The Taste of Goodbye

My fiancé, who was away on a business trip, suddenly ordered me sweet tofu pudding. I stared at the familiar note on the delivery receipt: 【My baby loves sweet tofu pudding. Please add extra sugar!】 I immediately called the restaurant to confirm. “There’s no mistake! Your boyfriend’s been ordering it every morning for a month. He just changed the address today. You’re from the South, right, sweetheart? You must really love sweet things!” My mind went completely blank. My fiancé was cheating on me. Because I was from the North, and I had never eaten sweet tofu pudding in my life. “Sweetheart, are you sure there’s been a mistake? Your boyfriend orders this every day. I remember him.” “He usually has it delivered to that tech company in the Financial District. I figured your office was closed today, so he had it sent home. He even ordered you a savory rice dumpling!” The restaurant owner’s words buzzed in my ears. I couldn’t take in a single word. I muttered a couple of responses and hung up. Before I could recover, the front door opened. Ethan Carter dragged his suitcase inside and smiled at me. “Emma, I missed you so much!” “I was planning to go with you to your prenatal appointment this weekend, but my boss suddenly sent me out of town. I ordered you some food. Have you eaten? You’re eating for two now, so you can’t go hungry!” With that, Ethan opened his arms, ready to pull me into a hug. I lowered my head and quietly stepped out of reach. My face hard, I pointed at the pile of takeout on the table. “You know I never eat sweet tofu pudding or savory rice dumplings.” The smile vanished from Ethan’s lips. He instinctively pulled out his phone and glanced at it. The moment he realized what had happened, panic flashed across his face. He quickly forced himself to look calm. “This… I must’ve been in a hurry. I probably selected the wrong meal when I ordered the combo.” “Leave it there. I’ll eat it later.” “Emma, if you’re hungry, order something else first. I just remembered I need to call my boss back. I’ll be in my office.” Before I could answer, Ethan grabbed his phone and hurried into the study. Watching his anxious back, I guessed almost instantly who was on the other end of that call. The real owner of the food. Ethan’s mistress. The study was well soundproofed. All I could hear was his vague, gentle voice, laced with occasional laughter. He was obviously enjoying the conversation. It wasn’t until an hour later that Ethan finally came out of the study, still looking reluctant to end the call. He pulled out a chair and sat down to eat with me. Ethan ate the sweet tofu pudding and savory rice dumpling without even wrinkling his brow. I pretended to ask casually, “Ethan, you grew up in the North too. How did you suddenly get used to sweet tofu pudding and savory rice dumplings?” His hand froze around the spoon. He gave an awkward laugh. “I didn’t want to waste the food.” “There’s a new girl at work. She’s from the South. A while ago, she asked me to try some of her regional food. I thought it tasted pretty good, so I got used to it. You should try some too.” He offered me a spoonful of sweet tofu pudding like he was presenting me with a treasure. I suddenly felt sick. My stomach churned. The morning sickness hit, and I instinctively reached for a tissue. But the moment I stretched out my hand, Ethan grabbed the phone lying face down on the table and pulled it away. His expression turned frantic. “You…” “I was just trying to get a tissue.” He gave me an embarrassed smile and handed me one. I looked at his face. The nausea surged again. I covered my mouth with the tissue and rushed into the bathroom. I threw up until the world seemed to spin. Outside the door, Ethan knocked anxiously. “Emma! Emma, are you okay?” “I’m sorry. I really didn’t know you’d react so badly to this food.” “If you’re throwing up this much, should we go to the hospital?” I didn’t answer. I splashed cold water on my face. My reflection looked deathly pale. There was no need to test him anymore. I was almost certain. Ethan was cheating on me. How could one man eat at two tables? I took a deep breath and remembered the phone he had clutched so tightly. No matter what, I wanted to know the truth.Late that night, Ethan was sleeping deeply. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. Then I carefully slipped the phone he had been charging beneath his pillow out from under him. We had been together for years. Maybe because I had never checked his phone, Ethan had never felt the need to guard it from me. His password hadn’t changed. I unlocked the phone without trouble. I opened the delivery app. The special-order notes were packed with details, a clear sign of how much effort he had put into them. 【My baby loves cilantro. Please add extra!】 【The scrambled eggs with tomatoes should be sweet.】 【My baby’s from the South. The rice balls need to be savory. Absolutely no black sesame filling!】 … Then I opened SnapChat. I barely had to look. There were only two pinned conversations. Mine, and another girl’s. I started reading from the beginning. It felt like watching Ethan’s affair unfold in front of my eyes. It began with a message from the girl. “Manager Carter, can I try some of your fennel dumplings?” “We don’t eat these where I’m from. I’m curious, and now I’m craving them. The delivery’s late, and I’m starving to death.” Ethan hesitated. Even with our matching couple’s profile picture still on his account, he agreed. He personally divided the dumplings and gave half to the girl, silently allowing their first boundary to be crossed. After that, she came up with all kinds of excuses to eat with him. “Manager Carter, try my clay-pot rice. You can give me a few of your sticky bean buns!” “Ethan, you’re my favorite food buddy!” “Then it’s a deal. From now on, we’ll order food together and share it. That way, we can try lots of different dishes!” “Baby, I have to finish a proposal. You’re the best. Can you order me some food? I’m craving sweet scrambled eggs with tomatoes.” … In just three months, they had gone from food buddies to calling each other “baby.” The light from the phone washed over my face. I clamped a hand over my mouth, holding back my sobs. I didn’t sleep at all that night. The next afternoon, I carried a thermal food container to Ethan’s office. Maybe I just couldn’t accept it. Ethan and I had been together for seven years. We were supposed to get legally married at the end of the month. Both our families had already booked the wedding venue, planning to hold the ceremony during the fall holiday. I wanted to see what kind of girl she was. What kind of girl could make Ethan stray after seven years together? The receptionist looked surprised when she saw me, visibly pregnant. “Hello. How can I help you?” I touched my slightly rounded belly. “I’m here to see Ethan Carter from the engineering department.” “I’m his fiancée. I brought him lunch.” The receptionist’s expression changed. “His fiancée? Manager Carter is engaged?” “Then why would he…” An older coworker beside her nudged her with an elbow, signaling her to stop talking. She glanced sympathetically at my stomach, then stood up with a smile. “All right. He’s downstairs eating with some coworkers in the break area.” “It must be difficult for you to walk around with your pregnancy. I’ll take you there.” I followed her to the office building’s break area. Each company had its own designated section where employees could eat their takeout. It was easy to find. From a distance, I saw Ethan sitting beside a beautiful girl. She was laughing and gesturing animatedly as she talked. Ethan watched her with a tender look and a faint smile on his lips. Anyone who saw them would’ve thought they were a couple deeply in love. Maybe Ethan was worried she would get hungry from talking so long. He picked up his fork and speared a piece of fried fish. Then he brought it to her lips, his voice filled with affection. “Lily, open up.” “I ordered these fried fish bites especially for you. They won’t stay crispy once they get cold.” Lily looked blissfully happy as she opened her mouth. Then she saw me standing behind Ethan, my belly clearly showing. Her face changed instantly. The receptionist called out, “Manager Carter, your fiancée brought you lunch.”Ethan turned around in disbelief. The moment he saw me, he was too shocked to speak. Clatter! The fried fish slipped from his fork and fell heavily to the floor, splattering grease across the table. I took a deep breath and thanked the receptionist calmly. “Thank you for bringing me here. You should go back and eat your lunch.” I set the thermal container on the table. Then I put on a warm, gracious smile and took out the fennel dumplings. “Ethan, why do you look so pale?” “Are you just too surprised to see me? Your mother said that after your last visit, you kept talking about how you hadn’t gotten to eat fennel dumplings. I happened to have some free time after my prenatal appointment, so I made a batch and brought them over. Try them. Are they good?” Then I turned my attention to Lily. I picked up two dumplings and placed them in her bowl with a smile. “You’re Lily Bennett, right?” “Eat more. I brought plenty. It wouldn’t be right for Ethan to keep eating secretly by himself.” “It must have been hard for a young woman to leave home and come all the way here to build a career. These are fennel dumplings. Ethan must have brought you some before. You should be used to the taste by now, right?” Lily’s eyes immediately turned red. She lowered her head and took a bite of the dumpling. Then she forced a smile. “I’m used to them. Thank you.” I put several more dumplings into her bowl. “Here. If you’re used to them, eat more.” “I should thank you, too. If it weren’t for you, I never would’ve known that Ethan, such a picky eater, could enjoy sweet tofu pudding and savory rice dumplings.” “But dumplings are like people’s tastes. Nothing beats the flavor of home. As for everything else, Ethan was probably only interested because it was new. After a few bites, he probably got tired of it. Isn’t that right, Lily?” Tears slipped down Lily’s cheeks. She answered me in a choked voice. “Yes.” I touched my stomach. “It’s not easy for me to bring him lunch with this belly. I hope it’s a boy.” “Girls are too much trouble. What I fear most is that when my daughter reaches the age where she should be dating properly, she’ll refuse to do that and get involved in something shameful instead. If that happens, Ethan and I won’t be able to face anyone.” “Lily, you’ll be a mother someday too. Don’t you think I’m right?” Even Lily wasn’t foolish enough to miss the sarcasm this time. She lowered her head and began to sob quietly. She didn’t answer. I turned toward Ethan, who had remained silent the entire time. From beginning to end, he had kept his eyes fixed on Lily, his expression full of concern. He hadn’t spared his pregnant fiancée a single glance or a single word. My heart clenched painfully. I was about to say something else when Ethan suddenly grabbed my hand. “Have you had enough?” “You’re pregnant and running around everywhere. Go home! Stop interrupting my work!” I gave a bitter laugh as I looked at the man I had loved for seven years. He was glaring at me with a vicious expression, all because he wanted to protect another woman. It was so unfamiliar. And so ridiculous. Unable to hold back my hurt, I questioned him. “I’m making a scene?” “A woman who knows a man has a fiancée and a child, yet still throws herself at him. A man who knows he has a fiancée and a child, yet still strays. And a pregnant woman kept in the dark.” “Which one of us do you think is actually making a scene?” “Ethan, why do you think I came here? You know exactly why, don’t you?” Ethan was rendered speechless. He could only express his anger through silence. I lifted my eyes to Lily. “You know exactly why I’m here too, don’t you, Ms. Bennett?”My words were the final straw. Lily broke down completely. She covered her face and ran out crying. “Emma, if you have a problem, take it up with me!” “Lily and I are only food buddies. We just eat together sometimes. At most, we feed each other a few bites. We’ve never done anything inappropriate in private.” “Can’t you just pretend not to see some things? How many couples don’t live like that? Why are you being so picky?” “You had to make such an unreasonable scene. You had to bring it to the office and humiliate both me and Lily.” “Do you feel better now?” Ethan finished speaking and chased after Lily. Before leaving, he even shot me a vicious glare. There was undisguised disgust and hatred in his eyes. I froze under that look. Then I sank into the chair and sat there for a long time without moving. Weren’t we lovers? Why was he looking at me with such hatred? Why wouldn’t he even give me an explanation? Why was he protecting another woman with everything he had? Why had he emotionally cheated on me? I looked at the curious eyes surrounding me and felt like a clown on display. I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of coming here. But I had still come. I wanted to see what kind of magic this “food buddy” possessed that had made Ethan cheat. But all I saw was the two of them exchanging tender looks and refusing to let go of each other. I watched Ethan protect her with such care. Then he looked at me with hatred. In that moment, our seven years together rotted away completely. I finally gave up. “Honestly, what’s the point?” My voice melted into the air, barely audible. I lowered my head and roughly wiped the tears from my face. My gaze fell to my slightly rounded stomach. My heart twisting with pain, I whispered, “I’m sorry, baby. Mommy doesn’t want you to be born into a family like this.” “Good baby, please don’t blame Mommy.” I slowly stood up, picked up the thermal container, and walked away. Once you realize you’ve entered a dead-end alley, you have to turn around before it’s too late. I didn’t hesitate again. That afternoon, I went to the hospital and terminated the pregnancy. The pain of my body sinking downward tore through me. I forced myself to endure the discomfort and moved out of the apartment we had prepared for our wedding that same night. Ethan didn’t come home. There was no explanation. No apology. When my parents came to pick me up, the physical and emotional pain was so overwhelming that I felt like I wanted to die. But I was still alive. My baby had saved my life. I touched my flat stomach and sobbed in my mother’s arms. Ethan had followed Lily for a few steps before slowing down hesitantly. As his anger gradually cooled, he thought it over and turned back toward me. I was already gone, the thermal container in my hand. Ethan comforted himself with a sense of certainty. “Seven years together. We have a child, and we’re getting married at the end of the month.” “Emma won’t really break up with me over something like this.” He let out a long sigh. In the end, he still went after Lily. But he couldn’t find her. She didn’t answer her phone, and that afternoon she took the day off work. Ethan was a mess. He didn’t want to go home. He had no idea how to clean up the disaster he had created, so he checked into a hotel and tried to calm down. The truth was, Ethan had been far too confident. After seven years together, he believed the weight of all those years—and all the time and emotion we had invested—meant I would forgive him no matter what. The next morning, Ethan stared at our message thread and sighed. He decided to make peace. He ordered flowers, chose a gift, and spent ages typing and deleting an apology. 【Emma, I’m sorry. I…】 “Manager Carter, you have a same-day delivery. It’s urgent.” “The sender’s name is Emma Brooks.” The receptionist suddenly appeared and interrupted him. Ethan froze when he heard my name. Full of confusion, he accepted the package and tore open the envelope. Clink. The wedding ring struck the desk with a crisp sound. Before Ethan could understand what was happening, a thin sheet of paper drifted out. Only one line of bold black print caught his eye: 【Pregnancy Termination Report】