On Fire

I lived in a small unit on the eighth floor of Block A. It was a simple unit with a single living room and bedroom, and the monthly rental was two thousand yuan.

When I reached the second floor, I saw my mother standing by the door with a horrified expression. Her eyes were swollen, indicating the chance that she had just cried. With my heart sinking, I moved towards her uneasily.

“Mum, why are you here?”

“Jessica, Daniel is sick now with neonatal sepsis, which was caused by his high fever. He’s currently being operated on in the hospital, and I couldn’t reach your phone all the time, so I could only come here. Why are you home at this late hour? Were you working overtime just now?”

“Yes, it has been busy for me in the company. Mum, which hospital is Daniel staying in?”

I lied to her face, which made me feel bad.

time when I was framed. At that time, I planned to abort him, since I wasn’t married yet. However, the doctor had given me a verdict, telling me that the wall of my womb was too thin. If I had aborted a child that time, the probability

to that child although

left us because he couldn’t be saved. Later on, I used all of my savings

my work. During the time when my child was just born, in the span of just a few months,

working in a foreign corporate, never suspecting anything. I hoped that she would never

did not belong to the company, and I had left the phone at home. This was because I was afraid that once the others there knew of the existence of my child,

out of my choice because it was such an accident and I never anticipated his arrival in the first place. However, the moment I knew that he was sick,

I learnt

mother as we jogged on the streets, but there wasn’t many taxis now. We had to tread along the road for a while before seeing one, and I almost pounced

as she blamed herself for Daniel’s