Chapter 2

Willa returned from abroad two years ago.

It was two weeks before my first pregnancy.

She and Ian had grown up together, and their parents had once been close.

When they were children, everyone assumed they would marry someday.

Then Willa went abroad, and Ian met me at university.

We dated for seven years and had been married for four.

Before she came back, I never thought her name could threaten my marriage.

Ian picked her up from the airport himself the day she returned.

He didn’t get home until eleven that night.

A small patch on the shoulder of his shirt was damp, as though someone had cried against it.

When I asked about it, he said Willa had just divorced and was upset.

A few days later, Willa came to our home for the first time.

I had just learned I was pregnant but hadn’t told Ian yet.

She stood in the living room and stared for a long time at the plans for our empty nursery.

"Are you planning to have a baby?"

"We have been for a while," I said with a smile.

Her face went pale.

The cup slipped from her hand and shattered, cutting her ankle.

Ian rushed over almost at once and picked her up.

I had never seen him so alarmed.

He carried her to the hospital without even looking back at me.

That night, he told me Willa had lost a pregnancy abroad. Complications from the surgery made it unlikely she would conceive again.

"She can’t bear to hear about babies right now. Don’t bring up children in front of her again."

I still hadn’t told him about my pregnancy, and I thought he was far too worried about her.

Three days later, I put a pregnancy test with two red lines in front of him.

He stared at it for more than ten seconds.

I thought he was too happy to speak.

Then he hugged me and said softly, "How did this happen so suddenly?"

I laughed and gave him a playful swat. "We’ve been trying for six months. What’s sudden about it?"

He said nothing more.

The next day, the first silver lock charm appeared outside our front door.

At daybreak, Ian acted as though nothing had happened and went with me to my prenatal appointment.

The doctor reviewed the results and spoke gently.

"The baby’s heartbeat is normal. Your progesterone is a little low, but it isn’t serious."

"Since you’ve had two miscarriages, take your medication on schedule, rest in bed as much as possible, and avoid getting upset."

She prescribed two boxes of white progesterone tablets and explained the dosage.

Ian listened even more carefully than I did.

He noted the medication, dose, and times on his phone. He even asked whether missing one dose would be dangerous.

As we left the exam room, he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Everything will be fine this time."

I looked up at him.

There was worry in his eyes, and exhaustion too.

I had loved that face for ten years.

I knew exactly how his brow furrowed. I also knew he rubbed his index finger when he lied.

Now that finger brushed the edge of his phone again and again.

"How are you going to investigate the third charm?" I asked.

"I’ve already contacted building management."

"And after they check?"

"We’ll see what they find."

"What if they don’t find anything again?"