It was all about wanting Fiona Young to have a child for us, so I could graciously accept them and their daughter, and live a complete life of three.
Then we would be secure, no longer wearing tracksuits and carrying canvas bags like this.
The boy I had risked my family for, the boy who had promised me he would endure torture rather than betray me, had ultimately died in this glittering world.
In silence, the taxi arrived, and Fiona ran after it.
She pressed a card into my hand, panicked.
"Nicole, take this first. If you need anything, just let me know. Michael is busy every day..."
The taxi arrived just then, and I shoved the card back, letting it fall to the ground in haste.
The car sped off, belching exhaust fumes. Through the rearview mirror, I saw Michael gently embrace Fiona, comforting her. She stood there, tears in her eyes, leaning on his shoulder, quietly sobbing.
At the villa, Aunt Wendy came over and said Leo Miller wouldn’t be home for dinner, asking what I wanted to eat.
I touched my stomach, suppressing the acid reflux, and requested only a bowl of gourmet soup.
Back in my room, I wanted to keep the pregnancy test report, and while searching, I found the forged infertility test report.
That was six years ago. I spent $6,000 to have a classmate’s classmate get me a fake test report.
Six years ago, Michael and I were a pair of star-crossed lovers, relying on each other for survival.
Our lives weren’t actually that hard. My parents ran a small shop; I was their only child, and Michael’s parents were successful businesspeople.
The tragedy struck when Michael was ten. A car accident took their lives, and his uncle quickly seized control of everything.
He even sold Michael to human traffickers in the mountains.
I was the neighbor of that buyer.
Not long after, the neighbor had his own child, and Michael became a burden, a useless burden.
He was always doing endless chores, his body covered in bruises.
I secretly gave him bread from the shop and laid out his blankets in the pigsty.
Until one day, the neighbor lost money gambling and whipped Michael until he rolled on the ground.
I rushed forward and bit the neighbor’s hand tightly, but he flung me away, sending me crashing into a stone in the yard, bleeding profusely.
Enraged, Michael grabbed a lawnmower from the yard and slashed his neighbor’s neck.