Alan didn't bother to explain further. He didn't even try to comfort me, just grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom.

I sat on the couch, stunned, with his words "See you tonight, my love" echoing in my head.

She is his love. So what am I? Our five-year marriage was a joke.

"I've got to work late, won't be home tonight," he said after his shower, wearing cologne for the first time—a citrus-scented one.

He couldn't even wait until evening. Fresh out of the shower, he was already rushing out the door. Did he think of our home as just a hotel room?

I hurried to get up but cried out in pain, only then realizing that I hadn't tended to my injuries, and the couch was stained red with my blood.

"Alan, could you stay?"

Five years of love weren't so easy to throw away.

I held onto a tiny hope. If he cared for me, even just a little, I'd find the courage to keep going.

"Got to work." Alan impatiently signed again.

"It hurts so much. Could you stay with me? Please, don't go."

I grabbed his sleeve, like a drowning person clinging to a lifeline.

Alan scowled and yanked his arm free, his face full of disgust.

"Stop pretending. If it hurts, go to the hospital. Don't you love hospitals?"

Love hospitals?

It felt like a knife had pierced my heart. Did I want to go to the hospitals? Did I want to be deaf?

I sensed the unusual bitterness and violence in his tone, but I couldn't find the reason why.

In the past five years, I had been to countless hospitals, not just for my ears but also because I couldn't get pregnant.

"As long as you're healed, I'm willing to sacrifice everything."

"I don't care about a child. I only care about you."

I could remember every word Alan said.

Back then, his business was booming. My mother was eager for me to have a child to tie him down.

Following her advice, I visited every famous hospital in the country, enduring injections that left my arms bruised, and taking medications that made my hair fall out in clumps.

Seeing me still not pregnant, my mother grew desperate, forcing me to take dubious herbal remedies.

I drank so much I ended up in the hospital for a month, nearly losing my life.

My mother gave me a break for two weeks before she started hounding me again, insisting I take more treatments, even pushing us into an uncomfortable routine as husband and wife.

I was filled with shame and guilt, but Alan said he didn't care and gave me the respect and dignity I needed.

How did he turn into this? I bit back my sobs, but the tears kept flowing.

Frustrated, Alan pulled out his phone and typed a few lines.

I wiped my tears and finally saw the words clearly.

"Calm down. I don't like troublesome women."

With a loud "bang," Alan slammed the door shut.

I pushed him away and let out a bitter laugh, "Fine, I'll go. You're free now."

Alan's expression darkened, his eyes turning cold instantly.

"Think carefully. I never beg."

I didn't respond, just picked up my phone and walked out the door.

But I had no idea where to go, so I wandered aimlessly.

After not eating or drinking for over ten hours, my stomach started cramping painfully.

I passed a noodle shop and went inside to order a bowl of pork noodles, but as soon as it was placed in front of me, nausea hit, and I threw up, clinging to a trash can until I nearly passed out.

I went to a pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test. The young clerk, startled by my condition, helped me clean my wounds and urged me to go to the hospital.

But I didn't go. I went home instead.

When I saw the two lines on the test, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

If I had known about this baby yesterday, I would have been overjoyed, eager to share the news with Alan.

I thought he should know. After all, this was the child we'd been waiting for five years.

I would tell him, then leave. That was what I told myself.

I sat in the dark until dawn. Alan finally came home with Lucy.

At the elevator entrance, before they could even make it inside, they were already kissing passionately.

Panting heavily, Alan used his right hand to unbutton Lucy's shirt while hurriedly entering the passcode with his left.

Perhaps the intensity of their kiss made him enter it wrong several times before the door finally opened.

The moment they entered, with the lights still off, Alan hoisted her onto the hallway cabinet.

The sound of violent collisions echoed, and I nearly gagged from the nausea.

I turned on the living room lights, and under the harsh brightness, they separated. The impatience on their faces was etched into my memory.

Lucy's shirt was unbuttoned all the way down to her navel, and she hurriedly buried herself into Alan's embrace.

Alan held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry. I thought she had already left."

"Go wait for me in the bedroom," Alan said as he carried Lucy into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Why are you back again?" His frustration was evident.

"Alan, I'm pregnant."

There wasn't a hint of joy on his face. I once believed that the arrival of this child would be the catalyst for our relationship, but to him, it was likely just a burden.

"Whose child is it?" Alan's lips curled up into a mocking smile.

I slapped him hard, his head jerking to the side from the impact.

"You must have heard everything, Gloria."

"Why didn't you tell me? Did you think staying silent would keep me with you?"

No, I hadn't.

I had only regained my hearing a week ago and wanted to surprise him on our wedding anniversary.

But what awaited me instead was Alan flirting with Lucy right in front of me.

"Let's get divorced."

"Playing hard to get loses its charm after a while." Alan sneered at my words. "We both know you can't live without me. Did you think having a baby would bring me back?" Alan thought I would use the child to threaten him, didn't he?

I looked at the face I had traced with my fingertips countless times. I laughed, and as I laughed, tears started falling.

For the first time, I forcefully pushed his hand away and fled out of the house.

Apart from Tina, I had no one else to turn to. After hesitating for a long time, I finally dialed her number.

"Gloria?" Tina's voice was as loud as ever, but there was also a hint of playfulness in her tone. "Didn't expect that Alan is quite the romantic. I always suspected he wasn't trustworthy. But when I saw how good he was to you, I let it go."

I gripped the phone tightly, my voice barely audible. "Tina, are you home?"

"What's wrong?" She sensed something was off in my voice and asked where I was. Less than twenty minutes later, she arrived.

"It wasn't me. The woman in the photos wasn't me."

Realizing that Alan had cheated on me, Tina was so furious that her head spun, her blood boiling. She immediately wanted to confront him.

"Don't go," I tried to stop her, but I felt my vision go dark, and I collapsed.

Tina panicked, abandoning her plan to confront Alan. She rushed me to the hospital instead.

The doctor handed me a prenatal exam report. He said the baby was about ninety days along, a little over twelve weeks, about the size of a peanut.