Chapter 4

The doctor told me that pregnant women can't undergo liver transplant surgery.

That night, I stared at the report all night long, and cried the entire time.

To save Garrison, I had to steel my heart and have an abortion.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was overjoyed, wanting to give her the best of everything in the world.

But because of a deception, I personally took away her right to come into this world.

And her father was promising his responsibilities as a father to another woman.

"Why would you do this to me! Why!"

I frantically knocked over the cake and swept everything off the table onto the floor.

But after doing all that, all that remained was a suffocating pain in my chest.

I helplessly crouched on the ground, my anguished cries echoing through the empty room.

When Garrison came back, I was in front of the mirror looking at the surgical scars on my body.

He came over, resting his head on my shoulder, his eyes full of sympathy as he said,

"Meadow, thank you! I'll be sure to treat you even better from now on!"

But I didn't respond, still staring at the scar in the mirror, as if talking to myself.

"It's so disgusting!"

Saying this, I began to scrub mechanically and forcefully, as if completely numb to the pain. Garrison was startled by my appearance and quickly restrained my hands, saying:

"It's not disgusting! If you don't like it, I'll find the best doctor to remove it for you! Please don't do this, okay?"

He pulled me into his arms and carried me back to bed.

Only then did I look into his eyes, my hand unconsciously reaching for the scar between his brows - the one he got while saving me.

After a long silence, I said softly:

"It can't be removed. It can never be removed."

Sensing that something was off with me, he stayed by my side at home for a week, never leaving.

One day, I suddenly said to Garrison:

"I want some brownie cake from Nightingale Street."

Without a word, he grabbed his car keys and walked out.

In the past, I loved how he never refused any of my requests.

Now I realize it was just his way of compensating for the guilt he felt towards me.

After he left, I took a cab to the top floor of the hospital and found Melody sipping soup in her room.

She didn't seem surprised to see me there, continuing to take small sips of her soup nonchalantly.

Seeing that I hadn't spoken for a while, she looked up at me disdainfully and asked:

"I know what you want to ask. Garrison and I grew up together as childhood sweethearts. I was the one who told him to pursue you."

I didn't respond, and she stared at me with great interest, as if admiring my pathetic state.

My gaze shifted from her face to the bowl of chicken soup, and after a long while, I asked softly.

"You were never sick, were you?"

Hearing my words, she tucked her hair behind her ear and parted her red lips.

"Correct! Thanks for donating your liver, but I didn't use it at all. I just threw it to some stray dog!"

As I listened to her words, a raging fire in my heart instantly burned me to a fate worse than death.

My hands unconsciously clenched into fists. I wanted to rush at her, to avenge my child.

"Meadow, Garrison doesn't love you at all! He'll only believe what I say!"

She got off the bed, poked my abdomen with her fingertip, then leaned close to my ear and said.

"By the way, how did it feel to kill your own child with your own hands?"

"Shut up!"

I finally couldn't hold back and shoved her away.

But at that moment, the door opened.

"Stop!"

Garrison burst in, grabbed my hand, and threw me to the ground.

Then, he immediately went to embrace Melody and looked down at me coldly, saying.

"Melody is a patient. No matter what, you can't lay a hand on her!

She was a patient, but he seemed to have forgotten that I was a patient too.

He withdrew his gaze and placed Melody back on the bed.

Watching his retreating figure, I struggled to my feet in an especially undignified manner and walked out without a word.

After returning home, I placed the fake marriage certificate, abortion papers, and the recording of my confrontation with Melody on the coffee table.

On a nearby note, written in French, it read:

"We're even now. May our paths never cross again, in life or death."

After leaving, I went straight to the airport and boarded a plane bound for the Antarctic Research Station.