Chapter 2
Waking up in the hospital, I was wrapped in bandages, with nowhere that didn’t hurt. My intact hand instinctively moved to my abdomen, only to feel cold emptiness.
—The child I had longed for was gone.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, cutting into my heart like knives.
Suddenly, my phone rang with Jasper’s special ringtone. I pushed through the pain to answer the call.
“Hello…”
“Why are you only answering now? How many times have I called you?”
Jasper’s voice was extremely impatient, with faint sobbing in the background.
“What nonsense have you been feeding my parents? Fiona just came and got scolded, and now she’s crying.”
“Isn’t it just losing a child? You keep pulling these stunts that can’t be shown in public, do you really think I’m blind?”
“I’ll give you ten minutes to call my parents and clear things up, or don’t blame me for being unsympathetic!”
The next second, the call ended with a “snap,” not allowing me a word.
How many times has this happened?
I stared at the white ceiling, feeling a sting in my eyes, finding it absurd.
Despite my diligent care and cautious efforts, no matter how much I gave, in Jasper’s eyes, it was all just a way to marry into the family, an unworthy trick.
My child, bonded by blood, couldn’t even compare to a single tear from Fiona.
The clock’s hands circled again and again. When the ninth lap was halfway through, I finally picked up the phone and dialed Jasper’s mother’s number.
She answered almost immediately.
“Adeline, you’re finally awake, your dad and I were worried sick. That brat Jasper…”
“Aunt.”
I softly interrupted her.
“I don’t want to be with Jasper anymore.”
The “mom” and “dad” I had called for seven years needed to change.
Jasper’s mother understood my meaning, her voice choked with emotion.
“Adeline, I know you’re heartbroken about losing the child, it’s our family’s fault.”
“But you know Jasper, he’s a good kid, just blinded by that woman’s lies. Can you… can you give him another chance…”
Jasper’s mother had a weak heart, prone to fainting from too much joy or sorrow. I was silent for a long time, then said:
“If he can fold a thousand rainbow origami cranes for me, I’ll forgive him.”
Jasper’s mother cried tears of joy.
“Okay, okay, I’ll have him start folding right away, you’ll see them when you’re discharged.”
She hung up hurriedly, just like countless times before, off to pester Jasper with chatter and reminders.
But each time, Jasper never looked back.
I reached into my pocket close to my heart, only to find it empty.
The origami crane that had been with Asher’s photo had long been lost along the bumpy mountain path.
The year after Asher died, Jasper folded a thousand origami cranes for me.
Rainbow paper, page by page, densely filled with the intense affection of a young man.
He didn’t know his brother once promised me a lifetime.
Nor did he know that in the corner of my study, there was a half-filled jar of origami cranes folded by Asher himself.
Both brothers used the same method to win over a girl.
Looking at the origami cranes and his features resembling Asher’s, my heart skipped a beat, and I nodded.
Later, when Fiona returned from abroad, she cried and made a fuss over those cranes. To appease her, Jasper burned them all.
I rushed into the fire with red eyes, ignoring the scorching pain, and desperately saved the last crane.
At that time, Jasper looked at my hands covered in blisters with disgust:
“It’s just some origami cranes, you can get someone to fold more.”
But he didn’t know that the company producing rainbow paper had closed years ago.
Now, the last rainbow origami crane was lost in the stormy mire.
I opened my contacts and found the mountain climbing team’s number.
But before I could press dial, the hospital room door was kicked open.
Jasper stormed in with bodyguards, throwing a stack of cheap colored paper at my face.
“Adeline! How long are you going to keep this up!”