Chapter 3

My ears felt stuffed, and I couldn't hear clearly. Jesse's certain answer kept echoing in my head.

The two people in the photograph attached to the marriage certificate looked so happy. They looked like a match made in heaven.

The date they had gotten married was the exact day Mom had fallen critically ill. It was the day I'd cried until there were no tears and felt as though my heart was breaking apart.

It hurt even more when I saw that Dad had been their witness. While I had cried myself dry, I'd sent Jesse message after message, begging him to come and be with me.

It turned out that my so-called love and family I'd believed in had both betrayed me five years ago.

The next day was the day we'd agreed to finally lay the baby I'd lost five years ago to rest. I'd miscarried after catching Dave and Nicki together. The trauma had left me emotionally shattered, so I'd asked the hospital to preserve my baby's remains.

Jesse often came with me to visit the baby. He would hold me tightly, feeling sorry for me.

He had said, "We've already prayed for the child. If there is a next life, I'm sure he'll return and be your child again. When that time comes, we'll protect him together."

I called Jesse more than 20 times, but he hadn't answered a single call. When I arrived at the hospital alone, the numbered freezer compartment was completely empty.

The sudden discovery made me tremble from head to toe. I quickly stumbled over to find the doctor.

After checking the records, the doctor told me, "Your husband requested that the remains be disposed of. Someone has already been assigned to take care of it."

I staggered and turned around.

Just then, Jesse and Nicki walked toward me. He was holding a pregnancy test report.

The moment he saw me, the smile disappeared from his face. It was replaced by a flicker of panic.

"Raven, let me explain..."

I cut him off with a hoarse voice, saying, "Are you the one who had my baby disposed of?"

He stared at me as if he couldn't believe that I wasn't angry about the fact that he and Nicki were expecting a child together.

Three seconds later, he finally looked away and said, "It was already a dead fetus. Medically speaking, it was medical waste. What was the point of keeping it? Nicki is pregnant now. She can't have something scary like that around her, so I had to get rid of it."

My eyes fell on Nicki's slightly round stomach, and I let out a bitter laugh. "But that was the only thing I had left to remember my baby by."

To me, my baby wasn't some medical waste, like he said.

Jesse opened his mouth to say something, but I shoved him aside and frantically started digging through the trash cans. A shard of broken glass sliced into my palm. Blood dripped from my fingertips.

Seeing that, Jesse frowned and instinctively came over to me.

Then, Nicki suddenly clutched her stomach and cried, "Are you doing this on purpose to disgust me?"

Jesse immediately stopped. Then, he strode over and grabbed my wrist.

"Apologize to Nicki first," he demanded.

His grip was so tight that blood kept seeping from my wound.

I yanked my hand free and glared at him through reddened eyes. "You were the ones who decided to dispose of my baby without asking me!"

Jesse's expression darkened, and his patience reached its limit.

He snapped, "Your baby? That was the child you had with your ex-husband! Did you ever stop to think about how I felt knowing you were keeping that thing? Apologize!"

I clenched my injured hand.

Suddenly, Nicki grabbed my arm and leaned closer. The pain on her face vanished, and in its place was a smug smile.

She said in a low voice, "Don't bother looking. They already took everything to the landfill and burned it. The dead should stay where they belong. How could I have ever been friends with someone as pathetic as you? You couldn't even protect your own child."

Then, she released my arm and looked at me like a victor staring down at her defeated opponent.

I looked at the thin column of smoke rising from the landfill in the distance. The tears I'd been holding back came pouring out.