Chapter 2

At the moment, Iris was sitting beside my hospital bed. She had just undergone surgery and had not even properly recovered from it yet. Her face was pale with fright, and her lips were trembling. Her tears fell onto my hand as self-blame overwhelmed her. "I'm sorry," she said remorsefully. "If only I hadn't been such a glutton… It's all my fault. I should have been with you." She felt sorry for me, but my heart ached for her even more. Just as I was about to speak, her policeman husband, Harvey Sutherland, called to interrogate her. "Did you yell at my brother just now? What the heck is wrong with you? As a doctor, it's not like he can choose his patients! Can you stop letting that brainless best friend of yours brainwash you? "You're both even claiming that you had a miscarriage—how laughable! Do you know how far along your pregnancies are? You're still trying to fake a miscarriage like others do when the two of you probably wouldn't suffer one even if you ran an 800-meter race right now! "If not for the fact that I'm currently busy helping Hannie switch out her water pipe, I would've gone over to teach you two a lesson in person! Divorce isn't something you can just casually bring up! If you want a divorce, then fine! We'll see who chickens out first!" He abruptly hung up the call. Iris stared at her phone screen for a long time, lost in a daze. I looked at her frail appearance and said, "Forget it. Perhaps the gods felt that we were not suited to be married to each other. You just went through induced labor and even gave me so much blood. You should get a good rest. Your health is what's important right now." Tears slid down her face, soaking into the hospital gown she was wearing. The two of us hugged each other and cried, our suppressed emotions finally reaching breaking point. Our insistence on clinging onto our love seemed to have turned into a sharp arrow that pierced straight through our hearts. If I thought about it carefully, this outcome had been determined since we decided to marry the Sutherland brothers. Jack had specifically chosen to hold our wedding on Hannah's birthday. His sullen displeasure had been evident. Even our marriage to Jack and Harvey had been a bargaining chip they used to try and provoke Hannah into returning to them, so who were they to speak of sincerity now? It was also absurd that Iris and I allowed them to pull the wool over our eyes. We actually believed that Hannah was nothing but an ordinary childhood friend to them. We even obediently did as they asked when posting our wedding photos on Facebook, making sure that only Hannah could see them. We had been in the same hospital as Jack since the accident, but he was unwilling to even spare the effort to look us up in the hospital's registration system and verify our claims. If his trust were weighed on a scale, it would be so obviously tilted in favor of Hannah. Perhaps in his eyes, I had never been worth the effort. However, I understood that reasoning far too late, and the price I had paid for it was too great. I lay on my hospital bed, scrolling through my Facebook timeline. As expected, Hannah had posted on her Facebook again, showing off her victory like a gold medalist. She had posted a photo of her, Jack, and Harvey, followed by a photo of an intact water pipe and a wrist carefully wrapped with gauze tied into a bow. The caption read, "Thank you, my childhood friends! Friendship truly does outlast love! It's another addition to my special memories!" I took a deep breath, then turned and motioned for Iris to take a look at the post, too. She took out her phone. Two minutes later, she laughed scornfully. "I'm surprised that they don't find a romantic relationship between three people stifling," she commented. "What a special memory indeed." "After we divorce them, they'll probably have to have their bed custom-made, won't they?" I added. Not only did Hannah post the photos on Facebook, but she also posted the same update on other social media platforms. The comment sections were full of people drooling with envy. "I'd be on cloud nine if I had even one childhood friend like that, but you actually have two!" "Please teach me how to be born into a life like yours! I've never done anything bad, so I'd like to be reborn into a great life like that next time, please!" As I read through all the comments, I felt a dull ache in my heart, but I could not find my voice. After a while, I finally said, "It has nothing to do with us anymore. I'll find a lawyer to draw up the divorce agreement right now." I had a copy of the agreement printed out and delivered to the hospital, then asked a nurse to help me bring it to Jack's office. I then sent another copy to Harvey's department on Iris' behalf. The delivery status showed that Jack and Harvey had both received their deliveries, but we did not hear anything from them for a whole day after that. I never thought that after four years of being in a relationship, we would not even receive a reply for wanting to break up. The bitterness in my heart grew as the sky gradually darkened. I was the first to lose my patience and call Jack. He seemed to be busy, as the phone rang for a long time before he finally answered the call. Before I could speak, he asked impatiently, "What is it? How dare you call me when I haven't even settled the previous score with you? Why did you send a divorce agreement to my office? Are you trying to make sure the entire world knows that you're jealous and making a mountain out of a molehill?" I sighed again when I heard this. I had asked a nurse to help me deliver the agreement. If he had just asked her about my situation, he would have known that I was hospitalized due to having gone through surge Just as I was about to talk about the divorce, I heard Hannah's coquettish voice coming through the receiver. "The lipstick you gave me last time was so pretty, Jack! I like it very much. Can you give me another one?" He hurriedly put his hand over the receiver. I sneered coldly. "No wonder you haven't even had the time to sign the divorce agreement. It turns out that you were busy. I won't disturb you then." Just as I was about to hang up, he anxiously said, "You're not letting this go, are you? I was just afraid that you'd overthink it! Harvey's here, too! "He was helping Hannie fix her water pipe, remember? She just invited us to her house for dinner to thank us for our help. Are you done being constantly paranoid? "Hannah lives alone, but she's still capable of changing a water pipe on her own. On the other hand, why are you calling me for every little thing? I'm already exhausted from work every day, so can you be a bit more mature? "Now you're requesting for a divorce, and you've even gotten your best friend involved! How exactly has my brother even offended you?" The more Jack spoke, the more intense he became, and his voice also took on an angry tone. At that moment, Hannah laughed and said comfortingly, "Don't be angry anymore. Women can be emotionally sensitive due to hormones from pregnancy. I'm independent precisely because I have nobody to rely on. Otherwise, I'd also have liked to be a pampered maiden!" Her gentle voice sounded grating to my ears. However, Jack did not seem to consider my feelings at all. He gently told her, "Send me a message the next time you encounter any problems, and I'll rush over as soon as possible. We've known each other for such a long time, so don't let the opinions of outsiders affect you!" When I heard him say this, tears poured from my eyes, and I immediately hung up the call. I never thought that after being together for four years and almost giving birth to his child, I would be nothing but an outsider in his eyes! The self-mockery in my heart overwhelmed my reason. I covered my mouth and cried bitterly. Iris noticed that I wasn't feeling good and hurriedly exclaimed, "Don't waste your tears on scum like that! I've already sent Harvey a message saying that I'm divorcing him as soon as I'm almost recovered!"