Chapter 1

My husband abandoned our three-month-old baby to go to his childhood sweetheart's bachelor party, and our baby choked on milk and suffocated to death.

When I came home from my business trip, what I saw was my child's stiff little body and the dried milk at the corners of her mouth.

And the wedding ring Winston had taken off, sitting on the nightstand.

I went cold all over, and then I got a message from his childhood sweetheart.

"Adeline Henson, even if I do marry someone else, the one Winston loves is still me! You'll never have his love, not in this whole life."

There was a photo attached.

In the photo, Winston was slipping a ten-gram gold bracelet, the one he'd saved three years to buy, onto Paula Delgado's wrist.

Paula was in his arms, her eyes red from crying, unwilling to let go.

And I, just to make this month's rent, had applied for the hardest assignment there was, a whole month inspecting construction sites.

With trembling hands I made a video call to Winston, and one of his buddies answered.

The camera pointed straight at their tangled bodies.

My eyes went red, and I screamed into the phone, "Winston! Why did you leave our three-month-old baby home alone! Something happened to her! She choked on her milk and she's dead, and you're off cuddling with Paula Delgado!"

Winston cut me off. "Adeline Henson! Besides using our kid to guilt-trip me, is there anything else you can even say!"

"Three years ago, because of that one night, you forced me to marry you. And now I can't even see Paula one last time? How can you be so selfish!"

The call cut off. He blocked me, and I never heard from him again.

After sitting there frozen all night, I contacted the funeral home and took a taxi home alone, carrying the urn with her ashes.

On the way, I collided with their wedding car. Winston shoved me aside and told me to make way for Paula's wedding car.

I let out a cold laugh and looked at him. "Making way is no fun. I already gave up your wife's spot too."

Section 1

After hanging up, I didn't look at my phone again.

The special ringtone I'd set for Winston kept going off, again and again.

I used to drop everything to answer his calls, terrified of missing something.

But now, staring at the contact name, "My Dear Husband," all I felt was bitter irony.

Three years of marriage, and his childhood sweetheart's bachelor night mattered more than our own child's life!

Three years ago, Winston's childhood sweetheart broke up with him to go abroad.

Out of spite, he treated me like her, and after one night I was pregnant. That's how Winston and I ended up married, no ceremony, just a baby on the way.

Both of us orphans, no car, no house, having to count every dollar just to eat.

And because we were so poor, I fell at work and lost that first child.

I thought Winston would divorce me, but instead, he stayed by my hospital bed and made me a promise.

"Adeline, I won't leave you. When you're better, let's have another baby!"

"Next time, I'll never let you suffer alongside me again."

It took three years before we finally had our daughter, Nora.

After she was born, life got even harder for Winston and me.

He took care of the baby during the day and delivered food at night.

I worked during the day and took care of the baby at night.

Even so, a month's rent and the cost of having the baby left us gasping for air.

To pay the rent, I took on one of the company's out-of-town assignments.

A month-long business trip would pay nearly two hundred thousand.

To make it work for me, Winston took a month off and promised to take good care of our baby, only three months old, at home.

Before I left, Winston kissed my forehead and tucked the last twenty thousand we had into my bag.

"You need cash on you when you're away. Don't worry, I'll take good care of the baby."

I nodded.

Worried I'd wear myself out, he stayed up all night putting together a detailed guide for the construction site I was headed to.

When he dropped me at the train station, he told me over and over,

"If it gets to be too much, just come home. I'll be waiting!"

Back then, I thought I was the happiest person in the world.

No matter how hard life got, I was willing to keep walking it with him.

But that bubble of happiness burst the moment I saw my child's body, with a single pop.

The pieces cut me until I was covered in blood.

I held her in my arms, pressing her tiny body against my chest.

Trying to warm her back to life with my own body heat.

So she could lift her little hand like before and tug at my collar.

And stare up at me with those clear eyes and giggle.

But I warmed her for so, so long.

From noon at the edge of the bed until the middle of the night, the baby in my arms never stirred again.

I hummed softly, just like I had those ninety-some nights, humming a song to lull her to sleep.

"Sleep now, sleep now, Mommy's here..."

Then, ever so carefully, I dressed her in the new clothes I'd bought out of town.

And I just watched her, all night long.

My tears had long since run dry.

And all that night, the phone was unbearably silent. Not a single message from Winston.

It wasn't until the sky brightened that I heard Winston's key in the door.

He appeared in front of me, face covered in stubble, his collar hanging open to show the bluish-purple marks beneath.

He shoved two stone-cold breakfast sandwiches into my hands.

The smell of Paula Delgado's perfume on his clothes was nauseating.

My voice came out hoarse. "So you finally remembered to come home?"

His eyes drifted to our "sleeping" daughter behind me, and he frowned.

"You didn't dress her warmly enough. Look how pale her face is."

"I knew you were coming back yesterday, that's why I left the baby at home. What's so wrong about asking you to look after her?"

"See, I even remembered to bring you breakfast. Can't you stop making a scene and just live a normal life!"

I gripped the cold sandwich in my hand and laughed.

That sandwich came from the shop below Paula Delgado's place. He'd spent the whole night with her!

And my baby was gone because of him!

"If you're so good at taking care of people, why did you leave Nora home all alone?

Do you even understand? You left our baby home alone last night, she choked on her milk, and she's already gone!"