Chapter 2

The moment those words left my mouth, Mara’s hands jerked violently.

With a loud thud, the bag slipped from her grasp and hit the ground. A memorial portrait tumbled out. The frame shattered on impact, glass splintering into pieces that sliced across the man’s face in the photograph, breaking apart his features.

Mara let out a scream. She dropped to her knees, trembling as she gathered the broken portrait, tears streaming down her face.

"Zane, I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect you…"

Someone in the crowd immediately recognized the man in the photo.

"Isn’t that Officer Zane Holloway? The one who died in the line of duty and was trending just two days ago?"

"Then are you his widow? Mara Kessler?"

Voices quickly filled in the rest of her story.

They said Mara had lost her mother at a young age. Her father had been abusive and even tried to sell her off for a bride price.

She had fled her village and worked relentlessly ever since. No matter how poor she was, she still donated to children in remote mountain regions, helping them stay in school so they wouldn’t suffer the same hardships she had endured.

After Zane died in the line of duty, she swore she would never marry again. Zane’s final wish had been to have a child who would inherit his badge. That was why she wanted a child so desperately.

The crowd sighed, moved by her loyalty and devotion, then turned on me with fury.

"Do you have any humanity at all? How dare you say a hero’s wife doesn’t deserve to have a child? If someone like her isn’t worthy, then who is?"

Who was?

I handed the freshly wrapped fortune cookie to a young man waiting in line behind her.

He grinned and said, "Nice. After I eat this, I can finally have a baby with my husband. Let’s see what excuses his family comes up with now to look down on me as the son-in-law."

He scanned to pay, quick and smooth, then walked off, practically glowing with excitement.

The crowd exploded.

"Hey, Rainie, don’t push your luck! You’ll sell to a gay man, but you won’t sell to Mara? What gives you the right to make things difficult for her?"

I shook my head.

"I’m not making things difficult for her. She simply doesn’t deserve to get pregnant, and she doesn’t deserve my fortune cookies."

"Then give us a reason!"

I shook my head again. "If she eats my fortune cookie, something catastrophic will happen. The kind of disaster that’ll bring ruin to everyone involved. I’m refusing her for everyone’s sake. Got it?"

A wave of scoffs rose from the crowd. No one believed me.

"I’m serious. The consequences are bigger than anything you can handle."

Mara looked at me, wronged and pleading. "Rainie, I’ve never done anything bad. I’ve been donating to children in the mountains for over seven years. Even if you won’t sell to me, you can’t smear me like this…"

I held her gaze, my voice turning cold. "You’re willing to give me everything you own just to have a child. If you want one that badly, why not adopt from a foster home?"

The crowd turned to her, doubt flickering in their eyes.

"Yeah, Mara, don’t lower yourself to begging this shady seller. Take your money back. You could easily adopt a child, and you wouldn’t even have to go through childbirth."

Mara’s expression shifted. She bit down on her lip, then, with trembling hands, held out a cloth bundle.

"No, only Rainie’s fortune cookies can help me. I heard whatever you wrap inside determines what kind of child you’ll have. This… this is my late husband’s hair. I just want to give birth to Zane’s child."

Her tears shimmered in her eyes. "He was a hero. I can’t let him leave this world with regrets."

The crowd instantly softened, understanding flooding their faces.

"Rainie, did you hear that? Hurry up and make it for her!"

"Someone like Mara is so loyal, so devoted. You should be making her a fortune cookie for free!"

Even the people in line began stepping aside.

"Ma’am, sell to Mara first. We can wait."

I slammed the lid over the fortune cookie dough with a sharp crack. "Don’t try to guilt-trip me. I decide who I sell to. And today, I’m not selling to her. Not happening."

With that, I coldly packed up my stall and walked away.

Behind me, Mara’s voice rose again, thick with tears. "Rainie, I’ll come back tomorrow. Please, you have to sell me one."