Chapter 2

5

I gave up the room, blocked every way he could contact me, and hid.

Tieu Tri found me anyway.

His eyes were red. His voice was hoarse as he asked why I had given up on us.

I looked at him coldly.

“Without the Tieu family, what can you give me? A comfortable life? A bright future?”

He stared at me in disbelief.

I kept my voice mercilessly calm.

“I don’t want to act anymore, Tieu Tri. I thought that if I held on to you, I could change my life. Move up in the world. I never imagined it would be this hard.

“Let me go.

“While I’m still young and have my looks, I want to find someone from a better-off family. Marry early, have children, live a little more comfortably.”

I watched the light die in his eyes.

“You were with me… only for my family’s money?”

I gave a cold laugh.

“What else? If you hadn’t had money, we’d never even have started. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?

“People who have money can afford to talk about love. I came from nothing. Staying alive already takes everything I have. Do you think someone like me has the luxury of being sincere?”

I used every cruel word I could find.

Still, he stepped closer, bowing his head. His hand closed around my wrist.

“Ky Hoa, give me a little more time. I can give you a good life without their money.”

I avoided his wounded eyes and shook him off.

“I’m tired of waiting.

“When you have no money, even love becomes another hardship. When you hold me, all I smell is sweat. The walls in that rented room are so thin I don’t dare make a sound.

“Go back to being the Tieu family’s young master. Obey your parents. Marry the suitable girl they choose.

“If you really like me that much, I could be your mistress. Money and affection. Wouldn’t that be better?”

His face went white.

“Ky Hoa, you disgust me.”

With shaking hands, he pulled off his silver ring and threw it to the ground.

“I hope you get the life you want.”

He got into the car and left.

I sank down and picked up the ring, smeared with mud.

Tears fell onto my trembling hands.

“And I hope… your future is everything it should be.”

6

Half a month after we broke up, I discovered I was pregnant.

My periods had always been irregular, but two months without one was unusual.

At the hospital, I learned that I was seven weeks along.

I couldn’t bear to give up the baby.

Not only because of Tieu Tri.

I still had relatives in this world, but nobody who truly loved me.

There were many kinds of love. A child’s love for its parents seemed to me the purest—instinctive, without calculation or demands.

For that selfish reason, I kept the child.

During the first few months, I was healthy enough for light part-time work.

I didn’t need much. I could look after myself and even save a little.

Then, in the fourth month, my eyesight suddenly deteriorated.

Everything blurred. Sometimes I could barely get around.

The doctor said pregnancy hormones were responsible, and that it could get worse later on. My sight might recover after delivery.

If it didn’t, I might need surgery.

I wanted to work as much as I could and put money aside before the birth.

After that checkup, the man who had accidentally knocked me down walked me to the hospital gate and pressed a thousand yuan into my hand.

“You’re so young, pregnant, and there’s nobody looking after you. It’s hard to see. Be more careful on the road, all right?”

I thanked him and took it.

When life corners you, money to survive can matter more than a little dignity.

After that, my days went on as before.

When I could see, I went out to work.

When I couldn’t, I stayed home and took writing jobs online.

Perhaps Tieu Tri and I weren’t quite finished with each other.

Within ten days, we met again.

My electric scooter scraped his Maybach.

7

As I turned right, my vision went dark.

This time, I could barely see anything.

The scooter and I hit the ground.

From the sound, I guessed the handlebars had scraped the car door.

Luckily, I caught myself on my hand. My belly was unhurt, but my wrist was grazed and bleeding.

It burned.

The steady warmth spilling from the wound told me it wasn’t a small injury.

I didn’t know whose car I’d hit. I could only press my hand over my wrist and apologize to the blurred figure in front of me.

Then I heard a familiar voice.

“Where’s your husband?”

I went still.

I had never imagined that every encounter with Tieu Tri after our breakup would find me more wretched than the last.

My husband?

Then I understood.

He must have mistaken the man at the hospital for my husband.

Fine. Let him.

“He’s busy. At work.”

Tieu Tri laughed, so coldly that I shivered.

Three years with him had taught me that sound.

He was about to lose his temper.

“At work? So he’s that hardworking? Still not making enough money, though? He sends his pregnant wife out into the street to hand out leaflets?”

He must have seen the flyers scattered from my scooter’s basket.

“Call him. Tell him to come and discuss the repair bill!”

Back when we lived in that shabby room, Tieu Tri had never let me go out to work.

He always said he could earn enough for us.

He really was clever, and he worked hard. Even delivering food, he earned more than other people.

He studied the routes and memorized the complicated map of streets, making more deliveries, faster and more accurately.

Whenever he was paid, the first thing he did was transfer the money to me.

His WeChat messages had always been full of affection.

“Ky Hoa, buy whatever you like.”

“Get something nice to eat. Eat more.”

“You’re so thin your bones dig into me when I hold you.”

“Stop saving your husband’s money.”

The memory stung my eyes.

Afraid I would cry in front of him, I fumbled for my phone and tried to steady myself.

“Tell me what the repairs cost. I’ll pay. Let’s settle it between us. I’m in a hurry.”

He laughed again.

Helplessness and mockery mingled in the sound.

“Is this the life you wanted, Ky Hoa?”

8

I gripped my phone.

My face burned. I didn’t know what to say.

My vision cleared a little.

I saw his gaze settle on my belly.

The disgust in it was unmistakable.

Thankfully, Tham Tri Y got out of the passenger seat.

She slipped her arm through his, her voice gentle and coaxing.

“A Tri, what’s got into you? She’s having a hard enough time. Don’t be so harsh.

“It’s only a scratch. The repairs can’t cost much.

“Why don’t we just leave it?”

His fiancée’s soft persuasion eased his expression.

He nodded, withdrew his arm and turned back to the car, apparently unwilling to waste another moment.

Tham Tri Y smiled at me in recognition.

“Oh, it’s you. We met at the hospital, didn’t we?

“You should be resting at home while you’re pregnant. Earning money can wait.”

Her voice was clear and soft.

Beautiful, and kind as well.

She even helped me lift the scooter.

“Be careful when you ride. If not for yourself, then for the baby.”

I took my hand from my wrist to steady it.

Blood seeped out again, falling onto the ground in small red drops.

She gasped.

“Oh! You’re bleeding!”

She turned toward Tieu Tri.

“A Tri, should we take her to hospital?”

He glanced at my injury.

I quickly hid my hand behind my back.

“It’s all right. Just a graze. I’ll dress it when I get home.”

He looked away.

“Get in.”

Tham Tri Y turned back with a light smile.

“Sorry. My fiancé is rather particular about cleanliness.”

She got into the car, a faint fragrance drifting from her hair.

I was truly glad for Tieu Tri.

Someone like him should have a perfect woman like her beside him.

But the car didn’t move.

He leaned across Tham Tri Y and looked straight at me.

“Get in.”

I stared.

She looked surprised too.

I waved hastily.

“No, really. I can manage—”

He cut me off impatiently.

“Get yourself checked. I don’t want trouble later.”

So that was it.

He was worried about trouble.

“I’m already grateful you aren’t making me pay. I’m not going to try anything.”

I bowed my head in thanks, got back on my scooter and fled.