Chapter 3
"Samuel, every time you care about her, you're punishing me. It's only because I love you so much that I'd rather you hurt me," she said.
Samuel comforted her with concern. "Layla, don't cry. It hurts me to see you cry."
"Alright. I'll stay with you a few more days. Marlene's due date isn't for a while anyway," Samuel said.
At that moment, Layla ended the call.
My heart was broken.
I turned my head and said to Jeremiah standing by the hospital bed, "Don't tell Samuel it was me. Just say I'm not satisfied with the compensation he offered."
No matter how much money Samuel offered, it couldn't bring my child back.
Because I refused the compensation without saying what amount I wanted, Samuel thought I was trying to extort money.
He spent a few more days abroad with Layla and only came to the hospital after returning.
His mother, Katie, came with him.
She said, "I heard that the pregnant woman who lost her child is asking for an outrageous sum."
Katie's voice echoed down the hospital hallway. When she heard her beloved son was in trouble, she rushed to the hospital too.
"It's not that our family can't afford the money, but how could a minor car accident kill the unborn baby? Who would believe that?" she said.
"Maybe she never wanted the child in the first place and used the car accident as an excuse to secretly abort it.
"They can even use it as an excuse to extort a big sum of money from us!" she shouted.
Maybe he felt Katie's words were too harsh, so Samuel tried to persuade her.
"Mom, the car accident that day really was an accident.
"If money can solve the problem, I don't want things to get out of hand," Samuel said.
Lying in the hospital bed, I listened to his insincere words and couldn't help but sneer.
Katie continued speaking.
"You underestimate people. I heard that the woman dragged her dying body to the morgue and knelt in front of the child's body for a long time.
"It was all just to gain sympathy and demand more money from you.
"Her bastard child was only eight months along. If born, it might have a disability."
Samuel picked up on the meaning behind his mother's words.
"Eight months... Isn't that the same as Marlene? Fortunately, my child is safe and sound," Samuel said.
They were already at the door of the hospital room as they spoke, and Samuel pushed the door open.
I sat in a wheelchair, holding my child's urn in my hands.
"You finally came."
I spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Samuel, your child is dead. How much do you think he was worth?"
Samuel froze on the spot, unable to speak for a long time.
Clearly, he couldn't believe what he saw.
"Marlene, what's wrong with you... My grandson died such a tragic death because of you!"
Instead, Katie was the first to react. She finally realized that the child she kept calling a brat was actually the blood of the Gibson family.
Samuel's legs gave out, and he knelt before my wheelchair.
His eyes were rimmed with red.
And in disbelief, he murmured, "Our child is dead? How could this happen?"
After all, that was Samuel's own flesh and blood. He choked back tears and asked me. "Where is the child now?"
My gaze fell on the urn in my hands.
"Right here."
Samuel's expression instantly flashed with anger.
"You made the decision to cremate our child without me there? Marlene, how could you be so selfish!"
These past few days, my tears had already run dry.
So when I heard Samuel blame me, I felt no urge to cry or grieve.
"The one who caused the accident was you, the one who argued with the driver and delayed my rescue was you, and the one who ignored me while traveling with Layla was also you.
"So who is really selfish?"
Samuel was left speechless by my retort.
Katie started shouting at me.
"I've known from the start that you weren't good enough. If Samuel hadn't begged me back then, I never would have let you marry into the Gibson family.
"You couldn't even save your own child. How do you have the nerve to blame your husband?"
She was right. When Samuel and I got together, everyone in the Gibson family was against it.
Because my parents died in a car accident when I was young, they looked down on my background and didn't think I was a match for the Gibson family's status.
So when Layla appeared, Katie secretly told him that if he had married Layla instead, nobody in the family would have objected.
Layla came from a privileged family. She and Samuel were a perfect match.
"There is no daughter-in-law like this in the Gibson family. Get out of our family!"
Katie was still cursing, while the grief-stricken Samuel finally couldn't hold back and had to intervene.
"Mom, Marlene is already devastated by losing the baby. Could you stop making things worse here?" he said.