Chapter 660: The Abandoned Daughter

"I’m not sure. It depends on my work schedule. Take this money. Buy more books to read, and don’t be so provincial."

Bernice pressed some money into Jacqueline Spann’s hand. She hadn’t made this trip just to see her niece. To be honest, her feelings for Jacqueline weren’t that deep. But in the girl, Bernice saw her younger self—that same strong will, that same refusal to submit to fate’s design, that same desperate drive to escape her cage. She was exactly like Bernice had been.

Of course, there was a more important reason. Seeing Jacqueline, Bernice felt as if she were looking at the daughter she had abandoned. She had spent five years in the Great Northern Wilderness, suffering endless torment, so much so that she had even forgotten she was still a woman.

She watched as the other Educated Youth with even the slightest connections returned to the city one by one. She, however, had no connections, nor the money to buy any. The only thing she could use was her body. Bernice tried not to think about those years, but the scars they left forced her to recall them in the quiet dead of night.

She got her wish and returned to the city, but at the cost of abandoning a baby girl. The child’s father would never marry her; he already had a fiancée back in the city. He had made that perfectly clear from the start, and Bernice had accepted the arrangement willingly.

The pregnancy was an accident. By the time Bernice realized it, she was already over four months along.

The cold in the Great Northern Wilderness was bone-chilling. She had to keep working even during her period, sometimes even planting rice seedlings in icy paddy fields. Because of this, her cycle was never regular; it was common for her to miss it for several months at a time.

When Bernice found out she was pregnant, she still held on to a sliver of hope, thinking she could use the child to secure her position.

But reality proved her wrong. When that man became ruthless, he was like a blade of ice—cold and cruel.

The man made it clear she was to abort the child. However, as compensation for the year she had spent with him, he promised to pull some strings and secure her a spot to return to the city before he left. After that, they would be strangers.

Bernice had no choice but to go get an abortion. Fortunately, the man handled the paperwork, allowing her to have the procedure done at a public hospital. She wasn’t like some of the other female Educated Youth, who could only risk buying strange concoctions to drink in secret. She’d heard of several cases where girls had bled to death from such attempts.

However, the doctor who examined her said that due to her unique constitution, the surgery would be risky. The hospital refused to perform the procedure, afraid it could be fatal. Bernice herself also clung to that same sliver of hope. ’Maybe he’ll have a change of heart when he sees the child!’

But she was far too naive. A month before her due date, the man returned to the city without a word, not even leaving a note. A month later, Bernice gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She took the child to a hillside and left her there, only walking away after she personally witnessed someone find and take the baby.

A month after that, her official notice to return to the city arrived. In the past couple of years, Bernice had asked people to make inquiries for her back in the Northeast, but things there had changed dramatically. The person who had picked up her daughter had left long ago, and no one knew where they went.

By her calculations, her daughter would be about six years old now. Bernice hated that heartless, faithless man. ’I’ll get my revenge on him one day.’

This was why Bernice had a soft spot for Jacqueline. But it was only a small one—not nearly enough to make her consider adopting the girl.

"Auntie... Is my dad doing okay?" Jacqueline was a little disappointed. She wanted more than just money; she wanted Bernice to take her away. But Bernice showed no such inclination.

"Your father... He’s just muddling through, I suppose."

Bernice’s expression was one of contempt. She had looked down on her half-brother since childhood, and her disdain had only grown. A grown man who couldn’t even provide for his own daughter... ’What’s the point of him even being alive?’