Try Begging - Chapter 171.1

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The train station was bustling as the departure time of the first train approached, making it much livelier compared to the streets outside.

Grace, entering in a daze, noticed the clock on the wall and headed toward the ticket office.

Despite having offloaded her luggage, her steps felt unusually heavy. She bought a third-class ticket for the ferry to Newport.

As she made her way to the platform, she paused in front of a telephone booth.

Should she ask to take the baby inside since she was already at the door? If the baby stayed out in the cold too long, it might catch a cold. Perhaps the staff wouldn’t open the letter meant for the man and might think the baby was an abandoned orphan, sending it to an orphanage. Or worse, what if a passing thief stole the child…

After letting her mind wander through all sorts of dark and irrational thoughts, she let out a deep sigh and turned her head away.

The man would handle it.

From the moment she abandoned the baby, it was no longer her responsibility.

No, the child was never really hers from the start.

She clenched her teeth, reminding herself that it was none of her business. Still, she walked with her head bowed, feeling like a guilty person. When she reached the platform and looked up, she saw that the Newport train was already waiting.

There were only ten minutes left before departure.

As she walked to the front of the third-class car, Grace unconsciously stopped in front of the wide-open door. Her hand absently fidgeted with the pacifier in her pocket.

“Ahk!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

She was eventually jostled by the crowd and stumbled.

Embarrassed by how pathetic she must have looked, her face flushed, and she hurriedly boarded the train. Unlike the first- or second-class cars, the third-class cars had no separate compartments, and passengers were already scattered throughout.

Grace stowed her bag under a seat near the door and sat by the window.

Sitting on the hard seat, she reviewed her plans. She had a strong premonition that even if she started a new life, she would never have or raise a child again.

As she kept pulling her hand back from reaching into her pocket, she rehearsed her exit strategy in her mind.

“Ababa—”

Her heart skipped a beat as she heard the baby’s voice. Instinctively, she turned her head toward the sound. A young couple had entered through the rear door, the woman holding a baby in her arms.

The train was quite crowded now, so the couple could only find seats directly across from her.

“Good morning.”

“Yes, good morning.”

Grace tried to force a smile while her gaze remained fixed on the baby.

“Dorothy, say good morning too.”

The woman shook the baby’s hand in a friendly gesture.

“…Hello, Dorothy. You’re very pretty.”

The baby, who looked to be around the same age as Grace’s daughter, stared at her with curious eyes.

‘No, my daughter was developing much faster. This baby must be around seven or eight months old.’

The man next to the woman pulled an apple from his bag and handed it to his wife. The baby, noticing the apple, reached out with tiny hands, trying to grab it with a determined look.

‘My daughter used to do cute things like that too.’

Just then, Grace’s heart sank.

‘My daughter…?’

What am I thinking? I don’t have a daughter.

Grace clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tightly. But she couldn’t block out the sound.

“Ababa—”

The baby’s incessant babbling morphed in her mind into the familiar voice of her own child.

“Abubu—”

Just hours earlier, her daughter had been calling out to her in a way she never had before. In the dim light filtering through the curtains, Grace had seen her child standing up in the crib, clutching the railing.

It was the first time she had stood on her own.

“Bbuu—”

The baby didn’t know the word ‘Mom’ yet, so whenever she wanted to call out to her, she would pucker her tiny lips and make a ‘bbuuu’ sound. She knew that when she made bubbles with her mouth, she would come running to wipe her face.

The baby was already smart enough to understand that this was the best way to get attention without crying loudly.

“Kyaa!”

When their eyes met, the baby let out a loud cry and smiled widely, revealing two rabbit-like teeth.