Chapter 3

Underneath the medical report was a yellowed letter.

It was the first letter Adam ever wrote to me, pouring out his feelings.

I gently ran my fingers over his beautiful handwriting. He had changed so much; now, he only had eyes for Sophie.

Adam suddenly pushed the door open and walked in. When he saw my tear-streaked face, he paused, a bit stunned. "Why are you crying?"

He came over and tried to wipe away my tears, but I dodged his hand.

"Are you alright, Lily?" he asked, looking a bit lost.

I shook my head. "I'm fine. I remembered the day I became a mom."

He noticed the letter in my hand and looked a bit surprised.

I felt a jolt of panic and quickly snatched the letter away.

"I was looking for something and pulled it out by accident," I said.

Adam shot me a skeptical look. "You're pregnant, Lily; you shouldn't be crying all the time."

"I'm fine, really. Trust me, I'll be okay," I replied. "So, what brings you back again?"

"I came to pick up some clothes," Adam said. "And I wanted to ask, what design do you want engraved on the baby's anklet?"

I was a little surprised he cared about that.

"Maybe we could go with the blessings design," he suggested.

I lowered my gaze to my belly, my heart aching. "You can decide," I said softly.

Maybe that was for the best. From now on, we would each find our own happiness.

After Adam finished packing, he looked at me again. "Are you really okay?"

Seeing him like that, I couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of hope. "If I said I wasn't okay, would you stay with me?"

Adam gave me a wry smile, looking a bit awkward. "Lily, don't be like this, okay? Sophie's probably waiting for me. I don't want her to worry."

"I was kidding. Go ahead," I said, but the bitter voice in my head only made me feel even more ridiculous.

Why was I still holding out hope for him? I shouldn't expect anything from Adam anymore.

I stood up and started packing my bags, trying to push the thoughts away. But the tears kept slipping through, soaking my sadness and blurring all those memories from the past.

I put my luggage to the side and caught a glimpse of that jar of stars out of the corner of my eye.

Each star was a wish I had made, and Adam was the one who crushed every single hope I ever had.

I took out one of the stars and unfolded it, following the creases I had made before. As it lay open in my palm, my eyes fell on the ring on my finger.

Adam had crafted this ring for me with his own hands.

"I'm going to make you a ring that's truly unique, for you," he'd once promised.

When I woke up the next morning, there was a message from Adam waiting on my phone. He said the anklet was finished and told me to come pick it up.

Turned out, they had already moved out of the hospital and into a new place, and I was only finding out now.

I stood in front of the completely unfamiliar door and pressed the doorbell.

I was led to the garden, where Sophie was on a swing, gently swinging back and forth.

She looked like a princess, as if Adam had dressed her up himself, carefree, with not a worry in the world, as if everything around her was peaceful and perfect.

I couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.

Even if it was a little.

I collected myself and quietly asked, "Where's Adam?"

Sophie turned to look at me, a smug smile on her face, as if everything belonged to her now.

"Oh, Lily, you're here for the anklet, aren't you?" she said.

I nodded softly.

Sophie walked over to me, looking even more pleased with herself, and that was when I noticed the tiny anklet hanging around her neck.

"I thought it was cute, so I had Adam give it to me," Sophie said. "You want one, too? I'll tell Adam to make you another."

Seeing that smug look on her face, it was like a block of ice dropped into my chest.

My baby never got a chance to come into this world, and all I wanted was an anklet that belonged only to him.

Why did you hand it over to Sophie like it meant nothing?

All those painful memories came flooding back. I never asked you for anything, Adam. I even agreed to let you be with Sophie whenever you wanted. I loved you so much, I could forgive you for anything.

But why were you being so cruel this time?

That anklet was supposed to be for our child.

My whole body trembled with rage.

When I looked up at Sophie again, my eyes were blazing red.

Sophie looked genuinely shocked to see me like this.

Before she could react, I slapped her hard across the face.

She stared at me, clutching her cheek in disbelief. "You dare hit me?"

"This slap is for my child," I said.

I didn't ever want to see her or Adam again.

Behind me, only Sophie's crying echoed through the garden.

Adam rushed over when he heard the commotion, his face falling with concern for Sophie. "Sophie, what happened? Who hit you?"

While Adam wasn't paying attention, Sophie quickly slipped the anklet off her neck and hid it in her pocket.

Then, crying her eyes out, she sobbed, "It was Lily. She came for the anklet, and I told her I didn't know where it was. But she accused me of losing it, and then she slapped me."

Adam's anger flared when he heard this, but Sophie hurried to calm him down, insisting it was no big deal.

But as Adam thought about it, he found it strange; what could have made Lily slap Sophie like that?

"Adam, my face hurts so much," Sophie sobbed.

Adam spoke to her in a soothing voice, but the suspicion gnawed at him more and more.

The servant's voice broke his train of thought. "Mr. Simons is here."

"You don't like hospitals, right? I asked my private doctor to come over, so we won't have to deal with hospitals anymore," Adam said softly.

The doctor, George Simons, gave Sophie a quick check-up, then pulled out some medical records he had picked up from the hospital. "I went to get Sophie's previous medical records.

"After reviewing them, I can say that as long as she avoids any emotional stress, she'll gradually recover. You can rest easy, Mr. Carter."

Adam let out a sigh of relief.

George pulled out another sheet and said, "Actually, Mr. Carter, Mrs. Carter needs to be extra careful. I happened to see her medical records at the hospital, so I brought them over, too.

"She really needs to rest and take care of herself; if she doesn't, she could end up with health problems that might make it hard for her to have another child in the future."

Adam's brow furrowed, a hint of surprise in his voice. "What do you mean? What's wrong with her?"

"Mrs. Carter recently had a miscarriage. She really needs to take care of herself..." George said softly.

"A miscarriage?" Adam cut him off, his face full of disbelief. "What are you talking about? Who had a miscarriage?"

George stared at him, confused by Adam's cluelessness. "You really didn't know, Mr. Carter? Mrs. Carter lost the baby a week ago."

Adam was left completely dumbfounded. Why didn't she ever tell me? Why did she keep everything hidden from me?

He grabbed the report from George's hands. And sure enough, it was the record of my miscarriage.