I remember that every time I cooked for him, he would hug me from behind and whisper in my ear, "My baby, you've worked hard."
It seemed warm, but in the past five years, he had never even poured me a cup of hot water.
He was the youngest professor of cardiac surgery at the top medical school in Sydney.
He always said, "My hands are for surgery, so I must protect them at all times."
Even when he held my hand, he was very careful.
But now, he made an exception and cooked for Celia.
Bryan saw me, snorted and laughed and made an expression of "I knew it".
Celia greeted enthusiastically, "Claire, you're back! Do you want to eat together?"
I silently passed her and went straight to the bedroom.
"Stop!" Bryan stood up suddenly, his face terribly gloomy, "Celia is talking to you, please respond. Don't you even have the most basic manners?"
I turned around slowly and sneered, "How do you want me to respond? Thank her for rushing to give birth to a child for my fiancé, so that I can become a mother painlessly? Or rush up and slap her a few times, scolding her for being a cheap mistress and getting out of my house?"
"You!" Bryan was choked and his veins popped.
Celia suddenly covered her mouth and retched, tears coming.
Bryan asked in panic, "Celia, what happened? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"Bryan, I'm fine..."
She trembled and grabbed Bryan's sleeve, but cried to me.
"Claire, it's all my fault. I don't want to live in your house, but I really have nowhere to go. I will leave as soon as the baby is born and will never disturb you and Bryan again."
As she said this, she suddenly touched her belly and sobbed, "I'm sorry, baby. Mommy doesn't want to abandon you. But Mommy did something bad and must be punished. My baby… I'm sorry..."
As she said this, she retched violently again and collapsed in Bryan's arms.
Bryan looked at me with disgust, as if I had committed some heinous crime.
"Are you satisfied now?"
I sneered and turned away.
My attitude completely angered Bryan. He suddenly grabbed the glass on the table and threw it at me.
There was a sharp pain in the back of my head and with the sound of glass breaking, I fell heavily on the stairs.
The sharp pain made me sweat instantly and I couldn't stand up for a while.
"Why are you pretending? Get up quickly!" Bryan scolded impatiently behind me.
Celia came over hypocritically, "Claire, you should be okay, right? I saw the cup just lightly rubbed your shoulder..."
"Shut up!" I gritted my teeth to interrupt her and stood up with all my strength.
Seeing my bad attitude towards Celia, Bryan's eyes suddenly turned cold,
"Celia has no appetite. You go and cook her your best crucian carp and tofu soup. Remember not to put onions, she doesn't like it."
"No." I refused without hesitation.
"This is an order!" Bryan's face was terribly gloomy, "Claire, do you think you have a choice?"
I clenched my fists and looked him in the eyes, "I will never do it. Now what can you do?"
Bryan's eyes flashed with cold light and he strode forward and roughly grabbed my arm and pushed me into the kitchen.
The door was heavily closed.
"Don't even think about coming out until the soup is ready!"
"Bryan, you're crazy!"
I slammed the door hard, shouting "Let me out" at the top of my lungs, but all I got was dead silence.
My palms were swollen and burning from slamming and finally, I slid down to the ground powerlessly, leaning against the cold door.
