Teresa instinctively touched her belly. Could it already be? she wondered anxiously. Still holding onto a sliver of hope, she told Jonathan that she needed to take care of her mother and asked him to leave.

Jonathan sighed and suddenly scooped her up in his arms. Despite her struggles and confusion, he carried her to his car, opened the passenger door, and placed her inside. He then removed her shoes and realized she wasn’t wearing socks. Her feet were slightly blue from the cold, and her heels were rubbed raw and red, causing him to frown.

Jonathan grumbled, “Every time I say something you don’t like, you run off faster than a rocket! And this time, you even ran out barefoot! Won’t others think you’re crazy?”

Teresa turned her face away, her voice muffled. “None of your business.”

Jonathan snorted. “With how fast you ran, how did your feet still get cold?”

Teresa replied nothing. Jonathan took out a medicated cream from his coat, unwrapped it, and began applying it to Teresa’s feet. He had come to the hospital partly to check on her mother and see if there was anything he could help with. He was also worried about her, wondering if her feet were injured from running out barefoot, how she was doing, and if she had any side effects from taking the contraceptive pills. He was worried sick, even though Benny had told him not to come. In truth, he had arrived some time ago but hadn’t gone up.

After applying the medicated cream, Jonathan brought over the boots she had left earlier. He helped her put on socks and then helped her into the boots.

Teresa’s eyes suddenly turned red. Seeing him frown reminded her of their newlywed days; he’d come home from work on cold winter nights and warm her icy feet in his lap. Teresa wiped a tear from her eye, but Jonathan didn’t notice the fleeting look of affection. He only saw her pale face, as if she might faint at any moment, and couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms. She tried to push him away, but he held her tighter.

“When your grandparents passed away, I wasn’t there with you. When your sister had her accident, I wasn’t there either. At least… let me be here this time,” he said.

Teresa’s voice was choked with emotion. “When you called me, I thought my mom wouldn’t make it. Seeing her like that for the first time, I didn’t know who I could rely on. But I knew I couldn’t rely on you.”

Jonathan asked, “Why can’t you rely on me?”

“We’re divorced,” Teresa said numbly in his arms. “Don’t you hate me?”

Jonathan slowly released her. “Hate you for what?”

Teresa explained, “Last night, I could have been pregnant, but I took the contraceptive pills. I killed your child again.”

Jonathan suddenly fell silent. His fist clenched slightly, then relaxed weakly. “Of course, I hate you.”

He continued, “I’ve never met a woman as heartless as you. Two years of marriage, and all you said was you didn’t love me. I made money, thinking I could make it up to you, but your words hurt me repeatedly. You even refuse to have children with me. I wonder if I wronged you in a past life for you to torment me like this.”

Teresa replied, “Yes, I’m heartless. You should find a nice, gentle girl to marry. Honestly, I know that if I hadn’t slept with you, you wouldn’t have married me. You should have married Yvonne from the start.”

Jonathan sighed, unable to understand why she brought up someone who had passed away. He changed the subject and said helplessly, “If you don’t want to come to my place, just nap in my car first, then go back to look after your mom.”

Teresa wanted to reject it. “No need—”

“Just sleep,” Jonathan insisted, adjusting the seat backward and covering her with his coat. “Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?”

“I’m not a kid,” Teresa retorted helplessly.

“Sleep tight, good girl.” He gently patted her. She was incredibly tired, as if she had let go of all her weariness and vigilance and could temporarily rest.

Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Jennifer carried Michael back from Donald’s break room. Donald asked her with concern if her mom was okay. But Jennifer declared, “She’s not my mom.”

“Jennifer…” Donald didn’t know what to say.

Jennifer said indifferently, “I’m taking this kid to my place first.”

Donald stared at Jennifer’s cold and indifferent departing figure, her reluctance to open up making him feel a pang of pain for her. Since Teresa hadn’t returned yet, Jennifer called her, but she didn’t answer. Frowning, Jennifer settled Michael in bed, then stood by Evelyn’s bedside for a while. Seeing a few strands of silver hair on Evelyn’s head made Jennifer feel slightly dazed. She recalled that the year she went missing, Evelyn still had fashionable brown curly hair and wore trendy dresses. Indeed, aging is inevitable; she thought.