Running late for her abortion appointment, the woman realized she had left her documents in the car…

She learned the details from mutual acquaintances. Ingrid Swanson, 25 years old, second-category economist, slender blonde with green eyes and a childish laugh. She and Alex had been dating for three months already, meaning he started cheating even before their wedding anniversary.

They went on vacation together to Mexico, on a so-called business trip, while Paula worked, saving strangers’ lives. They booked hotel rooms while his wife waited for him in the evenings and dreamed of children. Paula later saw Ingrid; once she accidentally met them at the mall.

The girl was hanging on Alex’s arm, laughing, carefree and happy. And Paula stood behind a column, looking at the ruins of her family. At the man who two years ago vowed fidelity to her, and now was buying a ring for another woman.

A week after the divorce, Paula felt nausea. At first, she attributed it to stress, but when the nausea didn’t go away on the third day, she bought a pregnancy test. Two lines.

Life seemed to mock her, giving her a child exactly when the family had collapsed. She tried to call Alex, but he didn’t pick up. She wrote a message: I need to talk to you.

It’s important. The reply came three hours later. Paula, we each have a new life now.

And there are no more common topics for conversation. Please don’t bother me. A child from a man who doesn’t even want to hear her.

A child who would remind her every day of the betrayal and pain. How could she look at the baby and not see Alex’s features in him? How could she love this child when every cell of her body screamed in pain?

For two months, she tormented herself, not knowing what to do. Friends advised keeping the child. You’re a doctor, you have a good salary, you’ll manage alone.

But Paula couldn’t imagine herself as a single mother, explaining to the child why dad left them. And here she was, in the car, driving to get rid of her own child. A doctor who had fought for life all her life, now going to take it away.

Tears finally streamed down her cheeks. Paula cried from helplessness, from loneliness, from the fact that life turned out to be so cruel. She remembered her mother’s words.

Daughter, children are a blessing. No matter the circumstances in which they come into this world. Mom died 5 years ago from cancer, and Paula so wanted her to see her grandchildren.

Now she won’t see anyone. 2:55 PM. Time to go.

Paula grabbed her bag with documents and got out of the car. She walked to the clinic entrance like a condemned person going to the scaffold. But at the very doors, something made her stop.

Paula felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. As if the child inside her understood what was happening and was begging for mercy. She turned around and walked back to the car.

She needed a little more time to gather her thoughts. Paula sat in the car, took out a mirror, and looked at herself. Tear-stained face, red eyes.

She looked like a woman who had lost everything. Approaching the car, she saw a small figure in a brown jacket quickly moving away—some boy. Suddenly, she noticed a folded piece of paper under the wipers on the windshield.

It definitely wasn’t there when she parked. Someone had placed it while she was away, possibly that boy, whose face she didn’t see. Paula got out of the car.

With trembling hands, she pulled the note from under the wiper and unfolded it. The handwriting was childish, the letters uneven, but the words were clear. Save the child, it’s all I have.

The world spun around her. Paula leaned against the hood of the car, feeling her legs give way. Who could have written this? Who knew about her situation? And what did these strange words mean? It’s all I have.

She looked around. The parking lot was almost empty, only a few cars stood in the distance. No one was nearby.

The boy had also disappeared from sight. Paula reread the note. The handwriting was definitely childish, but the words carried some adult pain.

It’s all I have. What could a child have that was so important, connected to her unborn baby? She folded the note and put it in the inner pocket of her jacket, close to her heart. Time was passing, and she stood unable to move.

This mysterious note seemed to stop time, making her doubt the correctness of her decision. Save the child. Simple words, but they sounded like a prayer, like the last hope of someone desperate.

Who could ask like that? And why was her car chosen for this message? Paula felt something changing inside her. The pain from Alex’s betrayal hadn’t gone away, but next to it appeared something new—a sense of connection with an unknown person who somehow believed in the importance of her decision. She raised her eyes to the sky, where low gray clouds hung, ready to unleash streams of water on the earth.

This is a sign, she thought. Deep down, Paula had always believed in fate, that life sends us hints in critical moments. Mom taught her that.

Daughter, when you don’t know what to do, listen to the voice of your heart. It never makes mistakes, but now her heart was silent, deafened by the pain of betrayal. But someone else was speaking, someone who somehow knew about her torments and asked to save a life…