Chapter 2

The hospital room fell into an eerie silence.

David stood frozen, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard. "Mona, what did you say?"

"I said, divorce." I turned to face him, my expression completely blank.

I used to dream of spending my whole life with this man, but now, I wanted him out of my life.

"Are you crazy?" David blurted out. "You're fine, the baby's fine. That means nothing went wrong during the delivery yesterday. So you want a divorce because I wasn't there for the delivery?"

I couldn't help but laugh sarcastically.

This was the man I once fell for.

As long as neither the baby nor I died, he acted like nothing was wrong.

I asked, "Our daughter was born with severe asphyxia because of meconium-stained amniotic fluid. She only scored a seven on the Apgar test and is still fighting for her life in the NICU.

"I lost so much blood after delivery that I needed 2000cc of transfusions, and I'm still not out of danger. So tell me, David, does that sound like nothing to you?"

David's face went ghostly pale, and he hurriedly pulled Jessica out of the room in a panic.

Later that afternoon, David came back.

This time, he brought his mom, Grace Carter, along to try to smooth things over.

As soon as Grace walked in, she grabbed my hand, tears already streaming down her face. "Mona, you've really been through a lot.

"I heard you came to the hospital and gave birth all by yourself yesterday. David really messed up. If you want to yell at him or smack him, go ahead. But don't bottle up your anger; getting upset isn't good for you right now."

She glanced at my face, then continued, "I know you're mad, but you two have a kid now. For the baby's sake, maybe you should sit down and talk things through, and give that fool one more chance."

I pulled my hand back, my face expressionless. "Grace, do you know where David was yesterday?"

She froze.

"He was at a bar," I said. "He organized a gathering, invited about ten people, all to celebrate Jessica's thirtieth birthday.

"Your son left his wife, who could go into labor at any moment, to celebrate the birthday of a woman who isn't even family.

"When I needed him most, he treated my cry for help like some kind of joke, and laughed at me with Jessica and the others. Tell me, am I not allowed to be angry?"

Grace's face changed. She looked at me, then at David. "David, what's going on here?"

"I... I didn't know Mona would go into labor so suddenly. Jessica was kidding." David's voice was hoarse.

He wouldn't stop defending Jessica.

Grace's expression got uglier and uglier, and finally, she spun around and slapped David hard across the face.

"You bastard!" she snapped. "Your wife was about to give birth, and you ditched her to celebrate another woman's birthday?"

A bright red handprint appeared on David's face. He clutched his cheek, looking at her like he couldn't believe it. "Mom, you hit me?"

"I'm your mother, and I'm beating you because you can't tell right from wrong, you worthless bastard!" Grace screeched, grabbing a broom and chasing David all over the place.

I watched as all hell broke loose, completely unfazed.

Her tears were real, her anger was real, and even her smacking David to vent for me was real.

But behind all that support was nothing but scheming.

Grace was using the baby and the whole filial piety thing to manipulate me, forcing me to swallow the pain and go back to the Carter family, so I could play along with their big, happy family act.

"Grace!" I yelled. "Drop the act. I don't want to see it."

Grace hesitated, her eyes darting. "I'm doing this for you."

I replied, "Don't pretend you're doing this for my sake. I only have one demand now. I want a divorce. We split everything fifty-fifty. The kid stays with me."

"No way!" Grace snapped, her voice rising. "That baby is the Carter family's blood. There's no way we're letting you take her."

"Mona, that's enough!" David shouted, his voice full of anger and disbelief. "I already apologized to you. What more do you want?

"All I did was go out for drinks with some friends; it's not like I committed some horrible crime. Are you really going to blow up our marriage and make our daughter grow up without a dad?"

"She's my daughter," I shot back, my voice loud and clear. "Laura takes my last name, Laura Foster. It's already on the birth certificate."

"Why should she?" Grace shrieked, her voice sharp with anger. "She's the Carter family's first granddaughter. She should have our last name and be called Mia Carter, following the Carter family tradition.

"Go right now and make them change my granddaughter's name back to Mia Carter."

I let out a mocking laugh. "I carried this baby and gave birth to her. I signed the C-section consent form on my own. David? Besides contributing a sperm, what else has he ever done for this child?"

Just then, an overly dramatic voice rang out from the doorway. "Mona, aren't you going a bit too far?"

Jessica strutted in wearing high heels and slithered over to David with exaggerated grace.

She expertly slipped off her coat and tossed it onto David's shoulders, then crossed her arms, acting like she was the judge and jury here.

Jessica said, "You're living in David's house, spending his money, driving his car, and even last night's surgery was paid for with his family card. So what makes you think you can deny the baby his last name?"

"Because I nearly died giving birth to her," I shot back.

Pulling back my hospital gown, I revealed the bruised IV marks beneath my collarbone. "I survived six hours of post-op monitoring on my own.

"I was allergic to the pain pump, threw up three times, and no one cared enough to hand me a glass of water.

"And what were you all doing? Were you at the bar, making bets about me, whether I'd call, whether I'd act pathetic, or maybe..."

I paused, watching her shoulders tense up. "Or were you betting on whether I'd survive and bring this baby into the world?"

I stood up and walked right up to her, close enough to catch the scent of Chanel No. 5 on her, the same scent lingering on David's coat.

I pressed, "The day after my C-section, you show up wearing his coat, staking your claim. Are you really that eager to piss me off and take my spot?"

Jessica's cheeks turned red, then she fired back angrily, "What are you talking about? David and I have a pure brotherly bond, that's all."

"Brotherly bond?" I sneered. "Brotherly bond means he knows your period and buys you food every day? Brotherly bond means you know he loves spicy food, hates cilantro, and you know his underwear size?"

Jessica was stunned, instinctively glancing at David. Tears hung on her cheeks, and she looked anything but pitiful.

"Enough!" David roared, slamming his hand down on the nightstand so hard it shook the whole room. "So you really want to tear everything apart and get divorced, is that it?

"Fine. Give me back the 100 thousand dollars in the wedding gift and the jewelry. As for the prenatal checkups and delivery, those were covered by your personal insurance, totaling 10 thousand dollars.

"You split that with me, half and half. If we're going to settle accounts, let's make it crystal clear!"

My breath caught, and I gripped the hospital bed's railing so hard my knuckles turned white.