After that, he and Valerie took off their surgical gowns and left the operating theater. The nurse gave me some painkillers and told me to rest for a while before leaving.
When I left the operating theater, I saw that Chuck’s office door was shut. I had no idea where he was; he didn’t even bother sparing me a glance before leaving. I knew his so-called work was just an excuse for him to spend time with Valerie.
I headed home and went to the kitchen to make some oatmeal. I only felt better after drinking it. I checked my phone to see that I didn’t have any unread messages.
Chuck hadn’t bothered checking in with me, but I still called him. “Are you coming home tonight, Chuck?”
I heard the carefree chatter and laughter on the other end of the line come to an abrupt stop. He said, “I have another operation tonight. I won’t be back. I’ll sleep in my office. Don’t bother bringing me anything to eat.”
Chuck hadn’t gotten any better at lying. He’d already left the hospital before me, and I’d clearly heard Valerie’s laughter over the phone.
I smiled self-deprecatingly. Where would I find the time and energy to cook for him when I could barely care for myself?
In the past, I would make him chicken noodle soup and bring it to the hospital in the middle of the night when he was working the night shift. He could never sleep or eat well when on duty.
I didn’t know when things had changed, but he stopped needing my concern. Valerie was now the one who brought him food and cared for him.
Chuck quickly hung up, seemingly afraid that I would disturb him and Valerie. I scrolled through social media to see that Valerie had shared a new photo. It was captioned, “Thanks to a certain someone for carefully putting this candlelight dinner together.”
The photo was one of Valerie’s selfies. She made the peace sign at the camera, and there wasn’t anyone else in the photo with her. However, I still sharply saw half of a man’s hand in the bottom right corner.
I immediately recognized it as Chuck’s because he wore the wedding ring we’d bought together. I locked my phone and headed to the bedroom, falling onto the bed tiredly without even washing my face or showering.
I thought about the things Chuck had done. No matter how deeply I loved him, it couldn’t withstand the torment he had put me through.
Chuck’s mother, Marge Brown, had never liked me. On the contrary, she liked Valerie, who looked like she was easier to control. She’d originally been trying to talk Chuck into divorcing me when I’d suddenly announced my pregnancy. She’d had no choice but to suppress her displeasure.
However, she called Chuck one day and told him she’d gone to a church to ask for a blessing. The pastor had told her that my baby couldn’t be brought into this world because its fortune opposed Chuck’s. If we were to insist on having the baby, Chuck would be in trouble. There was a chance it would be fatal.
Chuck had been terrified upon hearing them. He frequently did abortions, so he thought it was the fetuses he’d aborted coming back to haunt him.
So, he decided to personally abort my child. He was unmoved despite my pleas and even told me we could always have another child. This one just had to go.
He forcefully dragged me into the operating theater and got rid of the baby. Only then could he rest easy.
I hadn’t expected him to get Valerie involved, though. I couldn’t believe his mind had still been on her at a time like that.
Valerie and Chuck were childhood sweethearts, but she’d later left the country to study abroad.
