Chapter 13: Fate’s Cruel Joke
Evelyn Carter had a peculiar trait—no matter how terrible things got, her sleep remained undisturbed.
Those dramatic TV scenes where heartbroken heroines toss and turn all night? They simply didn’t apply to her.
Vivian Dempsey once sighed enviously, “You’re so lucky. If I’d had your ability back then, I wouldn’t have lost sleep before the college entrance exams and ended up at a mediocre university.”
In high school, she and Vivian had dominated the top two spots in their grade.
Their scores always left the third-place student far behind.
Everything changed during their final semester.
The boy who’d perpetually ranked third suddenly launched an intense pursuit of Vivian. His love letters were poetic, and his public confession became campus legend.
What seventeen-year-old girl could resist such charm? Within two months, Vivian was swept off her feet.
The teachers turned a blind eye—after all, they were all top students.
But the happiness didn’t last. The boy abruptly broke up with her, as if it had all been premeditated.
Vivian was shattered. Her grades plummeted.
Evelyn juggled comforting her best friend with tutoring her, stretching herself thin.
When exam results came out, Vivian barely scraped into a second-tier university. Evelyn fell out of the top five. And that boy? He secured a spot at Peking University.
Even now, a decade later, Vivian still seethed. “That bastard planned it all! He knew he couldn’t win over an ice queen like you, so he targeted me instead.”
Evelyn tried to soften the blow. “Maybe… he just realized you weren’t compatible?”
“You really believe that?”
Seventeen-year-old Evelyn might have.
But now, nearing thirty, staring at the chasm between Peking University and a second-tier college, she couldn’t lie to herself.
In the operating room, Evelyn had just finished her fourth C-section of the day.
Two boys, two girls—an unusually balanced ratio.
Olivia Lightfoot flipped through the charts, impressed. “This kind of gender balance is rare.”
Since the three-child policy was introduced, despite strict bans on gender testing, the imbalance in newborn ratios had only worsened.
“I prefer girls,” Evelyn said.
Olivia casually asked, “What about your husband? Does he want a boy or a girl?”
“…I haven’t told him yet.”
“I thought it was supposed to be a birthday surprise?”
“There was a complication.”
Olivia patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’re still early. Plenty of time.”
“Yeah.”
“By the way, didn’t your husband come to pick you up today? I checked the parking lot earlier—his car wasn’t there.”
Evelyn busied herself with organizing instruments. “He’s probably busy at work. Speaking of which, when’s the deadline for that overseas assignment we talked about?”
“End of the month.” Olivia hesitated. “Are you seriously considering it? It’s a three-year commitment. You’d have to give birth abroad. Would your husband even agree?”
Evelyn counted the days. Ten left to decide.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You start your annual leave tomorrow, right? If you’re applying, you’ll need to submit the form as soon as you get back.”
Annual leave.
Evelyn’s hands stilled.
Originally, she’d planned to use it for a belated honeymoon.
Now, she couldn’t even go home. What honeymoon?
