Past:

It is strange how Tom seemed to sense a change in Michelle. She continued to do all her usual chores and she never complained or treated him in any different manner. But her heart was not on it anymore. It was as if she had stopped believing that they had a future together. She was even more quiet and thoughtful than usual.

Tom only saw life in her eyes when she was playing with Scott. Even her lovemaking was sort of automatic and at those moments it was like she had not only shut up as he preferred, but also shut off. Her mind appeared to be somewhere else and Tom was not a fool, so he concluded that she was out of his reach.

His mean words didn´t affect her anymore and she just nodded to him when he mistreated her or asked her to do extenuating chores, like cleaning the bathroom after midnight or ironing all of his shirts first thing in the morning for no reason at all.

It was as if Tom was testing Michelle and after a few weeks, he changed