Shortlived Happiness

I calmly looked away from Benjamin's and Jennifer's interlaced hands and shook my head. "No, that's not necessary."

This caught them and Hector off guard. Hector snorted and asked, "What's with the act, Samantha? Save it for someone who cares. You've fawned over Benjamin to the point that you've gotten yourself knocked up, yet you still want to play hard to get.

"Don't you see how ridiculous that is? Even if you're pregnant with Benjamin's child, you still can't hold a candle to Jennifer! You're beneath her!"

He was still the same as always and couldn't grasp the situation.

Benjamin got mad when he saw how indifferent I looked. He scowled and snapped, "I can overlook stalking me and disrupting my work, Samantha. But how can you come all the way here to throw a tantrum?

"My patience is limited. Jennifer's condition requires her to have peace and quiet so she can recuperate—your presence is only going to affect her mood. Get the hell out of here and go home now!"

He reached out to grab me, wanting to force me to leave.

Suddenly, there was a tremor. Benjamin and Hector immediately ran to Jennifer, who stood in an open space. Benjamin even shoved me to the ground despite seeing the concrete pillar that was about to collapse behind me.

It landed on my left leg, and I passed out from the overwhelming pain.

When I woke up again, I was in the hospital with my left leg in a cast. None of my family or friends were by my side.

When a nurse saw that I was awake, she came to remove my IV drip. She sounded concerned as she said, "You're lucky a broken leg is all you have. You would've lost your child if the pillar had landed on your belly."

I looked at the ceiling calmly and said softly, "I don't need to keep the child. Could you arrange for me to have an abortion, please?"

I only learned that the village head was the one who'd taken me to the hospital after the nurse wheeled me out of the hospital ward. Benjamin had only sent me a short message. "Your broken leg scared Jennifer, so I've brought her back to Riverton City."

He and Hector had then requested for an emergency rescue helicopter to take them and Jennifer back to Riverton City. He couldn't care less about my injury.

I was already used to the constant ache in my heart, but the pain still suffocated me.

…

My abortion was scheduled to start in three hours. During that time, my lawyer and I finalized the divorce agreement. After quitting the conversation with him, I saw several messages in the group chat I shared with my family.

My father, Hector, and Benjamin had shared the transaction slips of the money they'd transferred to Jennifer's account.

I curled my lip mockingly while looking at the birds that flew past my window. It turned out everyone remembered Jennifer's birthday despite forgetting mine.

My father, Frank Monroe, shared his transaction slip. He also wrote, "Happy birthday to my darling Jennifer!"

Hector wrote, "I hope you'll always be happy, Jennifer!"

Benjamin wrote, "No matter what happens in the future, Jennifer Robinson is the only woman I'll ever love."

I silently read their messages before exiting the group. Benjamin called me almost immediately and snarled, "What the hell are you up to, Samantha? You just can't stand us being nice to Jennifer, can you? When we were in high school, you claimed she and her mother caused your mother's death, but how did that turn out?

"Frank already told me the truth ages ago—your mother took her own life because she was insane! But that wasn't enough for you. You even made up lies about Lisa tricking you and Hector into some correctional facility!"

He didn't conceal the contempt and disgust in his tone as he continued, "I've already had someone investigate the matter. That so-called correctional facility doesn't even exist!

"Hector told me you tricked him into going to an abandoned school, leading to him knocking his head there and losing his memory. Jennifer was the one who cared for him for a whole month after he was injured!"

Benjamin seemed to have finally found an avenue for him to vent his anger and continued to berate me. "I never wanted to marry you. If not for Jennifer being kind enough to worry that you would do something stupid, I would never have gone to the hotel that night and drank the drink you laced. We would never—"

I was silently listening to his rant when a robotic voice suddenly interrupted him. "Ms. Samantha Monroe, please head to the abortion procedure room."

Benjamin abruptly stopped. His breathing sped up, and he asked, "Are you getting an abortion?"

For some reason, I detected a hint of disbelief in his words. I was about to speak when I heard Jennifer chuckle on the other end of the line. "You're being silly, Benjamin. How could Sammy bear to get an abortion when you and the child mean so much to her?"

Benjamin's tone turned frosty at her words. "You're right. Samantha, you've really disappointed me. I can't believe you've turned out to be so evil when you and Jennifer share the same father. You used unscrupulous methods to make me marry you, and now you're trying to threaten me with the child.

"I'm not falling for your tricks this time. We can just get a divorce if you continue like this!" He fell silent after that, seemingly waiting for me to cry and beg him for forgiveness.

Unfortunately for him, I merely heaved a sigh of relief after a brief silence. "Alright, then. Let's meet at the courthouse in a couple of days."

I hung up and headed into the abortion procedure room.