Chapter 3

When I woke again, everything in front of me was a blur of white.

Mom and Dad stood by the bed, their eyes a little red.

I blinked. My voice came out hoarse.

"What happened to me?"

Hearing me, Mom came over and took my hand.

"The doctor said you're sensitive in your pregnancy and can't handle strong emotional swings. You fainted."

Pregnancy...

My hand moved to my flat stomach.

No wonder I'd felt so tired all through the wedding preparations, no appetite either.

I'd thought I was just overworked.

I closed my eyes.

But this child had come at the worst possible time.

"Where's Roy?"

At the sound of his name, Dad's face went cold.

"Hmph. By now I'd guess he's just finished the ceremony."

He handed me his phone, a wedding video playing on the screen.

Under a shower of falling petals, Roy knelt on one knee and, with a devout look on his face, slid the ring onto Sophie's finger.

Back when we were planning the ceremony, I'd mentioned the petal-shower moment to Roy. He'd taken one look at the price and waved it off.

"Poor value for money. Be rational. Don't pay for a passing mood."

Now Sophie mentioned it in passing, and he'd added it without blinking.

"Why is she the bride now?"

Dad couldn't hold it in and swore out loud.

"Roy said the ceremony program was all set and couldn't be refunded."

"Sophie said she'd never been married, so it was a good chance to give it a try."

At the end of it, he let out a sigh.

"He never had you in his heart at all!"

Lying there in bed, I only felt my heartbeat quicken, from anger.

The door to the room opened.

Roy and Sophie walked in, one after the other.

Before a single word was said, a payment slip was handed over first.

"I paid the checkup fees on my way in."

"Four hundred six total. Remember to transfer me two hundred three later."

I looked up at him, trying to find some trace of the man he used to be.

"Roy, I'm pregnant."

His hand kept punching the calculator, not even lifting his eyes.

"I know. That's exactly why I'm covering half the cost."

"From now on, prenatal checkups, delivery, opening the file, all of it, we split everything Dutch."

"During the postpartum month, don't hire a helper. Let your mom take care of you. Don't buy too many supplements either. Just enough to get by."

Beside me, Dad was breathing hard, veins standing out on his arms.

I propped myself up and sat, and a sudden dragging pain welled up in my belly.

"Is this the kind of life we're going to live from now on?"

Sophie's gaze shot straight at me, the ring still sitting firmly on her finger.

"Being pregnant isn't an excuse to play weak."

"An independent woman should shoulder the burdens of the household together with her husband..."

I cut her off.

"I don't want to hear it from you. I want to hear it from Roy."

He finished the budget list and sent it to my phone.

"Sophie's right. You can't keep leaning on me forever."

I tapped it open and looked.

Every figure was scraped down to the lowest possible cost, right down to the price of each diaper split precisely into two.

I unpinned Roy's chat from the top, pressed the phone dark, and sank back against the bed.

"Never mind. I'll pay for everything from now on."

His hand paused, surprise flickering in his eyes.

But he didn't refuse.

"If you think that's fair, then I don't have a problem with it."

Dad finally couldn't hold back and pointed at him, roaring.

"Roy, are you even a man?"

Mom stood up. Even she, always so even-tempered, lost her temper for once.

"When I put my daughter in your hands, you stood right in front of us and said you'd protect her for the rest of her life!"

Roy's throat bobbed, his tone thick with impatience.

"Sophie says times have changed. The way a husband and wife live together has to change too."

"Stop pushing your old-fashioned ideas on me."

He took Sophie by the wrist, turned, and pushed out the door.

I pressed the call button on the headboard.

A nurse came in.

I laid my hand on my belly, my voice firm.

"Could you help me schedule a termination procedure?"