When Samuel arrived at the house late in the afternoon, Kali was holed up in the kitchen preparing the meal she wanted to serve that evening. She was used to cooking by herself, and Samuel couldn't deny that she was an exemplary cook. The house smelt savoury, even from the door. The rich aroma of spices saturated every crevice of the room. He liked everything she made and was even getting used to her more spicy numbers.

He watched for some time, and she didn't notice. She was intensely focused on her work, chopping and sorting the things she needed. Her hair was tied up with a multi-coloured scrunchy, but a good amount still swayed around as she moved. She arranged small bowls on the counter, pouring the ingredients she needed into them while checking in on what was already boiling on the electric cooker.

"Hey." He greeted from the door.

His voice scared her, but she quickly recovered when she turned to see him.

"Hey!" She stretched on her toes, leaning away from the pot to hug and peck his cheek. "When did you arrive?"

"Right now."

"Good." A bowl of vegetables was dropped into his palm before he could say any more. "Help me wash and chop those, please."

"Seriously? I literally just walked through the door like three seconds ago."

"And I appreciate that you'll help me all the same."

"My pleasure." He rolled up his sleeves and picked up a bunch of bell peppers to begin chopping. "What are we making today?"

"Rice served with beef sauce. You'll love it."

"I bet."

"Ember and Peter would too. Don't worry, I cordially warned them about my affinity to peppery foods, and they promised they could handle anything."

"They can't?" He chortled. "Peter can try, but Ember would be in a mess. She'd probably be a sweaty mess three seconds in."

Kali became worried, halting in her chopping and staring at her stew. "Maybe I should have cut back then."

"No, it's great. I want to see how this plays out. Imagine them..." he laughed, unable to help himself. "Acting like they have any idea how to handle spicy food."

She smiled at that. "As long as you think it's okay."

"Still don't understand why you want to host a dinner?"

"Because I wanted to."

"Hmm. Just something casual, though, right?" He looked over her shoulder to peek into the pot.

"Definitely. No suits are needed. Simple dinner amongst friends."

"Friends?"

"That's right. Friends and family." She pushed him back to the chopping board. "Make yourself useful. I want to finish this early, so I can set the table up and rest before dinner starts."

"Would I be helping with that too?"

"Of course. I am taking advantage of the fact that you came in early today."

"I'd think that you wouldn't like throwing dinners considering how much you hate going to them."

"When my mom was alive, we would have family dinners. I think I mentioned it to you before." He nodded. "It was glorious. She didn't like preparing too much food, but, on those days, the table was a work of art. She had a set of hand-embroidered tablecloths and porcelain plates that only came out that day."

"That's the plan for tonight?"

"Yes."

"You and Ember have really grown to like each other, huh?"

"Your sister is easy to get along with. Peter is hard to read, but I think he takes time to warm to people."

"Can I ask a question?" He snagged a piece of meat from the bowl beside her, which earned him a hard stare.

"What do you want to know?"

"When you started inviting my sister out to go shopping or have lunch, what were you really after?"

"I don't understand."

"I have always wondered why you started inviting my sister out. Was it to make friends or because you felt lonely and she had offered."

"Some."

"What does that mean?"

"It means some of that is true."

"And the rest." He pressed. "What was the rest of your reasons?"

Kali hesitated, glancing at him wearily before focusing on the vegetables she chopped. "I wanted to understand your family dynamic."

"Family dynamic?"

"I wanted to know more about your mom."

"What you mean to say is you wanted to get information for my sister, so you could keep your ball of revenge rolling, right?"

"It was months ago, Samuel. It isn't like that anymore, okay?"

"Is that why you are inviting them to dinner? You are working on building their trust so you can continue using them."

"That's not why they are coming to dinner. I told you the truth. I wanted to get on up on your mother. It was why I initially wanted to build the relationship, but things have changed since then."

"Have they now?"

"Yes, they have." She exclaimed in defence. The sound of the knife hitting the board more frequently and heavily indicated her growing impatience, but Samuel was past noticing.

"What changed?" She whipped her head around, still slicing furiously. "Watch what you're doing?"

"Forget that. What changed about what?"

"Kali, I mean it. That knife is sharp."

She slapped the knife down and faced him. "What are you asking me?"

"What changed your mind about using her."

"'Using her' is making the plan sound uglier than it was."

"I think it's the word that correctly describes your plan. Now, answer the question."

"She is a nice person."

"Try harder. She was a nice person when you concocted this ridiculous plan. I told you," he simmered, bringing his face close to hers. "I warned you that I would not permit you to hurt my family in the name of trying to hurt my mother."

"I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. You are going to bring this up every time?"

"I don't care that you want to take the war to my mother. But I would not stand for you involving my siblings or my father in any of this. I made that clear from the start."

"I am not involving them?"

"I don't want you using them either. Ember likes you, and Peter is coming around. Enough lies we have spun around them to add this to the list. One day our truth will come out, and I don't want them any more disappointed."

"Samuel, I am not a monster. I like Ember too, and I don't want her hurt. Peter too. That said, I remind you I said I am not using them the way you think. I am not forcing information out of them. I only listen to the things they say and learn from that."

"You're unbelievable."

"And," She interjected, a finger raised to stop him from speaking. "It has nothing to do with why they are coming to dinner tonight. I invited them because I wanted to have a nice dinner with them and nothing more."

"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe."

"Don't make me lose my patience, Samuel. I mean it. We are doing well being friends. Let's not go back to bickering like little kids."

"Stop acting like this, and we might."

"Are you deaf? Or are we not in the same conversation? I already said I am not doing what you are thinking."

He paused on his next words before they could fall out of his mouth. Biting his tongue and storming out of the kitchen. Instead of heading to the bedroom, he stalked to the study and crashed on the couch. It wasn't surprising that Kali admitted to befriending Ember in hopes of getting information about his mother, but he was disappointed to confirm it.

He was scared to find out what she might do if she ever found something concrete about his mother. No one outside his family knew about the relationship with Richard, not even his friends. Flora knew, but she kept the secret like everyone else. To the world, he was the son of Timothy Madden. If Kali found out, would she see that piece of information as her trump card? She could go public, destroy his mother's image or at least do some damage to it.

Outside of his estranged father, he knew his mother had other skeletons in her closet. Ones his father knew and others only she knew. If Kali found out something, would she forgo the chance to ruin his mother out of mercy for what it would do for the rest of the family?

Was there even a way for one to happen without the other?

The door creaked, and he opened his eyes, catching Kali as she peeped into the room. "Is it safe?"

Samuel shrugged, watching her cautiously cross the threshold to the couch. She slipped her slides on, tucking her legs beneath her.

"What about the food?"

"I left the sauce to simmer. It would survive without me for the next twenty minutes."

"Hmm."

"I don't like arguing with you."

"Is that right?"

"Of course it is. You are the only one I have on my side right now. If we are at odds, I am alone. It doesn't feel good to only have myself carrying all these problems."

"Some of them you are creating at this point."

"Samuel!" She chastised.

"Fine." He grumbled, sitting up on the couch. He dragged his palms nervously over the front of his jean trousers. "I am sorry. I think I overreacted."

"In all fairness, I understand your concerns. They are your family. If anyone felt like a threat to my sister or tried to use her, I'd probably blow a gasket too."

"I do mean what I said." He glanced at her. His voice had lost its earlier hostility. "My siblings are starting to like you. I don't want them to feel manipulated when this is all over. Let's be truthful. Even if Mom allows us to divorce, one way or another, this can come out."

"If it does, we will explain it to them. They'll be upset, but for all you know, it would be more towards your mother than to you."

"Or you if they found out you became friends with them just to get back at her."

"That was only in the beginning, alright? Only at first. Now, left to me, we'll explain things to them before anyone can expose this. Instead of going behind anyone's back, we can be upfront and honest about the situation."

"That's not a good idea."

"I am not doing it. I know I can't hold my sister back from creating a scene, and you know your siblings best. All I am saying is the only way to prevent things from biting us in the ass is to get ahead of the problem."

"So you want to tell them?"

"I wish I could." She rested her head on the heel of her palm. "Remember when you took me to your apartment, and we told each other everything? It felt liberating to finally know the truth. That's what I want to do with Ember and June."

"And Peter?"

"With Peter, I am only now getting to know him. Ember has been good to me from the beginning. She respects me, treats me well, and I can tell how much she wants things to go back to how they were before she left."

"She thinks I no longer trust her. We were the best of friends when we were kids. I told her everything, even after she left, but she feels I might have lost confidence in her."

"Best friend? Don't worry. I am not jealous."

Samuel chuckled. "Get over yourself."

"I am guessing the only thing you haven't told her is the truth about our marriage."

"Yes, but she thinks I didn't say anything about our relationship because I didn't trust her. How am I to tell her the day I told her about our engagement was the first time I ever saw you."

"And if she finds out it was all a lie, she'd think the same thing all over again."

"It's a mess."

"Okay. I want to promise you that I won't use your siblings to get back at Ysabel. I won't try to extract information from them or make them unwilling accomplices to anything. But," she warned, "I still won't stop finding a way to get your mother out of my life or, at least, have her live the same hell she has put me through this year."

"I understand that."

She kissed her teeth, turning his face to look him in the eye. "We won't be mad anymore, then? Is it settled?"

"Settled."

She grinned, drawing closer, her hand braced on his shoulder as she pressed her lips to his cheek. She held herself there, dragging on the kiss till he laughed and pushed her off.

"Okay, stop it."

"I knew my handsome husband wouldn't hold a grudge against me for that long."

"Tempt me, and I'll make this last three more days."

She shook her head, pursing her lips. "I'll never try that. I am forgiven, right?"

His shoulders loosened as he exhaled and nodded. "As long as I am."

"You are." She jumped to her feet, sending her long thick curls bouncing as she spun around to stretch her hand to him. "Come on then. We need to set the table before your siblings arrive. Won't let you get out of helping me so you can sit here all day."

He took her hand and returned to the kitchen.