When the Sun Never Shines Again

When I finally pushed the door open to leave work, Michael Johnson was still waiting outside.

I walked past him, munching on a cold piece of bread.

It had been raining for quite a while.

The cold wind carried dampness that somehow made my chest ache.

He stepped forward to follow me. "Emily Johnson..."

"Emily, you're all grown up now. Why are you still so clueless about proper behavior?" Being tall, he walked fast and quickly grabbed my arm.

"I told you to come home with me. Did you hear me?"

"Do you really have to work here as a server? Does that make you happy?"

Who told him I was working here as a server?

I had to stop and turn to look at him.

The cold wind messed up his hair, which actually made him look less intimidating.

I shook off his hand. "Go home? Have you forgotten? When we got divorced, you were the one who threw me out."

He dodged the main point, his expression softening a bit. "Even if we're divorced, my home is still your home."

He wasn't wrong about that. After all, I called him uncle until I was eighteen.

He was my adoptive father in name.

When I was seven, my hometown flooded. My parents were both swept into the river and drowned.

Michael happened to pass by and saved me. He took me home and raised me like a princess.

He was the most important person in my life, and I helplessly fell deeply in love with him.

His home was my only home.

The cold wind brought me back to reality.

I shook my head. "No thanks..."

Before I could finish, a familiar car pulled up beside us. The window rolled down, and Sophia Brown's face appeared before me.

"Michael, I just finished my prenatal checkup. The doctor said our baby is very healthy and won't miscarry from a little push like three years ago."

She looked at me with feigned surprise. "Emily? Long time no see."

She glanced down at me somewhat disdainfully. "Why are you eating cold bread by yourself? Michael and I are about to go have dinner. Why don't you join us?"

Her few words made Michael's expression change repeatedly.

He must have remembered that it was because Sophia claimed I pushed her down the stairs that she had the miscarriage.

At the time, an enraged Michael grabbed both my hands and threw me out of the villa.

"Emily, you ungrateful little beast, get out!"

It was already late at night then, with wind and rain and constant lightning.

The gravel and bricks tore up my hands.

I knocked on the door all night with my bleeding hands, begging him to forgive me, begging him to let me explain.

But Michael just held Sophia and went back to our bedroom to sleep.

Sophia got out of the car and tried to pull me along to the French restaurant. When I refused, she laughed and teased that I couldn't refuse a pregnant woman's request.

Even after I was pulled into the car, Michael's expression remained awkward.

At dinner, he ordered my favorite dishes as usual.

But I didn't touch my utensils. He put food in my plate. "Don't you love this restaurant's food? Why aren't you eating?"

Just because I liked it before didn't mean I liked it now.

I said, "I don't like it anymore. People change."

Michael paused, his fork clattering against the plate.

Sophia quickly spoke up, pulling the test results from her bag and showing them to Michael and me. "Michael, look at the ultrasound I just got at the hospital. You can already see the baby's outline."

"Emily, take a look too. Does it look like Michael?"

I saw "12 weeks" written on the ultrasound report.

There was no way they could tell at that stage.

Just then, Michael's phone rang.

Without answering Sophia's question, he got up to take the call outside.

The moment Michael disappeared, Sophia dropped her smile.

She got up and sat in the seat next to me. "I thought once you knew Michael loved me most, you'd stop bothering us."

"But this time you came to us yourself, so don't blame me for what happens next."

With that, she glanced toward the door, then poured an entire large bowl of soup all over herself.

She smashed the porcelain bowl and collapsed on the floor. "Emily, the baby is innocent. Why do you keep trying to hurt my child..."

Michael's anxious footsteps approached. "Sophia!"

Sophia reached out to him with tears streaming down her face. "Michael, don't blame Emily. She's just being childish."

"Besides, this isn't the first time she's done this. I'm used to it..."

Michael picked her up, his face full of concern, then yelled at me without caring about the truth. "Emily, why are you still so vicious!"