Chapter 6
I still remember how, after our engagement party ended, Joseph left his phone with me for safekeeping. The password was my birthday, and I was pinned at the top of all his social media.
But in a folder that should only have work documents, there was suddenly a short, three-second voice
message.
I tapped it, and a woman’s sweet voice said, “Honey, I miss you.”
The smile froze on my lips, and my entire body went cold.
Outside, fireworks continued to go off, and the celebrations were loud. But at that moment, it was like I
had gone deaf. Everything around me seemed to fade away.
All I could hear, again and again, was that sentence.
The timestamp showed that it was sent a week ago at 6:00 pm.
That day had been an off day. Joseph and I had been shopping at the supermarket when we passed by
the baby section. I had teased him, “Joseph, would you be happy if you became a dad right now?”
He had been looking at his phone as he told me he would be happy.
I asked him, “What do you think of this baby outfit? It’s white, unisex, and even on discount. Why don’t we buy it now? And look at this stroller. It looks like it’s a good one. How about it?”
As I went on and on, Joseph finally looked up a little helplessly and smiled. “Lena, don’t you think it’s a
little early? We still have plenty of time later.”
I noticed how distracted he seemed to be and decided that I would tell him the surprise another time.
But looking back and tying these two moments together crushed my heart. While I had been dreaming of
a beautiful future together, he had already fallen into another woman’s arms.
At the wedding, I gave myself countless pep talks.
If time could be rewound to a month ago, back to when I wasn’t pregnant, I would have walked away
without any hesitation. I would have just angrily broken up with him and left.
But my parents were waiting outside, joyfully and excitedly waiting to see me as a bride.
We were finally going to reach the final stop in our journey of love. I didn’t want to create a scene and didn’t want to disappoint the elders. I also didn’t want seven years of my youth to end in nothing.
I told myself that maybe, just maybe, I could forgive Joseph this one time.
It was just a voice message, after all. It was not like he slept with her.
I searched through his entire phone, looking through their chat history. I even looked through his hotel
records, online orders, and delivery history. All of it looked normal.
As long as he promised to cut off all contact with that woman, I was willing to pretend I knew nothing. I was willing to go through with the ceremony and walk hand-in-hand toward spending the rest of our lives
together.
I said, “Do I really need to say more about what happened afterward, Joseph?”
Joseph, already kneeling by the hospital bed, bent down lower. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”
His apologies didn’t stir a single thing in me. I said coldly, “Things were clear to me the moment you let go of my hand. You’re kneeling here begging me for a second chance now, but you were the one who threw it all away.”
Joseph’s head drooped even lower.
I continued, “Joseph, you’re not worthy of being my husband and not worthy of being our child’s father.”
My hand rested on my now-empty belly, which used to hold a life. It had been so small, but now, it was gone forever.
I said, “Rather than let the child be born into an incomplete home, maybe it’s better that they never come
into this world at all.”
Outside the ward, Mom came to bring me food. She was furious when she saw Joseph kneeling there and
did not hesitate to throw the lunchbox straight at him. “You’re not welcome here. Get out! Get lost!”
Mandy saw Joseph getting his and stomped her foot in frustration. She wanted to intervene but only
smiled bitterly in the end. “Joseph, was this really necessary? I tried to talk sense into you on the phone. I
scolded you, but you wouldn’t listen. Isn’t it already too late for any regrets?”
Joseph’s eyes turned red. He had truly never expected that I would lose the child.
