I met Tom in high school.

I was the obedient class monitor, while he was the troublemaker. He always sat in the back row.

We were destined to never interact with each other, I found him in an alley, beaten and covered in blood.

I was terrified but my sense of responsibility as a class monitor and inexplicable sense of justice pushed me to call an ambulance.

When I visited him in the hospital, Tom was lying on the bed with a scowl on his face. He was cold and ungrateful, even when he thanked me for my help.

I did not dare to get involved with him, so I just nodded and rushed home.

After that, me and Tom kept our relationship strictly as classmates, but something changed in him. Whenever I enforced class discipline, he would fall silent and his group of friends followed suit. Yet, we kept a quiet, unspoken distance.

Then, one day, I was cornered by a group of thugs on my way home from school. They knew I had helped Tom and wanted to punish me for it.

I had never encountered something like that before, I was panicked, unsure of what to do and ran.

In the end, it was like a clichéd story that Tom showed up out of nowhere to save me.

Well, actually it was not like that. Tom shielded me while I called the police.

That night, after giving our statements, my mom insisted on bringing Tom to our home to thank him.

Tom’s parents had died in a plane crash when he was in high school, which was partly the reason he had become so rebellious. When my mom found out, she doted on him like he was her own son.

At the dinner table, she piled his bowl with so much food and that was the first time I saw him so nervous. Two piled of foods later, Tom finally finished eating. He had never eaten so much food that by the time he left, he was sweating.

The next day, he showed up outside my apartment, riding an old bicycle. I was surprised to see him, but he just said, “Those guys from yesterday won’t let this matter go.”

I didn’t fully understand the gang dynamics, but I didn’t want to relive the nightmare either.

From that moment, I took the bus to school while he rode his bike behind the bus to make sure I was safe. After school, he would follow me home and only leave once I was inside.

My mother noticed his concern, so she purposedly waited for us to arrive and invited him over for dinner regularly. At first, he was reluctant, but eventually, he gave in and even helped with housework.

He washed dishes, moped the floor and repaired the furniture. Sometimes, if my mother was late from work, he would make one or two dishes for us.

One day, Tom was sent to the hospital again, so I rushed out to visit him. When I arrived, he was getting stitches. He only winced in pain but it was obvious that he was trying to look tough.

Seeing him like this made me cry in distress.

Tom gently patted my head and said, "Natalie, I'm done with this kind of life. I want to go to a good university with you."

I nodded and something shifted inside me. At this very moment, a tiny seed of affection for him began to grow.

Senior year was tough. Tom and I were on completely different academic levels, but I tutored him and he studied hard.

Everyone noticed how much he had changed and I felt proud like his transformation was a secret shared only between us.

His academic was not as high as mine, so he could not attend the same university as me, but he found a way to study in the same city.

There were moments when I tried to show him how I felt, but Tom always kept his distance. He kept disappearing for a long time. I even started to think he had a girlfriend.

Then, on my birthday, he took me to a small studio, knelt down on one knee and confessed his love to me.

Years later, he told me that he had to establish his career first, so I would not suffer with him. Only then did he feel worthy of loving me.

His business thrived and although he was busy, he always made time for me and called my mom often.

My mom loved him like a son and he treated her as his own mother.

When his company hit a financial crisis, everything was in chaos. I started working part-time, saving every penny, even avoiding small luxuries like buying myself a cup of milk tea.

In the end, it was my mom who gave Tom her entire life savings with no strings attached. After that, she was constantly on edge, afraid that another crisis would strike our family. She did not want something like that to ever happen again. That was why she could not bear to spend money, even on a plane ticket.

Tom had always been good. Me and him worked hand in hand to overcome many difficulties. Finally, we got married.

After married, he did not change. He took good care of me and my mother and I became the envy of our friends.

However, everything changed when Ava appeared in our life.

Ava and Tom were childhood friends. Before Tom's parents died in the accident, Ava moved abroad with her parents.

When she came back from abroad and found out that Tom opened a company, although she had an excellent resume, she refused to work somewhere else and chose to become Tom's little secretary.

Gradually, Tom did not return home and preferred to stay in big hotels. Whenever I questioned his whereabout, he used work as an excuse.

I had been through so much with him and loved him. I was determined to stay in love with him.

Although I had a vague sense of crisis, I did not dare to think about it. I had spent all my youth with Tom.

If he really lost his love for me, this family would fall apart and I would be torn apart. So, I chose to deceive myself and others.

Until my mother died because of Tom's careless joke. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The cloth of shame finally lifted and my love for Tom was exposed in the scorching sun, not allowing me to escape.

With my mom's remains turned into ashes, my love for Tom also turned into one.

When I brought up our heartbreaking past, Tom's face turned gloomy.

"Enough!" Tom snapped. "Am I not kind to Mom? It's just a joke. If it matters too much for you, I'll personally go there and pick her up."

I calmly said, "Don't bother."

I wiped away the tears that had fallen without me even noticing. “When are we getting a divorce?”

Tom's face turned dark.

"Natalie, I've already apologized to you about the whole Tinsel Town thing with your mom. What more do you want? I’ve been putting up with you because you’re pregnant.”

“Fine. Do you want a divorce? Bring your mother here to talk about it. I doubt she’ll agree to us splitting up,” he growled.

After saying that, he stormed out of the door while pulling Ava with him.

I knew Tom was furious.

In the past, just the sight of him frowning would make me panic and I would stop arguing with him and be too scared to push back. I would grovel, trying to make things right.

Not this though.

I packed all my things and moved back to my old family house.

After resting for two days, both physically and emotionally exhausted, I finally went to bury my mother’s ashes.

When I finally got back, Tom, who had already broken into the house, was waiting for me. His face was so gloomy and of course, he was not alone. Ava was standing next to him.

The moment I walked through the door, Tom got up, strode over and grabbed my hand to drag me out.

"Come with me to the hospital," he said.

I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression as I instinctively pulled my hand back.

"Tom, have you lost your mind?" I asked.

Tom looked at me franticly. "Ava is sick. The doctor said that she needed the placenta of a twenty-eight-week-old baby to treat her.”

My mind couldn’t comprehend what I was hearing. “You want to use my placenta to treat her illness?”

I stared at him, unable to believe this was real. However, my world shattered when Tom nodded. His expression filled with regret as he looked at me.

“Natalie, I’ve looked into it. The baby is fully developed at twenty-eight weeks. Once you have induced labor, everything will be fine ….”

Smack!

Before he could finish, my hand flew across his face.

“Tom, do you even have a conscience? That’s your biological child you're talking about! Your flesh and blood!”

“Have you even bothered to check the side effects of inducing labor early? There’s a chance both the baby and I could die!”

Tom held his cheek. Guilt flashed in his eyes. He knew that he was in the wrong so he softened his voice and coaxed me, "Natalie, I know you're upset but Ava is really sick. If you deliver the baby now, she can be the child’s godmother and she’ll love the baby like her own.”

“And besides, didn’t your mom always dream of this grandchild? Once the baby’s here, it’ll help her let go of the anger about what had happened in Tinsel Town.”

He wanted to put my baby and my life at risk and make the culprit to be my baby's godmother. And he thought he would be able to make my mother calm down? What kind of logic was that?

I was so furious at his twisted logic that my vision blurred. I almost vomited blood and fainted. Probably aware of my emotions, my abdomen had begun to ache faintly.

My whole body trembled as I pointed at him with shaking hands. “Get out! You already killed my mother and now you want to kill me and my child? It’s not happening!”

I tried to leave, but Tom blocked my path.

"Natalie, what do you mean by saying "killed your mom", huh? Don't drag her into this matter. We're dealing with our issue."

“The baby has to be born anyway. Having it a few months early will save Ava’s life. Don’t be so heartless," he coaxed.

"No!" I yelled.

I glared hatefully at Tom. My stomach was already aching badly. I could feel the distress of my baby in my womb. Feeling dizzy and nauseous, I was scared that I was about to miscarry because of the stress.

Tom finally noticed something was wrong with me and helped me to sit down by holding my waist.

"Natalie, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

I was in too much pain to respond.

Ava, who had been crying softly, finally spoke up. “Natalie, I know you hate how close Tom and I are, but I’m really sick and only you can help. I promise, once the baby is born, I’ll love them like my own.”

She pulled out a bracelet and tried to put it on my wrist. “Look, I even got this for you and the baby when I went to Tinsel Town. It’ll protect you both.”

I glanced at it and my chest filled with rage.

Just a few days ago, I’d seen this exact bracelet in her social media post. She and Tom had matching red bracelets and she’d captioned the photo: “The one unloved is the real third party.”

In the corner of the picture, there it was, the very same bracelet in a trash can.

Fury surged through me and I pushed Ava away. If I hadn’t been in so much pain, I would’ve slapped her again.

I barely touched her, but Ava fell back onto the ground, her hand landing on a stone and drawing blood.

Tom's concern for me vanished in an instant.

“Natalie, Ava got that for you out of kindness. If you don’t want it, fine, but did you have to hit her?”

“I’ve been too soft on you, but enough is enough. The hospital is ready. Let’s go.”

His eyes flicked to the bodyguards standing behind him and they started moving toward me.

Terror shot through me as I clutched my stomach, my scalp tingling with pain.

"Tom! Let me go!" I cried out.

However, Tom had become cold like a heartless bystander.

As he had said, this child carried all the hopes my mother had for me. She had dreamed of meeting this grandchild, but now she was gone, never to meet them.

There was absolutely no way I could let anything happen to the child!

“Tom, don’t touch the baby. My mother is dead and this child is all I have left. Please, don’t touch the baby…”

I fell to my knees sobbing miserably. I used every ounce of strength to beg him.

For a moment, Tom’s eyes softened and he looked over at Ava.

“Fine, we’ll find another pregnant woman. If none are available in this city, we’ll look in another one.”

A fleeting shadow passed through Ava’s eyes before she dabbed at imaginary tears.

“If that’s how you both feel, then let it go. It’s fine. If I miss my chance to get better, I’ll just accept my fate.”

Tom hesitated for only a few seconds, his gaze shifted between the both of us before he made up his mind.

“Let’s go to the hospital.”