Inside the ward, Carla and her daughter, Sally, were sleeping side by side in a narrow hospital bed.
The mother was holding her daughter in her arms very tightly. She had placed most of the quilt on her child, leaving her own legs outside and exposed to the cruel coldness of the hospital air conditioner. Carla's other leg was even hanging at the edge of the bed.
When Terence came in and saw this scenario, unknowingly, a frown appeared on his face. With a second to think about it, he was ready to leave the room.
But just when he opened the door of the ward again, he heard a soft grunt that sounded like Carla's. "Terence?" Carla then said.
She knew that he was going to come, so she willed herself not to fall asleep deeply.
She sat up from the bed, moved Sally from her arms to the middle of the bed, and properly covered her with the quilt. Then, she stretched herself, put her coat on and walked towards Terence.
"Now that you're here, let's have a talk. Take a seat," Carla said.
She poured two glasses of water and sat down on the sofa.
Terence turned around, went inside and turned to look at Sally who was still sleeping. Then, he walked toward the sofa and was about to sit down. But just at that moment, his phone rang.
"Hello, Lucy. I'll be home right away. Don't worry about me. Yes, goodnight."
After exchanging a few words, Terence hung up the phone. Then, he turned to Carla, and said, "I'll come and see Sally tomorrow. For now, I need to go."
Carla, who was sitting on the sofa, finally realized that Terence was very resolved to leave.
So she asked straight away, "Is Lucy your current wife?"
When he heard her question, Terence stopped on his tracks. Then, he briefly respond
bbed her arm and pulled her into the bathroom.
He held her from behind, holding her chin with one hand and forcing her to look at their reflection in the mirror. The bathroom mirror was wide, it not only reflected their faces but everything that they had. They could see themselves from head to toe.
"Look at yourself! Do you think you're deserving of me? And on top of that, you still have an arrogant and rude temper! Even if you gave birth to a daughter of mine, you still don't deserve even a glance from me!"
Carla bit her lips tightly and looked at their reflection in the mirror.
She was a little haggard at that moment. In the past four years, what she ate and wore were the cheapest and the quality was terrible. She couldn't even recognize herself. She was so far from the Carla who was gently cared for by Terence years ago.
"And look at your hands! Look at how rough and calloused they are! You don't even deserve to be a maid in our family! You're no better than a village woman, don't you think?!
With all of this, you still have the nerve to want to come back to my life so easily? How do you think that would be possible?"