Rose put on a convincing show too, sobbing like her heart was breaking.
【Ervin, Renata's baby is going to be okay, right?】
【If she had a miscarriage during my livestream, the internet will tear me apart.】
Ervin stood immediately, pulling Rose into his arms, his voice soft and soothing：
【I'm here. Don't be scared.】
【Even if something did go wrong, none of it will touch you.】
【I'm the baby's father. I'll explain everything to the public myself.】
To calm Rose down, Ervin actually reopened the livestream.
He went on camera as my husband and lied for her：
【Everyone, sorry if we scared you just now! That was all just a livestream stunt, a little joke.】
【My wife wanted to head home early and rest, so she splashed some tomato juice around to prank Rose. All in good fun.】
That night, the livestream broke its all-time viewership record.
And I lay in the back of an ambulance, watching the doors close without ever seeing Ervin's face.
Jamie was frantic, dialing Ervin's number with shaking hands：
【Mr. Stephens, the ambulance is here. Aren't you coming?】
I thought, looking like this, bleeding like this, Ervin would feel at least a shred of concern.
But the voice that came through the receiver killed the last trace of warmth left inside me.
【I already promised Rose a wrap party. It's just a little blood. She'll be fine.】
【Besides, the doctors are with her. There's nothing I can do even if I go.】
【I'll head over once the party wraps up.】
That night, I lost the baby.
Ervin's phone never went through. The only person at my bedside through all of it was Jamie, a man I barely knew, running back and forth, handling everything.
By dawn, Ervin still hadn't come.
I sent Jamie home to rest.
Then I dragged my body to the edge of the bed, called a lawyer, and booked a flight.
The nurse couldn't talk me out of it. In the end, all she could do was help me into a cab headed for the airport.
The driver took one look at my face, white as paper, and said：【Miss, you don't look well at all.】
【Whatever it is, it can't be worth rushing to catch a flight in this condition.】
【If your family saw you like this, they'd be worried sick.】
That small kindness from a stranger broke me. Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.
Three years of marriage, and Ervin had never shown me the concern this stranger just did.
I knew then that I wasn't wrong. I should have left a long time ago.
I wiped the tears from my eyes and managed a smile, light and free.
【Thank you, sir. I don't have any family.】
【But I'll remember what you said. I'll take better care of myself.】
The moment the plane broke through the clouds, bright sunlight poured through the window and fell across my skin.
Everything from before seemed to turn to dust in that single instant.
I whispered：【Goodbye, Ervin.】
No. Better yet, goodbye forever……
