Chapter 4

I slept through the night in a daze, and at dawn the next day I dragged my suitcase out the door.

I went to handle the necessary overseas paperwork.

Because I had government-approved documents, everything was processed very quickly, and the staff didn’t ask me much.

Only when I was about to leave did the staff suddenly call me back, and she handed me a piece of fruit candy.

"May all you wish for come true in the end."

I smiled gratefully at her, then found a hotel nearby after I came out.

After putting down my luggage, I was about to go out and find something to eat, but I ran into Chloe and Kevin, along with their family of four.

Kevin was wearing an expensive custom-tailored Armani suit, and he looked full of energy and health. There was not the slightest sign of someone dying soon.

"Ethan, I thought it looked like you from far away just now, but Chloe kept saying there was no way you’d be out here."

His gaze fell on the recruitment flyer in my hand, and he gave a knowing smile.

"Ethan, so you’re out looking for work. But with such a skinny build, going to a construction site to move bricks would just be making things hard on yourself, wouldn’t it?"

I said nothing. This job flyer had been handed to me by a young girl on the street just now.

I saw her handing out leaflets outside in the winter, so I took one without thinking.

Seeing that I still hadn’t spoken and was only gripping the flyer tighter, Kevin laughed with wild arrogance.

"You should’ve said earlier that you were looking for work. Maybe I could help with something. We’re all family, after all. If you’re doing well, Chloe will have someone to depend on for the rest of her life, and I can rest easy too."

And my silence at that moment was basically an admission.

Chloe, who had originally only looked puzzled, suddenly changed expression completely.

She frowned hard, and her eyes were full of disgust as she looked at me.

"What’s there to recommend? He chose on his own to quit such a good doctor’s job. Even if he starves to death now, he doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy."

"Ethan, you really have no sense of responsibility at all. Do you think doing this will force me to give up the baby?"

I looked at her familiar face, but now she felt completely strange to me.

I still remembered that when we had just gotten married, my position had wavered because of vicious internal competition at the hospital, and I had once wanted to quit and change careers.

After hearing that, Chloe only held me in her arms. She patted my back gently and said in my ear softly,

"No matter what decision you make, I’ll support you."

"Quitting your job is no big deal. I believe outstanding people will always shine. Honey, I’ll always be with you."

But the person who said she would always be with me was now letting another man humiliate me.

She had forgotten what she once said to me, and maybe she had also forgotten the love she once had for me so deeply.

Even my Mr. Hale and Mrs. Halebehind her kept shaking their heads at me.

"I was blind before, to think I’d ever trust my daughter’s future happiness to you!"

"Luckily we two old folks are still alive. If we had already been gone, who knows how you would’ve tortured our daughter."

The two of them got more and more exaggerated, and before long, the passersby around us were also turning to look our way.

My hands hanging at my sides slowly clenched into fists.

Just as I was about to speak, Kevin suddenly stepped forward.

"We’re about to go take some photos. Ethan, why don’t you come too? I’ll be counting on you to help take care of Chloe and the baby for the rest of our lives."

Chloe immediately cut him off, giving a cold snort of contempt.

"Look at the cheap, shabby way he’s dressed. If he gets in the picture, he’ll only drag down our family’s image."

After that, she turned and headed toward the studio, not forgetting to urge Kevin to hurry and follow.

"Since that’s the case, we’re leaving first. We won’t keep you from finding a job."

Kevin patted my shoulder meaningfully.

Watching his retreating back, I no longer felt the slightest ripple in my heart.

In other people’s eyes, what a harmonious family this was.

If that was what Chloe wanted, then what was wrong with letting go and giving it to her?