He Took My Children, I Took His Peace

“Aren’t you afraid that after the divorce, I’ll marry someone else?”

He smiled helplessly, “Others might, but you won’t.”

Mark was used to my subservience and my waiting, convinced that I couldn't live without him.

That was why he thought I would still be waiting for him after the divorce.

“Besides, you’re carrying my child. I promise you, after this, we’ll live a good life together.”

I bit my lip hard, trying my best not to cry out loud.

Mark, our child was already indirectly killed by you!

But I didn't need to tell him the truth.

“Okay.”

Seeing me so readily sign my name on the divorce agreement, Mark hesitated for a moment, inexplicably flustered, “Listen, I love you. So… After everything is over, you’ll remarry me, right?”

“Of course.”

He lied to me seven times and I only lied to him once.

Mark, that was what you owe me all the time. 

I wondered, what kind of expression will you have when you know the truth?

Before leaving with my luggage, the hospital suddenly called, saying that my mother had a sudden heart attack and was in the ICU.

The surgery would cost fifty thousand dollars.

I begged Mark to lend me some money.

But as he was about to transfer the money, Valerie, who had just arrived, snatched his phone and reprimanded me with a disapproving look.

“If I’m not mistaken, you and Mark are in the divorce cooling-off period. You’ve already signed the papers, so how can you still use his money?”

“Besides, good people are always blessed. If your mother is kind, she’ll get through this without surgery.”

“Mark, don’t you think I’m right?”

Mark looked at me awkwardly.

Valerie held all the financial power in the family.

To get money, I had to get Valerie's approval first.

Looking at my mother's pale face, my voice almost trembling, I choked back tears and knelt down to beg Valerie, “Please, I can fill out the forms, you can let me fill out as many forms as you want, I only have my mother left.”

“Don’t try to make me feel guilty.” Valerie ruthlessly pulled me away. "I told you, if you want money, earn it yourself. Mark worked hard for this. It’s bad enough you don’t value him, but you’re also so wasteful.”

My eyes were red-rimmed.

I questioned Mark, "Is that what you think too?"

"Mark, if you lend money to your ex-wife, it proves you still have feelings for her. I'm going to get an abortion right now!" Valerie shouted, clutching her stomach and rushed towards the obstetrics and gynecology department.

Mark followed closely behind.

I cried, grabbing his hand, "Mark, can you transfer the money first? I promise I won't appear in front of you again for the next few days. I swear."

"Val is right. If your mother was a kind person, she would be better without surgery. I'll go comfort Val first, we'll talk when I get back..."

He coldly pulled his hand away from mine and left without looking back.

At the same time, a sharp sound came from the emergency room.

The doctor came out, "I'm very sorry, Miss Joyce, we can’t save your mother, she has passed away."

"No…"

It hurt me so bad until the world seemed to spin around me. 

I remembered my mother smiling as she watched me wear my wedding dress, smiling and saying that she would wait until the day she could hold her grandchild.

But now, she would never see that day!

My mother was cremated.

I sat numbly in the funeral home all night.

Valerie updated her WhatsApp Story again with a picture of Mark leaning on the hospital bed, gently stroking her head with a tender look in his eyes.

[At my most broken moment, I'm so glad you were there for me. If you hadn't been willing to donate a kidney to my mother, I might not have a mother anymore.]