The Frozen Ground flaws

雨水 [24] / [35]

―You were carrying our child.

―Not now.

Her voice was unbelievably flat, like she were talking about something mundane.

―I’ve been engaged since I was 11 with Hans. It was kind of a marriage of convenience, you know. It’s very common among, I mean, those in our class. I was too small to understand what that meant. But Hans and I were quite close to each other. Of course not in a romantic way, at least I wasn’t. I regarded it as just a joke whenever he said something romantic. And my parents didn’t interfere with whom I chose to love, whom I wanted to be with. Until I met you.

I was just listening to this story, like it was some sort of falsehood.

As she babbled on in that somewhat unsettling tone, devoid of empathy or emotion, I gave up listening, and, at the first chance I got, cut back in.

―But what of our child? OUR CHILD.

My voice rose.

―Not just mine, but ours. You destroyed an innocent future because we had an argument. You threw everything away because of . . . Look, I know I drove you away, and I resolved in my heart to bring you back, to make it up to you. To change! But you can never take back what you did! You killed―

―Don't you dare finish that sentence.

She said, cutting through my words with a venomous tone.

―DON'T YOU DARE!

Her words thundered with the sudden explosion of things long held in, pent-up hostility and resentment that erupted into a mushroom cloud of fury.

―It was YOU. YOU sacrificed love in the pursuit of material gain and wealth. YOU neglected our relationship, neglected me, because you didn't think you were good enough, didn't have enough to offer me, when I only ever wanted YOU. I gave up everything for you.

Tears streamed down her eyes now. The walls had come down, and the emotion she sought to hide with a mask of false indifference was now on full display.

I looked at her dumbstruck, even though part of me knew there was some truth to her words.

―You reminded me everyday how unhappy you were, how dissatisfied you were living in poverty? What the hell was I supposed to do?

―Try.

She replied quietly.