Chapter 4

Inside was my own pregnancy report and an appointment for an abortion tomorrow.

I gently stroked my flat stomach, feeling the tiny life that hadn't even fully formed yet.

I'm sorry, my baby.

While I was drafting a sick leave request, I received a termination notice from my company.

I frowned, utterly confused. I had worked diligently, always exceeding my targets.

There was absolutely no reason for the company to fire me.

Anxiously, I called my manager, who stammered over the phone.

"Elena, I don't really know either."

"Sigh... just think about who you might have offended recently."

This job was crucial to me. Julian had always been a high spender.

He insisted on taking cabs everywhere, wearing cashmere and silk, and eating fresh imported fruit.

Our salaries barely left any savings.

Now that I was getting a divorce and having an abortion, I had no extra money to spare.

He was so heartless.

I kicked open the hospital room door with a loud bang.

Julian merely looked up, a familiar smug smirk playing on his lips.

His voice was lazy and arrogant.

"Elena, you regret it in less than a day?"

My chest heaved with anger. Before I could speak, he stood up and walked over.

He reached out naturally to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

I slapped his hand away without mercy.

"What right do you have to get me fired?"

He smiled indifferently.

"It's nothing. Just making you pay for hitting Chloe yesterday. Your boss is a close friend of my father's. I just mentioned it casually."

"Elena, apologize to her, and we can put this behind us."

I clenched my fists.

Chloe, sitting on the hospital bed, raised an eyebrow.

"Elena, you broke my head open. Why don't you get down on your knees and beg me? Bow three times."

"Then post a public apology online."

I let out a cold laugh.

"I've only ever heard of the mistress kneeling to apologize to the wife. Miss Chloe, you should apologize to me first."

Before leaving, I glanced at Julian.

"The divorce application has been submitted. Remember to show up in a month."

I borrowed some money from friends I knew well.

If I could just get through this month, I could find a job next month and pay them back.

Everything was about to end.

Lying on the cold operating table, a sharp pain shot through my lower body.

I could clearly feel the baby being torn from my body.

Tears spilled from the corners of my eyes, dripping onto the cold metal table.

My consciousness began to fade.

My memories drifted back to the autumn day I first met Julian.

I was reading a book under a maple tree when he suddenly dropped from the sky. Maple leaves fluttered down, looking just like the meeting of a lead couple in a romance drama.

I looked at him in surprise.

"Climbing trees is against school rules. You broke the rules."

He repeated my words mockingly, a mischievous grin on his face.

"What, are you going to tell on me?"

Unsurprisingly, he was given a warning by the school.

His father cut off his last source of income.

When I met him again, his initial arrogance was completely gone.

He meekly followed behind me, step by step.

His voice sounded muffled and pitiful.

"You have to take responsibility for me. I'm starving to death because of you."

Actually, I had heard of him around campus long ago.

The only son of the Vance Group, a golden boy born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

His parents were strict and had mapped out his entire life from a young age.

But he was born a rebel. He refused to go abroad to study finance as his parents wished.

So, his parents cut off all his allowance, leaving him with only a thousand dollars a month for living expenses.

Anything more, he had to earn himself.

And now, even that thousand dollars was gone.

Looking at his pitiful face, I wanted to laugh.

"I'll buy you dinner."

From that day on, he clung to me. Even when I explained that I wasn't the one who reported him, he earnestly claimed he believed me.

On graduation day, he made a kite out of maple leaves, with a ring tied to the end of the string. He proposed to me.

"Elena, back then, I reported myself just to find an excuse to get close to you."

He gently slipped the ring onto my ring finger.

"Elena, the first time I saw you, I knew you were the only one for me."

"If I'm a kite with no direction, you're the string holding onto me."

"I will never slip out of your hands."

My mind grew hazier, and the piercing beep of the heart monitor rang in my ears.

"The patient is hemorrhaging! Contact her family immediately!"