Chapter 3
742 Words
And yet, in some ways, he was absurdly attentive.
Attentive enough to remember Freya's menstrual cycle down to the exact date.
I let out a small laugh, but it felt as if all the strength in my body had drained away at once.
Under the blazing sun, I walked home one step at a time.
Weather like this reminded me of the second time I lost a baby.
Back then, I was standing by the roadside in a heavy mascot costume, handing out flyers.
An electric scooter came hurtling toward me and knocked me to the ground.
I screamed for help, but the costume was so thick that even my voice was muffled.
By the time I was taken to the hospital, my second baby was gone too.
I handed every cent of the five thousand dollars I received in compensation from that accident to Ricardo.
Later, he wore the sharp suit he bought with that money to a business dinner and successfully landed a deal worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That night, he held me tightly in his arms, full of excitement.
But at the time, he still did not know our baby was already gone.
When he found out later, his eyes turned red and his voice shook.
"Serena, our baby is gone..."
Two hours later, I finally dragged my numb legs to the front door, entered the code, and stepped inside.
The moment the door opened, I saw Freya lying on the couch in the living room.
Ricardo was kneeling in front of her with a bowl of oatmeal in his hands, feeding her spoonful by spoonful.
He was gentle and patient.
I had seen that side of Ricardo countless times before.
The only difference was that I had always been the one receiving that care.
This was the first time I had stood there watching him take care of someone else like an outsider.
Ricardo turned and saw me, and his movements paused for a moment.
He set the bowl down and quickly walked over.
"Why did it take you so long to get back?"
I was so exhausted I could barely stay on my feet. My throat was dry and aching, and I could hardly get a full sentence out.
"Water..."
Ricardo turned around and poured me a glass of water.
I took it and drank it down in one go.
My throat finally felt a little better.
But in the very next second, I suddenly clutched my neck, as if I could not breathe.
The glass slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor.
Grabbing at my throat, I looked at Ricardo.
"What did you put in it..."
"Honey."
The moment Ricardo answered, his face changed.
After some frantic first aid, I slowly came back from the brink of suffocation.
Freya immediately apologized to me.
"I'm sorry. This was all my fault. I said plain water had no taste, so Ricardo added honey. It's really all my fault..."
For all these years, Ricardo had remembered every one of my preferences.
He had always remembered what I was allergic to as well.
Whenever we went out to eat before, he used to ask about every single dish in detail.
But now, he had actually forgotten that I was allergic to honey.
I lowered my eyes. Inside, I felt as still as dead water.
Not long after, Freya left.
When Ricardo came back after seeing her out and pushed open the door, I spoke again.
"Tomorrow, I'll send you the divorce papers."
Ricardo's pupils contracted, and he rejected it without a second thought.
"I'm not agreeing to that!"
Maybe he remembered what had just happened, because he quickly softened his tone.
"That was my fault. I panicked and forgot. Later, I'll buy you a gift to make it up to you."
The next day, I received the gift he sent over.
It was a golf club.
In that instant, it felt as though all the blood in my body had frozen.
I hurled it away violently.
I still remembered the pain of my first miscarriage with perfect clarity.
The feeling of that golf club slamming into my stomach.
That sharp, numbing pain in that instant.
Then the blood that slowly began to run down my legs.
Back then, I had not even known I was pregnant before I had already lost my first baby.
Tears rolled down my face at once.
My hands started trembling uncontrollably.
- Writer
