The warm and happy atmosphere that Emily wanted her house to have earlier became the opposite because of Roger's gaze.

"So you get it now, huh?" the latter scoffed. "For all the times I ate with you, slept with you, and even treated you nicely these last two years, didn't it even cross your mind that all of those were fake?"

Hearing no response from Emily, Roger's eyes grew even bigger and more intense. "Your parents made me lose the love of my life, Emily! How could you think I could be with you and truly love you? How, Emily? How?!"

Emily shut her eyes, trying to stop the tears from streaming down her face.

Roger, on the contrary, remained unbothered. Etching a playful smirk on his face, he drew himself closer to her and ridiculed, "Your parents used my business once against me, but now, let's see how the product of their sweat and blood throughout the years crumble right in front of your faces."

Waves of thoughts splashed on Emily's face as she quickly lowered her head.

Two years ago, Fannie had a car accident. She crucially needed a blood transfusion, but since she was an orphan, Roger couldn't find anyone that could match her blood, only Emily's.

Little did Emily know that her parents took advantage of the situation and threatened Roger not to let her donate blood if he would not marry her. Their conditions also included not allowing Fannie to return to the country and that she must be treated abroad.

Emily wanted to step backward, but because her back had already reached the corner, she could only shiver at the man's gaze in front of her.

Hell of a plot twist there was, Roger appeared to have endured staying with her for two long years until he finally had something to show off. He strived for success, thinking one day he could get rid of her and her family like rubbish.

Emily's brain fell on the verge of exploding upon knowing her parents did something like that to the man she loved.

"I-I didn't know," she kept on murmuring as she glued her gaze to the tiles in embarrassment.

What she only knew at that time was that Fannie was sent abroad, where there were more advanced treatments and skilled physicians to get her treated after falling into a permanent coma due to severe brain injury.

Shortly after, Roger's words finally registered in Emily's mind. So, she looked him directly in the eyes with a vast amount of confusion. "What did you say? What happened to my family's company? Roger, what did you do?"

"Your family's company is falling into pieces, Emily. If you want to see it one last time, I suggest you leave and see for yourself."

As soon as Roger finished his words, Emily didn't waste any time and shoved her husband her way. She ran outside, not minding if she was still on her slippers, which she solely used at home.

In a hurry, she went outside the villa and hysterically took a taxi.

As soon as she arrived at their family house, a crowded, seemingly unfamiliar place greeted her.

There was a pile of reporters outside their gate.

Nervous, she got out of the taxi and squeezed herself through the sea of reporters. She ran inside their house, ignoring the numerous inquiries thrown at her at once, which already clogged her ears.

When the maid saw it was her, she quickly let her enter.

"Ma'am, please hurry up inside. Your mother had a serious heart attack!" the maid nervously said as she kept her company until they reached her mother's room.

Emily strode in and saw her pale mother's complexion lying in bed. Her eyes were full of tears as her mother looked at her. "I will never forgive Roger, Emily! He's an ungrateful beast!"

Emily quickly ran beside her and knelt on the tiles. She held her hand gently and said, "Mom, I'll take you to the hospital."

However, her words fell into the air as her mother quickly dismissed her hand. "No," she said with eyes filled with worry as she saw how reddened Emily's eyes were. "Did Roger do anything to you?"

For a moment, Emily lowered her head but still raised it and looked at her mom. "What can he do to me, mom?" she stated, smiling reassuringly.

Suddenly, her mother, Elicia, grabbed her hand tightly.

Emily's eyes and voice couldn't lie to her, and even if she would, Elicia would quickly point out her facades. "What did he do to you, Emily?" she asked, but with more emphasis that froze Emily in her spot.

Seeing her mother in such a state made it hard for Emily to look straight into her eyes. Sure enough, how could she tell her he wanted to divorce her?

She was about to open her mouth to speak, but the maid's sudden intrusion abruptly made her lose all the courage she mustered up.

She turned her head, and as soon as her eyes fell on the man behind the maid, she couldn't help but feel downcast.

It was Roger's assistant.

The maid then quickly lowered her head and apologetically said, "I'm sorry, Miss Emily. I couldn't stop him."

Roger's assistant strode forward and handed out a paper to her. "Miss Emily, this is the divorce agreement that Sir Roger wanted me to give you. I hope you can sign it as soon as possible."

Elicia's eyes quickly widened as her gaze froze on Emily's face. "H-He wanted a divorce? W-What are you talking about—"

Before her mother could even finish her sentence, her breath suddenly became heavy. Her chest rose up and down as she chased her life.

"Mom! Mom!" Emily hysterically called as she looked at her fainting mother and ordered the housekeeper to prepare the car.

In the hospital, the gloomy atmosphere made Emily bury herself in her mother's bed. Her gaze remained glued on her ill mother until she caught a glimpse of her father, Lynden, from the glass window of the ward.

Concerned, Lynden entered the room with dull eyes. His exhausted face made him look older than his actual age.

Wordlessly, Emily instantly stood up. "Dad," she weakly greeted.

"How's your mother?" he asked and sat beside her vacated seat.

"She's already in a stable condition, but, Dad…." She heaved a deep breath as she looked her father in the eyes. "T-The company..."

Upon hearing the word, Lynden lowered his head, his eyes full of grief.

Seeing his father's reaction only confirmed what Roger said earlier. Depressed, Emily bit her lower lip and tried to suppress her heart from permanently breaking into pieces.

"It was all my and your mother's fault," Lynden remarked regrettably, his voice dropping off as he tried to raise his head to look at his daughter. "We thought everything was good and that Roger soon learned to love you. But your mom and I didn't expect him to have been enduring it all the time and waiting for the best time to get back at us."

His eyes were full of reminiscent of what he had said to Roger from the very beginning, where it all started.

Fascinating as it might sound, Emily had a gist of what her father was thinking. Suddenly, the day Roger asked to marry her flashed before her eyes. That day, she was so petty, asking only three questions and falling into the trap.

"Roger, can you hear yourself?"

"Don't you have someone you like?"

"Are you sure you want to marry me?'

Those were the exact words she asked that she didn't know would lead to everything happening to them now.

Now that she thought of it, Emily found herself a fool who wasn't thinking right. She let her heart handle everything and ended up being thrown up like rubbish.

Sure enough, how could a man who had always loved someone quickly change his heart?

That was indeed impossible, but she still slid into the pit.

Emily, however, couldn't blame everything on her parents. As someone who had received nothing but genuine care since childhood, she knew her parents did what they did because they loved her so much. They just wanted her to marry the man she always dreamed of— the man she always loved.

So, how could she be mad at them when all they did was go to such lengths for her sake?

"Dad, how's the company?" Emily asked as she mustered all her courage to look at her father, even with sorrowful eyes.

Dejected, Lynden heaved a deep sigh and shut his eyes. "It's all Roger's now."

Emily froze as her father's words struck a flash of lightning in her brain.

'H-How?' she asked herself and bit her quivering lips. Mad, she averted her eyes from her father and lowered her head. 'That's the company dad has founded! It was one of the biggest companies in the city. There was no way it could be Roger's right way!'

"Emily," Lynden called in an indescribable tone. "Roger will certainly not let you go. I still have savings in my bank account, so use that and go abroad. Leave us here. You need to live away from him, or else you'll suffer."

Emily hysterically shook her head at what her father said. "Dad, no! We'll divorce, so I'll be fine."

"He wants to divorce?" Her father was surprised for a moment before he heaved a deep sigh and nodded. "Then I guess that's for the better."

Emily forced herself to smile. "Yes."

Roger, however, seemed firm and decided not to let them off.

Not long after Lynden arrived at the hospital, the housekeeper came and bolted with the news, saying their house had been taken away by the bank. She stated that Lynden owed a lot of debt and needed a mortgage.

Unable to take it anymore, Lynden wailed after trying so hard to restrain himself.

Emily's eyes became downcast, but she neglected him for a while and headed directly to where Roger was.

She came to his villa and ran upstairs. However, as she opened the bedroom door, two people hugging each other came into her sight.

Roger gently kissed Fannie's cheek while the latter bit her lower lip.

As soon as Fannie saw her, she quickly pushed Roger away. Then, she looked at Emily and smiled. "Emily," she gently greeted.

Emily ignored her and glared at her husband for doing such a thing in their bedroom. "How could you be so heartless, Roger?"

"It was just your house mortgaged to the bank, and you can't stand it already? I'm afraid you will lose yourself sooner or later if I go all out. You might not be able to see your father anymore."

Emily gritted her teeth as she drew herself closer to the man. "What are you planning to do to my father?!" she asked, her words full of emphasis.

Roger sneered and playfully looked at her. "He might be on his way to prison."

"What the—" Emily's eyes widened, and she planned to stride away. However, when her gaze fell on the red mark on Roger's neck, she drew closer and put all of her strength into her clenched fist.

She hit him with her steel fist without thinking twice, and his face forcefully sided right.

"What the hell, Emily?!" Fannie exclaimed as she looked at Roger, feeling sorry.

Emily's life had gone havoc in a day.

As Roger told Emily that her father would be in prison, she didn't waste any second and turned around to leave. But she hadn't even taken two steps away when he grabbed her by the arm.

"Emily!" Roger shouted in a menacing tone. His hands held Emily's arms firmly, not wanting to let go.

Although Emily wanted to escape from Roger's tight grip, she couldn't get away quickly. He was a man – a lot stronger than her physically – so she struggled hard, pulling her arms until she lost her balance and fell to the ground.

Roger looked at Emily in disdain as she almost cried, holding her lower abdomen nervously. Suddenly, blood dripped down between her legs, causing her to stop moving momentarily.

"Roger…. My baby," Emily said with her trembling voice. "Our baby! Save our baby, Roger! I'm pregnant!" Frightened to her core, she touched the red viscous liquid flowing out of her with her quivering hands.

With his blank thoughts, Roger bent over and carried Emily.

On the other hand, Fannie, who had been standing and watching the scene from aside, clenched her hand and followed them.

…

Without anything in his mind, Roger took Emily to the hospital. He couldn't help but worry about her deep inside. After all, she was innocent. And the words she said, about the child being his, had pierced his conscience.

Slowly, the room's door opened. "Roger, I just went to ask the doctor about Emily's condition. He said she was fine. She just needed to rest for a while," Fannie said and walked near him. When her gaze went from Emily to him, whose eyes had unspoken admiration for the woman in front of them, her hands clenched again, and the rage inside her kept increasing.

Roger just nodded. He already knew it as he had just talked with the doctor earlier, but she didn't tell Fannie about it.

…

Late at night, Emily woke up and looked at the man sitting next to her. Under the bright light of the hospital, she could clearly see Roger's darkened aura. He looked like statuary with his arms crossed, looking straight at her as if waiting for her to wake up.

Emily's forehead creased. Slowly, she met Roger's deep glares and sat down on the bed, trying to register in her mind what was happening.

"Abort the baby and get out of the house," Roger said sternly. Gone was the care he had felt a while ago, and his demeanor changed into a cold one.

Confused, Emily asked, "What are you talking about?" She felt like she had become deaf when he heard what he said, so he wanted to ensure she had heard it correctly.

"Abort the baby," Roger replied forbearingly.

"But…" Emily's voice trembled. She couldn't understand where Roger was coming from when she had already told him she was pregnant with his child. "This is your baby… And you wanna kill it?" She asked in disbelief.

Quickly, Roger stood up. He looked at Emma with contempt. "My baby?!" He scoffed. "Emily, I was on a business trip!" Then, he reached out for the stack of photos at the bedside table and threw it all to her.

Emily's eyes followed the photos that abruptly flew into the air and slowly landed on the floor and her bed. Her eyes darted to the picture that showed her records of checked-in of a hotel and a strange man she didn't know.

Thinking about a hotel, Emily was confident that the last time she went to one was to check in for Daniel. At that time, he had just returned from abroad, precisely the day of Roger's business trip.

"No… No, you misunderstood it. It's not what you think," Emily said, starting to defend herself. "The baby is yours!" She grabbed his arm, getting his attention, wanting him to believe in her, but all she got from Roger was a deadly glare.

"You've been pregnant for a month! How dare you say it was mine when I didn't even touch you a month ago?!" Roger thought the baby should be at least two months old, but the ob-gynecologist had already talked to him and informed him that the baby was only a month old.

In grimace, all the conscience feeling he had a while ago vanished instantly. He was unsure what to feel the first time he received the photos, but now, anger had consumed him. Merely thinking that he would be helping in raising another kid that was born out of her wife's disgrace made him want to puke.

"No… You were drunk that day! Don't you remember?" Emily asked with her eyes full of hope. "You were drunk that night, and you forced me! Don't you remember that?"

No matter how much he ransacked his memories, Roger couldn't remember anything Emily said. He thought he was just reasoning out when in fact, it was all true. "I'm afraid no one will believe what you say. "I've already contacted a doctor for you. You'll get an abortion today." His eyes looked at the photos and evidence of her coming in and out of the hotel. "Don't try to change my mind. Even if it were my child, which was impossible, I would still not want you to bear them," he added, trying to be firm with his decisions.

Tears streamed down Emily's eyes as to what Roger had just said. It rumbled her heart and crushed her to pieces.

When two bodyguards opened the door, Emily quickly shrunk her body to the corner of the hospital bed. She looked at Roger, asking for help. "No, no! Roger, please, this is your baby! It is yours!"

Without looking back at Emily, Roger gestured for the guards to come in and take her.

With just one look, the bodyguards already knew what Roger wanted to happen, so they dragged Emily out of the room.

Emily cried, following the two guards that were holding both of her arms. Her neck craned to look back at Roger. "Roger, please… No…"

But all Roger did was watch her cry, hear her protests from his right ear, and then let it pass from his other ear.

In the hallway, chattering and hearsay went on from mouth to mouth. Patients, even nurses, were whispering, asking why two bodyguards were dragging Emily and why she was crying. Some of those who had heard a story from others had shared it with others, saying, "She's shameless. I heard that she cheated on Mr. Roger. It was all reported by many relevant journalists!"

And so the other person replied, "Yes! And she even bears a child! It is really for the best to abort it!"

Emily was in despair, she could hear their speculations about her, but she didn't care about it. What she was most worried about was the baby that might not be able to see the world.

Fannie barged in as Emily forcedly lay down on a frigid surgical table in the operation room.

Thinking Fannie would save her, she cried for help as she saw her. "Fannie… Please, help me. I don't want to kill the child. Please, convince Roge. This child is his…."

"Give us a second. I just have to talk with her," Fannie said, shooing the guards away.

Emily thought she would be safe with Fannie, but her hands registered on her face. The loud slap echoed at the four corners of the room as the room was theirs alone.

"Of course, I know that the child is his," Fannie said smugly. "Do you know how much time, money, and effort I spent to make everything foolproof?" She walked towards Emily and touched her reddened face as if mocking her.

"The man you didn't know testified that he impregnated you because I told him to do so. Now, how would you let the child live when Roger's about to divorce you and marry me," Fannie said, looking at Emily ferociously.

Emily's eyes were full of questions, and when she had the courage to ask, she looked at her with doubt. "What are you talking about? You did all this?"

"You think I am joking? Who else do you think would be behind all this? For the past two years, your good friend, Daniel Harris, has always been abroad, and you always stay at home. However, fortunately, you went out a month ago, so I grabbed my one and only chance!" Fannie laughed frantically, taking the time to confuse Emily.

She wanted the child gone as she saw in Roger's eyes that he cared for the child. Obviously, she hated that Emily's baby might be a reason for him not to continue the divorce.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me?" Emily struggled again to escape from her clamped wrists and ankles, but the more she resisted, the more it hurt her.

Fannie scoffed. "Why? You dared to ask me why when you took advantage of my car accident?!"

Fannie became an utterly different person in front of Emily. She was in sheep's clothing a while ago, but now that Roger was not in front of them, she showed Emily her real wolf nature.

"If it weren't for your parents, you would never even get married to Roger," Fannie said, looking straight at Emily's eyes with a grudge that she had been keeping for years. "Roger is mine, Emily! He's always been mine! Did you expect me to sit down and do nothing once I woke up? Or perhaps, you didn't even think I would wake up?!" She asked with contempt.

Fannie was mad at Emily even before, but after seeing Roger's eyes glistening with conscience upon his decision to kill the innocent child, she had become frantic. "You're so stupid! Did you honestly think Roger married you because he loved you when I have always been the love of his life?! Now that I am here, everything should fall to its place, which means you are out in our lives!"

Just remembering how Roger's eyes flashed with a trace of happiness about having kids fanned Fannie's anger toward Emily.

Dumbfounded, Emily failed to fathom what words to say. All she could think about now was that Fannie wasn't the woman she used to think she was. Suddenly they heard the door open, and a doctor came in. With an evil smirk etched upon her lips, Fannie walked to greet the doctor and said, "You can start now, Doc."

The rush Emily felt a while ago came back. She tried to get up, pleading with the doctor. "No! No, doc! Please, I beg you! This woman!" She said, trying to point her finger at Fannie. "She framed me! This baby's father is Roger. Please, I beg you, tell him!"

"Emily, don't do this. Roger has already investigated this matter, and you are lying. Don't worry. After the operation, I would help you talk with him," Fannie said in a completely different voice from a while ago. Still, the smirk on her face did not fade as she stared at Emily, who showed helpless gazes toward the waiting doctor.

Fannie nodded at the doctor and walked out of the room, leaving Emily with a victorious smile.

Emily still wanted to scream and shout, but two nurses came in and calmed her down by injecting her with the anesthetic. Before closing her eyes unwillingly, Fannie's sneer was the last thing she saw.

As Fannie exited the room, the doctor eagerly checked his phone. He smiled in great enthusiasm under the surgical mask he was wearing as he looked at the money the lady who had just left sent to his bank account. Then, he slid his phone back into his pocket and approached the nurses assigned to assist him that day.

“I’ll leave this one to both of you,” he instructed them. He couldn’t hide in his voice the delight he was feeling. The nurses nodded, and there, the doctor went out.

The nurses prepared all the necessary equipment and tools on the metal tray. After that, they raised Emily’s legs on a lithotomy position on a platform they attached on both sides of the bed. One of them positioned herself and was about to start the procedure when a man entered the room.

“S-Sir, you’re not supp—,”

“Who’s in charge here? Call him!” The man ordered the two without letting the nurse finish what she wanted to say. They, of course, knew who he was. He was not just an ordinary citizen, and because of that, both of them stiffened. They could not afford to risk going against the man as they could lose a job with his authority.

“You!” he shouted while pointing his finger at one of the nurses because none had moved even an inch yet. “Call him!”

Frightened by what the man would do once they disobeyed his order, the nurse rushed outside to search for the doctor.

She saw him inside his office, and he was ready to go.

“Done?” He asked the nurse, but after she told him who was looking for him, the doctor put down all his things and ran as fast as he could to meet the man who just came.

“S-Sir, what brings you here?” the doctor asked the man right after he entered the room. He was smiling, but he couldn’t hide the nervousness in his voice. He was trembling in fear as he walked near him. The man turned to face the doctor, and everyone inside the room was shocked after the doctor received a hard slap on his cheek.

...

In the ward, Emily woke up disoriented. Her vision was still blurry, and her mind was still in a haze when the door suddenly opened. When her eyes adjusted, she realized that Roger was already walking straight to bed. Her eyes instantly became teary, her heartbeat went erratic, and the thought of her unborn child consumed her emotional being. The man she had loved for many years had just killed their child and was about to marry another woman. She could not think of anything worse.

"The most regretful thing that I did was to marry you," Emily said, trying to hold back her tears and completer her sentence.

When Roger finally reached the side of her bed, he said, "So did I. The most disgusting thing that I have ever done was marrying you," he sat down on a chair near her bed as he said everything sternly.

"I admit that my parents have done wrong things, but you can't do this to my family… You can't tear down my family…."

"I can't?" Roger scoffed, "Your family threatened me from the start! If we got divorced, I would lose nothing. In fact, I would even benefit from it. But you? You will have nothing, and that is because of your family. Letting them do things because you will gain from it makes you as guilty as they were." Roger looked at her with deep eyes, "It was fine, but I didn't expect you to cheat on me while I was away. For years, I thought you really loved me," he added.

"I didn't cheat on you," Emily said. She didn't care about everything Roger had told or accused her of. What mattered to her was the way he saw her. She could never cheat on him no matter what, but insisting that to him was no use as the latter had seen enough evidence of her so-called guiltiness.

The door opened again, revealing Fannie carrying a tray of food. She looked kind, placing the rectangular metal tray on the bedside table. Upon seeing her, Emily remembered all the things she had revealed to her.

"Roger, it's fanny!" Emily exclaimed. "She made it all up! Ask the man on the pictures, and he would tell you that Fannie told him I went with him," she added, looking straight at Roger, wanting him to believe her.

But Fannie was a great actress. Since Roger was present, she became the innocent sheep once again. "Emily…" She said in a trembling voice, teary-eyed. "How could you say that? How can you frame me up like this? You know I've been good to you, and I was really grateful to you for saving my life!" She then shed pitiful tears, looking back and forth between Emily and Roger.

Emily stretched out her hand, trying to reach for Roger's hands, but since the latter's eyes remained staring at Fannie's tears, he didn't even realize that. Then everyone's attention landed on the food that met the floor as Fannie threw it, acting as if Emily had pushed it to fall off the table. "Emily, if you don't want to eat, please just tell me. You don't have to act like this." There goes her voice that irritated and hurt Emily. The woman's fake cry was Roger's weakness.

Furious, Roger grabbed the neck of Emily's hospital gown. He was mad after seeing Fannie's tears, and he reached the limit of his patience when he thought that Emily was disrespecting her by throwing away the food the latter had brought.

Fannie did an excellent performance indeed, and even if she intended to let Emily be hurt, she had to act kindly in front of Roger, so she stopped him. "Stop it, just let her go. I'm fine. I just hate that she has to waste the food. But please, let her go already."

"But I didn't even touch the tray!" Emily protested. She didn't want Fannie to fight for her as it would mean she would let her throw all the rocks at her, saying she threw it to herself.

"Then sign the papers," Roger said, moving away from Emily.

Emily sighed in defeat. Knowing that Roger had been in love with Fannie for a very long time, she couldn't win his heart anymore. No matter what she does, Fannie would remain good in his eyes. "Okay…"

Upon agreeing, the door of the room opened once more. "I disagree!" A familiar voice said, making Emily look as to who it was.

Emily's eyes widened as she quickly tried to stand up from the bed, but the old man gestured for her to remain seated. In distressed eyes, he asked her, "Are you okay, Emily?"

"Grandpa! Why are you here?!" Roger asked his grandfather, who didn't even give him a bat.

The old man shook his head, and his crutch tapped the cold tiles, making a sound that stopped all three of them from speaking. "If I didn't come, you would divorce Emily and marry another woman," he said, finally throwing a glance toward Fannie.

If one person was devoted to Roger and Emily's marriage, it would be Roger's grandfather, Weston. Since he didn't like Fannie, he was glad that Roger had married another woman.

"Grandpa, Emily is not what you think she is. You don't know what she has —" Weston immediately stopped him from talking by raising his right hand in front of him.

"I know. Still, I disagree," he said trivially. Upon hearing it, Emily had an idea that hoaxes and speculations were going around already. When the guards dragged her, the chatters from the corridor probably started to reach other people outside the hospital.

Emily sighed, "Grandpa… I didn't cheat," she said, extending her hands to reach the hands of Roger's grandfather.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that I am here," he said, proving Emily's inward allegations that he did believe the rumors about her. "Now, I don't want you to divorce her."

"Grandpa!"

As soon as Roger raised his voice, his grandfather faced him. "Don't call me grandpa if you divorce her! Her family and I have been friends for a long time, and you did things without considering what I would feel! That's enough. Emily has nowhere to go. What else do you want, huh?"

Listening to what Roger's grandfather said, Emily realized he was just sympathizing with her. But it was okay; she was thankful for that as she had really nowhere to go.

"If you insist on divorcing her, that would mean I am no longer your grandfather, and I don't have a grandson like you anymore!"

Wanting to meddle and butt in to support Roger, Fannie took a step forward, but the deadly glares of Roger's grandfather stopped her in an instant.

'Grandpa, I am old enough. I know what I am doing, and I can no longer be with that woman!' Roger wanted to voice out, but he did not dare to talk back about his grandfather's decision anymore.

When Roger's parents were framed-up and died, his grandfather raised him. Therefore he respected him the most.

"I'll take Emily home today," Weston said with finality.