Chapter 2

I couldn't wait any longer.

Taking a gamble, I let go and lunged for that rescue rope.

Fortunately, I caught it.

Using every ounce of strength to climb ashore, my heartbeat was thunderous.

All around was a vast expanse of white, not a single person in sight. They really hadn't saved me—they'd all left.

Whether I could survive or not, they simply didn't care.

The base was still over ten kilometers away. Having narrowly escaped death, I felt no sense of relief.

Even with a GPS locator on me, just walking back like this could cost me half my life.

But right now...

Gritting my teeth, I plunged headfirst into the wind and snow.

In extreme cold conditions, equipment at the base was prone to malfunction. Wearing gloves made it inconvenient to repair equipment, and when I fell into the ice crevasse, I had already lost my gloves.

Between the exertion and the freezing cold, my fingers had long since lost all feeling.

As a meteorologist, I understood environmental changes better than anyone. The snow fell heavier and heavier, wind pierced through my damaged protective suit, the road was a white blur with visibility less than ten meters.

Cut off from contact with the base station, cold and hungry, I gritted my teeth and pushed forward.

I had originally given up my research position back home and applied to join the polar research team for the sake of pregnant Levitt.

Worried she'd suffer hardship, I willingly took on more suffering myself.

But in the end, I was just making a wedding dress for someone else.

The little life I'd most looked forward to wasn't mine.

The person I trusted most, lying beside me in bed, had also chosen to abandon me.

My legs numb, I walked forward, my whole body trembling uncontrollably.

If I could just survive...

Holding onto that one breath, I don't know how long I walked before finally seeing the base station with its lights on. In that moment, my heart settled.

Trembling, I pulled at the door once, twice...

The door was locked tight. No matter how I knocked, it wouldn't budge.

Outside, the cold wind was bone-piercing. Inside, people heard the commotion and sat in a circle. Levitt held hot tea for Matthew and covered him with another blanket.

"Lucky bastard actually made it back alive!"

"I knew nothing good would come of him joining the research team. This time we definitely can't forgive him easily."

Levitt looked with concern at the scrape on Matthew's leg, and in front of all the team members, she forbade anyone from opening the door.

My fingers numb and without feeling, my legs also insensible to the cold, I gritted my teeth and held on, staring fixedly at that door, refusing to give up calling for help.

Finally...

"You can come in if you want."

Coughing twice, Matthew looked at me, his eyes harboring ill intentions.

"If you want to come in, then kneel down and apologize to me."

"Oh my, forgiving him just like that—isn't that letting him off too easy?"

Levitt frowned, playfully scolding and roughhousing with him, completely ignoring my calls from outside the door.

Reaching out to touch her belly, Matthew's tone was light.

"It's fine, I won't hold it against him. After all, he's the child's father and your lover."

"I don't blame him. It's my fault. If I hadn't gone abroad back then, you wouldn't have..."

The rest of the words went unspoken. As the two looked at each other, their eyes were full of affection, with no room for anyone else.

My heart ached and convulsed. Even though I'd experienced this once before, I still couldn't help feeling miserable.

The happiest moments of my life could be counted on one hand.

After my parents died early, I grew up on charity. The first time I met Levitt was at university.

The first time I saw her, I felt an inexplicable fondness for her.

But Matthew was by her side, so I silently stayed beside her, thinking this affection would remain buried forever.

Until one day, Levitt came to me on her own initiative.

"Christie, let's date."

For the first twenty years of my life, it was the first time I felt I'd won fate's lottery.

I desperately tried to be good to her, pouring all my efforts into helping her pursue her dreams.

She wanted to do polar research, so I took care of her family and supported her with everything I had.

After she got pregnant, I even gave up my own work and actively came to the polar region to accompany her, just to take good care of her.

The happiest moments of my life were dating Levitt, marrying her, and nurturing new life together.

But only now did I realize how foolishly naive and completely wrong I'd been.

The people inside were laughing. A single door separated two worlds.

As I knelt on the ground, I heard Matthew and Levitt pouring out their hearts to each other.

"If I wasn't trying to spite you, how could I have agreed to date and marry Christie?"

"Levitt, I regret it. If I hadn't gone abroad back then, we wouldn't have..."

Matthew's hand rested on Levitt's lower abdomen, his expression gentle.

Covered with a layer of snow, I watched Levitt's completely different tender expression and smiled bitterly.

Getting together now isn't too late, is it?

After all, the child in her belly is Matthew's.