Chapter 2

"You've been favoring Viola since we were child. I've watched over you and taken care of you all these years, thinking you'd at least share some affection with me, but you're still the same."

"The good things always go to Viola. Since that's the case, you can just go to her if you need anything in the future!"

Isabel gasped for breath, then suddenly raised her hand and slapped me hard in the face, pointing at me and yelling.

"You petty, ungrateful wretch! I raised you with blood, sweat and tears and you've turned me against me!"

"I don't know what sins I committed in my past life to give birth to such a wretched thing!"

I stumbled backward, my lower back slamming hard against the entryway.

Caleb's eyes widened as he reached out to catch me, but he was still too slow. I was pushed back and fell to the ground.

"Honey!"

A sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen as a warm flow gushed out.

I clutched my stomach, my face contorted in fear. "My stomach hurts so bad, my baby!"

Caleb frantically supported my waist, while my mother stood there sarcastically remarking. "It's just being pregnant, why are you being so dramatic?"

Just then, a burnt smell came from the kitchen.

Isabel slapped her thigh and exclaimed. "Oh-no, Ronan's favorite crayfish!"

She didn't even glance at me again, turning her head and disappearing into the kitchen.

My heart sank.

Too bad, in my mother's eyes, the baby in my womb wasn't as important as a pot of crayfish.

I gave a cold laugh, gripped Caleb's hand tightly and said weakly, "Honey, quick, take me to the hospital!"

Caleb rushed me to the hospital and the doctor's expression changed drastically.

"She is hemorrhaging severely and requires an immediate cesarean section! Family members must sign the consent form as soon as possible!"

Caleb's hands were trembling so badly he could barely hold the pen.

He clung to the moving operating table, his eyes bloodshot. Always cheering me on by my side.

As I was being wheeled into the operating room, my phone suddenly rang—it was a call from my mother.

Caleb answered the call, but before he could speak, he heard Isabel's impatient voice.

"Hey, why haven't you come back to wash the dishes yet? Ronan wants some grapes. You might as well buy two pounds on your way back—make sure they're sweet."

"Mom!" The usually good-tempered husband suddenly raised his voice, his tone laced with barely suppressed sobs.

"Isla is hemorrhaging severely and her life is in danger. Don't you have a heart? She's your daughter too!"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Isabel's nonchalant voice came through.

"Making a big deal out of a small problem. Medicine is so advanced now, what could possibly happen?"

"Isla is just having a baby. You come back and do the dishes, buy some grapes too on your way, don't keep Ronan waiting!"

With that, she hung up the phone.

I lay on the operating table, listening to my husband's suppressed sobs, my heart felt like it had been drenched in ice-cold water.

Thankfully, the surgery was smooth and uneventful, with both mother and child safe and sound.

Seeing me wake up, Caleb hugged me tightly and cried.

He told me that the baby had been placed in an incubator because he was premature. He showed me a photo of the baby he had posted on his Instagram feed, with the caption: [Mother and child are safe and sound. Thank God for your blessing. I will do everything in my power to protect my two precious family for the rest of my life.]

I held my phone, looking at it again and again with great fondness.

Below were countless blessings from my husband's colleagues and students.

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, feeling grateful and blessful, but then I saw my mother's post.

She wore a gold bracelet, grinning ear to ear at the camera, with the caption: [Still, my youngest daughter is the most considerate and generous. She insisted on buying me a gold bracelet, spending over four thousand five hundred dollars. Who would dare say my beloved daughter doesn’t have me in her heart?]

Four thousand five hundred for seven hundred thousand dollars— that was generous?

Right after, she left a comment under the post in my Instagram feed announcing the good news.