Chapter 1

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To save up for our wedding and the down payment on our future house, I started driving for Uber after my day job. I kept it a secret from my boyfriend, wanting to surprise him.

But when I picked up my last passengers tonight, I froze.

In the rearview mirror, my boyfriend of five years was getting into the backseat, his arm wrapped tightly around a young girl.

He looked up, met my eyes, and instantly stiffened. He couldn’t say a single word.

The destination for this ride was a luxury hotel downtown.

Yet, just an hour ago, he had sent me a Snapchat saying he had to work overtime tonight and would be sleeping in the company dorms.

As I started the engine, the girl suddenly leaned forward. Her voice was bubbling with a happiness she couldn’t hide.

"Hi, driver. Could you please drive a bit more smoothly? I’m pregnant. Thank you so much!"

I nodded numbly, my mind going completely blank.

I stared at him through the rearview mirror for a long time. He kept his head lowered, refusing to make eye contact or say a word.

The girl nudged him. "Babe, do you know her?"

"No," I answered before he could.

In the rearview mirror, I saw him let out a visible sigh of relief, though he still didn't dare to look up.

I was already regretting taking this ride.

The girl looked very young. Her hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and her makeup-free face had that natural glow unique to pregnant women.

She leaned against him, her hand resting naturally on his thigh.

The GPS instructed me to take a right turn ahead, and I flicked on the blinker.

The silence in the car was suffocating.

The girl, probably feeling bored, started scrolling through her phone's camera roll, occasionally holding it up to show him.

"Look, babe. This is the ultrasound I took last week. The doctor said we can already hear the heartbeat."

He muttered a weak "Yeah."

I kept my eyes on him through the mirror.

He kept his head down, trying his best to shrink into the seat.

Five years of love and devotion suddenly felt so cheap, completely outweighed by the unborn life in the backseat.

"How long have you two been married?"

The words left my mouth before I could stop myself.

The girl blinked in surprise, then smiled warmly.

"We just got married at City Hall last month. No big ceremony yet, just a small dinner with family."

She sighed, a hint of regret in her voice.

"My husband is always so busy with work. We’ve been long-distance—he works here in the city, and I lived back in our hometown upstate. He finally got some time off, so I rushed over to visit him."

Long-distance.

My throat tightened.

His hometown was a four-hour drive away.

Over the past few months, he had told me countless times that he had to go back home to handle family emergencies. I had never once doubted him.

"Driver, your ring is really pretty," the girl suddenly said, leaning closer and pointing at my left hand.

I looked down at the small diamond ring on my ring finger.

He had proposed to me with it last Valentine’s Day.

I used to be too afraid to wear it, worried I’d scratch it. But he had insisted, saying a wedding ring was meant to be worn every day. That was when I started wearing it constantly.

He had bought this ring with his very first project bonus. He told me that although it wasn’t big, he would definitely upgrade it to a massive one once he saved enough money.

My mom had insisted on a solid financial foundation—a decent wedding budget and a down payment on a house. She said it was about his attitude and security for my future.

To relieve the pressure on him, I drove Uber late into the night and took on freelance video editing gigs on weekends. I managed to save an extra seven hundred dollars every month.

We had planned to get married at the end of this year.

"It looks so much like mine," she said, waving her left hand.

"See? It's the same simple design. My husband picked it. He said classics never go out of style."

In the rearview mirror, his head sank even lower.

"What a coincidence," I replied.

"You’re already wearing the ring," she said with a smile. "When is the big day?"

I paused for a second, then spoke clearly.

"We broke up."

"I just forgot to take the ring off."

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