In the end, Dwayne refused to sign the divorce agreement. Instead, he continued his cold, silent aggression and resorted to harsh threats, "You’re a failure who’s stayed home for eight years and never worked. What will you do without me after the child is born? Even if we divorce, the custody of the child will be mine. Think carefully about that!"
Hearing his angry words, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at myself. To Dwayne, I had always been nothing more than a tool for childbirth, and our child was just another checkpoint in his self-serving life.
Consumed by grief, I gathered every item we had prepared for the baby—from clothes to toys—and burned them one by one.
In the end, only a small portrait of the baby remained.
That portrait brought back memories of our most hopeful year together. Dwayne held my hand, and we painted an image of our imagined child, stroke by stroke. Her delicate features—eyes like mine and lips like his—formed a beautiful, happy vision of the daughter we had dreamed of raising in a loving family of three.
But Dwayne destroyed it all. Even the evidence of our child’s existence had been discarded like trash.
With trembling hands, I clutched the portrait to my chest, trying to feel the presence of the child I had lost. Tears fell uncontrollably as I finally let the flames consume it, turning every last remnant of that dream into ashes.
The firelight flickered brightly, and for a moment, I seemed to see a young child waving at me.
She wore the white princess dress I had just burned for her. She smiled happily as her eyes met mine, babbling softly, as though calling: "Mom..."
I instinctively reached out to touch her, but my palm was scorched by the heat of the fire.
It was then I realized—my child had completely left me. Her brief appearance wasn’t to linger but to help me let go, urging me to leave this sorrow behind and face life again.
"Baby," I murmured, tears streaming, "thank you for coming to me, for giving me the greatest comfort in life. With you by my side, even for this brief journey, I have no regrets."
I steadied myself, packed my emotions, and began preparing my luggage. With quiet resolve, I booked a flight for the end of the month.
That same day, Annie posted another update on her Moments:
"Everyone is welcome to attend my housewarming~"
The accompanying photo showed Dwayne and Annie locked in an embrace, gazing at each other.