Chapter 2
I prepared the divorce papers.
But Colin wouldn’t sign them.
After I exposed his secret, he actually seemed relieved, staying out all night. The next morning, he returned, looking exhausted, and began making breakfast for me in the kitchen.
I handed him the divorce papers, but he ignored them, casually serving me a bowl of porridge.
“My parents are desperate for a grandchild; they practically threatened to die if I didn’t give them one. I had no choice. Once Jessica has the baby, I’ll cut things off with her.”
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So her name was Jessica. I’d never heard him say another woman’s name with such tenderness.
I swallowed my bitterness. “If you’d told me sooner, I wouldn’t have held on to you.”
“Hannah, I never intended to divorce you. My parents just wanted a child, and I’m giving them one. After that, we can live our own lives.”
“A man who’s slept with another woman- you actually think I’d still want you?”
Colin noticed I was upset, so he changed the subject.
“My grandmother is turning eighty. Come back with me for her birthday celebration.”
I almost laughed from the bitterness, but he
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knew just how to play on my weakness.
I was an orphan, and his grandmother was my benefactor.
l’once imagined the person supporting me was a wealthy heir who’d never known hardship, but when I met her, she was just a humble old woman, collecting plastic bottles with a burlap sack slung over her shoulder.
I chose to stay by her side out of gratitude, and that’s when I met Colin, who was as warm–hearted as his grandmother. When everyone opposed our marriage, it was his grandmother who gave her blessing, sealing our union.
Now, she was gravely ill, and the doctors had warned us to prepare for the worst. The family organized the birthday celebration in hopes it would bring her some joy.
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I had no excuse to refuse.
When we arrived at the venue, I saw that woman again.
With her rounded belly, she stood boldly by Colin’s mother, greeting the relatives like she was the lady of the house.
That was when I learned her name was Jessica–the daughter of Colin’s mother’s old friend. Ironically, I’d met her several times before.
Jessica used to come to the house with Colin; back then, she was young and clung to him like a little sister, and I hadn’t given it much thought, assuming it was just a child’s admiration for her “big brother.”
It seemed they had been having an affair for
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some time now.
“Look at Jessica, she’s done something worthwhile–carrying a son! Not like you, can’t even give us a child. How will I face our ancestors when my time comes?”
Colin’s mother began to mock me openly, complaining to the relatives, saying that by marrying me, her son was risking the extinction of his family line, especially now that his career had taken off. Her attitude toward me had only grown more arrogant since then.
The relatives, eager to curry favor with Colin’s mother, had a lot of grievances against me as well.
“Jessica is so beautiful and gentle. Anyone who marries her would be lucky–unlike some people who can’t have children and
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harbor a malicious heart.”
Colin’s mother had once asked me for money, but at the time, Colin’s company was struggling financially, so I turned her down. This had caused her to harbor resentment towards me ever since.
Everyone seemed to reject me, and Colin’s mother made a show of sitting beside Jessica at the main table, as if I were the one everyone should scorn as an intruder.
Colin urged me to keep calm. “Just let Mom say what she wants to say; don’t let Grandma get worried.”
Grandma sat in her wheelchair, painfully thin from her illness. Her vision was blurred, her hearing nearly gone, yet she recognized me the moment I approached. Her shaking hand touched my face, her cloudy eyes welling
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with tears.
“Hannah, it’s my fault… I’m the one who brought you into this family, only for you to be treated this way!”
Jessica walked over, casting a haughty glance at me. “Grandma, don’t you want a great–grandchild at your age? She can’t give you one–why do you only have eyes for her?”
