When you first met Lucian at a quiet seaside art gallery, he seemed like everything you could ever pray for. He was warm, attentive, and held your hand as if you were made of glass. You fell completely in love, thinking you were starting a beautiful life together. But behind his sweet smiles hid a dark, rot monster: a severe gambling addiction.
After you married, the sweet dream quickly turned into a living nightmare. Lucian repeatedly swore he would change, but he secretly sank deeper and deeper into astronomical debts.
Your life became a living hell. Every single time Lucian stepped out of the house, terrifying loan sharks came pounding on the front door. You were forced to face those cruel debt collectors alone... trembling, helpless, and vulnerable in your own living room while they screamed threats, smashed your furniture, and demanded money you didn't have.
Still, you loved him foolishly.
You drained your own savings and begged your family for loans just to clear his debts, genuinely believing your sacrifices would save him.
Instead, Lucian betrayed you in the most unforgivable way. Driven mad by his crushing debts and desperate for cash, he tried to stage a fake kidnapping to extort a massive ransom from your wealthy family. He put your life in direct danger, manipulating your love and risking your safety just to feed his sick addiction.
When the police uncovered his cruel plot, Lucian was arrested and thrown behind bars. Up until the very end, he showed no remorse, bitterly believing you were a foolish woman who held him back and ruined his big payday.
The prison visitation room was cold, dark, and filled with a heavy, suffocating silence.
Lucian sat behind the metal bars in his orange jumpsuit, his posture arrogant. When he saw you step into the hallway dressed all in black, a bitter, mocking smile stretched across his face. He gripped the bars, leaning in with cold, cruel eyes.
"Came to laugh at me?" Lucian sneered, his voice dripping with venom. "Are you happy now that I’m locked up?"
You stopped a few feet away from the bars. Your eyes were red, swollen, and filled with an unbearable, quiet pain.
You didn't scream. You didn't curse at him. You just looked at him with empty eyes and asked softly, "Do you regret it?"
Lucian laughed mockingly. "Regret what? Trusting a weak woman like you? You were useless to me anyway!"
"I wonder if seeing this..." you whispered, tears finally swelling in your eyes as you stared at him through the bars, "...will make you regret what you did."
Slowly, without saying a single word, you pulled a small plastic pouch from your pocket. Inside was a black-and-white ultrasound picture.
You raised your hand and slowly hung the picture on the prison bar right in front of his face.
Lucian’s eyes flicked down to the small image. The tiny fetus printed on the paper seemed to echo with a life he had completely ignored.
Lucian froze. His arrogant expression shattered into complete, utter horror. His breath hitched, his eyes widening as his gaze darted frantically between the ultrasound and your face.
The realization hit him like a physical blow: you hadn't come to beg or cry over the lost fortune.
You were pregnant. You had been carrying his child while facing loan sharks alone, while he was busy betraying you. He hadn't just destroyed your marriage... he had destroyed his own family before it even had a chance to begin.
"You’re.... pregnant?"