Chapter 2

It was our third year in business, and Richard's company had finally gone from a tiny workshop to a shiny tech building downtown.

I clutched the pregnancy test results and dashed over, eager to share the good news with him.

But when I opened the door, I saw Vivian, dressed in a white sundress, holding onto Richard's arm.

She was one of the few friends from high school that Richard ever mentioned.

Vivian kept calling me "Susan" in that sweet, familiar way, like we were friends.

She said, "Susan, I really envy you. You stuck by Richard through all the ups and downs, and now you two finally made it.

"He used to say back in high school that he wanted the girl he liked to have the best life."

Vivian grabbed my hand, grinning at me like we were friends.

I was so clueless back then. I never noticed the jealousy and scheming in her eyes. I honestly thought she was a real friend.

When I was five months pregnant, Vivian called me in tears, saying she was in trouble.

Without thinking twice, I grabbed a cab and hurried out to a hotel on the outskirts, my baby bump making everything harder.

As soon as I opened the door, the smell of alcohol hit me like a wall. Scattered on the floor were a strange man's jacket and the cream dress I'd worn just yesterday.

On the bed lay an unfamiliar man, barely dressed and looking out of it. Vivian was nowhere to be found.

Just as I was about to leave, Richard walked in, with Vivian following behind him, her eyes swollen from crying.

"Susan, what are you doing?" Richard demanded, his voice icy. His gaze swept over the chaos, then landed on me, filled with devastating disappointment.

Vivian immediately threw herself into his arms. "Richard, I invited Susan for coffee and snacks, but I never expected she'd bring another man here."

Just then, the man on the bed woke up, putting on a show of surprise. "Susan, who are these people?"

I was trembling as I tried to explain, my voice barely steady. "I don't even know this man. Vivian called me. She said she was in trouble."

But Richard glared at me, his eyes locked on mine, cold and full of suspicion. "Your dress is right here. Are you seriously still trying to deny it?

"Susan, you know I can't stand betrayal. You know that better than anyone."

He ignored all my pleas, dragged me home by force, and locked me away in the bedroom.

My stomach throbbed with pain. I hammered desperately on the door, begging him to take me to the hospital.

His response was nothing but indifference. "Susan, you have to choose, either this bastard child or me. You can't have both."

The pain was overwhelming, and I passed out.

When I woke up in that hospital bed, I was still holding onto the delusion that once Richard calmed down, he'd finally believe me.

But that wishful thinking was crushed almost instantly.

Richard stopped coming home, and even when he did, he barely even looked at me, as if I was nothing but a ghost.

He was warm and gentle with everyone else, but toward me, there was nothing left but bone-chilling coldness.

Vivian started popping up everywhere, but she wasn't friendly with me anymore. Instead, she kept making snide remarks about me to Richard every chance she got.

She said, "Richard, Susan is really popular. That guy she supposedly cheated with still can't get over her, and even her childhood friend is searching the whole city for her."

Every time, Richard would frown and question me, and no matter how many times I tried to explain, he never believed me.

Then one day, Vivian was parading my mother's pendant right in front of me, rubbing it in like she owned the place.

To my shock, Richard had actually given it to her.

I finally snapped and reached out to snatch it, but her foot suddenly slipped, and she tumbled down beside the couch.

Just then, Richard walked in, rushed over to help her up, and barked at me, "Susan, what did you do to her?"

"Don't blame Susan. It was my own fault..." Vivian whispered, tugging at his sleeve.

I saw the disgust in Richard's eyes, and all the frustration I'd been bottling up just burst out. "You gave my mom's keepsake to her to win her over, and now you have the nerve to question me?"

Richard looked a bit confused for a moment, but he still stepped in front of Vivian to protect her. "It's some dead person's stuff. Why bother fighting over it?"

Vivian lifted the pendant with a taunting grin, then slammed it hard onto the floor, shattering it.

I completely lost control, grabbed the broken pieces, and rushed at her, but as soon as my hand touched her, Richard forcefully shoved me aside.

My belly crashed into the wall, pain ripping through me, but he didn't even glance at me. He cradled Vivian in his arms and rushed her to the hospital.

When Richard came back, he brought orderlies from the psych ward with him.

"Susan, you hurt Vivian for that bastard kid. You're staying in the psych ward, and nobody's letting you out unless I say so," Richard said, his voice cold as ice. The medical staff seized me, rough and unyielding.

I fought and yelled, telling them I wasn't crazy, but Richard turned his back on me, never looking at me again.

Five months pregnant, I ended up locked away in that hellish psych ward.

Because Richard made sure of it, the orderlies forced me to take medicine.

Even though I kept telling them I wasn't sick and that I was pregnant, nobody cared.

The bitter liquid was shoved down my throat, making me cough and cry out, and my baby was restless inside me.

The side effects left me dizzy, nauseous, and so weak I could barely stand.

I had to endure the orderlies hitting and yelling at me, other patients harassing me, and they even made me scrub toilets.