Chapter 4

George's face twisted.

"Odette! Then what do you want? For me to pay with my life?"

"You've been unstable ever since you lost your uterus!"

"I put up with you for three years! Crying in the middle of the night, smashing things, refusing to see anyone!"

"Anyone else would've been done with you long ago! I've carried you this far, you should be grateful!"

I was about to speak when Miriam suddenly cried out.

She clutched her stomach in pain, curling in on herself.

"George... my stomach... it hurts so much..."

The rage that had been aimed at me a second ago drained from George's eyes, replaced by panic.

He shoved me aside.

"Move!"

My shoulder slammed into the sharp corner of the doorframe, and the pain shot through me.

George didn't spare me a single glance.

He scooped Miriam up without hesitation and rushed out the door.

The whole place was a wreck, and I was the only one left.

Then a sharp pain tore through my lower belly.

I pressed my hand to it, cold sweat soaking through my nightgown in an instant.

I picked up my phone and realized there was no one to call.

In the end, I dragged myself down the stairs along the wall, hailed a cab, and went straight to the ER.

The doctor held the test results, his expression grave.

"Miss Fox, the labor induction you had three years ago came back with abnormal pathology afterward. Did your doctor tell you to come in for regular follow-ups?"

I thought back carefully.

"No. My husband said I'd recovered well."

The doctor looked at me, hesitating, silent for a long while before he spoke.

"The cervical lesion has already progressed. The tumor has metastasized in several places."

"It's very bad, Miss Fox. You have a month left, at most."

The terminal diagnosis was so light.

Yet holding it, I couldn't even lift my wrist.

Twenty years of protection, twenty years of dependence, twenty years of obsession.

In the end, it hadn't even left me time for revenge.

I leaned against the wall and walked out of the ER in a daze.

At the end of the hallway was the VIP room, its door half open.

I heard a nurse say, smiling:

"Congratulations, Mr. Stephens. Miss Hughes just had a stomach spasm from early pregnancy. The baby's developing beautifully."

George's eyes were red as he knelt by the bed and kissed Miriam's belly.

"Miri, thank you for giving me a child."

The word child brought me back to right after my labor induction.

George had told me he didn't care about a child at all. As long as he had me, that was enough.

Miriam suddenly saw me standing outside the door, and her face went white.

"Odie!"

George whipped around.

He saw the test results in my hand, and his first reaction wasn't to ask what was wrong with me.

It was to charge out the door and block me from the room.

"Odette, what are you doing here?"

"I'm warning you, Miri is pregnant."

"Whatever grudge you have, take it out on me. Don't touch her or the baby."

Looking at his face, I felt he was a complete stranger.

Slowly, I raised the terminal diagnosis in my hand.

Right in front of him.

I put it in my mouth, chewed it to pieces, and swallowed.

Then I turned and left the hospital.

Back home, I signed the divorce papers.

Then I booked the next flight out of the country.

Before boarding, my phone wouldn't stop ringing.

George had sent more than a dozen messages.

"Where are you going? We can talk about the divorce, but you can't just disappear."

"The doctor says Miri needs rest, so I won't be home tonight."

"There's food in the fridge. Remember to heat it up before you eat."

The last one read:

"Odie, stop this. I'm not really going to abandon you."

I pulled out the SIM card and snapped it in two.

I dragged my suitcase into the jet bridge and didn't look back.