On the day of my difficult labor, I used the last of my strength to deliver the child that Dawson Holt and I had made. He wept with joy. “The baby is perfect and looks just like you. The doctor gave you something to help you sleep. Get some rest now.” I squeezed his hand and forced a smile. But through my fading consciousness, I caught a conversation between Dawson and my brother, Nathan Reed. Nathan asked, “Dawson, are you sure about cutting off the baby’s finger?” Dawson answered, “Do it. Maya’s child has that dark birthmark. If she finds out Serena had a healthy baby, it will destroy her.” My heart seized. My blood ran cold. Maya was the sister I shared no blood with. So Dawson had loved her all along. As I watched Nathan’s scissors move toward my child, I fought to throw myself forward. But I didn’t succeed. Under the drug’s influence, I couldn’t even lift my eyelids. A baby’s scream tore through the air. Nathan’s voice cut in again, edged with amusement. “Done. Go tell Maya that Serena’s baby is ‘imperfect.’ That should make her feel better.” Dawson’s voice carried a note of urgency. “Fine, Nathan. I’ll leave the rest to you.” My body locked up as if plunged into an icy void, my mind screaming with a sound that wouldn’t fade. “Ah-!” I jolted awake, staring at the unfamiliar hospital room, my heart slamming against my ribs. I tried to get up, but Dawson stopped me. “What’s wrong, Serena?” “You’ve just given birth and you’re still weak. The doctor said you shouldn’t leave bed yet.” “Where’s the baby?” I stared straight at Dawson. His eyes reddened, and he hesitated. “Serena, I’ll be honest with you, but please, don’t be upset.” “Our baby…he was born with a congenital defect. The middle finger on his left hand is missing from the joint. Nathan’s taken him to consult specialists, to see if anything can be done.” “Don’t worry.” He held me tightly. “No matter what it takes, I’ll find a way to fix this for our child.” Listening to his shameless lies, my heart contracted painfully, as if pierced repeatedly by thousands of silver needles. The pain was suffocating. I pushed him away and said numbly. “I want to see the baby. I want to see the baby right now!” I stumbled toward the hospital room door and ran straight into Nathan. He was holding a baby, sleeping peacefully. I breathed a sigh of relief, snatched the child, and hurriedly checked his fingers. All intact. Not a single one missing. No, something was wrong. My hand slipped and I nearly lost my balance. Nathan quickly caught the baby and looked at me reproachfully. “You’re a mother now. How can you still be so careless? This is Maya’s baby-the Reed family treasure. What if you had dropped him?” I ignored his scolding and asked urgently. “Nathan, where’s my baby? Dawson said you took him away. So where is my child?” He froze for a moment, then seemed to remember, looking somewhat guilty. “I just ran into Maya on her way to the bathroom, so I left the baby on the chair by the elevator.” I stood there stunned, then rushed outside. Dawson followed behind me. But then I vaguely heard a soft “Dawson” from behind, and those urgent footsteps behind me disappeared. Fortunately, the baby was still there, being watched over by two kind strangers. I thanked them profusely, then looked at my child’s wrapped fingers, sharp pains piercing my heart once more. Outside the hospital room door, cheerful laughter drifted out. Dawson and Nathan were both busy fussing over the baby in Maya’s arms. They should be the real family. I should be the adopted daughter. I wiped the tears that had fallen on my baby’s cheek, then borrowed a phone and made a call. “I’ve decided to join the research project.” The voice on the other end brightened. “Serena, you’ve finally made the right choice. The country needs you. But you know the terms-this project requires a ten-year commitment. Are you sure you can leave your family behind…and the baby you’re about to have?” “Yes.” I swallowed my tears and nodded. “I’ve decided to bring the baby with me. And I have one request.” “Before we go, find me the best pediatric surgeon in the world.” “Serena, what’s wrong?” “Don’t ask yet. Please, just help me.” There was a pause, then a more serious tone. “Alright, don’t worry. I’ll have it arranged within a week.”
“Serena.” Maya saw me first. Her call made the two men, who had been all smiles, look somewhat embarrassed. Dawson ran toward me. “Serena, is the baby okay?” I didn’t respond, just walked silently toward the bed. “Serena, don’t be too sad.” Maya handed the baby to Nathan, then took off a gold bracelet from the child. “This is what Dawson and Nathan gave to my baby. They said it would bless the child with peace and health.” “Now I’m giving this blessing to your baby. Your child will be fine too, don’t worry.” I raised my eyes slightly, glancing at those two delicate little objects. Before Maya’s child was even born, Dawson had spent a long time carefully selecting that gift. Back then, I thought it was meant for our child. Apparently not. “No, thank you.” My voice turned cold. “If it carries that much of their affection for your child, then mine cannot accept it.” Hearing my refusal, Maya clutched the item helplessly. “Serena, do you still think I’m stealing from you?” She trembled as she bit her lip, her face turning pale. But I only found it laughable. Hadn’t she been doing exactly that? From the moment she was adopted by our family at age ten. The first thing that happened was she said she was afraid to sleep alone, so she took half my bedroom. Later, when she caught a cold and got sick. She said she was afraid of infecting me, so I was completely moved out of what had been my room. When I was thirteen, I ranked first in the entire school on an exam. Nathan bought me a limited edition complete Lego set. She just cried in her blanket, and my Lego became her Lego. My new dress also became her new dress. Even the university I got into through my own merit-she could walk onto the same campus through family connections. And there was Dawson, who I’d grown up with. The moment he firmly proposed to me. I finally felt I had something that was completely mine. But it turned out it was only because we had an arranged marriage. How stupid I was. It took a disabled child today to verify this truth. Seeing I didn’t speak, she shoved the gold bracelet into Dawson’s hands. “Forget it, Dawson. Since Serena is unhappy, you should take your gift back.” Dawson immediately frowned. “Serena, it’s just a gold bracelet. If you like it, I’ll buy another one. There’s no need to be this upset.” I laughed coldly, not wanting to argue with them. My weak body couldn’t hold up much longer anyway. I placed the baby in the crib and was about to lie down on the bed. Maya suddenly lunged at me. Just as her hand was about to press down on the baby, I used all my remaining strength to push her away. But the next second, a loud slap landed on my face, making my ears ring. I looked back in disbelief at Dawson, whose hand was still raised. His face was cold and severe, his arms steadying Maya. “Serena, you’re too vicious.” “Just because of a gold bracelet, you’d treat your sister-someone you’ve lived with for so many years-this violently?” “Don’t you know Maya has a back injury? If I hadn’t caught her just now, she would have hit the corner of the table and caused secondary damage.” Nathan also spoke coldly. “I saw it clearly. Maya accidentally lost her balance just now. You could have just steadied her, but you insisted on pushing her instead.” “Serena, you’ve eaten the same food as Maya since childhood. How did they raise you to be so malicious and petty?” “Apologize now.”
I was malicious and petty? Maya had deliberately reached for my child’s injured hand. And I had no idea how someone standing perfectly fine could suddenly lose her balance on flat ground. Watching them protect Maya as if I were some kind of predator, I couldn’t help but laugh sarcastically. “I’m sorry, my dear sister.” Maya weakly stepped out of Dawson’s embrace. “It’s okay, I’m sure Serena didn’t mean it.” Dawson’s expression softened slightly. “I’ll have my assistant buy another gold bracelet later. You don’t need to be jealous of Maya.” I didn’t even bother to laugh anymore. My child would never want anything from him ever again. On discharge day, Dawson had promised to pick me up. But by the time I got back to the Reed house, there was still no sign of him. It just so happened that Maya updated her social media that day. “Taking baby for vaccinations, but I’m afraid of needles. Glad someone was there with me. Feeling so safe.” The accompanying photo showed a baby lying on a man’s shoulder, taken from behind. I didn’t need to look carefully to recognize that it was Dawson. The sudden ringtone pulled me from my immersion in thought. “Serena, I’ve contacted a very authoritative surgeon, but he can’t come to the country right now. You’ll need to go to him.” “Okay.” For the first time in days, the gloom lifted slightly. “I’ll get ready and leave with you tomorrow.” “Go where?” Nathan frowned, somehow having appeared behind me. I suppressed my joy and said flatly. “A friend found what she says is a really good postpartum care center. She insists I go check it out.” He didn’t ask further, just said in a deep voice. “Maya said she’s coming back to stay for a few days. If you don’t have anything else, you should leave soon.” I clenched my fingers, my heart still trembling. Ten years of closed research. Before leaving, the last place I wanted to stay a little longer was the home where my parents once lived. Five years ago, because I didn’t give up my current job opportunity to Maya. Maya left home in distress. My parents went after her and were killed in a car accident. Since then, Nathan had probably hated me. “I’ll leave tomorrow.” “Good.” Before dinner, Dawson finally returned home with Maya. “Dawson, when that needle went into the baby’s arm today, I couldn’t bear to watch. Thank goodness you were there.” Maya was still excitedly sharing with him, but he quickly walked toward me. “Serena, I met with more doctors today about our son’s finger, that’s why I was delayed picking you up. Nathan said you came back here, but I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?” Jealousy flashed in Maya’s eyes, but she quickly recovered her smile. I tested the formula’s temperature, put it in the baby’s mouth, then replied coldly. “I forgot.” He paused, somewhat ingratiatingly trying to hold the baby. “Let me hold him.” I naturally wouldn’t let him touch even a hair on my child’s head. I turned slightly to avoid his touch. His expression darkened and he said nothing more. That evening, my son’s whimpering woke me. Before my sleepy eyes could open, voices from outside the door reached my ears. “Dawson, can my baby call you daddy?”
“Silly girl, your husband wouldn’t be happy to hear that.” Maya pouted in dissatisfaction. “But I only want you to be my baby’s father. When I see you caring about Serena’s baby, it feels like there’s a rock in my heart, blocking everything.” “Dawson, now that you have your own child, will you stop being good to mine?” I pulled the door open a crack and watched Dawson pull Maya into his embrace. His voice was somewhat hoarse as he comforted her. “Silly, you’re the most important thing in my life, and your child will always be closer to me than my own biological child. Don’t overthink it.” I covered my trembling lips, my hand stiffly pressing the doorknob, completely shutting out the two faces drawing closer beyond the door. The next day, I was startled awake from sleep by a scream. I instinctively reached for the baby sleeping beside me but felt only emptiness. My scalp went numb instantly. I didn’t bother with shoes and ran toward the source of the sound. In the bathroom, Maya stood frozen by the door as if frightened out of her wits. And further inside… Dawson was pulling my baby out of the bathtub. My mind went blank. I shoved Maya aside and rushed in to snatch the baby. “Baby, don’t scare mommy.” Dawson also seemed to have broken out in a cold sweat. He quickly pulled at me. “Let’s go to the hospital first, Serena.” The emergency room light came on. I collapsed on the floor as Dawson carried me out. In the hallway outside, Maya and Nathan had also followed. I lunged madly at Maya, my raised hand blocked by Nathan. Maya kept apologizing to me. “I’m sorry, Serena. I just saw how exhausted you were and kindly wanted to give the baby a bath. I didn’t know the swim ring would break. I really didn’t know.” She cried pitifully. Dawson’s heart ached for her. He also stood in front of her. “Serena, don’t blame Maya. This morning I saw you sleeping soundly and took the baby to give him a bath.” Another slap rang out, landing on Dawson’s face. But it couldn’t begin to offset the pain in my heart. Even now, he was still blindly defending her. I stared fixedly at the emergency room, no longer looking at them. I don’t know how much time passed before the doctor came out, looking regretful. “I’m very sorry. The child was submerged too long. We couldn’t revive him.” I listened in a haze. After a deafening roar in my head, the world before me drained of all color. I lay there for three days. For three days, I stared blankly ahead as Dawson spooned thin porridge into my mouth. He held me often and wept, his tears soaking into the neckline of my gown. “Serena, please don’t scare me like this!” Nathan stood by my bed frequently too, lips pressed into a tight line, never saying a word. On the fourth day, Maya threatened to take her own life to apologize to me. As they rushed to console her, I reached for my ID and stepped steadily into the waiting car.
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