tightened my collar and turned to walk down the hill.

I'd only gone a few yards when a car pulled up behind me.

Sophie was in the driver's seat, waving at me.

"Jesse, get in, I'll drive you."

She told me Greg had heard about what happened tonight and was worried about me, so he'd asked her to stay and keep an eye on me.

After I got in, I saw an open box on the center console.

Inside was a jade thumb ring of superb qualitythe jade heirloom ring.

The Quimby family had two of these.

They were meant for the husbands of Nadia and Sophie, kept as family heirlooms.

Sophie noticed my surprised look and smiled.

"Greg and I already registered our marriage, so I asked my mom for this ring. Of course, I got chewed out again, but I had to have it, scolding or not."

"But the Quimby rules say a live-in son-in-law has to carry on the family line before he can..."

Sophie curled her lip in disdain.

"It's exactly because I can't stand these rotten old rules that I chose to build my career abroad, and I never ask him to attend the family dinners."

"Whatever is rightfully his, I'll help him get, no conditions attachedbecause he's the one I love, and no one gets to set rules for him."

"As for whether he smashes it or throws it away, that's his freedom. That's what respect means."

Her phone rang. Her little cousin from her second uncle's family had sent her a video.

I was close enough to read the message at a glance.

Sis, I left my phone at the old estate and came back for it. You have to see what I just walked in on!

In the video, Mrs. Quimby handed the other ring to Nadia.

"Jesse left in a hurry, and these past few years haven't been easy on him. Give him this ringtake it back for him."

But Nadia turned right around and slid it onto Phineas's hand, a faint smile on her lips.

"No rush. Once the embryo is transferred into me, he'll still need to take care of me through the pregnancy, so it'd be inconvenient for him to wear it."

"Phineas has such nice long hands, and fair skinthe ring suits him. Let him hold onto it for now."

Phineas, blushing, leaned close to her and said softly:

"Thank you, Ms. Quimby. You're so good to me."

Suddenly the air in the car seemed to thin out.

Otherwise, why would my chest feel so tight, so awful?

So this was the real reason she'd sent me off ahead of time.

Sophie glanced at my face, switched off her phone, and rolled down the window.

"Jesse, the first year I brought Greg to meet the family, the elders all complained he was unmannered, not meek enough. You were the only one who looked after him in every way."

"He's never forgotten your kindness, and neither have I."

"So he told me to tell you: the rules were set by others, but you have the right not to follow them, because your life is your own."

She looked at me.

"We want to open a Chinese-style hotel abroad, and we're still missing a food-and-beverage manager to oversee the dishes."

"Jesse, you're such a good cookwhy not join us?"

"Your skills as your stake in the business. No Quimby family money involved."

I'd barely gotten home when Phineas sent me a WhatsApp message:

"Jesse, Ms. Quimby got me home safe, and she even gave me a bunch of gifts."

"Thanks for the 'food' tonight. I'm really so happy~"

The word "food" was in quotation marks, as if it meant a person.

Below it were photos of the gifts.

I ignored the message and its taunting tone.

My head was full of Sophie's words.

When Nadia came back and saw me still sitting on the sofa, she frowned at once:

"You're still up? Then why haven't you answered Phineas? He thinks you're angry, and it's left him uneasy this whole time."

"It was the same at the family dinner just now. Not only did you never crack a smile, you egged Sophie on to go after Phineas."

"Jesse, I know you're in a mood tonight. If you feel wronged, you can tell me, but you shouldn't take it out on an innocent guest. It's just so undignified."

Listening to her, all I felt was the irony of it.

Hadn't I said it? Had she listened?

Even when Sophie spoke up for me, she could take it as me putting Sophie up to it.

I raised my eyes, my voice calm:

"When you let him sit in my seat and wear the jade heirloom ring that belongs to the Quimby son-in-law, wasn't he plenty at ease then?"

Nadia paused, and for once a flicker of guilt crossed her face.

Then she flew into an indignant temper:

"Jesse Henson, are you questioning me now?"

"Phineas is my assistant. He has to come with me to all kinds of social functions. I'm afraid people will see how young he is and look down on him, so he needs a piece of jewelry with some weight to it, something to hold the room."

"You don't even have to work. Aside from cooking a little and keeping house, you live in comfort at home all day. There's no occasion where you'd ever need to wear it."

"Besides, you'll be run off your feet caring for me during my pregnancy. What if you knocked the ring and broke it? What's the harm in lending it to him for a few days?"

Oh. So that's how she sees me.

But I used to be a five-star hotel chef too, even if it doesn't sound all that grand.

At least it was work I loved.

It was Nadia who said the man of the Quimby house showing his face in public as a cook would be a laughingstock.

Her husband didn't need to go earn his own keep, either.

She begged me to be a stay-at-home husband, to hold down the home front for her.

I thought of how Sophie had defended and stood up for the man she loved, back in the car.

Set against that, I suddenly felt like a clown.

Realizing her tone had been too harsh, Nadia wearily pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Never mind. I won't fight with you. You get a stomachache whenever you're angry, and getting worked up isn't good for you."

She set a small jewelry box in front of me:

"You worked hard today. I picked this out especially for you."

"I still have work to do, so I'll sleep in the study tonight. Get some rest early. Tomorrow we go in for the embryo transfer."

I looked at the small, diamond-studded bow tie.

What a coincidence. I'd seen it not long ago, in the picture Phineas had gone out of his way to send to show off.

A few days back, so he'd have an outfit to match the ring, Nadia had spent millions on custom designer clothes and a watch for him.

This bow tie had been tossed into a corner of that pile of gifts, its tag reading "Brand Gift."

It couldn't have been easy for her, remembering to peel off the tag before handing it to me.

How very dignified.

As I passed the study, Nadia was on the phone.

The door wasn't quite shut, and her gentle voice drifted out:

"Phineas, don't read too much into it. He's not angry with you. I've already spoken to him. The man of the Quimby house should be kind and big-hearted."

"Why did I fall for him back then? The way he used to be was just like you, lively and headstrong. A little clumsy, sure, but serious and hardworking about his work, and even when he got chewed out he never gave up. He was a very interesting person to love."

"As for now... now he's obedient and dutiful, dignified and sensible. He makes a suitable husband. And a very dull one."

I stood outside the door and let out a faint laugh.

She was the one who'd used every rule there was to bind me into a numb, obedient household machine.

And then she blamed me for being dull.

Nadia's voice went on:

"Still unhappy? Then how can I make you happy? All right, I'll sing you to sleep."

Listening to that familiar singing, I felt something prick my heart like a needle.

Back when Nadia and I were dating, sometimes I couldn't sleep, and she would stay up the whole night on a voice call with me, coaxing me to sleep.

But ever since she became head of the Quimby family, it had never happened again.

Last week I couldn't sleep because of the side effects of those medications, and I wanted her to sing for me.

Instead she'd knit her brows in disapproval:

"Jesse, I'm the head of the Quimby family now. I have to be steady. I can't have people thinking me frivolous."

"If you can't sleep, count sheep."

I didn't listen any longer.

Back in the bedroom, I sent Sophie a message:

"I agree to the arrangement."

"Also, I remember you took law as an elective. Please draw up a divorce agreement for me. Thank you."

Suitable husband, or dignified and sensible man of the house, whichever.

From now on, whoever wants the role can have it.

Given how unpleasant the previous night had been.

The next morning, Nadia kept her promise and came with me to the hospital.

In the office, Dr. Lawrence tried to talk me out of it:

"You've been through so much, the IVF embryo barely survived, and you're just one step away from becoming a father. Are you sure you want to give it up?"

"Why not talk it over with your wife again? She is the child's mother, after all."

I thought about it, then pushed the door open and stepped outside, but Nadia was gone.

A message from her popped up on WhatsApp:

Phineas just called, he's not in a good place. I'm going to check on him and I'll be right back.

So it turned out her promise wasn't even worth five minutes.

I turned and went back into the office:

"There's nothing to discuss. Destroy it."

Dr. Lawrence sighed and had no choice but to sign the forms and arrange the procedure.

I never expected that while I was waiting in the hallway, a mentally ill patient would suddenly rush at me with a knife.

I instinctively raised my arm to block it.

The patient was quickly restrained, but my arm was cut, and the bleeding wouldn't stop no matter what.

After examining me, the nurse cried out in alarm:

"This is bad, Mr. Henson's artery has been cut. The medications he took earlier have left him with clotting problems. He needs a transfusion right now!"

"But he's Rh-negative, and every blood bank in the city is short on stock. Getting it from out of state would take three hours at the fastest. There's no time!"

I was rushed into the operating room.

The doctor told her to hurry and find out if anyone had a matching blood type and was willing to donate.

Even though everyone knew the odds of that were very low.

I spoke weakly:

"I know someone who's a match. Give me my phone."

Back when we first found out we had the same blood type, Nadia had smiled and said:

"Jesse, don't you think it's fate that we were meant to be husband and wife?"

The phone rang for a long time before she picked up.

Before I could say anything, Nadia spoke:

"Jesse, today is the anniversary of Phineas's mother's death, and he's grieving."

"I don't feel right leaving him alone. I have to stay with him. Let's push the embryo transfer to another day."

I paused:

"Nadia, I've been injured and I'm bleeding badly. The hospital's blood bank doesn't have enough. I need you to come back right now and donate blood."

As my words fell, Phineas's aggrieved voice came from the other end:

"Is my brother-in-law jealous again and lying on purpose?"

"Ms. Quimby, you should just go back. It's not the first time she's disliked me. Don't let me come between you and your husband."

I was about to say I hadn't, but Nadia cut in impatiently:

"Jesse Henson, I know you've been in a bad mood these past couple of days, but can you stop competing with a younger guy all the time? It's so childish!"

The call was cut off abruptly.

The operating room went dead silent.

Whatever last bit of hope I'd held for Nadia died right along with it.

As my consciousness started to blur, the young nurse from before ran in, delighted:

"Dr. Lawrence, a woman who meets the criteria has come to donate blood. She says she's the patient's family..."

The one who came was my sister-in-law, Sophie.

Sometimes you can't help but marvel at the coincidences in this world.

One family, two people with Rh-negative blood.

Sophie said Greg had had a poor appetite lately and had lost a lot of weight.

Even though he laughed on the phone and said he'd just treat it as dieting, she was still worried, so she'd gone to an old herbalist she knew to get something to settle his stomach.

She happened to overhear the nurses asking everyone about their blood type, and that was how she found out it was me.

Remembering how coldly Nadia had just treated me, I pulled at the corner of my mouth but said nothing.

Sophie told me:

"I've drawn up the divorce agreement. Once you've built your strength back up, we'll go abroad."

The surgery was over, but I still needed to stay in the hospital for a few days of observation.

She helped me sit down on a chair in the hallway, then went to handle the paperwork and get my hospital gown.

Sophie had only just left.

Then Nadia showed up with Phineas, two police officers trailing behind them.

"Wasn't it supposed to be a massive hemorrhage? I knew you were lying just now!"

She marched right up to me, seething:

"No wonder Phineas said it wasn't the first time you disliked him. If I hadn't kept pressing, I never would've known how vicious you are!"

"I told you before that he's allergic to peanuts, and you deliberately used peanut oil when you cooked for him last night?!"

As she spoke, Nadia rolled up Phineas's sleeve and pointed at the red rash on it for me to see:

"He put up with the discomfort the whole time to save your face. He held out until he got home to take his medicine, and the rash still hasn't gone away."

"Do you have any idea a severe allergy can kill someone?!"

My tone was flat:

"None of the oil or ingredients used for yesterday's family dinner contained peanuts. If you don't believe me, you can check the surveillance footage at the old house."

At that, nervousness flashed through Phineas's eyes, and his rims went red at once:

"Brother-in-law, are you saying I lied and framed you?"

"Even if you don't like me, there's no need to sling mud at me. I'm not you."

Nadia wiped away his tears with aching tenderness, then glared at me in fury:

"Phineas is simple and kind. He'd never stoop to cheap, underhanded tricks."

"Apologize to him right now!"

I was unmoved. "Why should I apologize for something I didn't do?"

Nadia let out a furious laugh and pointed at me:

"Fine, fine, fine. Deliberately feeding someone food they're allergic to, and still no remorse. Is this the breeding you have as the man of the Quimby house?!"

"Fine. Since you won't apologize, then go spend a few days inside and reflect!"

She looked at the two officers:

"As Phineas's boss, I have a responsibility to protect my employee."

"Jesse Henson may be my husband, but I won't shield him. He's suspected of intentional assault. Please take him into custody."

The two officers exchanged a glance and said to me:

"Mr. Henson, please come back with us to cooperate with the investigation."

The next second, Dr. Lawrence suddenly rushed over.

She planted herself in front of me:

"No!"

"Jesse Henson just went through a massive arterial hemorrhage. He has a clotting disorder and is not yet out of danger. There is no way he can leave!"