Chapter 2

I lay awake the entire night.

The place around me felt strange and familiar at once. There were no electronics here, not even a light.

At first light, when the horizon was only starting to pale, roosters crowed outside. Everyone rolled out of bed to get ready for the fields, and I forced myself up, too.

If I could make it through this stretch, I'd be approved to switch to an urban status. This time, I was going to change my life.

I'd been swinging the hoe nonstop when the village head, Greg Nixon, suddenly showed up at the field with a group of people.

"Dexter, Bertha came to me today and said you're suddenly backing out of the engagement. Camille cried at home all night. Weren't you two engaged a long time ago? I was there myself as a witness.

"What's going on now? You owe her an explanation, don't you?"

People nearby picked it up and closed in with their own advice.

"You're both young. Couples fight and make up. Nothing can't be settled by talking."

"That's right. You're still young. Once you're married, you'll get used to it."

"Listen. With your family situation, it's not gonna be easy to find a wife. Put up with what you can and don't do anything rash."

That part was true.

Mom and Dad were dead, and I had no siblings to lean on. In my previous life, I thought marrying at all was more than a guy like me could ask for, and I didn't get to be picky.

The decades I later spent with Camille proved the opposite. Coming from a family like mine meant there were fewer conflicts. That was likely why she stayed.

Every dollar I earned passed through her hands. Any money I spent had to be cleared with her, while she spent her time eating out, drinking, and enjoying herself.

Even when I was sick enough to be hospitalized, she was the one who chose where I went.

By the time I finally saw it for what it was, it was already too late.

That thought finally snapped something in me, and I threw the hoe down.

"It was her family who pushed for the engagement in the first place. She took the gold ring my grandma left behind, and she had me working over at her house every day. My conscience is clear.

"What explanation do I owe anyone?"

Mr. Nixon frowned. "You've had a few years of schooling. How can you have no sense of responsibility?"

I didn't bother saying anything else. I shouldered the hoe and stepped away.

Unexpectedly, Camille and her mother, Bertha Hurst, came rushing over from across the road.

Bertha rolled up her sleeves, baring her arms like she was ready to come at me. It was nothing like the gentle, kindly face she used to show when I worked in her house.

"Cut the bullshit! Your father already agreed to this engagement, so anything we took was ours by right! You got Cammy pregnant, and now you think you can walk away?

"If you don't give me an answer today, I'll take this straight to your college!"

I couldn't help frowning. I hadn't planned to make Camille's pregnancy public. Even if her reputation didn't matter, my own did.

I thought I'd made my position clear enough that she'd know where the line was and keep things from blowing up. I didn't expect it to get turned around and thrown back at me.

In my previous life, Bertha had always lived in the countryside, so I never knew whether she was aware of what was going on between Camille and Howard.

But being stuck raising someone else's child was something I would never do again.

"Her pregnancy has nothing to do with me. The child isn't mine!"

In times like these, having a child out of wedlock was enough to ruin someone's name. And on top of that, I was Camille's fiance, but I wasn't the child's father.

Bertha froze, clearly stunned, like she had no idea what was really going on. She flung Camille's hand aside and charged straight at me.

"You're still slandering Cammy? If it's not yours, then whose is it supposed to be? Cammy barely ever left the house. She hardly even spoke to other men. You were the one coming over to my place every day!

"I used to think you were decent. I never thought you'd take advantage of Cammy while I was away at my parents' place, and now you're still denying it! Are you even human?"

She cursed nonstop as she lunged at me, scratching and swinging, looking completely unhinged.

The people around us stared, half shocked and half curious, but they still stepped in and dragged her back.

"Hey, hey, let's talk this through. Everyone's here. It's not like this can't be settled."

"Dexter, everyone knows about you and Camille. If her dad hadn't died so early, we'd probably already be drinking at your wedding. If you screwed up, then admit it. You're about to be husband and wife anyway. It's not a big deal."

"That's right. You don't get to sleep with her and then pretend it didn't happen. If you do, I'll set you straight for your father!"

At a moment like this, there was no point trying to argue back. I was outnumbered.

I looked over at Camille, standing off to the side with her head down, making herself as small as possible. She clutched the hem of her clothes, looking like she'd been deeply wronged.

I spoke. "Say it. Whose child are you carrying?"

Camille looked up, disbelief filling her eyes.

When she spoke, her voice was already shaking with tears. "What do you mean? The child's obviously yours. I've never been with any other man. Don't you remember that day when my mom wasn't home?

"Y-you slipped into my room… Even if you don't want to take responsibility, you can't slander me like this!"

That day, I helped Camille's family carry water. I was heading into the city in a few days for the college entrance exam, so I brought some food along and dropped it off.

She said Bertha had gone back to her parents' place, and she was scared to be home alone, so she asked me to stay with her.

Around that time, wild boars were coming down from the mountains, wrecking crops and even running into villagers' homes. I didn't think much of it and slept in the room next door.

That night, something was off. I was exhausted in a way I couldn't explain.

When I woke up the next morning, Camille was naked, curled up in my arms. I instinctively thought I'd done something wrong and slapped myself hard, twice.

After that, she came to me and said she was pregnant.

In my previous life, Camille gave birth a little over eight months in, and I always thought it was because she'd been malnourished.

I got up early every day to work the fields, and I went into the mountains at night to hunt, all to give her better food. Only later did I find out the baby hadn't been premature at all.

She was already over two months along. The moment she figured it out, she set me up and made me take the fall.

I was still trying to figure out how to clear my own name when Mr. Nixon suddenly stepped forward.

"Dexter, I did see you go to her place a few days ago. And when I went by your house that night, you weren't home."