The rain that night was relentless.
It soaked through Leilei's thin blouse within minutes, the cold biting down to her bones. She stood on the curb outside the Jin estate for a long time, staring at the iron gates that had closed behind her. Her fingers still clutched the crumpled hospital report, ink smudging under the rain.
No one had offered her an umbrella. No one had asked where she would go.
By the time she reached the bus stop at the end of the road, her shoes squelched with every step, and the taste of betrayal was bitter in her mouth.
The small, dimly lit apartment she found two days later smelled faintly of damp plaster and old cooking oil. The rent ate up nearly all of the cash she had scraped together from selling the few valuables she had taken with her.
The landlady, an older woman with dyed auburn hair and sharp eyes, stood with her arms folded as she looked Leilei over.
"You said it's just you?" she asked.
"Yes," Leilei replied.
"No husband?"
Leilei's jaw tightened. "No husband."
The woman's gaze dropped to Leilei's midsection. "You're expecting."
Leilei hesitated before answering. "Yes."
The landlady exhaled, her lips curling into something between pity and judgment. "You'll need to pay two months' deposit. Pregnant women… attract trouble sometimes. I don't want the neighbors complaining."
"I'll pay," Leilei said. Her voice was steady, even though her pride stung.
Once the door shut behind her, she stood in the tiny room — a single bed against the wall, a narrow window overlooking the alley, a rusted hot plate instead of a stove — and for the first time in two days, let herself sink to the floor.
She didn't cry.
She couldn't.
One week later
The kettle hissed on the hot plate. Leilei poured herself a mug of instant noodles, the cheapest kind she could find, when the doorbell buzzed.
When she opened it, a familiar figure stood in the hallway — Mei, her childhood friend.
"Leilei!" Mei's eyes were wide as she stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. "I've been trying to call you for days. Your number's off. Your father said you… left."
Leilei moved to close the door. "I was cast out, Mei. Let's call it what it is."
Mei's mouth fell open. "What? Why? What happened?"
Leilei gave a humorless smile. "I'm pregnant."
The word hung in the air like a sharp, heavy weight.
Mei blinked. "Pregnant… with Wang Shen's child?"
"That's what I thought," Leilei said softly. "Until he stood in my father's hall and denied everything."
Mei's brows furrowed. "He what?"
"He said we were never more than friends. That the baby isn't his. And my father—" she let out a bitter laugh, "—he didn't even ask me if it was true. He just told me to leave."
Mei's hands balled into fists. "I'll go talk to him. To Wang Shen. He can't just—"
"Don't," Leilei interrupted sharply. "You think he'll tell you the truth? He's already chosen his side."
Mei looked at her, really looked, at the pale skin, the slightly hollow cheeks, the exhaustion in her eyes. "You're not eating properly."
Leilei gestured to the steaming noodles on the counter. "I'm eating enough to stay alive."
"That's not enough for the baby." Mei's voice cracked. "Leilei, you can't do this alone. Come stay with me."
"No." The answer came without hesitation.
"Why not?"
"Because I need to learn to survive like this." Leilei's eyes hardened. "If I lean on you now, I'll never stop leaning. And I can't afford that. Not anymore."
Mei's lips trembled. "You've always been stubborn."
Leilei managed a faint smile. "And it's the only thing keeping me standing right now."
Three months later
The winter wind seeped through the thin walls of the apartment. Leilei sat at the small table, sewing a loose button back onto her only decent coat, when the doorbell buzzed again.
This time, it wasn't Mei.
"Miss Jin." The man in the hallway was tall, in an expensive coat, with a voice that carried a faint echo of authority.
Leilei's eyes narrowed. "Do I know you?"
"I'm here on behalf of Mr. Wang," he said.
The name tightened something in her chest. "Wang Shen?"
"Yes. He… heard about your situation. He wants to offer you financial assistance." The man reached into his coat and produced a thick envelope.
Leilei didn't touch it. "In exchange for what?"
"No exchange. Just to help."
Her laugh was short and cold. "Tell him I don't need his pity."
The man frowned. "You should think about your child—"
"I am thinking about my child," she cut in. "And the first lesson I want them to learn is that we don't take scraps from people who betrayed us."
The man hesitated before tucking the envelope back into his coat. "I'll tell him."
As the door clicked shut, Leilei sat back down and stared at her sewing. Her fingers trembled slightly — not from regret, but from the sheer effort of holding her ground.
Six months later
The apartment was quieter now, except for the soft hum of the space heater Mei had insisted on buying for her. Leilei's belly had rounded fully, and she moved slower, but her eyes burned with the same quiet determination.
One rainy evening, as she sat knitting a tiny cream-colored blanket, Mei arrived again — this time with hot dumplings wrapped in newspaper.
"You'll like this batch," Mei said, settling in at the small table. "Extra ginger."
They ate in comfortable silence until Mei set down her chopsticks. "Leilei… have you thought about what happens after the baby comes?"
Leilei kept her gaze on her blanket. "I'll keep working at the tea shop. I'll save what I can."
"And school? For the child?"
"I'll find a way."
Mei reached across the table and covered Leilei's hand. "You don't have to do it all alone forever."
Leilei met her eyes. "Maybe not forever. But for now… yes, I do. Because if I can survive this, then nothing they throw at me later can break me."
Mei's throat worked. "You're thinking about them, aren't you? Your father. Wang Shen. Madam Liu."
Leilei's smile was thin but sharp. "I'm not just thinking about them, Mei. I'm remembering. Every word. Every look. Every door they shut in my face."
Her gaze dropped to her belly. "And one day, when I walk back into that house, I won't be the girl they threw out. I'll be someone they can't ignore."
The kettle whistled, and Leilei rose slowly to pour the tea. The rain outside tapped against the window, soft but steady — like a clock counting down.