Chapter 3
I dozed fitfully through the night and left at dawn with my suitcase.
I went to the administration office to cancel my household registration and process the relevant paperwork for going abroad.
Because I had government–approved documents, all the procedures were completed quickly, and the staff didn’t ask many questions.
Just as I was leaving, the staff member suddenly called out to me and handed me a handful of fruit candies.
“I hope all your wishes come true”
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I smiled gratefully at her and then found a hotel nearby.
After putting down my luggage, I was about to go out to find something to eat when I ran
into Ottilie and Kieran with my in–laws.
Kieran was wearing an expensive custom–made Armani suit, looking the picture of
health, nothing like a dying man.
“Jude, I thought I saw you from a distance, but Ottilie insisted you couldn’t possibly be in
this area,” he said.
His gaze fell on the recruitment flyer in my hand, and he smiled knowingly.
“Oh, so you’re out looking for work? But with your frail build, isn’t working at a
construction site just torturing yourself?”
I said nothing. The flyer had been handed to me by a young girl on the street. Seeing her
handing out flyers in the cold winter, I had just taken one to be polite.
Seeing that I remained silent, only gripping the flyer tightly, Kieran smiled arrogantly.
“You should have said earlier that you were job hunting. Maybe I could have helped. We’re all family now. If you’re doing well, Ottilie will have someone to rely on in her later years, and I can rest easy.”
My silence at this point was as good as confirmation.
Ottilie, who had been looking confused, now had a complete change of expression.
She frowned deeply, her eyes full of contempt as she looked at me.
“What’s there to recommend? He insisted on quitting his good job as a doctor. Now even if he starves on the street, he doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy.”
“Jude Wilson, you really have no sense of responsibility. Do you think this will force me to give up the child?”
I looked at her familiar face, but now it felt utterly foreign.
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I remembered when we first got married, there was a time when I considered quitting due to internal competition at the hospital and changing careers.
Ottilie had just hugged me then, gently patting my back and whispering in my ear:
“We’re in this together. Whatever decision you make, I’ll support you.”
“Quitting isn’t a big deal. I believe a true gem will always shine. I’ll always be by your side, honey.””
But the person who said she would always be by my side was now letting another man
humiliate me.
She had forgotten the words she once said to me, and it seemed she had also forgotten the deep love she once had for me.
Even my in–laws were shaking their heads in disappointment.
“I was truly blind before, actually thinking of entrusting my daughter’s future happiness to your hands!”
“It’s a good thing we’re still around. Who knows how you’d mistreat our daughter if we weren’t here.”
The more they spoke, the more exaggerated it became. Passersby were starting to cast curious glances our way.
I slowly clenched my fists at my sides.
Just as I was about to speak, Kieran suddenly stepped forward.
“We were just about to go take a family portrait. Why don’t you join us, Jude? After all, I’ll be counting on you to take care of Ottilie and the child for the rest of their lives.”
Ottilie immediately cut him off, scoffing coldly.
“Look at how shabby he looks. He’d only lower the quality of our family photo.”
With that, she turned and headed towards the photo studio, not forgetting to urge Kieran
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