Chapter 6

I used to have a child with Joseph. Back then, I hadn't fallen ill yet, and I thought I could carry our child. I had asked the doctor to keep it a secret from Joseph, telling him to wait until the pregnancy was stable.

However, Joseph accidentally found my prenatal check-up slip at home, and he was overjoyed.

"Anna, let's make up. I'll learn to be a good father and take care of you and the baby," he said. "Whatever you've done in the past, I forgive you. Let's start fresh."

Yet, he didn't know that day was the day my illness truly began.

The baby was already three months old, and the doctor told me the chances of survival were slim. Even if the child lived, there would be severe congenital defects.

When Joseph found me, I had just come out of surgery.

Yarra looked at me with a pained expression. "Anna, even if you hate Joseph and want nothing to do with him, the baby is innocent. How could you just kill it?"

I wanted to explain, but then I saw Joseph's expression.

"Annabelle, was it so disgusting to carry my child? Was it so disgusting that you'd rather kill it just to cut ties with me?"

Why was it that when Yarra said a single sentence, he believed her completely?

That was my child, too. Did he think it hurt me any less?

In the end, as if possessed, I coldly said, "Yeah. The moment I realized it was your child, I'd rather it die."

After that, our relationship was almost completely torn apart.

The noise on my phone died down, and the number of people in the live stream kept increasing. Some viewers asked when they were getting married.

Yarra removed the mosaic, flashing a mysterious smile as she took a ring out and gently placed it on both her and Joseph's hands.

Joseph had always worn a ring, but it wasn't nearly as extravagant as the one Yarra now wore.

That ring was a family heirloom. When Joseph and I confirmed our relationship, my mom gave it to him. At that time, he was overjoyed and said he would always treat me well.

"Your family has accepted me as their son-in-law. You can't run away now," he said.

For years, he had worn that ring, never once taking it off. However, it now lay discarded to the side as if it were nothing.

That ring was the only thing my mother had left me. I couldn't just watch them trample over it.

When I arrived at the hospital room, they were still wrapped in each other's embrace.

"Where's the ring? You can return it to me now, can't you?"

Yarra chuckled. "So that ugly thing was from you? No wonder I always wondered why Joseph kept wearing it. Anna, did you think he wasn't worthy of something better?"

She lifted Joseph's hand, proudly displaying a pair of dazzling couple's rings.

"I personally picked these out. You won't believe how expensive they are. They cost enough to buy several homes in the city."

I ignored her and turned to Joseph. "You know what that ring means to me. Where is it?"

Joseph scoffed. "What meaning? Wasn't it just some worthless trinket your family used to deceive me? Trash belongs in the garbage where it should be. I was such a fool back then. I should've realized sooner. Your mother was just as conniving, trying to win me over with a cheap piece of junk."

A surge of fury overtook me, and I slapped him across the face.

"Insult me all you want, but insult my mother, and you're asking for death!"

Yarra quickly stepped aside, sneering. "Are you insane? You two are disgusting, and we're just saying it out loud. With a mother like that, no wonder she raised a daughter like you."

Even in her last moments, my mother had been thinking of Joseph and me. And now, they dared to slander her like this.

Before I even realized it, I lunged at them, landing slap after slap.

"If you insult my mother again, I'll kill you!"

Joseph shielded Yarra behind him and turned to me indifferently. "Annabelle, so you do have feelings after all. Yet, you're just like your mother. You both deserve to die. Let's get a divorce. I don't want to see you ever again."

I looked at him, laughing and crying at the same time. This was how it all ended.

They had their happiness, while I had nothing.

"Fine."

They claimed to have thrown the ring in the trash, but after searching the hospital from top to bottom, I never found it.

The stench of antiseptic and the foul odors of the hospital made me retch over and over.

I was coughing up blood more frequently now. It felt like I really was about to die.

I wondered if Joseph would feel even a hint of regret if he ever found out I was telling the truth.