Chapter 2

Dustin shook his head. Frowning, he asked me, "Does your…husband…already know about this?"

I lowered my head and didn't answer him.

Dustin held me by my shoulders and said, "You should tell him about it! I think that he loves you very much. He won't let you abandon yourself to choose the baby!"

When I heard this, I suddenly burst into tears in the clinic and wailed like I was possessed. I didn't even know how I managed to leave the hospital afterward because I was in such a daze the entire time.

While walking past the town hall, I suddenly stopped and thought about the fate of my baby. I sat at the steps for a long, long time.

If Aaron didn't love me anymore, would he still treat the baby with love if it was born?

If he really married Candace, surely she wouldn't be a good stepmother to my baby with how wicked a person she was!

However, if I were to abort this baby, I realized that I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I didn't have any memories of my parents. Aaron had always been the one by my side ever since I could remember. But now, Aaron wasn't mine anymore. That meant that this baby was the only person I had left.

I remained at the town hall for a long time, spending nearly the entire day there on the steps. I didn't even realize that it had gotten dark out.

When Aaron called me, I realized then that it was already 1:00 am.

He asked me impatiently, "Where are you? Why aren't you home yet?"

I clutched at my thin coat and said, "I'm at the town hall entrance."

Ten minutes later, Aaron appeared before me on his scooter. When he saw that I still wasn't moving, he came up to me and yanked me up from the steps. He pointed a finger at me like he wanted to yell at me, but thought better of it and suppressed his anger instead.

He took off his coat and put it around my body. Then, he turned around and lit a cigarette.

I took the hint and climbed onto the back of the scooter. We never said a word to each other on the way back.

After reaching home, I stroked my belly and asked him awkwardly, "Aaron, who do you love? Me, or Candace?"

He spun around to stare at me.

"What about you? Viola Goodwin, who do you love? Dustin, or me?"

"You, of course!" I replied without any hesitation.

He raised his hand to wipe away the tears I didn't even know I was crying. He laughed self-deprecatingly as he said, "You're a liar, Viola."

Obviously, he didn't believe me.

"If I didn't love you, Viola, would you even have made it until today? Did you agree to my proposal because you loved me, or because you felt guilty?"

I was just about to answer him when we were rudely interrupted by the shrill sound of his phone ringtone.

"Ronnie? It looks like there's going to be a thunderstorm. I'm afraid to be alone. Also, you didn't use a condom the other day, so we're going to have to find out in half a month. Who knows? Maybe you're going to be a father real soon."

Candace's sickly sweet voice floated right into my ears from his phone.

Aaron just glanced at me before looking away and cursing out loud. Then, he grabbed a coat and rushed toward the front door.

I called out to him.

"I won't let you go to her, Aaron."

He paused, but only slightly.

I pressed, "I said you're not allowed to go see her!"

Seconds later, he still turned his back on me and left.

I crouched on the couch. My gaze landed on the framed photo on the table. In it, I was wearing my graduation gown and happily posing with Aaron, who was wearing his food-delivery gear. He was also smiling widely and proudly at the camera.

Back then, we believed that we had a beautiful future together. We even shouted, "Till death do us part!"

I turned my head away so I wouldn't have to see the photo again. Instead, I lay down on the couch and tried to force myself to sleep so I could stop thinking about it.

However, the moment I closed my eyes, Aaron's voice appeared in my head again.

"If I didn't love you, would you even have made it until today?"

His voice wouldn't stop echoing in my head, and I began agreeing with him. He was right. I had him to thank for letting me stay alive until now. I had to thank him for holding me back then and telling me to bet on my recovery at the hospital.

…

Aaron barely came home to the apartment for the next two weeks after that.

However, I received some good news in his absence. I'd managed to get some of my written work published, and the hefty royalties might just give me a second chance at life.