Chapter 16 (part 1)

A man sat silently in front of a bay window. Although he seemed to be watching the bustle of tipsy people along the street, he was actually focused on the sound of incessant footsteps he heard coming from upstairs.

She's still clearly furious, Shèngli thought.

He could tell by the way her feet were being pounded violently on the old parquet floor, the way wardrobe doors were being forced open, and things were being slammed from side to side.

He imagined that if he had tried to talk to Claire at that moment, she would have been able to throw the heavy wrought-iron bed at him.

In the end, they hadn't exchanged a single word.

After ending the call with her family, the only interaction they'd managed to have had was two loud slaps and a knee in a rather sensitive spot.

Then nothing. Claire had ignored him for the rest of the afternoon, leaving Lizzie to deal with the closing after informing her that she had a severe migraine and w