Chapter 2

Footsteps echoed outside the door. Lucas's takeout had arrived.

As he grabbed it, I paused for a moment before speaking. "Since it's your family dinner, I'll skip it."

"What do you mean?" Lucas turned to look at me.

I waved my hand. "We're splitting up anyway. I won't go to the family dinner. I'll move out soon. The kid's gone, so it doesn't matter."

At the mention of the kid, the anger in Lucas's eyes faded instantly.

He must have remembered. After I got pregnant, I asked him to marry me so the baby would be legitimate.

Lucas promised without hesitation, but he bailed on me seven times when we were supposed to get the marriage certificate.

The seventh time, I was already standing right outside the city hall.

But Lucas got a call and rushed back. The reason? Charlotte messed up at work and got yelled at by the client.

It wasn't that serious. What really mattered was that the person on the other end had already taken over Lucas's heart.

As if it were only natural, I was left standing outside the city hall.

On the phone, Lucas kept assuring me he'd be back soon, telling me to wait a little longer.

But because I waited, I ended up getting hit by a drunk driver right there on the spot.

When I woke up, I had lost the baby.

Sometimes I wondered if the little one inside me felt that his parents didn't love each other, so he left us before he was born.

Maybe it was better for him, not having to come into this messed-up family.

"I can explain what happened last time." Lucas stood there holding the takeout, hesitating for a long moment before finally dropping his head in shame.

That baby wasn't mine alone. He was the one who broke his promise, and there was no excuse for that.

But that didn't stop him from trying to comfort himself.

Lucas said, "That day, I told you straight up. Charlotte got chewed out by the client and ended up in tears. Her parents brought her over, so of course, I had to make sure everything was taken care of for her.

"And you? Standing outside the city hall, pregnant, did you ever stop to think about your own issues? Maybe the baby thought you weren't good enough to be his mom, so he chose to leave."

My heart stung, but I forced a smile. "Yeah, I guess I'm not fit to be a mom."

Before all this, I never would've imagined Lucas saying something like that to me.

Lucas and I first met in college. He claimed it was love at first sight.

It sounded almost unbelievable, but that day, the sun was shining, and Lucas showed up with a bouquet, asking if I'd be his girlfriend. That was the moment my heart wavered.

After we got together, we kept fighting because of our different backgrounds and the way we handled money.

Lucas was always the one to swallow his pride. Even with his family trying to break us up, he'd secretly fly back from abroad, time after time.

Countless flight tickets and those chilly text messages were the only comfort we had left.

We barely scraped through graduation, and then Lucas set out to build something of his own.

That year was brutal. I squeezed into a tiny, shabby rental with him, and we ran into all kinds of characters.

Once, our neighbor girl got pregnant.

She was always undernourished and constantly taking care of her boyfriend. Eventually, she had a miscarriage and was bleeding badly. Lucas and I ended up rushing her to the hospital ourselves.

Inside the hospital room, her agonizing screams filled the air. Outside, Lucas, tears streaming down his face, swore he'd love me for the rest of his life.

If he could, he said he'd rather go without kids if it meant keeping me safe. But if we ever did have one, he'd always put me first.

That night, I heard the sweetest words of love I'd ever known.

After everything changed, the man I once loved started saying I wasn't good enough to be a mom. He didn't care about me anymore. That was the moment I realized he didn't love me anymore.

The next morning, Lucas was pissed at what I said, so he left early to pick up Charlotte.

I didn't stop him. Once he was gone, I packed my bags and left that place.

No amount of cold walls could cage a soul longing for freedom, and love was never a reason for Lucas to keep demanding everything from me.

To move on from this broken love, I booked a flight to Silverlake.

That week, I wandered among mountains and rivers, and witnessed a kind of beauty in the world I'd never seen before.

When I got home, the first thing I did was get myself checked from head to toe.

After the accident, there were no lasting injuries, almost as if my baby had shielded me from harm. Even the doctor was amazed and couldn't help but compliment my recovery.

"Ms. Lane, your recovery is remarkable. I'll prescribe you some remedies to help you regain your strength. It won't be long before you'll be able to have children again," the doctor said.

I placed my hand gently on my belly, remembering how a little life once grew there.

His passing was so quiet, it didn't even leave a mark on my health.

"By the way, Ms. Lane, I've been sharing those recipes you developed with a lot of my patients, and they've all given great feedback. Thank you for helping me solve a tough problem," the doctor added.

He was talking about the meals I used to make for Lucas every day.

I put a lot of effort into making sure they were both nutritious and delicious, so Lucas would be well taken care of. No wonder they turned out so well.

For patients who had just been discharged, my recipes helped them recover their strength much faster.

The doctor happened to notice my skills when I was in the hospital and ended up asking me for quite a few of my recipes.

Honestly, I'd much rather help other people than waste my cooking on Lucas, that ungrateful bastard.

As I was leaving the hospital, I bumped into Charlotte.

Standing next to her was a woman who looked every bit the picture of elegance and wealth. It was Angela.

They were both surprised to see me at the hospital. Charlotte asked with concern if I was feeling unwell.

Angela shot me a cold look and snapped, "Skipping the family dinner to run off to the hospital? If you're so protective of your own life, how could you fail to protect my grandson?"

See? The people who couldn't stand one always knew one's weak spots best.

"Mrs. Carter, please don't say that about Nina. She's hurting too after losing the baby. We're here to keep you company at the doctor's, right? Let's head in," Charlotte said.

She shot me a playful wink, clearly pleased with herself for coming to my rescue.

Angela let it go, but Lucas scowled at me, clearly annoyed. "Why are you here? Are you up to something again?"

The accident was still fresh, and I had some scrapes and bruises left. I held up my wrist to show him, snarking, "What, Mr. Carter? Are you so bossy that you want to stop me from seeing a doctor?"

"That's not what I meant." Lucas's expression shifted, and he glanced at my stomach.

Charlotte picked up on the vibe between us and quickly grabbed his sleeve. "Come on, Mrs. Carter's waiting. Her stomach's been acting up lately, and I heard this hospital has some awesome recipes. I'll whip them up for you guys later."

After breaking up our conversation, Charlotte firmly dragged Lucas off.

Angela let out a cold snort.

Lucas, with his back to me, warned me. "Nina, enough with this already. I figured you needed some time away, but now it's time for you to move back in. And today my mom has finally given us her blessing to get married."

That should have been good news, but I gave a bitter laugh and walked away.

Lucas couldn't stop glancing back at me as he left, and I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't care.

Now, the only thing tying us together was that house and the shares.

We bought it together when we decided to get married. To keep the Carter family from accusing me of taking advantage, I paid for half the house and all the renovations.

If we were splitting up, then let's split up for good.