Chapter 3

I hadn't thought about that.

My legs were ruined; I couldn't dance anymore.

I couldn't go back to my hometown either.

My parents couldn't accept having a murderer for a daughter, so they cut ties with me long ago.

Cut off from the world for so many years.

I didn't know what else I could do.

Abner read my silence and took out the bank card again.

"Even though we can't grow old together, what we once shared still counts for something."

"You went to prison to save me, so I owe it to you to take responsibility."

"Take this money for now. If there's anything else you need, let's settle it all at once."

"Ivy... doesn't want us to stay in contact."

After all these years, the cartoon print on the card had faded.

But I still remembered the two of us opening the card together.

Back then we promised each other we'd build a home and a life in Seaford City through our own hard work.

We'd save up so much money on this card.

Now he had a family, and a career.

And he wanted to use this faded card to sever every last tie with me.

I still didn't take it.

My voice just couldn't help catching.

"Abner, do you really think this little bit of money can make up for the harm you two have done to me?"

When I first got out of prison, I tried so hard to patch things up with Abner.

I pretended not to see the pink cartoon cushion in the car.

Pretended not to see Ivy's photo in his wallet.

But once I pushed open that familiar door,

I broke down anyway.

The wedding home I remembered was completely unrecognizable.

The big red "double happiness" character had been replaced with a celebrity poster Ivy liked.

The wedding photo on the wall had been replaced with a photo of him and Ivy.

This house we'd saved up to buy together and decorated together—

there was no trace of me left in it anymore.

I cried and asked Abner why.

He explained to me helplessly.

"You only lost three years. Ivy lost the only family she had."

"She ended up this way because of us. How can I just stand by and do nothing?"

So he hired the best psychologist for Ivy and took her into his home, caring for her every need.

I couldn't accept any of it.

We had the fiercest fight we'd ever had.

At the height of it, Abner suddenly stopped.

He looked at me calmly and said, in a tone that left no room for argument.

"Ivy is afraid of your voice."

"Whatever it is, let's talk about it outside."

In that moment, I knew.

Abner and I could never go back to the way things were.

The man in front of me fell silent again.

He hesitated a moment, then slowly raised his head to look at me.

"Ivy's wedding cost quite a lot, and there'll be expenses once the baby comes."

"It's true we bought the house together, but its value has dropped a lot. Even so, I'm figuring your share at the original price we paid."

"Zoe, this is all I can give."

Then he took a business card out of his bag and set it in front of me.

"If you ever need anything, you can call the number on it."

"I'll help you as much as I can."

"As for the rest... all I can say is I'm sorry."

He seemed to be reminding me.

As a top attorney, he had a thousand ways to leave me with nothing.

Yet for the sake of what we once had, he was still leaving me one last shred of dignity.

I shouldn't fail to recognize a kindness.

I smiled, a little helplessly.

"Abner, you don't need to worry so much."

"I have my dignity too. I won't cling to you and make a scene."

At first, I really did feel wronged.

I hysterically demanded that Abner give me an explanation.

But Ivy made far bigger scenes than I did.

When I met with Abner, she'd threaten to jump off a building.

When I called Abner, she'd run crying into the bathroom to slit her wrists.

When I refused to divorce, she'd stand in the street cursing me as the mistress who broke up their relationship.

Abner never blamed Ivy.

He'd only frown and say to me,

"You know perfectly well Ivy is sick. Why do you keep provoking her?"

The worst time, Ivy hired people to beat me until I ended up in the hospital.

I thought Abner would surely take my side.

But he just silently set a divorce agreement in front of me.

"Ivy is pregnant."

"This child is the only thing she has left to hold on to in this world."

"I have to give her a proper standing, so the child can be born safe and sound."

From that moment on, I let go of my last lingering attachment to Abner.