Chapter 2

Evelyn had returned to the country two years ago.

Exactly two weeks before my first pregnancy.

She was Julian’s childhood sweetheart. Their families had been closely intertwined for decades.

Growing up, everyone assumed they would end up married.

Later, Evelyn moved abroad, and Julian met me in college.

We dated for seven years and had been married for four.

Before she came back, I had never once thought her name could ever pose a threat to my marriage.

The day she landed, Julian went to the airport to pick her up himself.

He didn't come home until eleven that night.

A damp patch stained the shoulder of his dress shirt, as if someone had buried their face there and cried for hours.

I asked about it gently, and he merely said Evelyn had just gone through a messy divorce and was emotionally unstable.

A few days later, Evelyn came to our house for the first time.

Back then, I had just found out I was pregnant and hadn't even had the chance to break the news to Julian yet.

She stood in our living room, staring fixedly at the empty nursery blueprints pinned to the wall.

"Are you two planning on having a baby?"

I smiled. "We’ve been trying."

Her face went pale as a ghost.

The glass in her hand slipped and shattered against the floor, a shard slicing open her ankle.

Julian rushed over almost instantly and scooped her into his arms.

That was the very first time I had ever seen him look so panicked.

He didn't even cast a single glance back at me as he carried her straight out the door to the hospital.

That evening, he told me that Evelyn had undergone a traumatic miscarriage abroad. Due to severe surgical complications, she was left permanently infertile.

"She can’t handle hearing about pregnancies right now."

"Don't mention babies in front of her again."

I didn't know I was already carrying his child at the time, and I just thought he was being overly sensitive.

Three days later, I placed the positive pregnancy test right in front of him.

He stared at the two pink lines in total silence for ten full seconds.

I assumed he was simply stunned with joy.

Finally, he pulled me into his arms, his voice unusually quiet. "How did this happen so suddenly?"

I laughed and tapped his chest playfully. "We’ve been trying for six months! How is this sudden?"

He didn't say another word.

The following morning, the very first silver lock appeared on our front doorstep.

When morning came, Julian acted as if nothing strange had happened the night before and drove me to the clinic for my prenatal checkup.

The OB-GYN looked over my ultrasound and lab results with a warm smile.

"Fetal heartbeat is strong. Progesterone is slightly low, but nothing critical."

"Given your medical history of two prior losses, you must take your medication on schedule, get plenty of bed rest, and avoid any emotional stress."

She prescribed two bottles of white progesterone tablets and went over the exact dosage instructions.

Julian listened even more intently than I did.

He noted down the drug name, the exact milligrams, and the timing on his phone, even asking whether missing a single dose could trigger a complication.

As we walked out of the exam room, he gently rested his arm over my shoulders.

"Nothing will go wrong this time."

I looked up at him.

Concern and exhaustion were mingled in his eyes.

I had loved this face for an entire decade.

I knew the exact way his eyebrows furrowed when he was worried, and I knew the subconscious habit he had of rubbing his thumb against his index finger whenever he lied.

Right now, his index finger was sliding repeatedly against the edge of his phone.

"How are you going to investigate the third lock?" I asked.

"I’ve already contacted building management."

"And if they find something?"

"We’ll see what turns up first."

"And if it’s another dead end?"