Cheated Husband, Countdown Begins

While I was in the labor room, awaiting delivery, I got a call from my husband. He sounded calm, almost detached, as he told me: “Chloe, I cheated on you.” “Let’s get a divorce now, before the baby is born.” “Scarlett is young; she can’t handle the gossip and rumors out there.” “I have to give her a proper status.” “And don’t even think about using the baby to tie me down.” “You should know better than anyone how painful it is for a child to be born unloved.” I looked at the photos he sent, then nodded, understanding. No screaming matches like before. I didn’t tell him that his beloved Scarlett was a party girl with AIDS. And Julian, having lived a reckless life for too long, probably wouldn’t last another month.

Julian came to the hospital to deliver the divorce papers just after I’d given birth. Because of complications during delivery, I was barely clinging to life. He glanced at my pale face and frowned, almost imperceptibly. There was no trace of concern or tenderness in his eyes. Only irritation that I had dared to make my own decisions. “Didn’t I tell you that this child shouldn’t be born?” “Scarlett doesn’t like children competing for my attention.” I looked at the sleeping baby in my arms, forcing a weak, pale smile. “I couldn’t help it. Your call came too late.” “By the time you proposed to Scarlett, I was already on the operating table.” According to my original due date, the baby shouldn’t have been born that day. But Scarlett had scared me into premature labor by sending me a dead rat. During my time in the hospital, I called Julian countless times, but no one picked up. As I was being wheeled into the operating room, fireworks exploded outside the window. I looked closer. It was Julian, trying to make his new girlfriend happy, who had spent millions organizing a grand proposal. Roses paved the path, fireworks lit the sky. In the pitch-black sky, drones spelled out: “Scarlett, I love you.” It was amidst the celebratory spectacle that I gave birth to our child, struggling through a difficult labor. Critical condition notices were issued multiple times, my phone rang off the hook, but no one answered. In the end, I gritted my teeth and signed the surgical consent form myself. Coincidentally, he arrived just as the baby was born. Not out of concern, but to rush me into signing the divorce papers. To make me take the child and get out, making way for his new girlfriend. I sighed silently to myself. But I still forced a smile and took the divorce papers. When I stood up, I accidentally pulled at the wound on my stomach. Bright red blood instantly stained the gauze, but Julian’s frown only deepened. “Chloe, you don’t have to play the victim for me.” “I’m not someone who forgets old ties. I won’t shortchange you when it comes to money.” “Just sign the papers, and I’ll pay all the child support at once, ensuring you both have a decent life.” My hand, holding the pen, paused. I looked at Julian’s cold face, and surprisingly, I didn’t feel sad at all. Maybe I’d cried all my tears away. I remembered when I first discovered Julian’s infidelity; I’d cried my eyes out, even threatened to die. But he just looked at me, standing with one foot out the window, and said with an indifferent expression: “Chloe, stop crying. I haven’t had feelings for you for a long time.” “There was a time when your tears broke my heart.” “But now… they just disgust me.” That night, he walked away, urged on by Scarlett’s voice. Leaving me alone to cry myself unconscious. I cried for a very, very long time. And finally understood how ruthless a man whose heart has changed can be. Unwilling to give up, I resolved to go down fighting, and started digging up dirt on Scarlett. I wanted to keep fighting. I wanted people to see Julian’s ugly true colors. But the moment I saw Scarlett’s photo. All the hate, all the resentment, vanished like smoke. Because I recognized her immediately. The ‘pure and innocent moonlight’ in Julian’s eyes was an AIDS patient I had once treated. Julian has a congenital heart condition. If he contracted anything, he could die at any moment. In that instant, I felt a sense of release. Karma always catches up to heartless and ungrateful people. I just needed to give fate a little push at the right moment. So, I didn’t argue or make a scene. I continued to carry our child, being the polite and proper Mrs. Sterling. Then, I quietly waited for the day Julian would die.