After struggling several times, the bandage on my lower stomach had already started bleeding. When the nurse changed my medicine and I lay back down, I saw a new post from Wendy on her social media, shared about thirty minutes earlier.

[I was fine, but my brother-in-law insisted on making a big table of dishes to help me recover. I even thought it was too much work for him. LOL!]

The photo showed a table full of delicious food. Every dish was something Wendy liked. I remembered that when I first got married, I had made Pad Thai for the first time, trying hard to please James. But he said something hurtful that day

“Wendy can’t eat spicy food. Why did you make this?”

Both James and I loved spicy food. But ever since we got married, we never had Thai food or anything spicy at home because he always considered Wendy’s taste instead of mine. Looking back, everything made sense now. True feelings could never be completely hidden.

It felt like something heavy was pressing against my chest. My heart ached deeply.

I continued scrolling through the comments.

Someone asked.

[Is Matthew back?]

Wendy replied.

[No, it was James. I just got out of the hospital and he said he wanted to make me something tasty to help me recover.]

[Whoa, James is so kind to you.]

All the praise on the screen felt like sharp knives stabbing me one after another. I couldn’t breathe properly. My hands were shaking as I picked up the phone and called the lawyer.

“Please help me write a divorce agreement.”

It was almost eight o'clock when James finally returned. He was holding an insulated box and sweat was running down his forehead.

“Did you wait long? There was a traffic jam. I made some soup for you. Sit up and have some.”

He gently helped me adjust the bed and handed me the box. Inside was the noodle chicken soup. the same one Wendy had just posted online. My heart dropped. I felt sick to my stomach and turned to the side, throwing up dryly.

“Bianca, what’s wrong?”

James rushed over and rubbed my back. He looked worried and it didn’t seem fake.

“Are you feeling bad? Should I call a doctor?”

Tears blurred my vision as I looked at the bowl. I frowned.

“I don’t want this soup. You take it.”

He didn’t ask for a reason. Instead, he quietly went downstairs, then brought back a bowl of warm porridge.

“I’ll feed you.”

James took a spoonful, blew on it to cool it down and brought it to my lips. His eyes still looked gentle and full of care. I had fallen for those eyes so many times before. But now, those same eyes only made me feel worse.

“Is it fun for you to act like you care now?”

I looked at him calmly.

“I want to divorce you.”

“After the divorce, whoever you care about won’t matter to me anymore.”

James’s face changed and I saw panic flash in his eyes, although he tried to hide it quickly.

“Bianca, what are you saying? You’re my wife. Of course, I worry about you. You’re the only one in my heart. You shouldn’t say things like that.”

James reached out to hold me, but I moved away. His face froze for a second, but he still tried to comfort me.

“I know I made a mistake and hurt your feelings. But I promise I won’t do it again, okay?”

When I stayed silent, his face darkened. We were stuck in silence when the door to the hospital room suddenly opened.

“Bianca, how are you feeling? I came to see you.”

Wendy walked in carrying several bags of fruit. Her eyes moved back and forth between me and James. There was guilt on her face.

"It's all my fault. The baby in your belly ... I'm sorry. This happened because of me. You and James must not fight over this. If you need someone to blame, blame me."

Her gentle voice sounded caring, but her words felt like they were carved into my heart. They hurt deeply, leaving wounds that would not heal.

Looking at her acting so kind while standing over my pain, I felt something boil inside me.

"How can I blame you? Can you bring my baby back as compensation?"

"I … "

Wendy bit her lip and her eyes filled with tears.

"Bianca, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to kneel and say sorry?"

She began to bend her knees, but James quickly stopped her.

"Bianca!"

He stared at me angrily.

"I made a mistake, but what does that have to do with Wendy? I already said I was sorry. What more do you want?"

James stood in front of Wendy to protect her, shielding her with his body. Seeing his face filled with concern for her made my heart sink to its lowest point. I gave a small, bitter smile.

"I don't want anything. Can't I just get a divorce?"

James's face froze and for a moment, he had nothing to say. Later, he said he would send Wendy away. Then, James’s parents, the older Mr. Worthington and his wife, Mrs. Worthington, arrived at the hospital.

As soon as she saw me, Mrs. Worthington’s eyes turned red.

"Bianca, why do you look so pale? How did you get into a car accident?"

She sat beside me and asked Mr. Worthington to put down the things they brought.

"I knew the hospital quilts wouldn’t be as comfortable as the ones at home, so I brought some for you. We also brought your toiletries and other things. Let me know if you need anything else."

When she noticed my flat belly, her hands trembled as she touched it gently.

"It’s okay, Bianca. You and James are still young. You’ll have another child."

Mrs. Worthington had always been kind to me. She and my mother were good friends and even after I married James, she never treated me badly. Looking into her warm and caring eyes, my heart softened a little.

I wiped my nose and tried to stop my tears, but they kept falling.

"Mom, I want to divorce James."

"I can’t spend the rest of my life with someone who would leave me behind."

"James loves someone else and I won’t force him anymore."

"What are you talking about? Leave you behind?"

Both Mr. Worthington and his wife looked confused. Mrs. Worthington quickly grabbed my hand.

"Bianca, what happened? Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"

Before I could answer, the woman in the next hospital bed, who had been silent, sat up and spoke coldly.

"Mom, when your son had the accident, he left his pregnant wife behind and carried another woman away. Do you really expect her to stay with him after that?"

My words were indeed like a knife. The pain in my heart became even sharper. I struggled to speak as tears ran down my cheeks.

"I’m serious. I’ve thought it through. I want a divorce."

"This is unbelievable! How could this happen!"

"How could he be so heartless? How could he leave his wife and baby like that?"

Mrs. Worthington stomped her foot angrily and turned to Mr. Worthington.

"Call James and tell him to come back right now!"

As Mr. Worthington made the call, Mrs. Worthington turned back to me and tried to calm me down.

"Bianca, we’ll talk to James and make sure he never does this again. Please think about the divorce again … for my sake, alright?"

I held her hand and shook my head while crying.

"James already came back to the hospital. Let’s go find him."

Mr. Worthington comforted me while leading Mrs. Worthington out of the room.

"Bianca, don’t worry. We will make the decision for you."

After Mr. and Mrs. Worthington left, the lawyer came and delivered the divorce agreement.

"Thank you for coming again."

When James returned, his whole body seemed cold.

"Bianca, what were you talking about with my parents? If you’re unhappy about something, talk to me. Why are you making Wendy look bad?" he said, glaring at me.

"You’ve said too much to my parents and now the situation has turned out like this. Is this what you wanted?"

James stood in front of me, his face full of anger. We had argued before, but this was the first time he had shouted at me like this. My chest tightened. I looked up at him, shocked. I suddenly felt a huge emptiness in my heart. Whatever feelings I still had were gone.

I never wanted to argue like this. I just wanted to leave with some dignity. But James kept blaming everything on me.

My hands trembled as my nails dug into my palms. I was so angry I couldn’t stop shaking.

"James, do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

I opened Wendy’s Instagram post and held my phone in front of me.

"You said you were late because of traffic? You were busy cooking for someone else!"

"If she wasn’t more important to you, why did you leave your wife, who just lost a baby, alone in the hospital for three hours? I was in pain every time I moved. No one was there with me."

I laughed coldly, but my chest was rising and falling with emotion. I pointed to the comment section.

"What did Wendy mean by this? Was she showing me how much you care about her?"

James didn’t even look. He reached out and knocked the phone out of my hand. Pain shot through the back of my hand as the loud sound of the phone hitting the ground filled the room like a warning. The look in his eyes was cold and empty.

"Bianca, do you have to treat your Wendy like this? It’s just a post. Do you have to overthink it like that?"

"When did you become so cruel and unreasonable?"

"I'm cruel?"

I let out a small laugh, like I had heard something ridiculous.

"Then what about her coming here and just apologizing for my miscarriage? Is that not cruel? Or just disgusting?"

"She knows the baby died because you chose to save her first. Why is she pretending? And now she wants to say sorry as if that changes anything? Can her apology bring back our baby-"

"Enough, Bianca!" James cut me off sharply, his face full of anger

"Wendy came to visit you with good intentions and you accuse her like this? I already told you, if someone is to blame for the baby, it’s me. Don’t blame anyone else."

Seeing how far he was willing to protect Wendy made my heart completely turn cold. But instead of getting more upset, I felt calm.

"Fine. I won’t blame anyone."

I turned around slowly and pulled out the signed divorce agreement from under my pillow

"I only blame myself for choosing the wrong person to be the father of my child. I didn’t see clearly before."

"There’s nothing more to say. Let’s get a divorce."

James looked at me, grinding his teeth.

"We’ve been together for so many years. Wasn’t that good enough? Why can’t you just forgive me this one time? Why throw everything away over this and ask for a divorce?"

"Yes."

The room fell quiet until his assistant suddenly rushed in.

"Mr. Worthington, the head office needs you to go to Bristol for a business trip. It's urgent. They want you to discuss the new partnership."

"Now?"

He frowned and asked again.

"Yes."

James looked at me deeply and opened the door.

"I need to go on a business trip first. I’ll talk about the divorce when I come back."

While he was away, I checked out of the hospital by myself and booked a room in a nearby hotel. I had already contacted my company to return to work and would soon be going to distant Oslo. I didn’t just want a divorce. I wanted to leave this painful place forever.

Tomorrow was the day my flight would take off. I asked James when he would sign the agreement, but he only said he was still on his business trip. I had no choice but to leave the divorce matters to my lawyer. I didn’t plan to change my decision just because of him.

At three in the morning, the monitor beside the bed suddenly sent an alert. I turned on my phone and saw James walking unsteadily into the baby room. I froze. Hadn’t he said he was still away?

I stared at the screen and saw him quietly humming a song, leaning his forehead against the empty cradle under the moonlight. It was the music I used to play during my pregnancy checkups.