I suddenly rummaged through my husband's pocket and found a receipt for two packs of tampons, totaling 28.9$. Immediately after, I saw a post from his schoolmate on social media, showing a photo of the same type of tampons. The accompanying text read:

“Thank you, Adam, for giving me all the decency when I was helpless.”

I looked at my swollen belly and commented under the post: “Shameless woman.”

Within a minute, my husband called, shouting angrily, “Are you sick?! It’s just a few packs of tampons! Why did you have to embarrass me, Clara?”

After hanging up, I left a divorce agreement on the table and went to the hospital alone.

——

Adam Walter, my husband, rushed over shortly after I was admitted.

“What are you doing here?” I asked coldly, turning away. Just looking at him made me feel sick. My attitude toward him had soured beyond recognition.

Adam froze, standing silently for a long time before suppressing his frustration.

“The nurse said you're planning to abort the baby?”

I ignored him and he sighed, speaking more to himself than to me.

“Clara, don’t be irrational, okay? There’s nothing between that woman and me. Running to the hospital for an abortion after leaving a divorce agreement at home is just too childish,” Adam said, being flustered.

I answered, “I didn’t want to have a child this early and you went behind my back and secretly cheat on me. Who are you trying to fool now?”

"She’s just a girl without family here and she is my friend back at our college day. So, I bought her sanitary napkins. Why are you making this such a big deal?"

It would’ve been better if he said nothing at all, but his words only fueled my anger.

In the past, when there were no sanitary napkins at home, he refused to help me buy them, claiming it was too embarrassing for a man to do such a thing. And now, he was accusing me of having a small heart for being upset?

As for the abortion, I had no choice. If I didn’t keep this baby, he would never have a child in the future.

I was planning to go through with the abortion, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, especially after feeling the movement of the fetus. The doctor found the baby’s heartbeat unstable and recommended I be hospitalized for observation.

All these negative emotions piled up inside me, making my face pale. My voice rose without me realizing it.

"Adam Walter, whose husband are you really? Since you care so much about her, why don’t you be the sanitary napkin she pads her body with?”

I admitted, I was blinded by anger and spoke without thinking.

Adam’s face darkened instantly, coldness creeping into his eyes.

“Clara, what exactly do you want from me? I rushed here the moment I heard you were in the hospital, putting everything at work aside. What more do you want?”

“To be honest, Celine and I were a couple in college. If you hadn’t pestered me during our breakup, I wouldn’t have gotten married so quickly.”

“I never wanted to hurt you, but you refuse to turn a blind eye to things. And now look, you've broken everything apart and ruined this marriage."

His eyes were full of disdain as he glared at me. The sharpness in his expression doubled as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Silence filled the room. I covered my mouth, trying to stifle the sobs rising in my throat. Years of love, all wasted on the wrong person. Now, I finally understood—no matter how much warmth you gave, you couldn’t thaw a person without a heart.

Not long after, the door creaked open again, closing softly this time. Adam moved a stool beside my bed, hesitating for a while before finally speaking. His tone was softer, filled with helplessness.

“I’m sorry. I was too impulsive earlier. I’ll stay here with you tonight.”

I moved my lips without saying anything and smiled to myself. Typical slap followed by a candy. Unfortunately, this time, he slapped me on the heart and no amount of apologies or anything else could make up for it. Back then, if he hadn’t made it clear that he had let go of the past, I would never have confessed my feelings to him

Half-asleep, I felt someone tuck the quilt around me. I didn’t open my eyes; the tears at the corners of my eyes soaked the pillowcase.

When I woke up the next day, he was no longer on the bench. I laughed contemptuously—there was no way he’d gone to the office this early in the morning. He probably went to report back to that woman again.

After washing up, the nurse informed me that the attending doctor had arrived. Worried about my baby’s condition, I didn’t bother to get breakfast and went directly to the doctor's office.

Just as I reached the door, I heard a familiar voice from inside. Startled, I took two steps back.

The attending doctor was Adam’s schoolmate, Celine Smith.

“Celine, does your stomach still hurt? I brought you breakfast. Take a look and see what you like.”Adam laid out several breakfast dishes on the table, urging celine to eat.

Celine, covering her stomach, still looked a bit pale. She glanced at the spread and chuckled, “Senior, how can I eat so much?”

Adam smiled warmly, a softness in his gaze that I had never seen before.

“You eat first. If you can’t finish it, I’ll bring the rest back to Clara.”

I stepped back, trying to suppress the sourness building in my chest. My knuckles gripping the wall turned white. So, she would get the leftovers before it was my turn. Adam really had the nerve to do this.

“Thank you, but I shouldn't have posted that update yesterday,” she said. “I heard she’s planning to have an abortion. Is everything okay between you two?”

Celine sipped her congee without a hint of guilt on her face. Adam shook his head indifferently and wiped the soup from the corner of her mouth with a tissue.

“It’s fine. She’s just talking. I heard from the nurse that she’s still concerned about the child’s condition.”

His movements were natural and practiced. Celine didn’t resist, either. It was clear this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

Cold sorrow flooded my heart like a wave and the tears misting my eyes blurred my vision.

“Why don’t you go in? Dr. Celine is inside.” A passing nurse kindly reminded me.

The sound wasn’t loud enough to startle the two people inside, who were gazing at each other with affection.

They snapped out of their moment and quickly pulled apart. After a brief moment of panic, Celine forced a smile at me.

“Sister-in-law, you haven’t had breakfast yet. Don’t be shy, sit down and join us,” she said, pulling out a stool.

However, she conveniently leaned backward into Adam ’s arms, who quickly supported her.

“I’m sorry, sister-in-law,” she said sweetly.

“Don’t misunderstand. Yesterday, I had menstrual cramps and Senior insisted on taking me to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. I accidentally soiled my skirt on the way and Senior bought me a change of clothes and washed my old ones for me. He’s so considerate and gentle... Sister-in-law, I’m so envious of you.”

Celine’s voice was soft and sweet, her words perfectly calculated. But I clearly heard the smugness hidden beneath her polite tone.

Adam, clearly nervous, quickly interjected, “It’s nothing. Your sister-in-law isn’t the petty type, right, Celine?”

His words were full of hints, as if I didn’t know what was going on unless I played along.

“Really? As long as you two are happy,” I replied, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

Celine’s expression stiffened, her eyes reddening as she looked at him pitifully, as though she had been wronged by the heavens.

“Clara, how can you talk like that?” Adam frowned, his voice tinged with reprimand.

I just stared at him calmly, wondering how far he would go for Celine.

“Senior, don’t be so harsh. You’re scaring sister-in-law,” Celine said, pulling me to sit down, smiling as she tried to smooth things over.

“Don’t touch me. Stop pretending to be nice!” I pushed her away, my patience worn thin.

She didn’t put up much of a fight but fell dramatically to the floor, clutching her stomach in exaggerated pain.

“Celine, are you okay?” Adam exclaimed.

“If anything happens to her, I won’t let you off!” he roared at me.

A gust of wind seemed to sweep past as he pushed me away. I stumbled, my stomach slamming into the sharp edge of the table. A sharp pain shot through my abdomen and blood began to flow steadily from between my legs.

“Help!” I cried, curling up on the ground in agony, reaching out to him for assistance.

Adam, however, rushed to lift Celine, ensuring she was okay before turning to me.

“Clara!” He finally noticed the crimson staining my body, his pupils constricting in shock, his eyes wide with horror.

I was rushed to the delivery room. In the end, my baby didn’t survive and was stillborn.

When they brought him out, his little face was dark and I was so devastated that I fainted immediately.

When I woke up, there was no one around. The pain of losing my son overwhelmed me and my emotions completely broke down. It was Celine—she killed my child!

Intense hatred spread through my heart.

I pulled out the IV needle and dragged my weak body to the doctor's office.

The scene in front of me made my heart turn to ashes.

“Senior, it’s my fault. I was useless. I couldn’t save your child,” Celine sobbed, leaning on Adam’s shoulder.

To anyone who didn’t know, it looked like she had lost her child. Adam held her tenderly, feeling the wetness of her tears on his shoulder. Her sorrow pained him deeply, cutting into his heart.

“It’s not your fault,” he said.

“The child just wasn’t blessed.”

“Celine, you know, I’ve only ever wanted a child... with you.” Adam lowered his head, leaning in as if to kiss Celine on the forehead.

It felt as though an invisible knife had stabbed through my heart. The pain shattered all my hopes and dreams. It dawned on me—he wasn’t cold by nature. I just wasn’t the one in his heart.

From the beginning, he never wanted a child with me.

“Adam, are you even human? Have you seen your own child die? Do you know the woman you’re holding is the one who killed our baby? Celine, I’ll make you pay for this!”

I lunged at her, pulling her hair, trying to slam her head against the wall. I had been in labor for over ten hours with no progress, begging for a C-section. But she had coldly said, “Unless there’s severe bleeding, I won’t give you a C-section. Sister-in-law, you’re just scared of pain. You had your fun, now you’ll bear the consequences.”

In the end, my baby was stillborn.

“Clara, let go of Celine!” Adam grabbed my wrist, his grip so strong it felt like he would crush it.

“Celine, you’ll pay for my child’s death!” I was consumed by hatred, shaking uncontrollably.

I wanted to tear her apart.

Adam blocked the wall, preventing me from hurting her, but I pulled so hard on her hair that I nearly ripped her scalp off.

“Senior, help me!” she cried.

Snap! Adam couldn’t bear to see her suffer. In his haste, he slapped me hard and hurried to protect the terrified Celine behind him. A dark cloud settled over his face.

“You’re crazy. Celine is an expert obstetrician and gynecologist. If she says the conditions for a C-section weren’t met, then they weren’t. Stop being irrational!”

“She insisted on delivering your baby even though she wasn’t feeling well. Instead of being grateful, you’re angry at her. Clara, what right do you have? And let’s not forget—you’re the one who wanted this baby. It’s no one’s fault that he didn’t survive.”

Celine, nestled in his arms, looked up at me with a smirk, her eyes filled with arrogance. His words felt like shards of glass piercing my heart, leaving me unable to breathe.

“Divorce. I want a divorce—now.”

I could no longer hold back my scream. I had never felt so shattered. Tears blurred my vision and my hair clung messily to my face. I must’ve looked like a madwoman.

Once the words left my mouth, the room fell silent. Adam’s thin lips pressed into a hard line, his expression dark and menacing.

“Senior?” The corners of Celine’s lips twitched upwards. She tugged at his sleeve, her voice carrying a hint of urgency. Adam slowly snapped back to reality and turned to me, his voice cold.

“You’ll regret this!”

They said being favored gave you confidence. He assumed I couldn’t leave him.

But he didn’t realize that love cools, little by little.

My love for him had died along with my child. After I was discharged from the hospital, I called my brother. I told him to cut off the financial chain that held adam’s company together. From now on, I’d take back everything he got from me—little by little.