Chapter 2

My brother went rigid, but the look he gave me was full of resentment.

"Catherine, what do you mean, I think it's fine if Mom dies on the operating table? It's just borrowing a blood supply. Do you really have to make it sound so ugly?"

"Besides, Darrell's right. Mom really is old. The baby in Maya's belly is a new life. There's an order of priority to things. Can't you even grasp that much?"

Every single word was an accusation.

I fought back my tears and screamed at him, past caring.

"Samuel, she's your mother too. Have you forgotten? When your birth parents abandoned you and you nearly froze to death on the street, she was the one who took you in and raised you!"

"When you were eight, Mom had just started her business and didn't have much money. Just because you said you wanted the newest sneakers, she lived on plain bread rolls for a month to buy them for you, and fainted from hunger outside her own company!"

"After you graduated from college, you didn't want to work. You spent all your time running around with those rich brats, and you got drunk and hurt someone."

"That family was rich and powerful, and they refused to settle. They insisted on sending you to jail. It was Mom who knelt outside their door for a week, until his heart softened and he agreed to take the compensation."

"She spent half a lifetime of savings paying that off for you, and she never once blamed you. She even comforted you, saying it was enough that you were unhurt, that money could always be earned again!"

"All our lives she'd rather overlook me than shortchange you in the slightest. And this is how you repay everything she did to raise you?"

I thought I'd see some flicker of feeling in his eyes.

But there was none.

Samuel knitted his brows, his eyes full of impatience.

"Catherine, being jealous is one thing, but pulling this 'you owe her, now pay up' routine on top of it—is there any point to it?"

"And anyway, what right do you have to fight Maya for affection?"

"It was your jealousy back then that forced her into marrying just anyone. Her ending up beaten and divorced is your fault too. Yet instead of making it up to her, you've actually got it in you to nickel-and-dime at a time like this!"

My chest felt stuffed with cotton, the ache so bad I could barely breathe.

The four of us grew up together.

The only difference was that Maya was just the housekeeper's daughter.

Even so, I never looked down on her. If anything, we became the closest of friends.

Three years ago, I finished work and came home early.

Only to walk in on her and Darrell tangled together on the sofa.

I really did lose my head, and I cursed her without restraint.

But she never once apologized to me.

She married someone else not out of guilt toward me, but because the man was a better catch than Darrell.

And the reason she was beaten was that she'd cheated in her marriage and been caught in bed with another man.

Samuel and Darrell knew all of this perfectly well.

But in their eyes, everything was my fault.

Even my mother's life had become something I was nickel-and-diming over.

All at once I didn't want to argue anymore.

When someone's heart is already slanted, even explaining becomes pointless.

Seeing me stop arguing, Samuel assumed I'd chosen to give in.

"Once the baby is safely born, Darrell and I will bring the blood supply back and return it to you."

"Catherine, if you really care about Mom, go back and pray for Maya. Pray that everything goes smoothly for her tomorrow."

Sneering, he picked up the cooler, shoved past me, and walked out the door.

Darrell didn't leave with him. He only watched me, his eyes full of caution.

When I was bullied as a child, he used to plant himself in front of me just like this, without a moment's hesitation.

Back then his eyes were fierce, and he'd fight with everything he had to protect me.

But now he was blocking me because he was afraid I'd cry, afraid I'd make a scene.

Afraid I'd get in the way of the blood supply reaching Maya.

Maybe the pain in my eyes was too plain to miss.

Darrell suddenly grabbed me, his fingertip brushing across the reddened corner of my eye.

"I know you feel wronged. Just bear with it a little longer. Once Maya finishes her postpartum recovery, I'll go with you to get the marriage license and have the wedding."

"Haven't you always wanted a home of your own? It's okay if we can't keep the baby this time. After the wedding, we'll just have another one."

I lowered my eyes and laughed until tears ran down my face.

There would be no more children.

And even if there were, it could never be his.

I calmly pushed him away, turned, and went back to my mother's hospital room.

The next morning, I hurried straight to the door of the delivery room.

I waited three hours as if on pins and needles, until at last the cry of a newborn came from inside.

I let out a long breath and was just about to leave when I heard nurses talking a little way off.

"You don't think Miss Fox has postpartum depression, do you? I heard that after the baby was born she couldn't even be bothered to look at him. The first thing she did was pour out every one of the blood supplies Mr. Harding had prepared for her."

"Thirty-six of them, all rare panda-type blood. Don't you think she's out of her mind?"