Chapter 4

My countdown started before my flight. There were two days left before I flew off.

I had completed my resignation procedures and walked out of the company's door with a huge box in my hands.

It was pouring outside.

The chilling wind and the rain falling on me made my bones hurt from the cold.

I stood under the roof, trying to get a taxi, to no avail. That was when my stomach started to hurt. It was acute gastroenteritis.

I could hardly stand from the pain, so I crouched on the ground, covered in cold sweat.

I called Emmett on the phone for help. It was the first time in five years that I had called him for help while he was at work.

The phone rang for a long time before he picked up. "Hello? What's wrong?"

It was noisy where he was. I could hear a dog barking and a woman crying. "Emmett, I have gastroenteritis, and it hurts really badly. Can you take me to the hospital? I can't get a taxi."

I tried my best to sound calm. There was a pause on the other end of the call, and Cherry's voice could be heard saying, "Emmett, is Pudding going to be okay? He coughed up so much blood…"

Emmett became anxious right away. "Don't cry, Cherry. The vet will be here soon."

After that, he said to me, "Naomi, Cherry's dog ate some poison. I'm at the vet right now, and I can't leave. Take some stomach medicine first or call 911."

My knuckles turned white from clenching the phone. "Emmett, it hurts so much that I can barely stand."

"Can you stop trying to make me choose between both of you at a time like this?" Emmett was getting impatient. "There’s a life at stake here, and you're only having stomach cramps. Which do you think is more important? You're a grown-up. Can't you even take care of yourself?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "All right. I understand." I hung up, but I did not call an ambulance.

Fortunately, a taxi was dropping off a customer where I was, and I managed to get in it amidst the rain. "Take me to Central Hospital."

I was given three IV drips in the emergency room before the pain in my stomach finally subsided.

The doctor looked at my pale face and sighed. "You should take better care of yourself, young lady. Why did you come to the emergency room by yourself? Where's your family?"

"They're dead," I replied calmly.

That night, I returned at 8 PM to an empty house. Emmett was not home yet. I guessed he was still accompanying that poisoned dog.

I took out a box I had prepared earlier and started packing up the last of my things. However, there was not much left to pack. I dug up everything he had given me over the past five years.

That included the citrus-scented perfume I was allergic to, a dress that was not my size, a cheap silver necklace, and an engagement ring he had bought online without much thought. It did not even come with a certification.

I put everything into a box and placed it on the table, the most obvious place in the living room. After that, I turned on my laptop and connected it to the printer.

The printer started whirring and printing pieces of A4 paper. They contained the transactions and travel schedules from all of Emmett’s accounts that I had taken two weeks to compile.

Emmett had bought 49 tickets to Baylen in the past year, and there were transaction records of him buying bags and jewelry, fixing a heater, and paying rent for Cherry. It came to a total of $85,000.

I filed all the printouts accordingly and bound them with a red binder clip. After that, I placed the document at the very bottom of the box.

At the end of it all, I took out a crumpled receipt from the cafe we were at last night, wrote ‘This is yours’ in red, and circled it.

After everything was done, I pulled my luggage behind me and walked out the door. Before I left, I turned back to take one last look at the house I had stayed in for the past five years.

I would not miss it at all. All I felt was relief.

The door closed with a clack behind me, and I took out my phone to block Emmett's number along with all his family’s contacts.

After that, I quit our family group chat called 'Loving Family'. No one ever replied to me there, anyway.

When I walked out of the building, a taxi I had booked earlier was already waiting for me. The taxi driver helped me with my luggage and asked, "Where would you like to go?"

"The airport."