She Can Have Him

I rented an apartment outside.

After that night, I hadn't even seen Charles for days. Meanwhile, my lawyer friend had already finished checking the divorce agreement, and had sent me the final copy. After checking through it, I asked her to send it to Charles in my stead.

After that, there was nothing but silence, as if it were a rock that had sunk into the sea.

One afternoon, I got a call from Charles' assistant. "Ma'am, Mr. Page says that he's been in contact with the hospital. Your baby can be delivered after a week via C-section, so please start packing your things and getting ready.

"Also, he's seen the divorce agreement. He thinks it's beneath you to get so jealous over a girl who's younger than you. He's been taking care of you ever since you got married, and all your expenses have been paid from his accounts since you haven't been working, either. If you apologize to him, he'll consider all of it water under the bridge.

"However, if you insist on being stubborn, he says he won't pay for your living expenses anymore in the future."

I chuckled. "Is that what he told you?"

There was a confused pause on the other end of the line, before he replied, "Yes."

"Alright."

Clearly, Charles thought that I was still pregnant with his baby, even ordering me to have a C-section at the hospital.

However, I'd already had a miscarriage the day he left me to take care of Sue.

I didn't bother explaining any further to the assistant, ending the call on my end. After that, I didn't bother to go look for Charles, only living my life as I normally would as I waited for the week to pass.

That morning, I put on a long-flowing dress, and headed to the hospital in the car Charles' assistant had arranged to pick me up. I brought the pair of ceramic dolls Charles had made for me when he confessed to me to cover my stomach, obscuring the fact that it was already flat.

I arrived at the hospital half an hour later, where I finally met Charles after so many days apart.

When I pushed the door open, I saw him picking fish bones out of Sue's food. The latter shrank into Charles' arms the moment she saw me, as if I were some sort of terrifying ghost.

In any case, why was she even here?

As if he'd read my mind, Charles explained, "She just went through chemotherapy a few days ago, so her immune system's weak. I got her to the hospital because she got a cold two days ago."

"Alright," I replied calmly.

Not noticing the undercurrent of my emotions, he continued, "I've already signed the agreement for your C-section, so the doctors will come and perform surgery on you in just a bit."

At that, he deliberately paused and stepped closer, speaking to me in that same tone he always used when he wanted to smooth things over, "After the baby's born, you'll still be my wife, the mother of our baby. Don't get jealous over these little things again, alright?"

After he finished giving his piece, he didn't even wait for an answer from me before turning to call the doctors, but I immediately cut him off.

"No need. I just came to tell you that there's no need to perform surgery on me anymore."

"What's that supposed to mean…?" Charles' expression was that of clear confusion.

The very next moment, I loosened my grip on the ceramic dolls, allowing them to hit the floor and shatter into white dust.

His calm expression froze, then darkened completely.

Grinding his teeth, he turned to look at me, but when he saw my flat stomach, he stiffened completely, and when he spoke, even his tone changed.

"Your stomach… What happened to our baby?!"