Chapter 2

Julian froze slightly when he heard me apologize.

Clara’s tears fell onto his hand. "Julian, my ankle hurts so bad. I think it's broken."

His attention was instantly pulled back to her. He grabbed his car keys and carried her out to the hospital.

His silhouette quickly vanished from my sight.

I took one last look around the house, wondering how our relationship had deteriorated to this point.

At the very beginning, when Julian and I started our business, we lived in a tiny, cramped studio apartment.

He would give me the only egg in our instant ramen, and he would stay up all night taking care of me whenever I felt sick.

Later, when we bought this suburban villa, he put it under my name, and the entire place was decorated exactly how I liked.

But ever since Clara showed up,

the decorations in the house slowly began to change.

The matching couple slippers became a pair for him and Clara.

The matching toothbrushes, the matching mugs...

Even their pajamas were matching sets.

The house was dozens of times larger than our old studio, and our life looked perfect from the outside, but my heart only grew more bitter.

I took off the cheap ten-dollar silver ring on my finger and left it on the shoe cabinet.

Goodbye, Julian.

The next day, I went to the hospital.

The doctor advised me once again, "Amber, have you really thought this through?"

"If you terminate this pregnancy, you might never have the chance to be a mother again."

I paused. On our very first night after moving into this villa, Julian and I lay on the rooftop terrace.

He told me that we would have a beautiful baby in the future and live happily ever after.

He had even designed a nursery in the villa, buying all the furniture and decorations himself.

But during those early years of building the business with him, running around and drinking at endless corporate dinners, my body had already been ruined.

And now, after being stood up at the altar nine times, what right did I even have to bear his children?

I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and signed the consent form.

Seeing that I wouldn't change my mind, the doctor sighed and handed me the paperwork. "Alright, the surgery is scheduled for this afternoon. Get yourself ready."

I sat on a bench outside the hospital to rest.

A shadow suddenly cast over me.

It was Julian.

He was holding a bag of gourmet pastries from the uptown bakery and specialty bagels from downtown—all of Clara's favorite foods.

He used to hate going out of his way to buy things for others, but now, he was willing to compromise his principles for the woman he loved.

He shielded Clara behind him, looking at me warily. "What are you doing here?"

Then his eyes fell on the medical chart in my hand. "Are you sick?"

I didn't want to deal with them, so I stepped aside to leave.

Julian was quick. He snatched the report from my hand. As he read the contents, his eyes widened in shock and excitement. "Amber, you... you're pregnant?"

"Yes," I replied flatly, nodding.

The joy in his eyes was unmistakable. He looked like he wanted to wrap his arms tightly around me. "That's amazing! Amber, I'm going to be a—"

Father.

Before he could finish the sentence,

a piercing scream rang out behind him.

"Amber!"

Clara looked as if she had been severely triggered. She began frantically hitting her own head.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared at me. If Julian hadn't grabbed her, her palm would have slapped across my face in the next second.

By the time Clara finally calmed down, half an hour had passed.

Julian's hand was covered in teeth marks from Clara biting him during her episode. Her eyes welled with tears as she sobbed, "Julian, I'm so sorry. I lost control again."

"Just send me to a sanatorium. I don't want to make things hard for you anymore."

He patiently comforted her, asking what had triggered her sudden episode.

Clara tried to recall what happened, falling back into distress. After a long pause, she choked out, "Preg... pregnancy..."

Julian froze for a moment. He looked at Clara, who was struggling to control herself, and then at me, as I stood there trembling slightly.

After a long, suffocating silence, his lips parted. "Amber, you... I..."

Seeing that Julian wasn't immediately taking her side like before, Clara screamed and lunged at me like a madwoman, striking me wildly.

My stomach was kicked hard over and over again.

"Julian, save the baby! Please!"

Julian reached out to support me.

But Clara started screaming hysterically again, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"I can't control myself! I'll pay you back with my life!"

With that, Clara ran away crying.

Julian looked at the retreating Clara, then back at me. He said, "Amber, we're still young. We can have another baby later. But Clara's condition is urgent."

"I need to go after her first."

Even though I had already resolved to leave him, hearing those words still made my heart ache with sharp, uncontrollable pain. "Okay," I said.