After causing my abortion, my husband begged for forgiveness

chapter 3

I couldn't make out what Everett was saying at all. The servant standing nearby hesitated, wanting to step forward but not daring to move. As for me, I simply reached toward the pile of flames still burning.

Warm, thick blood trickled down my forehead, blurring my vision. I fumbled several times before finally picking up that necklace from the ashes.

Unfortunately, it had already been burned beyond recognition, twisted and deformed. It was just a plastic necklacecheap and fragile. Yet I still clutched it tightly in my palm, letting the scalding embers burn blisters into my skin, refusing to let go.

To ten-year-old me, wearing it meant I could become a princess from a fairy tale.

To me now, it was the only keepsake my parents had left behind. And now, this precious memory had been destroyed right before my eyes by his own hands.

I didn't understand why Everett had suddenly become a different person. If he no longer loved me, why not just say he wanted to leave? How could I possibly cling to him then?

I understood even less why Grace, who clearly liked him, wouldn't simply be with him. Instead, she chose to torment me on one side while flirting with him on the other, playing these ambiguous games.

Looking down at the divorce papers he had signed in my hand, I suddenly felt it was time to leave this land where I had lived for over twenty years.

I walked aimlessly, my vision growing increasingly blurred. I wiped the blood from my face with my hand, but my sight remained cloudy and unclear.

When I opened my eyes again, a familiar figure stood before me.

The hospital corridor was cold, white, and silent. Noah Howard handed me a test report.

He said, "How could you not know you were pregnant? Look at the state you're in. If I hadn't run into you on my way to a house call, you might have been hit by a car the next second."

Noah was a classmate from the class next door in high school who had pursued me for a while. After I got together with Everett, we lost touch. I never expected to run into him here after all these years, and he had become a doctor at this hospital.

Being seen in such a disheveled state by an old acquaintance made me feel inexplicably embarrassed, though I didn't know what to say. In the end, I just kept thanking him and transferred the exact amount for the medical fees to him.

Just as I turned to leave, a questioning voice came from behind: "What are you two doing?"

Everett stormed over in a rage, grabbing my arm with such force that I nearly lost my balance. When he saw the gauze wrapped around my head, he paused for a moment.

But he immediately demanded, "So that's why you suddenly wanted a divorce? You already had someone else, didn't you? You two have been in contact all along!"

"Noah, how can you be so shameless, always going after other men's wives? Have you no dignity!"

His words grew increasingly vicious, not only slandering me but also insulting Noah.

I forcefully shook off his grip and straightened up. "Everett, we're already divorced. The divorce papers have been signed."

"I take it back!" he practically roared, his eyes filled with disbelief and fury. "You want to be with this man, don't you? Answer me! Gabriela!"

Grace, her arm wrapped in gauze, tried to hold him back, but he shoved her aside.

I suddenly found it almost laughable. "The way you're acting, I'd think you still had feelings for me."

"Don't flatter yourself!" he sneered. "We haven't even gotten the divorce certificate yet, and you're already out there fooling around while still carrying my wife's title?"

At that moment, Grace spoke up casually, "I remember Dr. Howard pursued Ms. Reeds back in college, didn't he? You two seemed pretty close back then."

Everett's expression instantly darkened. Grace realized she'd said the wrong thing and stuck out her tongue awkwardly. "Sorry, Dr. Howard, maybe I remembered wrong."

Before Noah could respond, I said, "It's fine, I can handle this myself. Dr. Howard, you should get back to work."

I quietly hid the report behind my back and met Everett's gaze.

"You could carry on with other women throughout our marriage without a care in the world, but I couldn't do the same. Don't worry, I would never cheat."

"Ms. Reeds," Grace suddenly narrowed her eyes, and quick as lightning, snatched the report from behind my back.

She glanced down at it, her expression changing dramatically before quickly returning to calm. "Don't tell me that because Everett wants to divorce you, you got your classmate to fake a report? If this gets exposed, it could ruin Dr. Howard's entire career."

Everett let out a scornful laugh, his face full of disdain. "We've been married for three or four years, and you never got pregnant. Now suddenly overnight you're expecting? How long has it been since I even touched you? If you're going to fake something, at least make it logical."

I reached out to grab the report back, but Grace nimbly dodged away.

Everett actually stepped in front of her protectively, like some kind of instinctive reaction.

I laughed coldly. "What, are you planning to push me again for her sake?"

Everett's gaze fell on the gauze around my head again, but in the end, he said nothing. He snatched the report and threw it hard into my arms, coldly dropping the words "enough is enough" before turning to leave with Grace, their retreating figures resolute.

Over a month ago, Everett came home from a business dinner, completely wasted. He stumbled into the bedroom, held me close, and kept calling my name over and over, saying he loved me so much.

At the time, I thought Everett must love me, that there had to be some misunderstanding between us.

But the next morning when he woke up, he remembered nothing. When he saw me, his eyes were as cold as if he were looking at a stranger, even filled with disgust. I was driven back by that look.

The child was probably conceived that very night.

Now, it's probably for the best that he doesn't acknowledge this child.

He doesn't even care about his own parents' deaths, so he certainly wouldn't care about this child.

Since the marriage has reached its end anyway, an unwanted child shouldn't come into this world.

I just wondered if someday, when he learns that I terminated his child and discovers I wasn't lying, that his parents are both dead, and that he bears some responsibility for their deaths, would he break down completely?

At this thought, I felt an almost cruel sense of anticipation.

So I quietly scheduled an abortion.