Seeing the red mark on Freda's face, Jake abruptly pushed me away. "Have you lost your mind?"

He immediately shielded her in his arms.

As my hipbone wound crashed heavily against the table corner, a wave of agony sent shivers down my spine, leaving me pale.

Yet Jake was solely focused on checking Freda's condition. Only after confirming she was unharmed did he coldly turn to me. "Do you have any idea that she's pregnant? If anything happens, can you bear the responsibility?" Molly, I never thought you'd be so unreasonable."

Even though my heart had long since shattered, I still received a heavy blow to my chest when I saw Freda's swollen belly and Jake publicly humiliating me for her sake. That scene suffocated me with pain.

Jake and I once had a baby, too.

Back then, he found the best doctors for me and canceled her work plans to accompany me to prenatal check-ups. He had handled everything personally.

On the day of delivery, I was in the passenger seat, barely conscious from the pain, while he repeatedly turned back to comfort me. "Just bear it a little longer. We're nearly arriving at the hospital..."

I felt so much pain and couldn't bear it any longer. When I reached for the painkillers in the glove compartment, I found a few unopened boxes of condoms.

Jake had always shunned having sex. We had done it so rarely that even having a child was just an accidental result of his drunkenness.

His voice was strained at the time. "They're not mine... A colleague borrowed the car a few days ago."

In that moment, I couldn't even feel the excruciating contractions.

Later, when I was wheeled into the operating room, I remained numb.

The baby seemed to have sensed my despair, too. It wrapped the umbilical cord around its neck and died on the operating table.

Afterwards, he brought the colleague who had borrowed the car to me and apologized repeatedly.

But my heart was soft after I saw his diagnosis of terminal bone cancer.

I wasn't wrong. Those condoms belonged to him and Freda.

Regret and heartbreak surged up and choked me.

I should have left him long ago.

The wound on my hipbone tore open, and I collapsed to the floor in pain.

Jake instinctively wanted to rush over, but Freda stopped him. "Jake, she pushed me just now, and my stomach hurts... Will the baby be okay?"

He paused and then ran out carrying Freda. He only said hurriedly before leaving, "Ellen, take her to the hospital. I'll be there later."

I grabbed Ellen, who wanted to call him back, and shook my head.

After a brief treatment in the clinic at the orphanage, I grabbed my luggage and headed straight for the airport without hesitation.

On the other side, after confirming Freda was fine, Jake finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried downstairs. He asked the nurse, "Could you tell me which room Molly Jensen is in? I couldn't find any record of her room."

The nurse checked the files and looked up, saying, "She was discharged two days ago."

Jake stood frozen and was momentarily unable to process the nurse's words. "What did you say?"

Was Molly discharged two days earlier?

That was the day she had just undergone the bone marrow donation operation.

He suddenly felt a wave of unease surging through him.

Could it be that Molly had figured out he was deceiving her all along?

But he quickly dispelled the thought.

That couldn't be.

If she had known it, why would she have willingly donated her marrow?

"Did she not come to the hospital to treat her wounds just now?" Jake asked the nurse again.

The nurse checked the records and shook her head.

Jake furrowed his eyebrows tightly.

Was Molly sulking?

Thinking about the harsh words he had said to Molly earlier and the look of disappointment in her eyes before she left, Jake felt guilt.

"Forget it. A little sweet-talking will do the trick," he thought.

He ordered a necklace Molly had mentioned before.

Every time he upset her in the past, he would buy her a gift. And she had never really held it against him.

After completing the purchase, he sent a screenshot of the order and expected Molly to respond with a cheerful voice message as usual.

But he got nothing this time.

He waited a full three minutes, yet the chat window remained silent.

She used to reply to his message instantly.

An inexplicable irritation rose within him. He dialed her number directly.

The automated voice on the other end came through. "The number you dialed is unavailable."

His heart sank.

He redialed it repeatedly, but the result was always the same.

He remembered Molly's recent distance and coldness, along with her unusual behavior of packing her belongings. Then Jake's heartbeat quickened.

With trembling fingers, he called Ellen. She must know where Molly was.

But Ellen didn't answer his call. He couldn't hold back any longer.

Without hesitation, he intended to head back to the orphanage.

Just then, his phone rang. Jake looked at the screen with hopeful anticipation. But his eyes, which had lit up just now, instantly dimmed when he saw it was Freda calling.

He paused but eventually answered it.

Freda was sobbing on the other end of the line. "Jake, it is our first baby. What if I lose it? It's all Molly's fault. If she hadn't pushed me..."

Jake didn't play along as usual and interrupted Freda. He said while frowning, "Didn't the doctor say everything was fine with the baby?"

After a few seconds of silence, Freda's evasive excuses came through.

He remembered Molly's wound and said, "She probably meant it. Let's just let it go this time, Freda. After all... we've already let her lose so much."

Freda sensed the protection in his words, and her tone was suddenly sharp. "What do you mean? Jake, are you regretting it? She intruded between us. She's just a tool. Have you really fallen for her?"

Jake was stunned.

His marriage to Molly was a setup to obtain her marrow.

But why... did he feel a hollow ache inside?

He sensed something was amiss but couldn't pinpoint it.

"Jake, let's go and try on wedding dresses. Didn't you say you had a surprise for me?" Freda softened her voice.

"Okay," Jake replied absentmindedly, "You go ahead. I'll be there later."

After hanging up, he rushed to the orphanage.

Even if Molly was merely a tool he used, she had been his wife for ten years.

He needed to ensure she was alright at least.

After he arrived at the orphanage, he saw Ellen helping the children with their homework. He breathed a sigh of relief.

He stepped forward quietly and asked, "Ellen, where is Molly? Is she okay? I'd like to see her."

Ellen kept her eyes on the table as she replied flatly, "She's gone."