Chapter 3

Something snapped inside me. I screamed, desperate and broken, "Give it back. You don't even need it. Why take it? My mother is going to die."

I sobbed uncontrollably. "Evan, I'm begging you. Let me go. Let my mother go."

"Melantha, you still don't learn." Holding Felicia, Evan ordered coldly, "Throw her out!"

The guards dragged me away. I fought wildly, babbling that I was sorry, that I'd beg to Felicia, that I'd do anything.

No one listened. They tossed me out. My whole body shook uncontrollably. All I felt was despair. There was nothing I could do.

My mother called, asking why I wasn't home yet.

I forced my voice to sound light. "A friend treated me to dinner."

She was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Melantha, I am not going to get better. Don't run around anymore. You've done enough."

"Mom, don't talk like that. You can get better. Once... once we have the bone marrow, you'll be fine." I wiped my tears hard. "It's okay. Don't worry."

"Just being with you makes me happy." Her voice was calm. "Melantha, I want you to be happy. You've always been stubborn. Life might be harder for you. You're the one I worry about most."

The tears wouldn't stop. My voice trembled. "Mom, you're all I have."

"I know," she said gently. "Come home soon. On your way, buy some candied chestnuts. I'll wait for you."

On my way to buy the chestnuts, the hospital called. It was urgent. "Melantha, your mother drank pesticide. She's in emergency rescue."

I stumbled and scrambled back to the hospital. What waited for me was news of her death.

Mom didn't wait for me. She'd lied.

The nurse told me she'd locked herself in a narrow bathroom and drank the pesticide. By the time they found her, it was too late.

She shook her head sadly. "The bone marrow was already matched. The surgery was so close. What a waste."

Under the white sheet, my mother lay still, as if asleep, perfectly peaceful.

I held her hand, feeling her warmth fade bit by bit. Only then did it truly hit me.

Mom was gone.

Suffocating pain crushed down on me. I begged beside her, calling her name over and over.

No response.

I broke down sobbing. "Mom, please don't leave me. Don't leave me alone. You're all I have."

The nurse urged me to take care, then suddenly gasped. "What's wrong with you?"

I looked down. Dark red stained my pants.

"Are you pregnant? Oh my God." She quickly steadied me. "How could you not know you were pregnant?"

Warm liquid trickled from my nose. I touched it. It was blood.

Then, overwhelming dizziness swallowed me whole, and my consciousness faded into nothing.

When I woke up, the doctor told me I'd been over three months pregnant. But because of my weak body and extreme emotional stress, the baby was gone.

I touched my stomach. All I felt was a heavy, deep sorrow.

During my five years of marriage to Evan, we never had a child. Because of it, I'd seen countless doctors, taken endless medicine, but I just couldn't conceive.

I never imagined that after our divorce, this life would quietly appear... only to die inside me as I lost my mother.

Was this punishment for choosing the wrong man?

The doctor said my nosebleed had been severe and advised me to stay in the hospital. She told me to contact other family members to handle the arrangements.

I said softly, "I don't have any family left."

She shook her head with a sigh. "I'll notify you when the test results come in."

I took my mother home. I washed her carefully, dressed her, did everything right.

After that, I sat blankly through the whole night. Finally, in her phone, I found a deleted text, a photo sent by Evan.

It was from yesterday at the hotel entrance. Everyone was laughing, while I begged in the middle.

No words were needed. That photo said it all.

It was like he was laughing wildly. 'Look at your daughter, begging like a dog begging me.'

Mom didn't reply. She silently deleted the text... and along with it, her own will to live.

I sat there numb, stunned, until the doorbell jerked me back to reality. Dazed, I went to open it.

Evan stood outside, looking impatient. "Why aren't you answering my calls?"

My whole body started trembling uncontrollably.