Chapter 3

　　I’m feeling a bit of discomfort in my belly right now. The doctor had told me that if the fluid build-up is severe, the operation will be postponed.

　　As I took a step up the stairs, my hair got yanked hard from behind and I fell down.

　　When I looked up, I met Maureen\'s eyes.

　　Maureen is very beautiful, but boy, did she have a huge attitude problem.

　　She was pulling my hair really hard and it felt like my scalp was getting torn off my head.

　　\"Maureen, let go!\" I screamed, struggling to free myself from her. She held on tight. Marcus’s sister has always been a spoiled brat but she always kept her distance. Now that Marcus is not here, she is much more hostile towards me.

　　I glared at her furiously. She kept her grip on my hair so I struck her in the arms. Maureen was shocked and stunned and she finally let my hair go. I stood up and stared at her arms. I don’t think I punched her very hard but there were huge purple bruises where I had punched her.

　　She didn’t seem to notice this but she stepped back and sneered at me.

　　\"Sarah, did you ever consider that you can never get his heart? He can never love you! Never! You think I don\'t know? He doesn’t want to come home because you’re here! He won’t love you, he doesn’t even want to touch you!\"

　　Maureen\'s words stung me hard. My heart hurt. If he really didn’t want me, then he should have let me know before the wedding, and not after.

　　I actually loved Marcus, and was happy to marry him. As a young girl in love, I didn’t think my decision through. I had assumed that everyone was on the same page. Officially, both families were pleased to fulfill our grandfathers’ wishes.

　　I never realized there were “dissenting opinions.” Maureen and her brother should have voiced their concerns before the wedding had taken place.

　　By the time I moved in, I already sensed that Marcus didn’t love me. But it took a while for me to process this in my mind. It made sense, what Maureen had said to me.

　　Marcus left the house because he knew I’d be staying here as his wife. I never really thought of that before. I was so repulsive to him that he had to avoid me by all means.

　　I held back my tears and fled upstairs to my room.

　　The implantation was pushed back by a month because the doctor found that there was more fluid in my abdomen than there should have been.

　　Meanwhile, Maureen tortured me for one more month.

　　At the same day of my medical operation, Marcus Mo finally came back from abroad.

　　Truth be told, even though he wasn’t in love with me, I just missed him so much. I was so excited that I waited for his arrival at the airport. He should be getting off the plane by now.

　　I called his phone and waited. It rang several times. It was his assistant’s voice at the line. He told me to wait for a bit but a few minutes have passed and there was only silence, there wasn’t even any background noise.

　　It was as though I had been placed on mute.

　　Just when I was about to hang up the phone, thinking he might have forgotten about the call, Marcus Mo\'s cold voice came from the other end.

　　\"What is it?\"

　　\"Hi. Uhm... Marcus, can you please come with--?\"

　　At his end, someone called him, interrupting whatever he has to say. And then he said, \"I got something to do.\"

　　And just like that, Marcus Mo hung up the phone.

　　So I had to go to the hospital alone.

　　\"You came by yourself? Isn’t your husband with you?\" The doctor was a little surprised when he saw me alone. I shook my head as I sat across from him at the table.

　　After he did a checkup on me, the doctor was satisfied with the results and proceeded with the operation.

　　They carried me into the operating room. After they applied the anesthesia, everything went blank. When I woke up, there was a life in my belly.

　　Though everyone around me was cold, it was this little life inside me that warmed my heart.

　　At last, the operation was over. I walked out of the hospital and called a taxi to return home. I needed a good rest since I felt so exhausted.

　　As the taxi passed by Wanda Plaza, I saw a familiar face.

　　It\'s Marcus Mo. And his sister was with him!

　　Maureen took his hand as they walked out a jewelry store. He looked at her eyes, as he always did.

　　He told me over the phone that he had something else to do. I thought it sounded urgent.

　　Is this it? Going shopping with Maureen?

　　Maybe Maureen was right. Marcus Mo would never learn to love me. He can’t even be bothered with something as sensitive as a medical operation that just happened to me. I’ve loved him for ten years. We were married but I am not the one in his heart. My mind was racing and the thoughts suffocated me.

　　When I got home, I almost dragged my weak body in. At my room, I sat by the window and stared into nothingness. Ten years of unrequited love. Is this all really even worth it? Why am I doing this to myself? Sticking with a man who doesn\'t even love me.

　　Outside, I heard the low humming of an engine, which then abruptly stopped. They’re back.

　　I stood up, took a deep breath, then got ready to go downstairs. I wanted to tell Marcus that finally, we are going to have a baby. For me, whatever the circumstances, the arrival of this child will always be a beautiful and thing.

　　What happened next is something that went beyond my sanity.