Chapter 2

Joseph's father, Frederick Payne, had a heart condition. He couldn't catch his breath and ended up fainting on the spot. It only served to add to the chaos in the scene. The wedding became a farce, and the guests gradually left. An ambulance took Frederick to the hospital, and I followed along. After tending to the scrapes on my leg, I checked on my pregnancy. The pregnancy had come so suddenly that even Mom didn't know about it. When she found out, she was utterly shocked. "Lena, you really need to think this through!" I gently rested a hand on my belly and smiled wryly. "I was planning to surprise you after the wedding, but now? Forget about it." Mom couldn't understand how things between Joseph and I had escalated so much. Things seemed perfectly fine last night. Over the years, our relationship had always seemed strong. Even if we had any arguments, it was always Joseph who would give in first. Just then, a call came in from an unfamiliar local number. I had a hunch. And sure enough, I heard Joseph's voice after I went to a secluded corner to answer the phone. He had probably calmed Tessa down and finally remembered me. "Lena, my phone ran out of power." No wonder no one had been able to reach him. He asked, "How's the situation over there? You should be able to handle it, right? Even if you can't, it's okay. I'm heading back right now." He spoke so casually, as if he hadn't even considered how much pressure I was left to shoulder alone, with the groom running out in the middle of the wedding. How was I supposed to come up with a convincing enough excuse for his absence? I bit my lip, and I started to taste blood. "Joseph, it's been five whole hours. It's already dark outside. What makes you think I'd still be standing there waiting for you like an idiot?" There was a long silence on the other end, followed by a helpless sigh. "I know I'm in the wrong, but it was an urgent situation. You know how to explain things to our parents, right? Just don't drag Tessa into this. She's innocent." My grip on the phone tightened. So this was what it felt like to have your heart shattered. I said, "We're done, Joseph. Don't ever contact me again." After I hung up, I covered my face and crouched down in the hospital hallway. Then, I broke out into sobs. I tried to muffle the sounds since I was afraid I would disturb the others in the hospital, but my shoulders shook as I cried so hard that I was gasping for air. Then, I got a notification on my phone. Through my blurry vision, I saw that someone with a pink profile picture had followed me on Instagram. The message read, "I'm so sorry, Yelena. I never meant to cause you to misunderstand Mr. Payne and me. I want to explain and apologize." I wanted to decline her request, but my tears had dripped onto the screen and made it unresponsive. I accidentally hit "Accept", and a photo was sent to me the next second. It was a photo of a glass window in a hospital room, reflecting two people in an embrace. The taller figure was Joseph. I recognized his silhouette in an instant. The next moment, the photo was deleted. Then came the message. "Yelena, I've always admired Mr. Payne, but nothing's going on between us. I just had a bad bout of gastritis, so he brought me to the hospital to take care of me. He didn't abandon you on purpose. Today's your wedding day. Please don't get jealous of me and ruin your big day." I silently tapped into her photos. One post from last week caught my eye. "This dumb man forgets that he should be feeding me more sugar since I'm on my period." Attached was a photo of Joseph pouring her a glass of warm water. In the seven years we'd been together, Joseph had seen me through countless periods. He would usually make me hot, calming tea. Perhaps I should be glad that he still treated me better than her. But it was during that very moment last week that he hung up on me with him being busy as an excuse. I'd wanted to tell him then that my usually punctual period was delayed for a long time and that I was probably pregnant. Someone suddenly said, "Lena, what are you doing here? Didn't we agree I'd come back to finish the wedding?" I looked up and locked eyes with Joseph. I hadn't expected him and Tessa to be at the same hospital. My breath caught for a moment, and I instinctively tightened my grip on the pregnancy report.