Chapter 2

The baby was fully formed, yet because Vivian delayed the approval, he suffocated inside my womb.

“Quincy, your due date isn’t even here yet! Isn’t this request for approval a little early?”

“Quincy, the baby hasn’t been born. You can always buy formula after the baby is born.”

“Quincy, you can’t act like those lowborn people, always lying for money. Mr. Lane earned that money with his blood and sweat!”

She rejected my requests each time, refusing to even take me to a doctor.

By the time Tyler came home, I was covered in blood, and the tiny feet of my child were still trapped in the bloody mess beneath me.

He blamed me, “Quincy, didn’t you have the sense to call for help? You were about to give birth and didn’t alert anyone?”

“Vivian had already assigned a birth attendant for you. You’re pathetic! Even one strand of Vivian’s hair is worth more than you are!”

The pain made me lose consciousness. The only thing left in my ears was Vivian’s instinctive murmuring.

“Tyler, I’m so jealous of Quincy. Even if childbirth hurts like hell, knowing I’d be bringing your child into the world for you, I’d do it gladly!”

My heart felt like it had been gouged out. Pain was piercing me to the core.

Tyler acted like nothing was wrong.

I lost my child. I could not afford to lose my adoptive father too.

“Vivian, I’m begging you! My father’s surgery…”

Before I could finish, she cut me off,

“Quincy, you should have accepted it by now. Your adoptive father’s condition has been stable for a long time. There’s no need to make a fuss with an extra surgery. He'd just suffer more.”

“Besides, five hundred thousand dollars isn’t small change. Everything has to follow the rules. Mr. Lane’s money doesn’t grow on trees.”

Her words implied that I was recklessly wasting money and didn’t appreciate Tyler’s hard work.

Then, Tyler looked at me with a complicated expression.

“Quincy, Vivian told me that your father’s condition is stable. Surgery isn’t necessary at the moment.”

“I can’t believe you’re the kind of person who lies so blatantly just to get a little extra money.”

He shook his head, disappointed, took his phone out, and transferred me five thousand dollars.

“Here. This is enough for you to spend.”

“And remember, my money doesn’t grow on trees! Stop causing trouble for Vivian. She did everything right. You, on the other hand, haven’t learned a thing!”

I collapsed to the floor, utterly shattered.

In the end, I never got the rest of the money.

My adoptive father missed the best window for treatment and died in the hospital.

Pain washed over me like a tidal wave, stabbing my chest like countless tiny knives.

This marriage was a poisoned chalice, sweet on the surface, deadly inside. I had to end it!