Virginia had secured one of the precious few return permits specifically to bring her daughter, Sophie, back to the city for leukemia treatment.

But when the list was posted, Virginia’s name was nowhere to be found.

She went straight to the head of the Resettlement Bureau—her own husband, Roger—only to discover he had maliciously given her spot to someone else.

All because she hadn’t bled on their wedding night.

That memory had festered in Roger’s heart like a splinter, poisoning everything.

Driven by that doubt, he’d convinced himself their daughter wasn’t his.

Later, their daughter died, and Virginia left him.

That time, it was Roger who lost his mind.

Today was the day the new list of returning youth volunteers was posted.

Virginia gave Sophie’s thin little hand a gentle squeeze. “Be good, sweetheart. Mama will be able to take you back to the city for treatment soon!”

Too young to understand, the little girl simply mirrored her mother’s excitement with a sweet, trusting smile.

After checking in with the nurse, Virginia hurried to the government office.

A crowd had already gathered in front of the bulletin board. The name listed for the return slot was Donna.

Virginia stood rooted to the spot.

Just a week ago, she’d confirmed with Roger that the spot would be hers!

Why had it changed?

Donna was her neighbor—the kind who’d competed with her over everything since they were kids.

Now she was stealing her chance to go back, too?

At the Resettlement Bureau, Roger was listening to a report when Virginia burst in, the rims of her eyes red.

“Roger, that list—”

All eyes turned to her, forcing her to swallow the rest.

“You all go ahead. I’ll call for you later.”

Once the room cleared, Roger frowned. “Making a scene like this. Have you no shame?”

Virginia couldn’t afford to care about appearances. “Why is Donna’s name on the list? We agreed it would be me!”

Roger’s hand, which had been sorting papers, stilled. “It was the committee’s decision.”

But Virginia knew that was a flimsy excuse. He was the bureau director. No decision like this could be finalized without his approval.

“You know I need to go back for Sophie’s treatment. Why give my spot away?”

“Donna’s a nurse. The city hospitals need trained staff. It’s about the greater good.”

“And Sophie’s illness? Are we just supposed to abandon her?”

The thought of her daughter sent a sharp pang through Virginia’s chest. Sophie was only three when she was diagnosed. Out here in the countryside, even getting an IV meant trekking over ten miles of mountain roads to the county hospital. Staying here meant certain death.

“This isn’t an illness that can be cured in a day or two. Besides, Donna going back can save more people. I can’t let personal desires override the greater good.”

“Enough. I have a meeting. You need to leave.”

In a panic, Virginia grabbed Roger’s sleeve. “You’re not going anywhere! Sophie is your daughter. How can you be so indifferent to whether she lives or dies?!”

Roger shoved her hand away—too hard—sending Virginia stumbling to the floor. Her forehead struck the corner of a desk with a sickening thud. Warm liquid trickled into the corner of her eye, painting her vision red.

But she couldn’t afford to care. Scrambling on her hands and knees, she wrapped her arms around Roger’s leg, her voice choked with sobs. “You’re her father. Why won’t you help her? Sophie will really die! She’ll die!”

Frantic tears streaked down her pale cheeks, but they stirred no pity in her husband.

Cornered and irritated, Roger kept his tone deceptively calm. “Stop crying. There will be other chances.”

“I can wait, but Sophie’s illness can’t!”

The thought of her daughter’s condition stripped Virginia of all reason. “If I can’t take Sophie back, you’re not leaving this room today!”

“You—you’re being completely unreasonable!”

Roger hadn’t expected Virginia to be so strong. For a moment, he couldn’t break free.

Seeing he was about to be late, he blurted out in frustration, “Why are you pushing me like this? Why don’t you go pressure the child’s real father?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Fine, since it’s come to this, I’ll be blunt. Is Sophie really my daughter?”

Virginia’s mouth fell open as she stared at him in disbelief. His handsome features now seemed utterly alien.

“You… what nonsense are you spouting? Whose daughter could she be if not yours?”

A mocking smile touched Roger’s lips, and his next words left her speechless.

“That’s debatable.”

“You said it was your first time on our wedding night, but there was no blood. You weren’t a virgin.”

“You said you were pregnant just two months after we married. Who knows whose seed it really was.”

“You were just looking for a reliable man to raise another man’s child.”

A bolt of lightning seemed to strike Virginia, rooting her to the spot. Her long lashes didn't even flutter, frozen in shock.

Four years of marriage, and this was the first time the truth slammed into her: this was how Roger truly saw her.

She suddenly remembered that night—their wedding night. Roger had eagerly offered to change the sheets, but when he returned to the room, his face had been dark and closed off.

Back then, she hadn’t understood. Now, everything made sense.

No wonder he’d never been particularly fond of Sophie, right from the beginning.

No wonder, after Sophie got sick, he’d hinted—both openly and subtly—that maybe they should just stop the treatment.

“Enough. Just get out. You’re being hysterical.”

Watching Roger stride away, Virginia was struck by a chilling realization: the man she’d married was seething with a bitterness she’d never seen.

Some time later, she returned to the hospital.

Her daughter lay on the sickbed, small and thin.

The treatments had left her nearly bald.

Yet Sophie was stronger than her own mother, always smiling and saying she felt she’d be better soon, ready to leave the hospital.

Virginia wiped away her tears and decided to clean the wound on her forehead first, so as not to frighten her daughter.

A nurse settled her behind a curtain partition before leaving to fetch some gauze.

The quiet room was shattered by a voice dripping with false congratulations.

“Congratulations, Donna. Finally heading back to the city. Who knows how long I’ll have to wait for my own spot.”

“Honestly, I prefer life out here in the countryside. If it weren’t for finally getting my transfer order, I wouldn’t even want to go back.”

Donna’s gentle voice chimed in. “The air is so fresh here, the people so simple. Part of me will miss it, honestly.”

“I heard Roger’s wife wants to go back too, but she didn’t make the list.”

Donna feigned reluctance. “We really shouldn’t discuss other people’s family matters. It’s just… poor Roger. His home isn’t much of a home anymore.”

Shirley snorted a laugh. “Roger is pitiful, stuck with a wife like that.”

“Come to think of it, that child doesn’t look a thing like him either…”

*Bang—*

The curtain partition was wrenched aside, its metal frame crashing to the floor with a screech of metal.

Shirley’s words died in her throat, her pupils contracting in shock.

“You… you were eavesdropping!”

“Go on, then. Tell me. What kind of person am I?”

Shirley stiffened her neck, refusing to back down. “It’s the truth! I didn’t say anything wrong. Everyone knows you’ve been fooling around behind Roger’s back!”

Donna quickly pulled at her arm, soothing. “Let’s all calm down. Virginia, she didn’t mean it. Let me apologize on her behalf, alright?”

The gash on Virginia’s temple had split open again, a stark, angry line against her pale skin.

Seeing Donna’s hypocritical face only fueled her rage further.

Her chest heaved violently, as if it might burst at any second.

“Donna, you’re so good at playing the victim, fishing for sympathy. You’d better stay out of this today!”

“Virginia, do you have some misunderstanding about me? Hearing you say that… it really hurts.”

Donna bit her lip, her expression the picture of wounded innocence.

Shirley lifted her chin, comforting Donna. “She just can’t stand to see anyone else happy. Ignore her. Let’s go.”

The nurse tried to pull Donna away, but Virginia stepped forward, blocking their path.

“You’re not going anywhere! Explain yourselves! Why are you slandering me?”

“Who’s slandering you? If you hadn’t done those things, would you be so afraid of what people think?”

Shirley looked Virginia up and down, a sneer twisting her lips. “Look at the state of you. No wonder Roger doesn’t want to touch you.”

“Alright, Shirley, that’s enough.” Donna forced a weak smile. “Virginia, I know you can’t handle country life. But I’m going back to the city for important work. If you really want to go back, I can talk to Roger again for you, see if we can find another way, okay?”

The feigned gentleness was like needles piercing Virginia’s ears, each word—overt or implied—dripping with Donna’s intimate knowledge of Roger. Virginia felt a vein throbbing at her temple.

A voice screamed in her mind, over and over: *Tear her apart! Rip that hypocritical mask right off her face!*

Finally, the thread of reason snapped.

Virginia lunged forward and slapped Donna across the face. Shirley shrieked, throwing herself between them and calling for help.

“Someone! Quick! Virginia’s lost her mind! She’s attacking people!”

An hour later, Roger hurried into the police station.

Virginia and Donna sat apart, separated by an officer’s desk. Donna’s clothes were disheveled, her face marked with injuries, while Virginia remained neatly dressed, showing no sign of having come off worse.

“What happened?”

Donna’s tears fell on cue, her face a portrait of grievance. “Roger, I don’t know what misunderstanding Virginia has about me, but she attacked me without any warning…”

She revealed the wounds on her face—a savage, mottled bruise.

Donna had been clever. During the fight, she’d targeted the hidden, easily concealed parts of Virginia’s body—places Virginia couldn’t easily show.

Sure enough, Roger turned and snapped, “If you want to throw a tantrum, do it at home!”

“Is it me throwing a tantrum, or are you just feeling protective?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Roger’s eyes darted away as he turned to the precinct captain. “How do we resolve this?”

The captain spoke with visible discomfort. “Sir, your wife threw the first punch. With multiple hospital witnesses, the only way to settle this without charges is if the other party agrees to drop it. What do you think…?”

Roger nodded, thanked him, then fixed Virginia with a cold stare. “Apologize.”

“I did nothing wrong.” Virginia’s tears pooled stubbornly in her eyes, refusing to fall.

“You started it and you still won’t apologize? Virginia, you’re acting like a shrew!”

“Am I the shrew, or are you the one with divided loyalties? Roger, you know what you’ve done!”

“I’m not wasting my breath. Apologize. Now.”

With his promotion to department head under review, Roger couldn’t afford any scandal. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a threatening whisper. “If you don’t apologize, don’t blame me if Sophie gets kicked out of the hospital.”

At the mention of their daughter, a chill shot through Virginia. She looked up, disbelief in her eyes. “You’re using our daughter to threaten me? She’s your own flesh and bl—”

“Enough. Stop dragging her into this. Apologize, and it’s over.”

Virginia bit down on the soft flesh inside her cheeks, her eyes reddening. She bowed toward Donna. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you.”

Donna smiled, all magnanimity. “It’s nothing, really. I understand how you must be feeling.” Her tone shifted, and a look of distress surfaced. “But… it did happen at the hospital, in front of so many people. I don’t know how I’ll face everyone when I go back.”

As she spoke, Donna’s eyes welled up again, as if she’d suffered a profound injustice. “I don’t even know if I can continue with the clinical trial now.”

Hearing this, a thought seemed to strike Roger. He studied Virginia for a long moment. “You still need to learn a lesson. So you don’t act on impulse again.” His voice hardened. “Get down on your knees. Press your forehead to the floor three times and beg Donna’s forgiveness.”

The air seemed to freeze the moment the words left his mouth.

Virginia’s spine went rigid. She couldn’t believe this was the man she’d shared a bed with for years.

Roger pressed on. “Do it. Unless you want something to happen to Sophie?”

In that instant, an invisible fist closed around Virginia’s heart. He was still using their daughter against her.

She slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, only a dead, hollow calm remained.

*Thud!*

Her knees struck the hard floor with a heavy, dull sound.

*Thump!*

“I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

The rough concrete scraped her forehead, but the sting was nothing compared to the shame tearing her apart inside.

Donna’s smile widened, pure delight in her eyes as she watched the scene. *Virginia, Virginia… on your knees like a beaten dog.*

*Thump!*

“I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

*Thump!*

“I’m sorry! Please, spare Sophie!”

Tears of humiliation fell silently, darkening small patches on the floor.

Finally, Roger couldn’t bear to watch any longer. “Alright, that’s enough. Sign the papers.”