Chapter 2

Our daughter’s breathing grew faster and more ragged by the second. Suddenly, he let go of my neck, bolted into the bedroom, scooped her up, and rushed out the door.

When the emergency room doors slammed shut, he slid down against the wall, covering his face in his hands. The blood from his knees had soaked right through his pants.

“I’m sorry… I have no idea what’s wrong with me…”

I raised my hand, wanting to hit him.

Instead, I froze as I realized that even though he was only twenty-nine, strands of white hair were already peeking through his dark locks. Aside from those strikingly handsome features, he looked nothing like the man he used to be.

The first time I met him, he had walked into the flower shop where I worked part-time to get a bouquet for his mother. Back then, he wore a tailored suit with diamond-encrusted cufflinks. He was nothing like the man standing before me today, whose T-shirt collar had faded to a pale, washed-out white.

My hand dropped back down to my side.

“Julian, if I take our daughter and leave, would things be easier for you?”

He suddenly shoved me away, trying very hard to suppress the frustration in his eyes.

“Stop using these fake, manipulative tests on me!”

He pushed me so hard that the back of my head slammed against the wall, and my skin split open. He did his absolute best to mask the disgust in his eyes.

“If I wanted to leave, I would have left long ago. I’m not going to abandon the both of you.”

Amidst the agonizing throb at the back of my head, my mind drifted back seven years ago. Back then, he had pushed open the door to the flower shop, caught sight of me, and stood there staring like a complete fool.

“I want to buy every single flower in this shop and give them all to you. May I learn your name?”

After that day, he spent two whole years pursuing me. He remembered every detail about me and ultimately confessed his love to me under a sky of fireworks.

He was a brilliant young man who gave me his heart, and I fell for him. However, fate was cruel.

The year he graduated, young and proud, he was drugged while taking over his family’s business. I rushed over after getting his call, only to find him barely conscious and burning with fever. A few people tried to stop me, and during the struggle, someone forced a drink down my throat.

From that night, the only thing I could remember was him holding me close, repeating over and over, “Claire, don’t be afraid.”

A month later, I found out I was pregnant.

When Julian brought me back home to meet his family, his mother wouldn’t even let me set foot through the door.

“A penniless orphan like you thinks a baby is your golden ticket into our family?”

To force him back into line, his family cut off his inheritance and used their influence to make him unemployable. However, he refused to back down. After apologizing to his parents, he took my hand and walked away.

“Claire, wherever you are is where I belong.”

Yet, reality was a bottomless pit that could never be filled, taking all the love away.

Once the emergency surgery was over, the doors swung open.

I was too afraid to go in because I didn’t want my daughter to see my head injury, so Julian went in first.

Our daughter’s voice sounded tiny. “Daddy, I’m sorry… Why are your eyes so red? Did I do something wrong again?”

Julian couldn’t look her in the eye. “No, it’s not your fault, Annie.”

The doctor flipped through her chart. “She needs to be hospitalized for further treatment. You’ll need to pay an upfront deposit of fifty thousand dollars.”

I walked into the room right after patching up my wound, just in time to hear the amount. I only had twenty thousand dollars left from the clinical trial money. It wasn’t enough—not even close.

As Julian turned to leave, he bumped right into me.

Looking into his hollow eyes, I said, “About the money…”

I wanted to tell him that I would figure out a way to get the money, and that if he was tired, he could just rest.

However, as he brushed past me, he shoved me hard into the doorframe. My wound opened up again, and blood began trickling down my neck.

“Claire, I’ve tried my best. I really have… I’m out of options, and I can’t handle this anymore.”

I leaned against the wall, my vision slowly fading to black.

I stayed like that until my daughter called out to me nervously. “Mommy? What’s wrong?”

Forcing a smile onto my face, I walked over and gently stroked her hair. “Annie, once you get discharged, would you like to move somewhere else with me?”

“What about Daddy?”

My smile instantly stiffened.

“Daddy isn’t coming with us.”