“The baby belongs to my ex-husband.”
The moment those words left my mouth, the entire delivery room fell silent.
The machines continued beeping.
The nurses continued moving.
The rain continued hitting the hospital windows.
But inside that room, time seemed to stop.
I lay on the narrow delivery bed, my body trembling from pain and exhaustion. My fingers tightly gripped the edge of the mattress, my nails digging into the cold fabric as another wave of pain tore through my abdomen.
For hours, I had endured it alone.
The contractions.
The fear.
The loneliness.
The countless nights when I pressed my hand against my swollen belly and wondered if I had made the right choice.
No one knew.
Not my parents.
Not my friends.
And definitely not him.
My ex-husband.
Luc Thoi Dien.
The man whose name I had tried so hard to erase from my life.
The man I had loved for eight years.
The man who was now standing in front of me wearing a doctor’s gown and a surgical mask.
The doctor who was supposed to deliver my child.
The doctor who was supposed to be just a stranger.
Until he heard those words.
“The baby belongs to my ex-husband.”
His hands froze.
The instrument he was holding stopped halfway.
The nurse beside him looked confused.
“Doctor Luc?”
He didn’t answer.
He simply stared at me.
Through the mask, I could only see his eyes.
But I knew those eyes.
I had seen them smile at me when we were eighteen.
I had seen them fill with tears when he proposed.
I had seen them soften whenever he looked at me while I slept.
And now…
Those same eyes were filled with shock, disbelief, pain, and something I couldn’t identify.
Slowly, his fingers moved.
He reached up.
And removed his mask.
The moment his face appeared before me, my entire world collapsed.
Luc Thoi Dien.
My ex-husband.
The father of my child.
The man I had spent six months trying to forget.
The man fate had placed in front of me at the moment I was the weakest.
The air in the delivery room became unbearably heavy.
I wanted to look away.
I wanted to pretend I didn’t recognize him.
But my body betrayed me.
My eyes filled with tears.
Because even after six months…
Even after divorce papers.
Even after telling myself I had moved on.
Seeing him still hurt.
Everyone believed Luc Thoi Dien and I were the couple least likely to divorce.
We met when we were eighteen.
He was a medical student.
I was studying design.
He was calm, rational, and patient.
I was stubborn, emotional, and sometimes reckless.
People said we were completely different.
But somehow, we fit together perfectly.
During college, I suffered from terrible menstrual cramps.
One winter night, I couldn’t even stand up from my bed.
I thought I would just endure it.
Until three hours later, Luc appeared downstairs in my dormitory.
His hair was messy.
His fingers were red from the cold.
And in his hands was a thermos bottle.
“I brought you something.”
I stared at him.
“You skipped class for this?”
He smiled.
“It wasn’t important.”
Inside the thermos was warm brown sugar water.
He had wrapped the bottle in his jacket so it wouldn’t get cold.
I looked at him.
A boy who had cycled across half the city just because I was uncomfortable.
At that moment, I thought:
This is the person I want to spend my life with.
And I did.
After graduation, Luc entered a major hospital.
I joined a design company.
We rented a small apartment.
It wasn’t big.
The kitchen was tiny.
The sofa was old.
The bedroom could barely fit our furniture.
But we were happy.
Every night, no matter how late his shift ended, I left a light on.
Sometimes he came home after midnight.
His shoulders exhausted.
His eyes tired.
But whenever he saw the warm light in the apartment, he smiled.
“You don’t have to wait for me.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you always stay awake?”
I pretended to think.
“Because someone needs to make sure the doctor comes home safely.”
He laughed.
And hugged me.
Those moments were simple.
Ordinary.
But I thought ordinary happiness would last forever.
After we registered our marriage, we didn’t hold a wedding.
Luc told me:
“When my career becomes stable, I’ll give you the wedding you deserve.”
I smiled.
“I don’t need a big wedding.”
“What do you need?”
I looked at him.
“You.”
He held my hand.
At that time, I believed love was enough.
I believed two people who loved each other could overcome anything.
I was wrong.
Because love doesn’t disappear suddenly.
Sometimes it dies slowly.
From exhaustion.
From misunderstandings.
From two people who love each other but forget how to be gentle.
The night everything ended was raining.
Luc had just been promoted to attending physician.
His schedule became impossible.
Surgeries.
Meetings.
Emergency calls.
Sometimes he didn’t come home for two days.
At the same time, I was working on a major design project.
For half a month, I slept less than four hours a night.
We were both exhausted.
But neither of us admitted it.
That night, I forgot to pay the electricity bill.
When Luc returned home, the apartment was dark.
The refrigerator had stopped working.
The food inside had spoiled.
He stood at the door.
Silent.
Then he said:
“Why can’t you remember something so simple?”
That sentence.
Such a small sentence.
But it became the match that burned everything.
I was already tired.
Already stressed.
Already feeling alone.
So I exploded.
“Because I’m tired too!”
Luc looked at me.
“I’m tired too.”
“You think only you are tired?”
“I work ten hours in an operating room every day.”
“And I work all day too!”
His expression changed.
“Paying an electricity bill is too difficult?”
My eyes turned red.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Everything is difficult.”
Neither of us backed down.
Neither of us apologized.
Then Luc said the words that changed our lives.
“Maybe you should find someone else.”
I laughed.
A painful laugh.
“Why would I need you then?”
His face became cold.
“Then what are you waiting for?”
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
Two people who loved each other.
Two people who were too proud to admit they were hurt.
And then…
I said:
“Divorce.”
The moment the word left my mouth, I regretted it.
But pride stopped me from taking it back.
Luc looked at me for a long time.
Then he said quietly:
“Fine.”
That night, neither of us slept.
The next morning, I packed my things.
He didn’t stop me.
I waited.
I secretly hoped he would say:
“Don’t go.”
But he didn’t.
A week later, we went to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
The place where we officially became husband and wife.
And the place where we ended everything.
My hand shook when I signed my name.
I secretly looked at him.
His jaw was tense.
His fingers gripped the pen tightly.
He looked like he was suffering too.
But neither of us spoke.
Neither of us said:
“Let’s forget this.”
Neither of us said:
“I still love you.”
When we walked outside, Luc stopped on the stairs.
His voice was hoarse.
“Take care of yourself.”
I nodded.
“You too.”
Then I walked away.
Only after I turned the corner did my tears fall.
Because the truth was…
We didn’t divorce because we stopped loving each other.
We divorced because we loved each other too much and were too stubborn to admit we were hurting.
Two months after the divorce, I discovered I was pregnant.
At first, I thought it was just stomach problems.
I ignored the nausea.
Ignored the dizziness.
Ignored the strange fatigue.
Until one morning, I collapsed in the company bathroom.
My colleague Xiao Man helped me up.
“Van Van…”
She looked at me carefully.
“Are you…”
My entire body froze.
That night, I bought a pregnancy test.
I sat alone in my bathroom.
Three minutes.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Then two red lines appeared.
I stared at them.
My mind went completely blank.
I was pregnant.
With Luc Thoi Dien’s child.
The last time we had been together was one week before our divorce.
At that time, we still believed we had a future.
I touched my stomach.
Tears fell without warning.
“This came too late…”
The baby was innocent.
But everything between me and Luc was already broken.
I didn’t know whether to tell him.
I didn’t know if he still cared.
I didn’t know if returning to him because of a child would be love…
or just desperation.
The next day, I went to the hospital alone.
The ultrasound screen showed a tiny little shape.
A small life.
A small miracle.
The doctor smiled.
“Congratulations.”
I stared at the screen.
For the first time in months, my heart felt warm.
Then the doctor asked:
“Does the father know?”
I lowered my eyes.
“No.”
“Will you tell him?”
I remained silent.
Because I didn’t know.
I was afraid.
Afraid that Luc would return only because of responsibility.
Afraid that he would look at me and see only a mistake.
So I made a decision.
I would raise this child alone.
I would love this baby enough for both parents.
Even if it meant spending my entire life missing the man I still loved.
But I didn’t know…
That Luc Thoi Dien had never stopped looking for me.
And I didn’t know…
That the day he discovered the truth would become the day everything between us changed forever.
Because six months later…
I would be lying on a delivery bed.
And the man who thought he had lost me forever…
Would become the doctor delivering our child.**
