On the second day of my wife Elsie Snyder's business trip, I, James Stewart, was cleaning while casually telling the smart speaker at home, "Play some music."
A deep, unfamiliar male voice came from the speaker. "Alright, I'm your Sunshine. Also, a reminder for Elsie not to forget Leonel's birthday surprise tonight."
I froze, the music suddenly piercing. I thought, "My wife is Elsie, so who is Leonel?"
I immediately called Elsie. "Did you mess with the smart speaker at home?"
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by her casual laugh. "Oh, a friend came over a few days ago, maybe she connected her account. What's up?"
I laughed it off, said it was nothing, then hung up. Afterward, I pulled up the speaker's login records and took a cab straight to the company address linked to that unfamiliar account.
The taxi stopped below Solar Design.
I looked up, the glass facade shimmering in the sunlight, dizzying, much like its overwhelming momentum in the industry over the past two years.
Solar Design is the biggest competitor of Dream Builder Design Studio, which I founded.
The receptionist was very professional, showing no discourtesy despite knowing I was the boss of a rival company. She simply handled it formally and dialed the internal line.
A few minutes later, a man in a casual shirt hurried out of the elevator, looking clean and innocent.
He is Leonel Mason.
The moment he saw me, his eyes clearly showed a flash of panic, but he quickly composed himself and forced a very fake smile.
He asked, "Hello, may I know who you are?"
"The smart speaker issue," I got straight to the point, looking at him calmly. "The login record shows it's your account."
"Ah! That speaker!" He suddenly realized and then scratched his head awkwardly, saying, "That's my roommate's. A few days ago, he used my phone to log in, said his membership expired and wanted to borrow an account for a couple of days. Did it cause you any trouble? I'm really sorry!"
His words were flawless, both distancing himself and appearing innocent.
If I didn't know Elsie, I might have actually believed it.
She’s arrogant and sensitive; there’s no way she’d allow an unrelated intern to log into her home devices with a personal account.
My gaze slowly shifted from his innocent-looking face to his wrist.
He was wearing a silver bracelet.
Two irregular rings intertwined, with one engraved with a tiny letter E.
That was last year’s wedding anniversary gift I designed myself and had a craftsman friend make for Elsie.
E is the first letter of Elsie.
It's one of a kind.
Leonel noticed my gaze and instinctively tried to hide his hand behind his back.
I smiled, took a step forward, and spoke gently. "That bracelet is quite special. Did your girlfriend give it to you? Nice taste."
His face turned pale instantly, his lips trembled slightly, and he couldn't say a word.
That's enough.
I stopped looking at him and turned to leave.
Sitting in the taxi on the way back, I called my friend Alex Wood. He's the best divorce lawyer in the business.
As soon as the phone rang, his loud voice came through. "Yo, Mr. Stewart? You finally remembered me?"
"Do me a favor." I stared at the city streets rapidly retreating outside the window, my voice unnervingly calm.
"Look into someone, an intern at Solar Design, Leonel Mason. Also, dig out all of Elsie's financial transactions and hotel records from the past six months. Don't miss a single detail."
Alex was silent for two seconds, then dropped the joking tone. "Did they cross you?"
"Something worse," I said.
The call ended, and the car fell into dead silence.
It wasn't long before Elsie called.
On the screen, the word "Honey" felt particularly ironic. I took a deep breath and answered.
"James, what's wrong?" Her gentle voice came through the receiver, as considerate as ever, with just the right amount of concern. "I heard from Alex that you asked him to look into something. Are you having trouble at work?"
See, she even planted her informants this quickly.
I suppressed the surge of emotions in my heart and replied in the most casual tone, "No, I just suddenly missed you."
On the other end, there seemed to be a sigh of relief, followed by a soft laugh. "Honey, I miss you too. Once I finish this project, I'll fly back to be with you right away, my Sunshine."
The word "Sunshine" clearly drilled into my ears.
My grip on the phone suddenly tightened.
So, I wasn't her only sunshine.
Or maybe, I never was.