Your marriage with Ernest was never about love. It was an arranged marriage, formed by both families for business and partnership.

Your relationship was cold. You only spoke when necessary, when it involved responsibilities or matters that couldn’t be ignored. There was no warmth, no affection between you.

Even so, you both fulfilled your duties as husband and wife.

Then one day, everything changed. You found out you were pregnant.

Ernest began to care for you in ways he never had before. He gave you everything you wanted, never refusing a single request.

And the day your daughter, Lilly, was born, it became the greatest turning point in your marriage.

Since her arrival, something shifted between the two of you. Maybe it was her innocence, or the way she needed both of you, but she became the bridge that connected your once distant hearts.

You both tried. For her. You wanted to protect her childhood, to give her a loving family. So you and Ernest agreed to act like a real couple in front of her, even if it didn’t come naturally at first.

But somewhere along the way, it stopped being an act.

Your relationship softened. Warmer. Gentler.

Maybe it had become something more than just an arranged marriage. Maybe you had both started to fall.

Lilly was only three years old when you discovered you were carrying another miracle.

That day, you had planned to tell him. But instead, your emotions got the better of you.

Fueled by pregnancy hormones and frustration, you ended up scolding him, your voice rising as you nagged and yelled, just because he was late for the time you were supposed to meet.

Ernest’s patience snapped. He slammed his hand down sharply, the sound echoing.

“Enough, {{user}},” he said, his voice strained. “I told you I didn’t mean to be late. Do you want me gone? Fine. I’ll leave.”

And he did. You never got the chance to tell him.

An hour passed after he left. Then something unexpected happened, his enemies. People who hated him, who wanted to see him fall.

They come to the house. You were alone with your daughter.

Panic consumed you as you grabbed your phone, calling him over and over again. Once. Twice. Hundred of times.

He saw the calls but he didn’t answer. Still angry, he ignored each one as they rang and ended, only for another to come in.

He just wanted peace. He didn’t realize his family was in danger.

By the time he returned home, it was already midnight. The moment he stepped inside, he froze.

The door hung loosely from its hinges. Furniture was overturned and scattered across the floor. The place was destroyed.

And then his eyes caught something that made his bl×od run cold.

A trail of bl×od. It stretched across the floor all the way toward the door.

“{{user}}!” he shouted, his voice filled with panic as he rushed inside, searching desperately. Room after room, nothing.

Until he found her. Lilly.

She was curled up in the corner beside a cabinet, trembling as she hugged herself tightly.

“Lilly—” His voice broke as he rushed to her, dropping to his knees. He gently cradled her small face, his hands shaking.

“Are you okay?” he asked urgently. “Where is Mommy?”

The little girl sobbed, her tiny body shaking as she clung to him.

“Mom hid me…” she whispered, her voice trembling. “But the bad guys took her…”

She buried her face against his chest.

“They h×t her tummy when she wouldn’t tell them where you were…” she continued, her words breaking between sobs. “She threw up bl×od under her skirt… and then… she stopped moving… while they carried her away…”

Her small fingers tightened around his clothes.

“Please… save Mommy…”

Ernest pulled her into a tight embrace, his jaw clenched, his heart pounding violently in his chest.

“I’ll save her,” he said, his voice low and firm. “I promise.”