All for One Bowl of Fish Stew

After that night, Luke seemed like a changed man. He came home on time every day, cooked all kinds of pregnancy-friendly meals for me, took me on walks, and read me stories.

He acted like the perfect husband—attentive, gentle, and doting. It was as if that confrontation, the fish stew, and Ruby had all been nothing more than a figment of my imagination.

My friends all said, "He's a guy—they all mess up. Since he's trying to make it right, you should just give him a chance."

I didn't argue. But I knew that some things, once broken, could never be fixed.

One day, I was coming back from a prenatal checkup when a white Beetle suddenly swerved out of control and hurtled straight toward me.

I was thrown into the air and slammed hard onto the ground. A searing pain tore through my lower abdomen before spreading through my entire body.

Before I lost consciousness, I saw bright red blood seeping through my skirt, staining the concrete beneath me.

When I woke up again, I found myself in the hospital.

Luke sat by the bed, looking haggard and grief-stricken. Not only were his eyes bloodshot, but his jaw was covered in dark stubble as well.

"Cynthia, you're awake," he said hoarsely as he took my hand.

Instead of responding, I just reached down and touched my now-flat stomach.

"The baby…"

Luke's eyes reddened instantly. "The doctor said we lost it."

In that moment, tears slipped silently down my cheeks.

The little life I'd been looking forward to meeting for the last three months was gone, just as I'd started to feel my baby move.

"Cynthia, don't be like this. We're still young. We can have another baby." Luke comforted me awkwardly, trying to pull me into his arms.

I turned away, dodging his embrace.

"What about the driver?" I asked.

Luke's body tensed.

"It was… Ruby. She's in the room next door. She was injured too," Luke replied quietly. "She said she mistook the accelerator for the brake."

I looked at him. "So, what do you plan to do?"

He fell silent. It was a long time before he raised his head, his eyes pleading.

"Cynthia, Ruby didn't mean to hit you. She was just promoted to deputy director and has her whole future ahead of her. If this goes on her record, she'll be ruined. Could we settle this privately?"

I looked at him as if seeing him for the first time.

My baby was gone, and I'd nearly died. And yet, he was worried about whether the person behind this would ruin her future.

In that moment, my heart died completely.

"Luke, what is your heart made of? Stone?"

His face turned pale, and his lips were trembling so badly that he couldn't speak.

"Get out."

I closed my eyes. Even looking at him a moment longer made me sick.

Not only did he not leave, but he also did something that disgusted me even more. He put me under house arrest, all in the name of "helping me rest and recover".

He also took away my phone and wouldn't let anyone visit me. Every day, he personally brought me meals and watched me take the supplements he brought.

But I knew they were sleeping pills. I pretended to take them, hiding the pills under my tongue, and waited until he left to spit them out.

Ruby came on the third day. She told the nurse to leave, then locked the door behind her.

"Luke said you're not well, so I came to see you." She walked over to my bed, a smug smile on her face.

I kept my eyes closed and said nothing.

She leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Cynthia, you must hate me very much, right?"