Chapter 2

“You’re full of it! First you said he was my child, and now you’re saying he’s Ryan’s. Do you have any proof? Without proof, you want to dump this baby on our family? Officer, I strongly suspect she’s trafficking an infant!”

I shoved the baby back into her arms and crossed mine.

My mother stared at me in shock.

“Alex!”

“Mom, Dad, don’t be foolish. There are scammers everywhere these days!”

Mrs. Harris chimed in.

“You two had better stop talking nonsense. This doctor came here saying the baby was Alex’s, and now she says he belongs to Ryan. Nothing she says makes sense!”

“Exactly. Who knows where she got that baby?”

The doctor jumped to her feet.

“My name is Gloria Hayes, and I have never lied in my life! I’ve run my clinic for years. Why would I scam anyone?”

“Last night, Ryan brought a pregnant woman to my clinic and begged me to deliver the baby!”

“I still have the phone he gave me as collateral!”

She pulled a phone from her purse.

I took one look and recognized it. It really was Ryan’s phone.

My parents froze, too.

This time, there was no denying it. The baby was Ryan’s.

The neighbors immediately began whispering.

“Ryan is still so young, and he got someone pregnant? Who’s the girl?”

“Who knows? You never see him around. She was probably some troublemaker he met outside.”

“Wait, isn’t Ryan barely twenty?”

“Stop talking about my son like that!”

This time, my mother leapt to his defense.

“Say one more word and I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

Gloria sneered.

“Ryan told me to bring the baby here after the birth and have his brother raise him. Officer, I also have a letter Ryan wrote himself!”

She pulled an envelope from her bag.

In my previous life, there had never been any letter.

Even when Ryan came back and accused me, Gloria had defended him. Together, they had pushed me into a corner until I died.

That woman was rotten to the core.

Gloria curled her lip.

“If I’d known this family was such a nightmare, I never would have come. What awful luck!”

The officer sighed.

“This is a family matter. Handle it yourselves.”

I grabbed his sleeve.

“This is not a family matter! You’re going to decide my brother abandoned his child based on one phone and one letter?”

“What if this woman’s illegal clinic was unsanitary and the baby’s mother died from blood loss?”

The officer paused. My question clearly made sense, so he immediately took Gloria back to the clinic.

My parents followed them.

I hurriedly packed my bags.

There was no way I was staying in that house.

As I left, one of the neighbors spotted me.

“Alex, where are you going?”

“I’m moving out. That way, when this baby ends up in my parents’ hands, nobody can force me to raise him.”

“Ryan got some girl pregnant and ran away. Why should I be responsible? I’m not even married yet. How am I supposed to find a girlfriend after this?”

The neighbors nodded.

“You’re right, Alex. You need to think about yourself. Go!”

“What a tragedy. Ryan got a girl pregnant and ran off!”

“Who knows? Maybe Gloria killed the girl!”

“Surely not!”

I ignored their gossip and left as quickly as I could.

By the time my parents returned, I was already at the company dormitory.

Soon afterward, my mother called.

The moment I answered, she spoke urgently.

“Alex, where did you run off to?”

I could hear the baby crying in the background.

“I moved out.”

“How could you move out? What are we supposed to do with this baby?”