“Jean, I was wrong last night,” he said softly. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

I didn’t answer. Just muttered, “I’m a little tired,” and went straight upstairs to sleep.

The next morning, I asked our housekeeper to take Matthew to school. I didn’t have the strength. It wasn’t until the afternoon that I finally felt a little better.

By evening, I went out to pick him up myself—just wanting to hold my son.

But the kindergarten teacher looked surprised.

“An aunt already picked him up earlier,” she said. “Mr. Sharp arranged it.”

Panic slammed into me. I immediately called Geoffrey.

No answer.

I called again. And again.

Still nothing.

My hands were shaking. Cold sweat beaded my forehead. Just as I was about to call the police, he finally picked up.

Loud music blasted through the receiver—a birthday song, clinking glasses, laughter.

“It’s my friend’s birthday,” he said over the noise. “Come join us. Bring Matthew, let him have fun.”

I couldn’t suppress it anymore. My voice rose.

“You didn’t even tell me! Do you know how scared I—”

Then I heard Matthew’s voice in the background.

“Mom, it’s Aunt Caroline—”

Click.

The line went dead.

The busy tone buzzed in my ear.

I stood frozen on the street as the wind lashed against my skin. I’d never felt so cold.

---

At home, I waited on the couch until deep into the night.

Finally, I heard laughter at the door.

Matthew ran in, beaming, a cake box in hand.

“Mom! Aunt Caroline’s cake was yummy! She taught me how to make cream flowers!”

The sweet scent of strawberry jam mixed with an unfamiliar floral perfume. My stomach turned. I ran into the bathroom, retching uncontrollably.

“What’s wrong?”

Geoffrey followed me in, placing a hand on my back. “Are you sick?”

He handed me a towel, then paused.

“…Have you had your period lately?”

I looked up sharply, meeting his eyes.

His face lit up.

“Could we… have a second baby?”

There was a flicker of hope in his voice. The kind that used to belong to us. It hurts more than anything.

He had always wanted a daughter.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

The next morning, I took a pregnancy test.

Two red lines.

Positive.

When he saw it, he swept me into his arms and spun me around with joy.

He kissed my forehead and whispered, “She’s coming. Our little girl.”

He promised he’d cleared his schedule. He said he’d take me to the hospital himself.

But when the day finally came, I stood alone in the hospital corridor, holding my early pregnancy report, calling him over and over.

He never answered.

Then a text popped up:

"Caroline got into a car accident. I can't leave right now."

I opened Instagram. The latest post from Caroline showed her pouting with a bandaged hand.

“Just a little scratch~ Someone’s being too dramatic 🥺”

The sterile smell of disinfectant filled my lungs. I felt like choking.

My fingers trembled around the report.

I walked to the nurse’s desk and said, quietly but firmly:

“Please help me schedule an abortion.”

---

As the anesthesia spread through my body, I closed my eyes.

But I couldn’t stop the tears.

---

When the procedure was over, I leaned against the wall, weak but determined to walk on my own.

That’s when I saw him.

At the end of the corridor, Geoffrey was crouched down in front of Caroline, his back turned to me. Her hand rested lightly on his shoulder.

That posture.

Seven years ago, when I was rushed into surgery for appendicitis, he crouched just like that beside my hospital bed—and carried me on his back to the car.

I remembered my senior year. I had a terrible cold. It was freezing, but he stood outside my dorm for three hours just to bring me a box of cold medicine.

The stars that once lit up his eyes for me… had all fallen into the redness of Caroline’s eyes now.

“Does your foot still hurt?” he asked gently, carrying her on his back with movements so familiar it made my heart clench.

Caroline giggled softly, her arms wrapped around his neck, the ends of her hair brushing against his Adam’s apple like a silent provocation.

Before she could answer, a few employees from their company appeared near the elevator.

The moment Geoffrey saw them, he quickly set her down, took a half step back, and adjusted his tie—deliberately putting distance between them.

“Carol, I heard you were in a car accident!” one of them said with a laugh. “And Mr. Sharp came with you? Such special treatment!”

I turned to quietly slip past the gathering crowd, but the pain in my lower abdomen suddenly surged. I staggered and couldn’t control my movement—my elbow brushed Caroline’s arm.

“Ah!” she cried out, falling to the ground on an exaggerated display, tears springing to her eyes. “Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

Then she turned and saw me. Her expression twisted into one of feigned surprises.

Her colleagues immediately reacted with outrage.

“Apologize!”

“Yeah! Are you blind or what? Say sorry!”

They didn’t know who I was. I had never attended any company events. To them, I was just some rude stranger.

Leaning against the wall for support, I tried to catch my breath. The pain from my surgical wound made my vision go black around the edges.

I couldn’t even look at them, much less argue.

I took two shaky steps away, desperate to leave.

Then a hand clamped around my wrist.

Geoffrey’s fingers tightened over my bones.

“Apologize to her,” he said, voice like ice—void of warmth, empty of the love that once lived in his eyes.

That boy, in my memory—the one who tilted his umbrella toward me in a storm, soaking half his body just to keep me dry—was gone.

All that remained was this cold man who stood in front of me, forcing me to bow to another woman.

Something in me cracked.

My stomach churned violently. I jerked my wrist from his grasp, blood rising to my throat, bitter and metallic. I swallowed it back.

My voice trembled, barely audible. “What if I don’t?”

His eyes turned colder. “Then try it.”

It wasn’t a dare—it was a threat.

For a moment, I wanted to laugh. The urge was sudden and hollow. So this is what I’ve become.

“Forget it,” I said hoarsely. “I won’t try.”

He frowned. “What did you say?”

My voice sounded distant, like it belonged to someone else.

“I said…”

I looked straight into his eyes.

“Geoffrey, let’s get a divorce.”

The hallway went silent.

Every pair of eyes turned to us in shock.