On the day my wife gave birth to her terminally ill first love’s child, my Mr. Hale and Mrs. Halesent ten hired thugs to guard the maternity ward. But even after the delivery was over, I still never showed up to cause trouble. My Mrs. Haleheld my wife’s hand and sighed. “Don’t worry, Chloe. With us here, we absolutely won’t let him come near you.” “Your dad brought people to guard the hospital entrance too. If he dares come and stop you from having this baby, we’ll call the police!” My wife looked weak and pale, but still subconsciously glanced toward the elevator. When she saw no trace of me, she finally let out a breath of relief. She couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just understand her, when all she was doing was helping her first love leave behind an heir. Looking at the newborn crying in the nurse’s arms, she smiled with satisfaction. She thought that if I came to see her tomorrow, she would let go of all our past arguments. And she would also be willing to let me become the child’s father. But what she didn’t know was that I had just submitted my report to go to the United Nations. Seven days later, I would give up my citizenship, become a borderless doctor, and never come back.
The day Chloe walked out of the postpartum care center, I had just finished handing over my work at the hospital. As soon as I reached the door, I heard laughter coming from inside. “This baby is so pretty. Those big eyes are clearly from his father’s best features.” My Mrs. Halehappily teased the baby in her arms, while Kevin came out of the kitchen carrying a steaming bowl of broth. “I made this soup myself. Your body is still weak, so you need to eat more.” He sat by the bed and fed Chloe with obvious tenderness, and the whole scene looked exactly like a warm, happy family. My Mr. Hale was holding a rattle, smiling so hard he could barely close his mouth. “This kid is so likable, just like his dad. Good thing he isn’t like Ethan, so gloomy and dull. Having a doctor for a father would be such a headache.” My hand on the doorknob instantly tightened. I remembered the first time I met my Mr. Hale, when he patted my shoulder and said being a doctor was a good thing. He even said he had been a doctor once too, and if his hand hadn’t been injured in a hospital dispute, he would never have retired so early. But now, he was saying doctors didn’t deserve to have families. I had only been away for further training for a year, and this family had already completely shut me out. I lowered my head and gave a bitter smile. I had been married to Chloe for three years, and she said she didn’t want kids, while I also understood how dangerous childbirth could be for women, so I never forced her to have one. I still remembered the day I left for overseas training, when she cried her eyes out and said she couldn’t bear to part with me. Clearly, for this past year, we had called each other every day and shared our lives, and even our colleagues joked that we had been married for three years, yet still acted like a couple in the honeymoon phase. But a month ago, I finally managed to get leave and come home. Even after an eight-hour flight, I never once said I was tired. Who would have thought that when I rushed home, I would see Chloe with a huge belly, standing beside her first love, the man she had always had a soft spot for. My thoughts were pulled back by Kevin’s words. “Ethan, when did you get back? Why are you standing at the door and not coming in?” At his words, the others in the room also turned to look toward the door. When my Mr. Hale saw the resignation report in my hand, his brows knitted even tighter. “I really don’t know why I chose to trust my daughter to someone like you in the first place. What bad luck. Now that you’ve quit your job, are you planning to have us two old folks support you?” “Is that how you behave as a husband?” My Mrs. Halejoined in criticizing me too. “You quit? You couldn’t even keep this job. Tell me, what else can you do?” “Chloe’s body isn’t convenient right now, but she and the baby will need money for everything. If you don’t work, are the three of you supposed to live on air?” Hearing that, I only found it laughable. “Whoever’s wife and kid they are, that person should be the one to support them.” “What did you say, Ethan? Why do you have no sense of responsibility at all?” Chloe finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. Her eyes were red as she shouted at me, and because she was too worked up, she clutched her chest and started coughing violently. “If Kevin hadn’t saved me from that car crash three years ago, I might have died already. His parents are both gone, and now he’s been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In a little while, no one in this world may even remember him anymore.” “Why do you always have to target him? In your heart, do you really think I’m that filthy and disgusting of a woman?” Kevin rubbed her back with obvious distress, then turned to look at me. “Ethan, say less, okay? I know it’s all my fault. I promise I won’t appear in your lives again from now on, but don’t let me ruin the relationship between you two, okay?” Looking at the four people in front of me, who had clearly already unified their front, I felt even more like laughing. So this was what a real family looked like. Just then, Chloe suddenly said, “Ethan, my patience has limits too. If you dare keep targeting Kevin for no reason in the future, then don’t come back to this family!” “If you still want to stay with me, then calm down. I can let you be this child’s father.” Next week? I glanced at the baby already asleep in the stroller. Next week, I would be leaving for overseas. But before I left, I didn’t mind giving them a surprise they would never forget. Without changing my expression, I nodded. “Fine.”
After that, I ignored their reactions and turned around to go back to the bedroom to pack my things. Since I had already decided to leave for good, I didn’t want to leave behind any trace of myself here. The laughter from outside the living room came through the door, and my hands folding clothes paused slightly. “Kevin, I want this baby to keep your last name. That way, even if he calls someone else dad in the future, he’ll still always remember that you’re his real father.” Even without seeing it myself, I could imagine the deep affection on Chloe’s face when she said that. And my heart had already been left by her in ruins. I suddenly thought of last month, when I had rushed home with souvenirs I had specially bought for Chloe overseas. But at the doorway, I saw Chloe and Kevin walking back hand in hand from a stroll. Unlike the panic on Chloe’s face, Kevin looked at me with confusion and asked if I had come to the wrong house. I didn’t say a word, only stared fixedly at Chloe’s pregnant belly. After being away from home for eleven months, my wife was pregnant. No matter what, I couldn’t lie to myself and say this child could be mine. Only when Chloe hurriedly stepped in front of Kevin to introduce him to me did I hear her say, “This is my husband, Ethan.” I had thought that after hearing that, Kevin would at least restrain himself, but instead, he invited me in like he was the master of the house and told me to sit for a while. As we brushed past each other, he lowered his voice so only the two of us could hear. “I heard you’re a lot older than me? Then I’ll call you bro, I guess, since the baby in your wife’s belly is mine.” My blood surged hot in my chest, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. I smashed my fist hard into his face. I completely lost my reason, and the longing from those eleven months apart from Chloe turned into rage. If I had had a knife in my hand, I might really have killed that cheating man and woman on the spot. It wasn’t until a neighbor heard the noise and called the police. We were both taken in, but because it involved family matters, the police couldn’t really get involved and could only let us go home first. The moment we got home, my Mr. Hale and Mrs. Halerushed over after hearing the news, and without asking anything, they launched straight into yelling at me. They said I had just come back and already caused such a huge scene that the neighbors had a field day laughing at us. They also said all those years of school had been wasted on me if I could still hit someone, and if anything really happened, they would never let me off. It turned out they had known all along that Chloe and Kevin were together, and they had even strongly supported it. In just one short year, Kevin had become the perfect son-in-law in their eyes. I was the only one kept in the dark. My mouth tasted bitter, and I felt horrible. Chloe then shakily walked up to me, trying to take my hand and persuade me. “I never meant to betray you. Kevin isn’t in good health. The doctor said he only has six months left at most. I couldn’t bear to watch him die without even leaving behind an heir.” “I also thought about discussing it with you before, but you were overseas, and I was afraid you’d worry too much and it would affect your studies, so I thought I’d wait until you came back to talk about it.” “If you’re willing, can’t we raise this child together?” Something as big as raising a child came out of her mouth like it was nothing at all. I put the last piece of clothing into the suitcase, and just then my Mrs. Halepushed open the door and walked in. When she saw the suitcase by my feet, she looked as if to say I was finally being sensible, and said, “You never came back before, so I let Kevin sleep in your room. The study’s been turned into the nursery too. You can make do on the couch tonight, or do you want to go stay in a hotel?” I was truly exhausted, and I didn’t have the energy to go find a hotel anymore. So I nodded and planned to make do on the sofa for one night. But in the middle of the night, the baby kept crying from the bedroom. I turned over, and just as I was about to put on my earplugs, I heard Chloe’s complaint too. “Can you deal with the baby already? He keeps crying like this.” “Aren’t you my baby? Just take care of you. Let the kid cry a little longer and train his lungs.” Chloe laughed softly and said he was annoying. Right after that came the sound of the bed shaking. I pulled the blanket over my head and did my best to ignore those filthy sounds. But every time I closed my eyes, Chloe’s face from the first time she confessed to me seemed to appear in front of me. Back then, she was pure and beautiful, and her whole heart and eyes were full of me. But that version of her no longer belonged to me.
I slept through the night in a daze, and at dawn the next day I dragged my suitcase out the door. I went to handle the necessary overseas paperwork. Because I had government-approved documents, everything was processed very quickly, and the staff didn’t ask me much. Only when I was about to leave did the staff suddenly call me back, and she handed me a piece of fruit candy. “May all you wish for come true in the end.” I smiled gratefully at her, then found a hotel nearby after I came out. After putting down my luggage, I was about to go out and find something to eat, but I ran into Chloe and Kevin, along with their family of four. Kevin was wearing an expensive custom-tailored Armani suit, and he looked full of energy and health. There was not the slightest sign of someone dying soon. “Ethan, I thought it looked like you from far away just now, but Chloe kept saying there was no way you’d be out here.” His gaze fell on the recruitment flyer in my hand, and he gave a knowing smile. “Ethan, so you’re out looking for work. But with such a skinny build, going to a construction site to move bricks would just be making things hard on yourself, wouldn’t it?” I said nothing. This job flyer had been handed to me by a young girl on the street just now. I saw her handing out leaflets outside in the winter, so I took one without thinking. Seeing that I still hadn’t spoken and was only gripping the flyer tighter, Kevin laughed with wild arrogance. “You should’ve said earlier that you were looking for work. Maybe I could help with something. We’re all family, after all. If you’re doing well, Chloe will have someone to depend on for the rest of her life, and I can rest easy too.” And my silence at that moment was basically an admission. Chloe, who had originally only looked puzzled, suddenly changed expression completely. She frowned hard, and her eyes were full of disgust as she looked at me. “What’s there to recommend? He chose on his own to quit such a good doctor’s job. Even if he starves to death now, he doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy.” “Ethan, you really have no sense of responsibility at all. Do you think doing this will force me to give up the baby?” I looked at her familiar face, but now she felt completely strange to me. I still remembered that when we had just gotten married, my position had wavered because of vicious internal competition at the hospital, and I had once wanted to quit and change careers. After hearing that, Chloe only held me in her arms. She patted my back gently and said in my ear softly, “No matter what decision you make, I’ll support you.” “Quitting your job is no big deal. I believe outstanding people will always shine. Honey, I’ll always be with you.” But the person who said she would always be with me was now letting another man humiliate me. She had forgotten what she once said to me, and maybe she had also forgotten the love she once had for me so deeply. Even my Mr. Hale and Mrs. Halebehind her kept shaking their heads at me. “I was blind before, to think I’d ever trust my daughter’s future happiness to you!” “Luckily we two old folks are still alive. If we had already been gone, who knows how you would’ve tortured our daughter.” The two of them got more and more exaggerated, and before long, the passersby around us were also turning to look our way. My hands hanging at my sides slowly clenched into fists. Just as I was about to speak, Kevin suddenly stepped forward. “We’re about to go take some photos. Ethan, why don’t you come too? I’ll be counting on you to help take care of Chloe and the baby for the rest of our lives.” Chloe immediately cut him off, giving a cold snort of contempt. “Look at the cheap, shabby way he’s dressed. If he gets in the picture, he’ll only drag down our family’s image.” After that, she turned and headed toward the studio, not forgetting to urge Kevin to hurry and follow. “Since that’s the case, we’re leaving first. We won’t keep you from finding a job.” Kevin patted my shoulder meaningfully. Watching his retreating back, I no longer felt the slightest ripple in my heart. In other people’s eyes, what a harmonious family this was. If that was what Chloe wanted, then what was wrong with letting go and giving it to her?
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