All Chapters of What the Sea Could Not Keep: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

When Vivienne Mayne saw me, she gave me a helpless smile. There was not the slightest embarrassment of being exposed.She invited me in with the ease of a hostess and told the housekeeper to bring me a cup of warm milk."Nora, you are pregnant. Tap water is not good for you."I looked straight into her eyes and asked calmly, "How long?"Vivienne smiled, then slowly pushed a marriage certificate across the table.The registration date was May 21, eight years ago.My head rang. My scalp went numb.That night, Robert Blackwell booked a whole pack of drones over Harbor City and confessed his love to me in the most public way possible. We kissed beneath fireworks bright enough to shake the whole city.On that very same day, he took Vivienne Mayne to the courthouse and became her legal husband.I stared blankly at that certificate and laughed at myself. A suffocating pain pressed into my chest.Vivienne sighed as if she pitied me."Nora, do not blame me."I have known about you a

Chapter 2

Disbelief flashed through Robert's eyes.He gripped my hand tightly, his tone so hard it left no room for argument."No."I will never separate from you."I want you and the child both."The moment he finished speaking, Vivienne screamed from upstairs."Robert! Clark fainted and is convulsing! We need to get him to the hospital!"Robert instantly released my hand and rushed upstairs.In a moment, the enormous villa was empty except for me.I looked around at the home he and Vivienne had shared for eight years.On the wall hung a family photo of the three of them, with the turquoise water and blue sky of the Maldives behind them.For three years, I had begged Robert to take me to the beach. I even made it my birthday wish.But he always put me off."I am too busy lately. Next time."In the dog bed in the corner lay a custom suit.It was the suit I had personally chosen for our wedding. Now it was covered in dog hair and dust.My heart finally died. I forced back the ache

Chapter 3

A nurse came over and pushed a thick needle into my vein.I watched my blood leave my body, powerless to stop it.Humiliated tears slid silently down my face.Robert came closer and wiped them away with his warm palm.He was careful, almost tender, when he said, "Nora, I know you feel wronged."After this is over, whatever you want, I will make it up to you."When the five hundred milliliters were finally drawn, I collapsed in the chair. Even lifting a finger took effort.Robert took the blood bag and ran straight toward the ICU.The tear tracks on Vivienne's face had already dried.She returned to her usual lofty, dismissive self and said to me, "You can go now."I will have the driver take you back to the hotel to rest."There was not a single thank-you. It was as if everything were only natural.I braced myself against the chair and struggled to stand.Meeting Vivienne's eyes, I said weakly, "The debt I owed you is repaid today."From now on, we owe each other nothing.

Chapter 4

I shot upright.A heavy, blunt pain tore through my incision.Gritting my teeth, I looked around in panic.The bassinet beside me was empty.A chill rushed to the top of my head.With trembling hands, I pressed the call button beside the bed again and again.A nurse hurried in.Using a translation app, I gestured helplessly."The baby?"Where is my baby?"The nurse's face filled with pity.She picked up the translation device and slowly typed a line."Placental abruption, severe hemorrhage, delayed emergency treatment. The baby boy died of asphyxiation. We are very sorry."I stared at the words on the screen. It felt as if someone had hollowed out my heart.A wave of nausea surged up, and I retched violently.Nothing came out.I knelt by the bed, tears streaming down my face, but not a sound escaped me.Then came the physical ache of milk letdown. My hospital gown grew wet.The loud cry of a newborn from the next room was like a red-hot brand pressed into my heart.I

Chapter 5

The next day, Robert's assistant came to pick me up.All he found was a floor covered in torn-up pieces of the check.When the assistant reported it, Robert listened and sneered with disdain."A penniless woman. Where could she possibly go?"Ignore her. She will come back after making a scene for two days."For an entire week, his assistant searched every hotel and every overseas community, but found nothing.At last, he reported with trembling fear, "Mr. Blackwell, Mrs. Stirling got into an unlicensed Maybach outside the hospital at three in the morning."We cannot trace where it went."Robert's eyes turned dark and vicious. Veins stood out on his forehead as he pointed at the assistant and cursed."A penniless woman. An unlicensed car. Who is helping her?"He completely lost control and smashed everything within reach."What are you people paid for? Find her. Find her at any cost."I do not believe she can fly out of my palm."After I left, Robert often read through our

Chapter 6

In college, my father never gave me a cent for living expenses.To balance school and survival, I could only work the night shift at a convenience store.One night around two in the morning, a drunk vagrant came in and grabbed my hand.I picked up a broom and fought him off.Enraged, he shoved me hard.I slammed into the glass counter, blood pouring from my forehead.Then Robert suddenly rushed in.He punched the vagrant down and did not stop until the man was bleeding from the nose.Then he turned to me, saw my blood-covered head, and burst into tears from heartache."You are a girl. What if something really happened to you?"Can I buy this convenience store? You do not have to work here anymore."I shook my head.Later, he drove straight to my house.He grabbed my father by the collar and punched him twice.My father was beaten senseless and sobered up halfway on the spot.Holding his collar, Robert shouted, "Why are you making your daughter work the three-in-the-morni

Chapter 7

Before the acquisition talks, I cleared the room in advance.Only Vivienne and I remained.When she saw that I was the person sitting across from her, triumph immediately spread across her face."You? The CEO of Meridian Group?"She looked me up and down, every glance dripping with contempt."Still dreaming of climbing onto a higher branch? Too bad. An ugly duckling stays an ugly duckling. No matter how you dress up, you cannot hide the poverty in your bones."I ignored her and handed over a document."Ms. Mayne, before we discuss the acquisition, I suggest you look at this."Vivienne took it doubtfully. Her face changed at once.It was a paternity test."Robert Blackwell is type A blood, and you are type B."How could your son be type O?"Her face grew paler as I spoke."Counting backward from your son's date of birth, at the time of conception, Robert was in the States with me. He was not with you at all."As soon as I finished, Vivienne screamed hysterically."So what

Chapter 8

The man had wasted away until he looked like a skeleton.When he saw me, he suddenly smiled.He lifted his hand, wanting to touch me.But he was so weak he did not even have the strength to extend a finger."Nora."You finally came."I did not respond. I took the acquisition agreement from my bag and placed it before him."Robert Blackwell, I did not come to visit you."I came to inform you that your company has been acquired by me.""Also," I paused and took out the paternity test, "Clark is not your biological son. Vivienne cheated on you."When he saw it clearly, the numbers on the heart monitor began jumping wildly.He clutched his chest. Every breath seemed to bring unbearable pain."Nora, it is my fault..."I know I do not have much time left. Could I beg you to handle my funeral affairs?"I did too many things to hurt you. But I truly..."I only ever loved you."His tone was too sincere.The sting in my eyes could no longer be held back, and a tear fell into his

Chapter 9

My heart skipped.I immediately drove toward the location attached to the message.It was a hospice hospital.When I pushed open the door, the smell of death rushed at me.Vivienne lay paralyzed in the hospital bed, reduced to skin and bones.When she saw me arrive in a rush, she squeezed out a mocking smile."You came after all.""Where is the child?"That was all I cared about.She turned her head away and snorted, deliberately keeping me in suspense.I rushed over, grabbed Vivienne's arm, and demanded sharply, "I asked you where the child is.""He is not dead."Those two light words struck my heart with enormous weight.Seeing my tears flow, she finally told the truth with something like pity.Back then overseas, a kind immigrant woman had taken me to the hospital.During the emergency treatment, the doctor called the emergency contact in my phone.The contact was Robert.But Vivienne answered the call.When she heard that a baby boy had been born safely, her uneas

Chapter 10

I named him Leo, hoping his life would be bright and his road ahead filled with light.I took my son to the best doctors and healed every injury on his body.Gradually, he became lively and adorable. Color returned to his face.Every day, I ate breakfast with him and took him to school.At night, I told him stories and coaxed him to sleep.On weekends, I took him hiking to be close to nature and to the park to feed pigeons.But he never said a word.For a full six months, he never once called me Mom.I was not in a hurry.Because I often felt I owed him too much.I made him the scrambled eggs he loved.On rainy days, I let him be as wild as he wanted and happily splash through puddles.At the supermarket, he always secretly watched my face. His little hand would reach out, then shrink back.Every time I saw it, my heart felt bitter and sore.I crouched down to comfort him."Take whatever you want. Mom can afford it."One morning a year later, I made him a heart-shaped b

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