"Mrs. Chen. I'm sorry we can't continue further treatment unless your husband pays the outstanding balance." The doctor said to Emily.

Outstanding balance?

She had sent the payment to her husband's account a few days ago.

"Doctor, are you sure? I gave him the money." Emily pressed in a tired voice, and the doctor sighed.

"Yes, Mrs. Chen. I'm sorry, there's nothing more I can do." And with that, he walked out of the room.

Emily felt her stomach drop. Noah knew she needed the money for treatment. She had tried his line many times, but he refused to pick. She gently pulled her frail body off the bed and put on her coat.

"I want to go home for a minute to get the money," She told her nurse and then hailed a cab.

The moment she got home, she knew something was off. Noah's office bag was on the dining table.

Didn't he say he won't be home for a while as he was busy with work?

It was the reason he hadn't visited for once since she was admitted to the hospital a week ago after being diagnosed with a serious case of pneumonia.

She trotted towards their bedroom, and as she moved to pull open the door, she heard his strained voice.

"Yes, Melody. You feel so good."

Melody? Her sister?

Emily steadily pushed the door back just enough to peek, and her eyes widened at the sight.

There, on their matrimonial bed, lay her husband and her sister as they furiously went at it.

A gasp escaped her mouth, and she quickly brought her hand up to mute the sound.

Her eyes reddened, and she struggled with the urge to cry. She was already weak as it is.

Is this what she gets for spending five years of her life with him?

Noah Chen was her world. He was everything to her and he came into her life like a knight in shining armour. They'd met in college when she was barely living through each day.

Emily's mother had died the moment she was born, and she was taken in by the Fa family. They were a well-to-do family, and everything was going fine until Mr. Fa died of a heart attack, and Mrs. Fa and her daughter, Melody, became completely different. They made her into a slave and made a mockery of her at every opportunity.

Melody didn't just stop at home but also constantly bullied her at school and that was how she met her husband. Noah came in as her saviour, and she fell in love instantly. She had thought he loved her too, but now she knew she was wrong.

"You're better than my sorry excuse of a wife. She's just so fat." Emily heard Noah say and looked down at herself. She hadn't gained weight since their marriage. Yes, she was a little bit fleshy and curvy but fat was a far stretch.

Dejected, she turned on her feet.

He couldn't find anyone else to cheat with but her sister? He knew all that Melody had done to her. How much she detested her. She thought he was the only one on her side. Everyone said he didn't love her because she asked to be together and get married first.

Was it true? Kindness doesn't mean love...

She felt a tight knot in her chest.

She would not stand here and listen to any more of their hurtful words. It only wrenched her heart.

Emily spun around and headed out of the home that was meant to be her safe haven... protection from her cruel life. She kept walking absentmindedly until she became short of breath and her legs gave out.

The tears she'd been trying to hold back broke through her face, and the flood erupted.

Her shoulders shook as she wept profusely on her knees, tightly wrapping her coat around her body to shield herself from the cold.

By the time her cries subsided, it was already nightfall. She felt an eerie feeling in the unknown environment.

How did she get here? More importantly, how would she find her way back?

She didn't have to worry for long as the sound of a roaring engine filled her ears and bright light lit up her surroundings.

Two motorbikes came into her view, with a black, sleek car not too far behind, and they halted by her side.

The door to the car was thrown open, and a tall man in dark grey slacks and a black shirt, who looked to be in his late fifties, stepped out and marched towards her.

Each hard, firm step he took made a crunching noise that had a fearful impact on her heartbeat. Emily could feel fear spreading through her bones.

What was this dangerous atmosphere?

The man stopped at her feet and extended a hand arrayed with multiple rings towards her. He cocked his head to the side, and Emily felt a shudder go through her the moment his cold voice reached her ear.

"It is time to come home, princess."

Emily's jaw dropped, and then she screamed.

The next moment, she was up on her feet and running with the little strength she had left as her mind replayed his words.

It is time to come home, princess.

She wasn't a princess, and she didn't have a home. Her mother was dead. The very one that took her in had forsaken her, and when she thought she could make one of her own, he also betrayed her.

What home was he talking about?

Emily didn't get too far as a hand shot out to close around her wrist.

She let out a surprised shriek. "Please let me go." She struggled but to no avail.

She was helpless against the two men who dragged her back towards the unknown man, and she cowered back in fear, her wild eyes meeting his cold, uninterested ones.

"Be quiet!" He ordered, and her whimpers instantly died.

Was this the end? Were they going to kill her?

He raised her chin and peered down at her with narrowed eyes.

"I was going to leave you alone like your mother wanted, but I see that you can't manage on your own."

Her mother? Did he know her mother? Emily wondered, but before she could speak, he continued.

"You're coming home with me, and you'd do that quietly. Am I understood?" He boomed, and she hesitantly nodded.

It wasn't like she had a choice.

"Use your words!" He ordered once again, and as Emily opened her mouth to speak, a wave of dizziness hit; her body suddenly felt heavy, and her head slumped to the front as she passed out.

****

By the time she came to, she was on a bed and felt completely different. Her body felt strangely tired; better than she'd ever felt in a long while, but tired.

Emily's eyes glanced around the room, and she took in the pink-themed decorations and princess graphics; it had every feature a girl child would wish for in her dream room.

What was she doing in a child's room?

The only thing she found weird was the presence of two of the same beds.

Did the owner plan to sleep on two beds at once?

The thought itself caused a small laugh to burst from her mouth, but it quickly evolved into a fit of cough. Her throat felt scratchy.

Getting off the bed, she headed out of the room in search of a glass of water, and the moment she stepped into the hallway, a stunned gasp escaped her mouth.

The home was enormous, and every one of its features screamed luxury. She didn't know where to start from. Surely it wouldn't take her a minute to get lost.

Emily wondered who the owner of the home was and why they had brought her there. She tried recollecting what happened before she passed out, but it only gave her a headache.

Deciding it was better to think about it later when she was no longer parched, she turned to the next room, pulled open the door, and went in.

It was a study. Like the rest of the house, it was luxurious, and Emily couldn't help but take an appreciative look. Her eyes caught sight of a jug of water on the table, and she walked towards it to get herself a glass. She had just raised the glass to her lips and was about to take a huge drink when her eyes met the picture on the desk.

It was a picture of her mother and a man, smiling brightly at the camera with two baby girls wrapped in pink blankets.

Her memory returned instantly, and the glass in her hand crashed to the ground.

Wasn't that the man who kidnapped her in the picture? Was this his house? Why was her mother in the picture?

Emily didn't want to wait to find out; she hurriedly turned towards the door, but before she could take a step forward, the sound of a door sliding filled the room, and Emily looked back just in time to see the bookcase sliding open and the very man himself walking out of a secret room.

He regarded her with a slight curl of his lips, but his eyes were lifeless.

"I see you've familiarized yourself with your new home, Emilia."

Emily stumbled back in shell shock.

"What is going on? Who are you?" She whispered and he chuckled darkly

"That's no way to talk to your father, princess."