The operating-room door slammed against the wall.

Everyone inside turned toward the sound.

I did too.

And for several seconds, I wondered whether fear had made me hallucinate.

Lu Tu Uyen stood at the doorway.

The man who had watched me sign our divorce agreement half a month ago without saying a single word was now breathing as though he had run all the way there.

His normally immaculate suit was wrinkled. His tie hung crookedly around his neck, his hair was disordered, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Two nurses were behind him, trying to stop him.

“Sir, you can’t come in here!”

He didn’t seem to hear them.

His eyes were fixed on me.

More precisely, on the anesthetic needle hovering above my arm.

“Stop.”

His voice was hoarse.

The anesthesiologist frowned.

“Sir, please leave immediately. The patient has already consented—”

“I said stop!”

Lu Tu Uyen strode forward.

His hand closed around the edge of the operating table.

Then he looked at me.

“Hua Nian.”

For three years, I had heard him call my name countless times.

Never like this.

There was fear in his voice.

Real fear.

But strangely, hearing it now didn’t make my heart soften.

I only felt tired.

“Why are you here?”

His lips moved, but no answer came immediately.

His gaze dropped toward my stomach.

That tiny movement told me everything.

He knew.

I slowly sat up.

“Who told you?”

Lu Tu Uyen’s face tightened.

“Are they mine?”

I laughed.

The operating room became painfully quiet.

Even the nurses seemed uncomfortable.

“We’ve been divorced for fifteen days, Lu Tu Uyen. Do you really think I’ve already found someone else and become six weeks pregnant?”

His face went pale.

“So it’s true.”

“What?”

“Twins.”

My fingers curled around the hospital gown.

He really knew everything.

Lu Tu Uyen suddenly turned to the doctor.

“This surgery is canceled.”

I stared at him.

“What did you say?”

He answered without looking away from me.

“I said you’re not doing it.”

Something inside me snapped.

“Who gave you the right?”

“Hua Nian—”

“You?”

I pulled the blanket away and got off the operating table.

My legs were shaking, but I stood anyway.

“You gave up that right when you sat beside your mother and watched me sign the divorce papers.”

His expression stiffened.

“I didn’t know you were pregnant.”

“And if I wasn’t?”

He fell silent.

That silence.

Again.

The same silence that had destroyed our marriage.

I smiled bitterly.

“So nothing would change.”

“Nian Nian, listen to me.”

“No.”

I looked straight at him.

“For three years, I listened.”

“When your mother forced me to drink medicine until I vomited, you told me she was worried about the family.”

“When she dragged me from hospital to hospital for fertility examinations, you told me to tolerate it.”

“When she called me useless, barren, a hen that couldn’t lay eggs, you stood beside me and said nothing.”

My voice began trembling.

“But now that you’ve discovered there are two children inside me, suddenly you know how to break into an operating room?”

Lu Tu Uyen’s face turned ashen.

“I didn’t know it had hurt you this much.”

That sentence almost made me laugh again.

“You didn’t know?”

I stepped closer.

“Or did you simply never want to know?”

He had no answer.

I turned toward the doctor.

“Please continue.”

Lu Tu Uyen grabbed my wrist.

“No.”

I immediately pulled away.

“Don’t touch me.”

His hand froze in midair.

Then, for the first time since entering, his voice softened.

“Please.”

I stopped.

Lu Tu Uyen had never begged me for anything.

Not once.

He swallowed hard.

“Don’t do it today.”

I looked at him coldly.

“Give me one reason.”

“They’re my children too.”

There it was.

Not because he loved me.

Not because he regretted the divorce.

The children.

I lowered my eyes.

“So that’s why you came.”

He seemed startled.

“Hua Nian—”

“You found out the woman your family threw away is carrying twins. Your mother finally has the heirs she’s wanted for three years. Of course you came.”

“No.”

His denial was immediate.

“This has nothing to do with my mother.”

“Then how did you find me?”

That question silenced him.

My heart sank.

“Lu Tu Uyen.”

I stared at him.

“How did you know?”

Before he could answer, another voice came from outside.

“Because I told him.”

I turned.

Khuong Nghien stood at the doorway.

Her face was pale.

I stared at my best friend in disbelief.

“Nghien?”

Her eyes immediately reddened.

“I’m sorry.”

The betrayal hurt more than I expected.

“You promised me.”

“I know.”

“You gave me your phone specifically so no one could trace the appointment!”

“I know!”

She rushed toward me.

“But this morning the hospital called because there was a problem confirming one of your medical records. I panicked. And then…”

She looked toward Lu Tu Uyen.

“He came to find me.”

I frowned.

“Why?”

Lu Tu Uyen finally spoke.

“Because the divorce hasn’t been finalized.”

My entire body went still.

“What?”

He took something from inside his jacket.

A document.

I recognized my signature immediately.

The divorce agreement.

But across the final page was a red stamp I had never seen before.

REJECTED FOR REGISTRATION.

My heartbeat stumbled.

“I signed it.”

“Yes.”

“You signed it too.”

He said nothing.

My eyes narrowed.

“You didn’t?”

Lu Tu Uyen looked directly at me.

“No.”

The room seemed to lose all sound.

Half a month ago, his mother had placed that agreement in front of me.

I signed.

Then I left.

I had assumed Lu Tu Uyen would sign immediately afterward.

Why wouldn’t he?

He hadn’t stopped me.

Hadn’t followed me.

Hadn’t even called.

“You let me believe we were divorced.”

“I thought I would sign it.”

His voice was low.

“But when I picked up the pen…”

He stopped.

For once, I didn’t help him finish his sentence.

Finally he said:

“I couldn’t.”

A bitter smile touched my lips.

“How touching.”

His jaw tightened.

“I know you don’t believe me.”

“Correct.”

“But legally, we’re still married.”

I looked at him.

“And you think that means you can decide what happens to my body?”

“No.”

His answer surprised me.

He stepped back.

His hands slowly dropped to his sides.

“I can’t.”

Then why was he here?

He looked at the anesthesiologist.

“Give us ten minutes.”

I immediately said, “No.”

Lu Tu Uyen turned back to me.

“Five.”

“No.”

“One minute.”

I almost laughed.

“What can you possibly say in one minute that you couldn’t say in three years?”

Pain flashed across his face.

Then his phone rang.

He ignored it.

It rang again.

And again.

Finally, Khuong Nghien glanced at the screen.

The caller ID displayed two words.

Mother Lu.

I stared at him.

“So she knows.”

“No.”

“Answer it.”

“Nian Nian—”

“Answer.”

He slowly picked up.

Before he could speak, Chu Lam’s excited voice came through loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.

“Tu Uyen! Is it really twins?”

My entire body went cold.

Lu Tu Uyen’s face changed instantly.

“Who told you?”

His mother’s voice trembled with excitement.

“It doesn’t matter! Bring Hua Nian back immediately. I knew that girl wouldn’t dare get rid of the Lu family’s bloodline. Twins! Our ancestors have blessed us!”

I closed my eyes.

Of course.

Nothing had changed.

Then Chu Lam said something that made even Lu Tu Uyen freeze.

“Also, don’t tell Hua Nian about the five million.”

My eyes opened.

“What five million?”

The other end of the phone went silent.

Lu Tu Uyen’s fingers tightened around the device.

“Mother.”

His voice became terrifyingly cold.

“What did you do?”

Chu Lam immediately hung up.

I looked from the dead phone to him.

Then I remembered the check placed beside the divorce agreement.

Five million.

The exact same amount.

Lu Tu Uyen stared at the screen for several seconds before slowly raising his head.

Something in his expression had changed.

“Nian Nian.”

I felt a chill crawl down my back.

“What is she talking about?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he opened the document folder he had brought with him.

Behind our unsigned divorce papers was another contract.

One I had never seen before.

Across the top were the words:

Pregnancy and Heir Custody Agreement.

And at the bottom—

was my signature.

Except I had never signed it.