Chapter 7 — Because of his ex-wife, he lost everything

But that's my child. The baby has grown in my belly for more than four months, has a heartbeat, and has tiny fingers and toes. Soon I will feel my baby move. I stood on the side of the road, tears streaming down my face, passersby looked curiously, but I didn't care. I took out my phone and called the private maternity hospital.

“Hello, I would like to schedule an abortion surgery.”

The other end of the line spoke professionally, asking about the week of pregnancy, health status, and whether family members were accompanying or not. I answered each question clearly, with a calm voice as if I was scheduling a routine medical examination. Hanging up the phone, I bent down to look at my stomach, my hand gently placed on it, pausing for a long time.

“I'm sorry,” I whispered, my voice fading into the wind, “I couldn't let you come into this world to suffer.”

The surgery was scheduled for three days later. 06 During these three days, Luc Hanh Chu called me countless phone calls, sent countless WeChat messages, I did not reply to any of them. His message changed from "Don't cause trouble anymore, go home quickly" to "What do you want in the end", then again to "Khuong Dan Thanh, don't be too much", his tone became more and more impatient, but from beginning to end there was no real apology. There's also no mention of payment. In Luc Hanh Chu's perception, it was natural for that money to be spent on Duong Duong. Duong Duong's education is a big deal. If I don't agree, it means I'm selfish and causing trouble for no reason. On the morning of the third day, I went to the hospital alone. Wearing a loose sweatshirt, I sat alone on a plastic chair in the waiting area. Around me were filled with pregnant women with huge bellies, everyone had someone to go with. The husbands carefully helped, with a mixture of tension and expectation on their faces. I'm the only one who's lonely. When the nurse called my name, I stood up, my legs feeling a bit weak. I held onto the wall to steady myself and walked into that door step by step. After everything was over, I lay in the recovery room for half an hour. Behind the curtain, the sound of other patients talking loudly came, some asked if it hurt, some comforted them, it's okay, don't be afraid. I closed my eyes, put my hand on my stomach, it was empty. There's nothing left. I lay in the recovery room for a long time, so long that the nurse had to come in and urge me twice. Finally, I slowly sat up, put on my shoes, held onto the wall and walked out of the hospital gate. The sun outside is so beautiful, it stings my eyes. I stood in front of the hospital gate, took out my phone, and saw that Luc Hanh Chu had sent a dozen more messages, the latest one being:

"Do you have to do that? Isn't it just about carrying two plates of food? This has been a big deal for days, can you stop? How do you want me to comfort you?"

"I already knew you were divorced and had children, so why are you causing trouble now?"

I stared at that message for a long time, then put my phone away and hailed a taxi to the apartment. 07 The next day, Luc Hanh Chu finally came to the door. Just early in the morning, there was a loud banging on the door. Through the peephole, I saw him standing outside the door, his hair was messy, his face was haggard, it seemed like he hadn't slept well in the past few days. I opened the door. As soon as Luc Hanh Chu entered the door, he scolded: "Haven't you caused enough trouble? It's been a few days, should you calm down?" I Without saying anything, he went into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Luc Hanh Chu followed, stood in front of me, his tone softened a bit: "Dan Thanh, I know I was wrong that day, I shouldn't have hidden the food from you. But think about it, it was just two plates of food, right? Let's do it again. If you ask me to divorce you because of this, is it too big of a small matter?"