Chapter 1
The news that my husband and the rescue team collectively went missing spread all over the internet.
My father-in-law braved the sixty-degree ground temperature in the desert to record a video pleading with me.
My mother-in-law cursed me heartlessly in front of the media.
The whole internet condemned me as a malicious wife who disregards her husband's safety.
I only turned on Do Not Disturb, holding An Ran, my soundly sleeping daughter, getting a beauty SPA at the postpartum care center.
Three days ago, I was sent into the delivery room.
But my husband rushed to Lop Nur overnight over an urgent call concerning his childhood friend.
On the operating table, I was in such pain that my whole body convulsed, and I tearfully sent him a voice message.
"When the baby and I need you most, if you choose Yu Xiaoxiao, don't ever come back to this home."
Long after, he only replied with one message: "You have doctors; only I can save Xiaoxiao!"
...
At 3 a.m., my water broke prematurely, and I was rushed to the hospital.
The severe pain in my abdomen almost knocked me unconscious.
Because of a breech position and nuchal cord, the baby's heart rate kept dropping.
The delivery room marked me as a high-risk patient, requiring family to stay with me and be ready for surgery at any time.
Just then, Jiang Yuzhou's phone suddenly rang.
"What? Xiaoxiao is in trouble?"
He hung up the call and started packing frantically, seeming ready to leave me behind.
I resisted the pain and grabbed him.
"Yuzhou, the doctor says the baby and I are in grave danger; you can't leave!"
Jiang Yuzhou, without lifting his head, quickly bought the earliest flight ticket.
"I have to go, Xiaoxiao's expedition team is missing in Lop Nur, and she's waiting for me to save her!"
My heart tightened, tears almost bursting out.
"But I really need you now; I might have a difficult delivery with the risk of amniotic fluid embolism; the doctor said it's severe."
Yuzhou had mentioned Yu Xiaoxiao's recent actions multiple times to me.
She followed the expedition team into Lop Nur's uncharted lands, choosing a path no one had walked before.
Even if she met with danger, she brought it upon herself!
Jiang Yuzhou continued what he was doing, only casting a sidelong glance at me.
"Don't listen to the doctor's scare tactics; it's just childbirth, how could it easily be dangerous?"
"Xiaoxiao is different; she's probably terrified being trapped there. I can't ignore her."
I looked at him in disbelief, tears streaming down my face.
I underwent IVF for him, endured thousands of needles, severe morning sickness, and fought to preserve the pregnancy for nine months to reach today.
The doctor said this might be our only child in this lifetime!
Yet he is so indifferent about the child I risked my life to give birth to.
When I remained silent, a hint of impatience appeared on Jiang Yuzhou's face.
"Alright, alright! I know you've had it hard, but Xiaoxiao is striving for her dreams; I can't stand by and watch her get into trouble."
I shook my head in despair, sobbing.
"Yuzhou, I'm begging you not to leave me; I'm really scared, what will I do if you go?"
"Enough! If Xiaoxiao dies, I'll never forgive myself. You have to believe in yourself and the doctors; whether I'm there or not makes no difference!"
After saying this, Jiang Yuzhou didn't look at me again, grabbed his coat, and turned to leave.
Nearby medical staff couldn't bear to watch and comforted me: "Miss An Ran, now all you need to do is think of the child inside you, stay calm, and avoid any more stress!"
Hearing this, I only felt a deep desolation.
How ridiculous! Strangers are worried about me and my child.
Yet my husband, for the sake of another woman, disregards our lives and leaves us abruptly!
If I had known that the only person he cared about was Yu Xiaoxiao, I would never have accepted his confession back then...