On the night Uriah Parker married another woman, Irina Charlton trashed the home they had shared for eight years.

At 2 a.m., Irina Charlton woke up from sharp pains in her lower abdomen. When she reached over to feel the icy sheets beside her, she realized her husband, Uriah Parker, had not come home.

The pain was worsening by the second. With trembling hands, she called Uriah. It rang for what felt like forever before someone finally picked up.

Before Irina could even say a word, a young woman's voice came through the speaker. "Irina, Uriah's already asleep. Whatever it is, just call him tomorrow, okay? I'm hanging up now."

"Wait, hold on..."

The sharp, twisting pain in her lower abdomen made every word an agony for Irina.

The woman ignored Irina and simply hung up the phone.

When Irina tried calling again, the phone was already turned off. She gasped for air as waves of pain crashed through her body, making her shake uncontrollably, and tears streamed down her face.

She did not want to die. After all, she was only 26 years old, and she still had her parents and Uriah.

Forcing herself to stay conscious, Irina dialed 911. Then, she crawled to the living room and unlocked the front door. Just before she passed out, she heard the wail of an ambulance echoing through the entire apartment complex.

The doctor's preliminary diagnosis was an ectopic pregnancy, and Irina needed surgery immediately. They needed to contact her family, but Uriah's phone was still unreachable.

"Do you have any other relatives or friends we can call?" the young nurse asked, looking at Irina with sympathy as she lay pale-faced on the hospital bed.

Irina gave a bitter smile and shook her head. Her parents were not in Sterling City. Even if they caught the earliest flight, they would not arrive until tomorrow afternoon. Besides, her mother, Linda Bailey, had a weak heart and could not handle the shock.

While her best friend, Mia Somerset, lived in the city, she was already in her final weeks of pregnancy and could go into labor any time soon. Irina really did not want to burden her.

She said, "I can manage it myself."

The surgery was performed overnight. When Irina woke up, it was already the next morning.

The caregiver, Anne Davis, saw Irina stirring and quickly poured some warm water for her.

"Ms. Charlton, you're finally awake. You have no idea how critical your condition was. The doctor said the location of your ectopic pregnancy was extremely dangerous. If the surgery had been any later, they might not have been able to save you."

Irina touched her lower abdomen, feeling both regretful and heartbroken. She and Uriah had been trying for a baby for two years. Yet, when she finally got pregnant, it turned out to be ectopic.

Irina gripped her phone as tears rolled down her cheeks. A whole night had passed, yet Uriah had not called once, not even a single text.

Nonetheless, the baby was gone, and the baby's father should know. So, Irina dialed Uriah's number.

This time, Uriah himself actually answered.

"Honey, I..."

"Irina, I know I've been neglecting you lately, but I'm really exhausted. Ms. White had a rejection episode yesterday, and she's in really bad shape. Also, there's nothing going on between Sophie and me. She's like my little sister, and she could never threaten your position as Mrs. Parker. Please, can you stop making a scene?"

Uriah's voice was filled with impatience.

Irina held the phone, momentarily at a loss for words.

After a few seconds of silence, Uriah spoke again. "Well? Say something, Irina."

"I-I had an ectopic..."

Before Irina could finish her sentence, she heard Sophie Lyons' anxious, tearful voice coming through the phone.

"Uriah, my mom needs you!"

"Let's talk later."

Just like that, the call ended.

Irina stared at the ceiling. Her eyes, already red from crying, flooded with tears all over again.

She and Uriah had been together for almost eight years. They got to know each other in their senior year of high school, endured four years of long distance through college, and finally got married two years ago, promising to work together to welcome a baby into their lives.

All of a sudden, after his childhood sweetheart and so-called little sister had only been back for three months, Irina became nothing more than an unreasonable, jealous wife in his eyes.

A laugh escaped Irina. She covered her eyes with her hands, laughing and crying at the same time.

Irina knew exactly what Sophie and her mother, Beth White, meant to Uriah.

Uriah's parents always worked late when he was a kid, so he would often eat dinner at Beth's house.

Beth was a single mom who raised Sophie on her own. Since they were kids, Uriah and Sophie were everyone's idea of the perfect golden couple. Everyone assumed they would go from being childhood sweethearts straight to walking down the aisle together.

During Uriah's senior year of high school, Sophie and Beth moved abroad, and they stayed gone for eight years. Three months ago, Sophie returned with Beth, who had pancreatic cancer, and they came to find Uriah.

From the moment they returned, Uriah started coming home less and less frequently.

Whenever Irina asked, his answer was always the same: he was at the hospital. Since she understood Uriah's relationship with Sophie and Beth, Irina never complained once, firmly believing that their relationship was solid enough that it would not crack just because his childhood friend had come back.

At first, Irina even volunteered to help connect them with specialist doctors. However, her involvement gradually seemed to make both Uriah and Sophie uncomfortable. Things escalated to the point where Sophie would burst into tears the moment Irina showed up.

Eventually, Uriah told Irina to stop coming to the hospital altogether.

Irina had no idea what she had done wrong, especially since she had not fought or made a scene. She had simply waited patiently for it all to be over, for Uriah to finish dealing with everything, so they could return to the way things used to be.

However, this ectopic pregnancy surgery and Uriah's attitude were starting to shake her faith.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Irina texted Uriah and attached a photo of her medical records.

At the same hospital, Uriah frowned at the message on his phone.

Sophie, sitting beside him, leaned over to look too. Before Uriah could say anything, Sophie's eyes immediately reddened, and tears fell one after another as her voice began to choke.

"I'm so sorry, Uriah. I shouldn't have come to you... I know Irina's scared I'll steal you away, so she made up this ridiculous story. Mom and I have ruined what you and Irina had. I'm so sorry."

For just a split second, Uriah had felt a flicker of panic. Then, he thought about how in these past three months, he had barely been home at all because of Beth's illness, and he and Irina had not been intimate in ages. He also knew Irina well enough to know she would never cheat.

This had to be another one of her desperate attempts to get his attention, to make him prove he still loved her.

Uriah tenderly ruffled Sophie's hair, his voice incredibly gentle. "This has nothing to do with you. I've just been spoiling her too much, that's why she'd make up lies like this."

"Thank you, Uriah. Without you, I really don't know what I'd do." Still crying, Sophie threw herself into Uriah's arms.

Uriah gently patted Sophie's back, offering her comfort.

After spending a while consoling Sophie, Uriah finally found time to text Irina back. His message read, [Irina, Ms. White doesn't have much time left. You know how much she took care of me when I was little, so please be mature about this and stop making a scene. Also, you shouldn't say such vicious things about yourself and our future child. Once things settle down, I promise I'll make it up to you.]

After being disappointed too many times, that one final disappointment becomes the ending of the whole story.

Wiping away her tears, Irina sent Uriah a single-word reply, [Okay.]

She had decided, too.

...

Three days later, Irina was discharged from the hospital. During that time, Uriah had not sent a single message, and Irina had not reached out to him either.

Anne reminded Irina kindly, "Ms. Charlton, even though it was an ectopic pregnancy, you still need to treat this like a recovery period. When you get home, make sure to keep yourself warm, eat nutritious food, and get plenty of rest, okay?"

Irina thanked her with a heavy heart. "Thank you, I'll take good care of myself."

After saying goodbye to Anne, Irina walked out alone. However, she had only taken a few steps when she heard someone calling her name from behind.

"Irina?"

Irina turned around to see her heavily pregnant best friend, Mia.

Mia asked, "What are you doing at the hospital? You look awful."

"I-I was pregnant." Irina's expression was blank; her tone was as calm as if she were discussing the weather.

Mia was just about to congratulate her, but she could keenly tell something was wrong.

Irina continued, "But it was an ectopic pregnancy. I already had the surgery, and I'm being discharged today."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Mia was upset, but she quickly softened and grabbed Irina's hand with concern. "Wait, where's Uriah?"

To all their friends, Uriah was a devoted husband. He normally could not stand to see Irina suffer even the slightest inconvenience, the epitome of a doting husband.

Not seeing him here shocked Mia.

Irina mumbled, "He's at the hospital with Sophie's mom. He doesn't have time for me."

Mia had heard a little about Uriah and Sophie, but no matter what, he should show up for something this serious.

Then, Irina asked, "It's fine... It's all over now. Why are you here alone, too?"

Mia replied, "I'm here for my final prenatal checkup. James is just paying the bill."

Mia wanted to ask more about Irina and Uriah. However, seeing how terrible Irina looked, she held back.

Irina's ride was about to arrive, and Mia insisted on walking her downstairs. However, as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they saw Sophie clinging to Uriah's arm, standing right there in the lobby.

All four of them froze.

The next second, Uriah pushed Sophie's hand off his arm, though his expression darkened.

"Irina, I already explained everything clearly in my message. What's the point of stalking and spying on me? When did you become so unreasonable?"

"Irina, please, just stop."

Right there in the crowded hospital lobby, Sophie dropped to her knees in front of Irina, crying her eyes out.

"Sophie, get up! What are you doing?" Uriah immediately tried to pull Sophie up.

"Uriah, don't stop me. My mom and I are the ones who hurt Irina... But Irina, my mom is dying. Please, have some mercy and let me have Uriah for this little while."

As she spoke, Sophie even tried to bow her head toward Irina.

Uriah could not stop Sophie, so he turned his anger on Irina instead. "Irina, Sophie and Ms. White have never done anything to hurt you. They never said a single bad word about you. How can you act like this? Where's your conscience? You make me sick."