Part 2They Thought I Was Alone

I took a deep breath.

Alex had some business to attend to for the next couple of days, but he'd arrive in Minnesota in two days to take me home.

I just needed to hold on for two days.

"Fine, I'll peel them."

"No gloves!"

Marta threw the gloves into the trash can and folded her arms.

"What kind of punishment is it if you wear gloves?"

I suppressed my anger and began peeling with my bare hands.

In an instant, red bumps appeared all over my hands and arms. It was itchy and unbearable.

After finally finishing the basin of shrimp, Marta looked at them with disgust.

"These shrimp don't have your contagious disease, do they? I feel dirty just looking at them."

Fortunately, there weren't too many shrimp, or I definitely would have ended up in the hospital.

"Is Marta brain-dead? Who told you allergies are contagious diseases?"

"How dare you insult my mom!"

George got worked up and shoved a shrimp into my mouth. I felt my breathing become rapid.

Seeing my reaction, Johnson panicked a little.

"Alice, what are you pretending?"

"She's acting so convincingly. It's just one shrimp, but you'd think she ate poison. Feed half the shrimp to her and half to the dog. I don't want to eat any of it."

Marta snorted and went upstairs.

I curled up in discomfort.

I heard Johnson say,

"Do as the lady says. Get the family doctor here. If anything happens to Alice, treat her immediately."

Before leaving, Johnson also removed the diamond ring from my ring finger.

"What are you doing?!"

I shouted at him.

"Even though you lied, hearing you say another man gave you this ring disgusts me. After all, you were once my woman."

Johnson threw the ring into the trash can.

"Alice, you've gotten bolder after five years."

"But I haven't forgotten how you used to beg me to spend more time with you."

After Johnson said this, he went upstairs.

Because of the allergic reaction, I didn't sleep well all night. The family doctor only gave me some allergy medication.

In my daze, I thought about the past.

I'd married Johnson initially just to get money from him. My mother was seriously ill in bed, and I needed money for her medical expenses.

I didn't care who he was sleeping with. Johnson's mother told me that as long as he stayed at my place for one more day and I gave birth to a child sooner, she'd give me money to leave.

"All the women Johnson finds are too dirty—they don't even know whose child they're carrying. I need a Johnson family child. Once you give birth to this child, you can leave."

Johnson played around a lot. He would drug me and make me please him.

He even posted photos of my private parts—with pixels covering them—to his friend group. I was utterly humiliated.

My mother was literally angered to death after those photos were exposed.

After Mom died, money didn't mean much to me anymore, but I was pregnant then. In a moment of weakness, I kept the baby.

After giving birth, I left without looking back.

That day at the hospital, the doctor even called him.

"Mr. Johnson, congratulations on your son."

Johnson just mumbled something vague and hung up.

I left. Although the doctor strongly urged me to rest in the hospital for a while, I didn't want to stay there at all.

I didn't want to see Johnson ever again.

I went to Johnson's mother, and she tried to persuade me.

"Johnson knows you gave birth today. He specifically went to buy supplements for you and is hosting a banquet. He hung up because he was really busy."

"Alice, without Johnson's consent for you to carry this child to term, do you think you could have had such a smooth pregnancy?"

"Stay. Johnson may not say it, but I can tell he really likes you."

"But all I feel for him is hatred."

My face was full of disgust.

Hearing the word "like" made me sick.

"You can't go back on what you said. Please let me leave."

From that day I left until now, five years had passed.