Chapter 2

I didn't want to see or hear what came next. I walked home alone, lost and hollow.

My chest hurt so badly I swallowed several painkillers.

I barely made it through the night. At dawn, I contacted a lawyer to draft a divorce agreement.

The lawyer asked me, "Do you want to fight for custody? Your daughter is only six years old. The chances of custody going to the mother are very high."

I didn't know.

I had poured everything into Emma, but she didn't want me as her father.

I could only tell the lawyer, "Let me think about it."

The front door burst open. Frost came home with our daughter.

I was about to bring up the divorce when my daughter suddenly wrapped her arms around my leg.

Her innocent little face was full of pleading.

"Daddy, Uncle Ethan's company suddenly got scammed out of fifty million dollars. It's about to go bankrupt. Can you sell the house and lend him the money?"

These weren't words a six-year-old should be saying.

Seeing I didn't react, Frost's usually cold and distant face showed a panic and nervousness I'd never seen before.

"Please, Zachary. If you help, I'll do anything you want."

I lowered my eyes, not looking at her, my heart bitter.

"You'll do anything? Then if I ask you to give me another child, would you agree to that too?"

"Yes!"

My nails dug into my palms. I went to the bedroom and took out the property deed.

"But think carefully. I'm down one kidney. I can't work overtime or do physical labor. This house is the last safety net for you and Emma."

Frost didn't hesitate for a second. She grabbed the deed and left.

She mortgaged the house and spent days by Ethan's side.

I didn't interfere. I just took my daughter to the hospital for another checkup.

The doctor said she was very healthy after receiving my kidney and could live normally from now on.

Leaving pediatrics, I stopped by nephrology for my regular checkup. I'd had to come every six months since donating my kidney.

The doctor looked at my lab results, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

"Mr. Spencer, you're down to one kidney, and now this one is showing signs of mild failure. Your creatinine levels are elevated, and your urine protein is abnormal. You absolutely cannot overwork yourself, drink alcohol, or do strenuous exercise from now on, or you might need long-term dialysis."

My heart sank, but I kept my expression neutral. "Do I need medication?"

"I'll prescribe a course of out-of-pocket drugs. Three thousand dollars a box, taken continuously for three months. Your constitution was never very strong to begin with, and with all the stress lately..." The doctor sighed.

"You must rest."

I walked out of the consultation room with my report and asked my daughter, "If Mommy and Daddy get divorced, who would you want to live with?"

"Mommy." My daughter answered without hesitation, looking at me happily.

"Daddy, are you going to divorce Mommy? Then Mommy's wish will finally come true."

A bitter taste filled my mouth. I notified the lawyer to give up custody.

As I left the hospital, I spotted Frost's car at the entrance.

She looked at me with surprise.

"Are you not feeling well? Or is Emma sick? Why didn't you call me? I could have come with you."

I said flatly, "Emma's checkup. Nothing serious. Aren't you supposed to be with Ethan? What are you doing at the hospital?"

Frost was silent for a moment, her eyes showing something like guilt.

Then she pulled out an appointment slip.

"I came to ask about IVF."

"You said you wanted a child. I'll keep my promise."

For Ethan's sake, she really was committed to preserving her chastity.

She could give me a child through IVF, but she wouldn't sleep with me.

I tore the appointment slip in half.

"Never mind. I thought about it. Emma doesn't want a sibling anyway. Let me change my request."

Frost visibly relaxed. "That's great. What do you want instead?"

I handed her the divorce agreement where I'd given up custody.

"Just sign this. That's all I'm asking you to do."

Frost flipped straight to the last page. Before signing, she was about to look at what was written on the previous pages.

The next second, her phone rang.

"Frost, did you get the fever medicine? I think my temperature's up to 102."

"I'll be right there. Let me ask the doctor about precautions first, then I'll come over."

She soothed the man on the other end while rapidly signing the agreement.

My daughter was clamoring to see her uncle. Frost took her and left, telling me to get a cab home myself.

So she didn't come to the hospital for IVF after all.

She came because Ethan had a fever.