Chapter 6

I slowly reached into the pocket of my dress.

My fingertips brushed against a folded slip of paper.

I took it out and unfolded it.

I did it slowly.

Then, I presented it to Samuel.

"Samuel," I said softly, my voice as clear as crystal, "take a good look."

Samuel frowned, his gaze falling on the paper with evident skepticism and impatience.

"What's this?" Samuel asked, his tone laced with suspicion that I was up to something again.

Vivian craned her neck with curiosity, her eyes burning with nosy interest.

It was an ultrasound report.

My name was printed at the top.

Below were medical terms and a faint, tiny image.

The date showed it was from three days ago.

I read out the key details in a flat, detached voice, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with me, "Pregnancy, six weeks."

Samuel's pupils constricted sharply.

For the first time, the icy mask on his face cracked.

Shock, disbelief, and even a flicker of panic crossed his features.

Samuel opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out.

Vivian's face went ghostly pale. Her eyes darted anxiously between Samuel and me, suspicion and shock flickering in her gaze. Without realizing it, she tightened her grip on Samuel's arm.

Looking at Samuel's face that was no longer a frozen mask, what welled up in me wasn't the thrill of revenge, but a deeper desolation.

I realized Samuel could also be shocked and lose his composure.

But this shock wasn't because of me. It was for the child Samuel never expected, the one who came uninvited.

I pulled my hand back, tearing my gaze away from Samuel's stunned face and letting it fall to the thin piece of paper in my hand.

Such a tiny, blurry image.

It represented a life that had truly existed.

My child.

And his, too.

I murmured silently to myself, "I'm sorry.

"I'm so sorry, my baby.

"I can't let you come into this world.

"I can't let you grow up where you're unwanted by your father, or even seen as a burden.

"I can't give you a warm, loving family.

"Rather than have you follow me through endless hardships and witness life's cruelty...

"it's better to spare you from the very start."

My fingers tightened around the ultrasound report.

A sharp tearing sound cut through the silence of the living room.

It was jarringly loud in the stillness.

Staring at Samuel, I tore that report, a symbol of a tiny life, into shreds.

My movements were slow, yet resolute.

It felt like a farewell ritual.

A farewell to this child.

And to the foolish version of myself I used to be.

Samuel's eyes remained fixed on my hands, the shock in his gaze morphing into something more complex, anger, or perhaps pain?

Suddenly, he took a forceful step forward and said in a voice cracking with emotion, "Melissa! Why did you do that?"

Vivian recoiled in shock, her face turning ashen.

I didn't stop.

I kept tearing it.

Until the paper was nothing but unrecognizable, tiny shreds.

Then I let go of them.

The white fragments fluttered down like a silent snowfall, scattering on the dark carpet, and settling beside the freshly signed divorce papers.

A complete mess, just like the end of my five-year marriage.

"I'm not keeping this child," I said in a calm voice and lifted my head to meet Samuel's blazing gaze.

Each word was like an ice-forged dagger, piercing his heart, and mine with equal precision.

"Samuel," I said as I stared at him, forcing a cruel smile, "we're done for good. Let's never meet again."

Goodbye and good riddance.

I would be the best on my own.

After saying that, I didn't bother to look at Samuel's face or Vivian's reaction.

I turned around, straightened my back, and walked steadily toward the door.

Behind me was a deathly silence and the scattered fragments on the floor, also the last pieces of our connection, now broken.

This time, I didn't look back.

I would never again.