Chapter 2

A flash of panic crossed Roy's face.

He quickly composed himself, let go of Bonnie, and walked toward me, calm and unruffled.

"Marilyn, don't get the wrong idea. She's a colleague of mine. It's not easy for her, raising a child alone, so I help her out when I can."

I didn't answer him. I only asked, "Does helping out involve holding and hugging?"

His expression changed in an instant, as if I'd struck a nerve, and his voice dropped low. "Why do you have to be so nasty?"

"Do you even realize what you look like right now?"

"Sticking out that big belly, mouth full of spite—what kind of talk is that?"

"Where's the way a woman about to become a mother is supposed to act?"

Once he'd said it, he must have felt his own tone was too harsh, because he reached out and took hold of my arm, his words softening a little. "Marilyn..."

But before the words were even out, Bonnie called to him loudly from behind. "Roy, the doctor's come out!"

Bonnie ran over quickly, grabbed Roy's arm, and pulled him back. "Roy, the doctor's come out! Let's go and ask if the baby's all right!"

Seeing that Roy was still holding onto me, she frowned and gave me a hard shove.

My belly was big and I could barely keep my footing to begin with. My balance gave way and I fell hard to the ground.

Right after, my lower abdomen suddenly cramped violently.

The next second, a great rush of heat gushed from between my legs, instantly soaking through the fabric of my pants.

The pain turned everything white before my eyes. I opened my mouth and called out Roy's name.

But Bonnie was dragging him along, and he hurried off down the corridor without looking back.

The sound of his footsteps grew fainter and fainter, and slowly I began to lose consciousness.

A passing nurse saw me, screamed for a doctor, and I was lifted onto a stretcher and wheeled into the operating room.

Not long after, I lost consciousness entirely.

When I woke again, the ward was very quiet.

My belly was empty.

I startled and quickly asked the doctor what had happened.

The doctor looked troubled, choosing his words carefully. "Comrade... the baby was premature. Not long after she was born... she stopped breathing." "We couldn't find your husband either, and we didn't know what to do..."

"Later on your mother-in-law came. She took one look, said it was a girl, and didn't take her home—told us the hospital could just deal with it directly."

"But you're the child's mother, so we thought you'd want to see her at least once..."

My voice was already shaking so badly I could barely speak. "Can I? I... can I see her?"

The doctor nodded and had a nurse take me to the morgue.

In that cold little room, she lay there, so tiny, so quiet, on the table, wrapped under a white sheet.

She looked as if she were sleeping, but she would never wake again.

I stood there, and the tears came pouring out all at once.

I was just about to touch her little face when I heard footsteps behind me.

Roy seized my wrist and yanked me hard to one side.

His face was livid, and the first thing out of his mouth was a rebuke. "You didn't cherish your own child, you didn't keep her safe, and you still have the nerve to cry?"

"Running around all day with that big belly, upsetting the baby—now the baby's gone, so who do you have to blame?"

"Marilyn, you should learn from Bonnie! She takes care of Aiden and does every single thing herself. Aiden gets the smallest little burn and she's beside herself over it—that's what a mother is supposed to be like!"

My wrist throbbed from his grip, and the tears ran down my whole face.

He let go, turned his face away, and sighed. "Forget it. It's just her own bad luck."

"And it works out—you still haven't come up on the housing list, so now you don't have to worry about there being no place once the baby's born..."

His words left me shaking with rage from head to toe.

I burst out, demanding of him, "Roy, what right do you have to say that?!"

He turned back, brows knit, impatience mixed with confusion.

I fixed my eyes on him. "You commit lewd conduct, you live with the other woman, and that makes you right?!"

"You tricked me into marrying you, tricked me into waiting in line for company housing, then turned around and had a child with another woman. Now my child is gone, and you come here to lecture me?!"

"Roy, put your hand on your heart and ask yourself—who's really unfit to be a mother, unfit to even be a decent person?!"

"What right do you have to stand here and blame me?!"