He Brought His Mistress Home, So I Brought My First Love

After Jordan Sanchez failed to come home yet again, I let out a long, deep breath of relief.

Because just moments earlier, I'd found Dominic Langford on my doorstep. My college crush. The one that got away.

He had a bad leg, and the rest of him was all sharp angles and hollow cheeks. But that face was exactly as I remembered it: sculpted, gorgeous, almost unfairly beautiful.

One look at him and I'd already made up my mind to take care of him.

I spent the entire night figuring out how to convince Jordan to let Dominic stay.

Then the next day, my husband walked through the door with his frail little junior colleague in tow and announced in that flat, cold voice of his：“Stella Fisher's health isn't great. I'm going to have her move in so I can look after her.”

I couldn't help it. I laughed.

——

“Have you lost your mind?”

The sound of my laughter made Jordan frown. He looked at me with that expression I knew so well, eyes full of barely concealed contempt, like I was being absurd.

That look. I knew it by heart.

He gave it to me every time I called to ask why he wasn't coming home.

Every time I questioned why he smelled like a stranger's perfume.

Every time I asked how his day at work had gone.

The same look, every single time.

As if I were the dumbest woman alive. Too stupid to have any part in his life. Good for nothing but laundry, cooking, and making the bed.

I hated that look.

It used to send me spiraling. I'd scream, I'd cry, I'd throw things. I'd become exactly the hysterical woman he already believed I was.

But now, all I felt was calm.

Calm enough to smile warmly, take Stella's luggage from her hands, and say：“Stella, don't be shy. Make yourself at home.”

My compliance didn't make Jordan happy. If anything, his frown deepened.

Of course it did. The old me would have torn the house apart.

He looked me up and down, studying me, trying to work out what had changed.

After a long silence, something seemed to click for him. His voice went cold.：“Irene Pruitt, playing hard to get won't work on me. Stop wasting your time.”

This time, I was the one who looked at him like he was being absurd.

I met his eyes and said, sincerely：“Jordan, I genuinely welcome Stella into this house.”

My voice was perfectly pleasant. Reasonable, even. And somehow that made it worse for him. I could see the irritation flare from somewhere deep in his chest, sudden and irrational.

Before he could lash out, my steady gaze stopped him short.

“Jordan, stop overthinking everything. I'm going to make dinner. Cool off.”

I turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving him standing there, stiff and speechless.

I didn't blame him for being thrown. After all, just three days ago, he'd said those exact same words to me.

Word for word.

He'd had a business trip coming up and asked me to pack his bags.

He went to shower afterward, tossing his phone on the bed without a second thought.

I'd just finished gathering his clothes when I glanced down and saw a message from Stella lighting up his screen.

【Hey, it's just the two of us going on this trip? I'm only an intern. Won't people at the office start talking?】

I froze.

Jordan walked out of the bathroom right at that moment.

He had a towel wrapped around his waist, water still trailing down the hard planes of his chest.

He glanced at the lit screen, then looked at me, expression dead serious.：“Stella and I are just traveling for work. That's it.”

I wanted to tell him I hadn't even been thinking anything. But he didn't give me the chance.

He got dressed right in front of me, voice flat and without a single ripple of emotion.：“Stop overthinking everything. Cool off tonight on your own.”

Then he left.

The difference was, he had it better than I did.

Because today, he had Stella hovering at his side, murmuring sweet little comforts in that soft voice of hers.

That night, all I had was myself, packing his suitcase through silent tears.

At least those days were behind me now.

I hummed a little tune as I cooked, filling the table with dish after dish.