Chapter 4

I was thrown out again.

I clutched the report, nearly on the verge of collapse.

What the hell was going on?

Why wouldn't anyone perform the surgery for me?

What was wrong with this report?

Whose child was in my belly?

One mystery after another was driving me insane.

But I couldn't break down. I had to find out the truth!

I wiped away my tears and started thinking about my next plan.

Since hospitals wouldn't perform the surgery, I'd just do a medical abortion.

Where should I do it?

I definitely couldn't go home.

That's where I died in my last life.

My phone vibrated.

A message from Emily: Are you home?

I looked at those three words and hesitated for a few seconds.

I had no one else now, only her.

I called her.

"Hello?" Her voice was a bit hoarse, like she'd been asleep and was woken up.

"Emily, can I sleep at your place?" I asked.

There was a pause on the other end.

"Where are you? I'll come get you."

Forty minutes later, I was lying on the couch in her living room.

Emily poured me a glass of hot water and sat next to me watching.

"What's really going on?" she asked. "Didn't you say you were going home to think?"

I looked at the cup in my hands without speaking.

She didn't rush me, just sat there.

After a long silence, I spoke.

"This child can't possibly exist."

Emily looked at me.

"I don't even know where it came from," I said.

"I've never had a boyfriend, never did anything like that with anyone. I haven't even had my first kiss."

She opened her mouth but didn't speak.

My mind went back to that bread on All Souls' Day.

"On All Souls' Day, my parents went back to their hometown to sweep graves. I was home alone. I got hungry and ate a piece of bread from the offering table." I looked at Emily.

"That afternoon after eating it, I started feeling nauseous. The next day I was vomiting."

She froze.

"You mean..."

"I haven't had sex, don't have a boyfriend. The only possibility is that bread," I said.

"I got pregnant after eating it."

Emily stared at me, not speaking for a long time.

Then she laughed.

"How is that possible?" she said. "Getting pregnant from eating something? You think this is a myth?"

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can't think of anything else," I sighed.

"Then think about this," she leaned forward.

"The night after you ate the bread, after you fell asleep, did you feel sore all over when you woke up the next day?"

I was stunned.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I just woke up normally."

"Then is it possible..." her voice lowered, "that someone came in?"

I understood her implication.

"Impossible," I shook my head.

"My house is on the seventh floor, the door lock was fine. And even if someone came in, how could I have felt nothing at all?"

Emily stopped talking.

After a moment of silence, I took a deep breath and said:

"Emily, I don't have any money right now. Can you lend me some? I need to take pills to abort the child."

She was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"What's this talk of lending between us? Just use it. But won't a medical abortion be risky? I'm worried about your body..."

I shook my head: "The pregnancy is still early, medical abortion isn't that dangerous."

Emily breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I'm relieved. But can you buy the abortion pills outside?"

I sighed: "Probably not."

She frowned in thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

"I've got an idea."

Emily picked up her phone and made a call.

A few minutes later, she looked excited.

"Done! The medicine will be delivered soon. A good friend of mine is a doctor—he prescribed it."

I hugged her gratefully.

"Emily, thank you. Without you I wouldn't know what to do."

My anxious heart settled down. At least I had a friend by my side who believed in me unconditionally.

Half an hour later, the medicine arrived.

Emily was afraid I'd make a mistake, so she had me rest while she busily prepared the medication herself.

After preparing the medicine, she pushed me to take a shower, saying it was a necessary procedure.

I happened to feel uncomfortable anyway, so I didn't refuse and let her help me take off my jacket.

The ultrasound report fell out of my pocket.

Before I could pick it up, Emily had already grabbed it.

"Oh, I haven't looked at your report yet."

I tried to snatch it back, but she dodged.

Emily held the report and looked at me with a smile.

"Don't be so stingy. The baby's going to be aborted anyway—can't you let me, the godmother, take a look?"

With that, her gaze shifted to the report.

Her sweet smile instantly vanished completely, replaced by a terrifying expression I'd never seen on her face before.

Emily stared at me, her tone full of deep disgust and loathing.

"The child can't be aborted!"

After saying this, she frantically dumped the prepared medicine into the trash can.

I couldn't care about her change in behavior. Everything stemmed from the thing in my belly.

Tonight this child had to die!

I lunged at her and grabbed the trash can.

"Emily, what's going on? What's wrong with the report?"

I asked while dodging.

But Emily didn't answer me, just chased after me like a mad dog.

I was cornered.

Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she wanted to kill me.

I pressed against the wall, my mind in chaos.

Just then, the doorbell rang.