ManyWriters

To allow my husband to pursue his doctorate, I tore up my own college acceptance letter and took on eight jobs by myself.
The day I found out I was pregnant, my husband ran me over with his car, causing an immediate miscarriage.
Afterward, I learned that my husband had deliberately hit me, just to please his female assistant.
I hesitated no longer and filed for divorce.
My husband panicked.
With tears in his eyes, he grasped my hands, begging me to reconsider.
But what he didn't know was that over these years, in order to help him save for tuition, I had pushed my body to its limits and was now close to death.

Working multiple jobs to support my husband's postdoctoral research

Ten years ago, when I signed that secret agreement for Dashiell, I never could have imagined that a decade later, he'd accidentally knock me over while trying to help his assistant fix her hair. That incident not only caused me to fall but also took away the child I had just conceived.


After a sleepless night, I suddenly realized something.


The truth is, Dashiell doesn't love me.


Or at least, he doesn't love me as much as I love him.


Between anyone else and him, I would always choose him.


Maybe it's because I just lost my baby, but my emotions are all over the place.


This morning, when the nurse came to check on me, she advised me to rest well to prevent depression.


I lay in bed, closed my eyes, and nodded slightly.


After the nurse left, I shakily got to my feet, grabbed the walker leaning against the wall, and decided to get some fresh air in the hallway.


I thought about calling Dashiell but changed my mind.


Just as I made it to the hallway with my walker, someone slapped me across the face.


The sharp sound echoed through the corridor.


The slap left my head ringing, and I slumped weakly against the wall.As my vision slowly cleared, I saw a woman with bloodshot eyes standing in front of me. She looked to be in her fifties or sixties.


She pointed a trembling finger at me, calling me a vicious woman who had caused her Stella to be hospitalized.


I immediately thought of the phone call Dashiell had made earlier.


I calmly began to speak, intending to tell her that her daughter's hospitalization had nothing to do with me.


But she seemed to have lost her mind, refusing to listen to reason, and slapped me across the face again.


Suddenly, I heard Dashiell's urgent voice.


"Ma'am, please calm down. Juno hasn't done anything to harm Stella..."


Dashiell, out of breath, rushed in front of me and raised his hand to block the third slap Stella's mom was about to deliver.


Another set of footsteps approached. It was Stella.


She had a bandage wrapped around her forehead and jogged over to stand next to Dashiell. "Mom, I'm fine... It's nothing, I just accidentally bumped my head. It has nothing to do with Dashiell or Juno..."She waved her hand, but tears kept falling down her face, as if she had suffered a great injustice.


Dashiell immediately gripped her hand with concern, "Are you still feeling unwell, Stella? It's my fault..."


As they were talking, I closed my eyes briefly, propped myself up on my crutches again, and prepared to leave.


Dashiell frowned and tried to pull me back, "Juno, are you feeling alright? Last night, Stella's condition was a bit urgent, so I went to stay with her for a while. Are you upset?"


Hearing Dashiell say this, Stella's tears seemed to fall even harder. She kept saying it was all her fault, that if it wasn't for her, I definitely wouldn't have been hit by her mother.


Dashiell and her mother immediately crowded around her, trying to comfort her.


Watching this absurd scene, I suddenly spoke up, "Stella, do you know that Dashiell is my husband?"


Chapter 4