Chapter 1
Winona Chapman and her husband, Joseph Lowe’s childhood sweetheart, Queenie Reed, were abducted on the same night. That night, in the warehouse, the sounds of moaning echoed until morning.
It was a month later when both women found out that they were pregnant. In order to protect Queenie’s reputation, Joseph unhesitatingly stepped forward and claimed paternity of the child.
Winona’s baby, on the other hand, was labeled the product of assault—a bastard left behind by the captor.
Winona shattered everything within reach, tears streaming as she broke down and screamed, “Why did you do this? You knew this baby was already conceived before the abduction. You know that they never laid a hand on me!”
Joseph’s gaze was filled with pain and guilt as he said, “Please just put up with it, Winnie. You see, Queenie has been sheltered all her life, so she won’t be able to bear the slander and the weight of the scandal.”
Upon hearing that, Winona stared at him dazedly. She then unexpectedly burst into laughter, tears rolling down her cheeks. “And I am supposed to bear all of it, then?”
In that moment, she was suddenly overcome with exhaustion. She was so weary that her love for him simply faded.
…
Having completed her signatures at the law firm, Winona’s gaze fell on the empty space where the husband’s signature was supposed to be. She then turned to her lawyer, Kenneth Lawson, and asked, “Can I sign on his behalf?”
Kenneth, looking slightly troubled, adjusted his glasses and replied, “You can’t do it unless he gives his explicit permission.”
There was a brief silence before Winona picked up her phone and dialed Joseph’s number. Yet, the moment the call connected, it was Queenie’s fawning voice that she heard on the other end, saying, “I’m really craving that dessert from the western part of the city, Joseph.”
Although Winona felt a sharp pang pierce her heart, she forced herself to remain calm. She said, “I have something I’d like to talk to you about.”
Joseph’s subdued voice soon followed, asking, “What’s the matter, Winnie? You can simply decide whatever needs to be done since I’m pretty swamped at the moment.”
Winona asked again, seeking absolute certainty, “Are you saying that I can make any and all decisions on your behalf?”
Joseph chuckled and softly said, “Of course, Winnie. Haven’t you always been the one who made all the decisions in the household after all these years of marriage?”
“I’ll decide this matter myself, then,” Winona said before ending the call. She then lowered her gaze and signed Joseph’s name in the designated space.
Upon seeing Winona off, Kenneth offered a reminder, saying, “I’d like to remind you that the divorce agreement will be enacted in a month, Mrs. Lowe. You retain the right to rescind it at any point during that interim, should you experience a change of heart.”
“It’s alright. I’ll never have a change of heart,” Winona said. She gave a small chuckle, having made up her mind that she would go through with the divorce.
Having left the law firm, she hailed a cab and headed directly to the hospital.
“Hello. I’m here for an abortion,” Winona stated.
The doctor briefly checked the report before asking, “Are you certain you want to proceed with the abortion? It appears to me that your baby is perfectly healthy.”
“Yes, I’m certain,” Winona replied.
She lay on the operating table as the clatter of the surgical tools sent shivers down her spine. She closed her eyes, suddenly recalling how Joseph had pursued her back then.
He was the student union president, delivering a speech at the university’s freshman orientation, only to forget every word the moment he laid eyes on her.
It was later widely reported that the finance department’s campus heartthrob had finally fallen in love. Joseph, the seemingly unapproachable man who had never shown any interest in women, spent a whole year pursuing Winona.
He had laid out 999 roses beneath the women’s dormitory on the first snowfall and stood in the snow, waiting the entire night.
He had also driven halfway across the city during a stormy night just because she casually mentioned wanting to eat the cake from the western part of the city.
Yet, what truly made her fall for him happened during the university’s anniversary celebration. She was performing a piano piece when, mid-song, a key malfunctioned, causing an awkward silence to fall over the entire hall.
In the next instant, Joseph strode onto the stage and took a seat beside her, saying, “I’ll be here with you.”
Having said that, his slender fingers gracefully found the keys, and he joined her to complete the rendition of “Wedding in a Dream”. Although the cacophony of cheers from the audience below the stage was deafening, his gaze remained fixed solely upon her as he said softly, “You’re the only one for me in this life, Winona.”
It was at that very moment that Winona fell for Joseph.
Joseph kept his promise, lavishing her with affection and care from the start of their relationship into their married life. Her sole reservation, however, was Queenie, his childhood sweetheart, who persistently clung to him.
Joseph had always said, “Queenie is just like a sister to me. You know, her grandfather saved my grandfather’s life. Now that the Reed family has fallen on hard times, I couldn’t possibly neglect her.”
Winona had believed him. Yet, Queenie gradually became the wedge between them. She found herself stepping aside for Queenie countless times.
Joseph had promised to take Winona to see the northern lights during her birthday last year, only to cancel at the last minute because Queenie had a fever. Winona had prepared numerous surprises for him during their wedding anniversary, only for Joseph to be called away by Queenie’s fearful call about a thunderstorm.
Moreover, even though Winona was burning up with a 102.2-degree fever, he accompanied Queenie on the Ferris wheel and even posed for a photo with her for her Instagram.
After enduring countless times as a second choice, Winona’s breaking point came when Joseph refused to acknowledge their own child for Queenie’s sake. It was at this point that she decided that she no longer wanted the child, nor did she want Joseph in her life.
The moment the operating room lights went dark, Winona felt a profound sense of emptiness, as if her very essence had been pulled right out of her. She steadied herself against the wall and slowly walked out, her legs trembling slightly as a dull pain lingered in her lower abdomen.
It wasn’t until she rounded the corner that she saw the scene before her, which plunged her into a state of profound shock, making her blood run cold. There, on the bench, Joseph was on one knee with his ear tenderly pressed against Queenie’s barely swollen belly.
Queenie’s face lit up with a wide smile as she exclaimed, “The baby just kicked me, Joseph! You know, they say babies who kick a lot end up being really smart!”
Joseph gently stroked Queenie’s belly, his voice overflowing with tenderness as he whispered, “I just hope the baby is safe and healthy.”
Winona’s grip tightened on the medical file when she heard that. The pages in her grasp gave a distressed rustle, a sound that echoed the very breaking of her heart.
She should have stormed over and confronted Joseph right there and then. She wanted to ask if he knew that as he celebrated another’s impending birth, their own child had been surgically extracted. She wanted to know if he remembered how, when she first told him that she was pregnant, he had embraced and twirled her around with such unbridled joy.
However, she took no action. She simply stood still, observing the harmonious couple bathed in the sunlight. She eventually felt all her anger, pain, and bitter resentment fade slowly into nothing but a deep, crushing fatigue.
She had just turned to leave the scene when Joseph’s voice abruptly resonated behind her. His tone was laced with surprise as he asked, “What are you doing here at the hospital, Winnie?”
