Chapter 3

Garcia sent me a few photos.

They were all photos of her leaning against a man’s shoulder while they were in a cinema.

I recognized that man’s dress shirt. Jonathan was wearing it earlier.

[Jonathan’s so nice. He brought me to see a horror movie right after I mentioned that I wanted to see it. Has he ever watched one with you before, Elena?]

No.

Forget a horror movie, we had never even gone to the movie theater together. Jonathan claimed that he felt uneasy when he sat in a dark place. Additionally, those who loved watching horror movies were apparently sick in the head.

He sure was good at coming up with excuses.

I laughed soundlessly again. I was such a joke.

[Thanks for the food you made for me, Elena. It’s no wonder why Jonathan always praises your cooking.

[Some women really seem like they’re suited for wearing an apron and working in a kitchen.

[Not me, though.]

I could practically see the mocking sneer on Garcia’s face.

I replied, [Do you really think you got yourself a good man?]

Then I immediately blocked her.

Then, I refused to read any of the messages that she sent to harass me.

She was not the only one I blocked; I blocked Jonathan too, not that he would notice.

Just as I had expected, even when I went to the hospital to get my abortion, he never noticed it.

I tried my best to avoid him, but I still ended up running into him in the hospital.

“I forgot to tell you. Garcia’s getting discharged today. You don’t have to send her food anymore.”

He seemed happy. He looked even happier than when he received his promotion.

I simply nodded.

When he realized that I was not leaving, his expression changed. “You don’t have to wait for me. I have a few other surgeries to perform, and I don’t know whether I’m going back tonight.”

I was already used to his lies.

I saw Garcia’s Instagram post today. She was clearly looking forward to me seeing it. That was why she made the post public.

Her newest post read, [I’m getting discharged, and a certain someone has agreed to go for a candlelight dinner with me tonight. I’m so excited!]

I pulled my thoughts back to the present and looked at Jonathan coldly. “I’m not waiting for you. I’m just here for a checkup.”

Regret flashed in his eyes.

“Is it a prenatal checkup? I’ll go with you. I’ve never been to any of them so far.”

I never needed him for those checkups, and I did not need him this time.

I was about to say no when a colleague of his suddenly called for him.

The sight of him leaving made me sigh in relief. Just when I wanted to head to the operating room, Garcia suddenly showed up and blocked my path.

She had a mocking look on her face. “I really am impressed with you, Elena. To think you’d be able to stomach all of this just to marry Jonathan. Do you really think that he’ll marry you just because you delivered food to me every day?”

Since she was putting me on the spot, I mocked her right back. “Since things are going so great between you two, why aren’t you marrying him? Is it because you don’t love him enough, or does he not love you enough?”

However, Garcia blurted out, “Love that’s too easily won won’t be treasured, and you’re the perfect example. Look. You’re forced to get an abortion now.”

I was stunned.

Yes, I was a real idiot.

I thought that since I no longer had a life of my own, I could gain happiness if my life revolved around Jonathan.

I never thought that since people were cheap creatures to begin with, they would only treasure things that were out of their reach.

“Garcia.”

Jonathan’s voice pulled me back from my musings.

I looked up and realized that he had stood behind her at some point in time.

He stared at her quite sternly.

Garcia hunched her shoulders in shock. After all, she had just uttered some truly harsh words.

However, Jonathan merely said, “You’ve just been discharged. Why aren’t you back home? Are you lingering around to catch germs and get sick again?”

Garcia was stunned before she gave me an even more smug look than before. She looked like a general who had won the war.

Then, Jonathan turned to me. “Aren’t you going for a checkup? You should go now.”

At this point, there was really no need for me to stay anymore.

I cast Jonathan one final glance before I left.

…

Jonathan’s story after Elena left.

It was 10 p.m. when Jonathan walked down the hospital corridor. He had just finished surgery, and he heard two nurses gossiping.

“A woman came here today for an abortion, even though she was four months pregnant. She said that she fell out with her parents just to be with her boyfriend, but in the end, her boyfriend cheated on her. She’s so pitiful.”

“I saw her too. She left on her own after the surgery, and her face was as pale as a sheet. She couldn’t even press the elevator button. I was the one who helped her.”

Jonathan stilled. For some reason, he thought of Elena. She was four months pregnant too.

She had quietly kept him company for five years, and she was as gentle as a cloud.

Suddenly, Jonathan wanted to call Elena and listen to her voice.

At this moment, one of his colleagues walked over to him. “Dr. Pullman.”

Jonathan repeated what he had heard to his colleague and said, “That woman shouldn’t regret getting an abortion and leaving that sort of man. In any case, I’ll never let Elena end up in that state.”

However, his colleague gave him a look full of pity.

“Dr. Pullman, I wanted to tell you that Elena’s the one who came in for the abortion.”