The Inescapable Shackles of Marriage

“Are you sure you don’t want to keep the baby?” the doctor asked from across the room. Lin Nan’s eyes glistened. Her voice tight with emotion, she managed a quiet “Mm.” How could she not want a child after all these years of marriage? But she was afraid. Thinking of everything she had been through, Lin Nan couldn’t help touching her arm. Though summer had already begun, she still wore long sleeves. No one knew that beneath them lay a long trail of purple bruises.