Chapter 3

My mother-in-law looked at me too, her face wrenched with pain.

"When you married Monica, what did you promise us?"

"You said you'd love her right for the rest of your life, that you'd cherish her with everything you had. And now look."

"Over a bit of cab fare, you nearly cost Monica her life and the baby's both!"

"Do you have any idea what Monica has been through these past months?"

Of course I knew.

Early in the pregnancy, Monica had terrible morning sickness. She threw up everything she ate, couldn't work, and had no choice but to quit her job.

By then she'd already handed over every cent of her savings to help me pay off my debts. Nothing left.

After she quit she had no income. She was nauseous and miserable, and wanted something sour to settle her stomach, so she asked me for twenty bucks. I said no.

In the end she dragged her weak body downstairs herself, to the convenience store at the front of the complex, and used the last of her loose change to buy a bottle of sour plum juice.

In the middle of the pregnancy her legs swelled badly and even walking was hard. She'd heard that soaking her feet in salt water would bring the swelling down, so she asked me to pick up a bag of salt on my way home from work.

But she hadn't transferred me the money for the salt ahead of time, and by our arrangement I had no obligation to spend a cent for free.

So I turned right around and went out drinking with the guys.

That night she waited for me all the way through, and in the end never got her bag of salt.

Every prenatal checkup during the pregnancy, she had no money for it, so she borrowed from every lending platform she could.

In the end she couldn't repay, got blocked by all of them, and was hounded for the debt day after day.

Every one of these things, I kept in my heart, one by one.

"I know it wasn't easy for her."

"But splitting everything was agreed on in advance. You can't pin that on me."

My mother-in-law shook all over with rage.

"Agreed on?"

"Irvin, setting up a split-the-bills deal while your own wife is pregnant and can't work, is that something a human being does?!"

I said helplessly, "But she agreed to it herself, in her own words."

Crack!

My father couldn't take it anymore. He slapped me hard across the face.

"You worthless piece of garbage!"

"Monica agreed back then because she trusted you, because she loved you, because she thought you'd know where the line was."

"Who could have guessed you were this cold-hearted, that you'd gamble your own wife and child's lives on a verbal agreement!"

The slap came out of nowhere and my vision went black.

I held my cheek and stared blankly at my father.

He was beside himself, and his eyes, fixed on me, were so red they looked like they were dripping blood.

The whole ward went dead silent.

The next second I heard Monica's weak, worried voice.

"Dad, don't hit Irvin."

"I don't blame him."

I turned to look, and saw Monica straining to prop herself up. She had come over to stand in front of me.

She looked toward my parents and hers, and said feebly,

"Dad, Mom, stop yelling at Irvin."

"It's my fault. I agreed to splitting everything. I'm the one who's useless, I couldn't earn the money..."

"Monica!"

My mother-in-law stamped her foot, aching for her.

"After everything, you're still speaking up for him?"

"Open your eyes and take a good look at how he treats you."

"Your water broke and he ignored it. You carried this child ten months and he nickel-and-dimed you the whole way. Just how long are you going to keep wronging yourself for an animal like this?!"

My father-in-law pointed at me too, furious.

"Irvin, I'm laying it out right here, right now."

"The moment Monica gets her strength back, we're filing for divorce."

"We're taking the child. From this day on, don't you ever dream of seeing Monica or her son again."

Without thinking, I looked toward the crib.

The little guy had woken up at some point, his dark eyes wide open, gazing up at me in a daze.

Looking at that little face that was the spitting image of mine, something deep inside me softened for a moment.

Just then the nurse came out holding a set of forms and spoke up.

"Family, please note, the mother's follow-up anti-inflammatory medication, postpartum recovery program, along with the newborn's formula and checkup fees all need to be paid as soon as possible."

I frowned, and snapped right back to my senses.

"Divorce is fine, but the cost of this hospital stay and the delivery, and the ambulance she called tonight, all of that needs to be settled clearly. Don't go hanging it on me."