Chapter 1

Jack is my husband.

I met him during my freshman year of college. He was the one who pursued me first.

Four years of college, four years after graduation, a total of eight years.

Before we got married, he said he would love me for a lifetime, and only me.

After we got married, I heard he went to a nightclub while I was still heavily pregnant.

I slapped him hard outside the operating room while supporting my pregnant belly. I even questioned whether the child inside was his.

Jack said it wasn't, he had just met her for the first time.

I laughed coldly, "Oh, so you slept with her the first time you met? Well done, Jack."

His face darkened instantly.

The doctor said the girl's heavy bleeding was due to her pregnancy, but told us not to worry. The girl was fine, just the baby couldn't be saved.

Late at night, Jack and I stood outside the girl's hospital room. I had calmed down by then. I watched him chain-smoking and frowned, saying, "Jack, what do you plan to do?"

Before he could answer, I continued, "I told you before we got married, if you ever cheated, the house would be mine, the car yours, and I'd get all our assets after marriage. You'd be left with almost nothing."

I added, "The baby can't stay with you."

The baby in my belly, almost ten months along now.

Jack took a deep drag of his cigarette, looking very impatient. After a long while, he said, "Ava, the child can't be born without a father."

I laughed, "With a father like you? Better off without one."

Jack seemed very sensitive to my sarcasm. He looked at me coldly, "Ava, watch your words."

I sneered, "Why don't you watch yourself?"

Jack refused to divorce me. He even called his mother from their hometown to persuade me.

As soon as his mother arrived, she grabbed my hands and said all men cheat, even if I divorced Jack and married someone else, the next guy might cheat too.

She went on about how excellent her son was, already making a six-figure salary. If I really divorced him, where would I find another man making that much, especially in my pregnant state?

Listening to her made me sick to my stomach, strengthening my resolve to divorce.

Back when Jack's career was struggling, I supported him for years. When he wanted to start a business, I even used all my savings, including mortgaging the house my parents bought for me.

Now that Jack was making good money, with our child about to be born, he didn't mention redeeming that house or any of those things. It seemed he had forgotten who helped him get where he was today.

Later, when I brought up divorce again, Jack argued with me due to disagreement and pushed me to the ground with one hand.

I felt a dull pain in my abdomen.

I went into premature labor.

Due to fetal displacement, I stayed in the operating room for two days and two nights.

I saw blood-soaked medical gauze changed again and again.

I heard Jack and his mother shouting outside the operating room, "Save the baby! You must save the baby!"

I felt more exhausted than ever before, like I had struggled to swim to shore, only to be pushed back into the water just as I was about to climb out.

Extreme suffocation.