Chapter 4

• EMILY'S POV.
• "It's a beautiful morning, not so?" Marco asked, and I simply gave a nod in response.
• It was one week since my father coerced and blackmailed me into accepting to marry this man. Did I also mention that the wedding was only a week away?
• "Come here." He suddenly pulled me to himself, his face dangerously and irritatingly close to mine.
• "You would be mine in a matter of days, Emily. So I suggest you begin to act accordingly. My patience is usually thin."
• "If you want me to act like I care about you, I never will." I spat.
• I endured the pain that his grip on my arm caused, and watched in satisfaction as his jaw clenched in obvious annoyance.
• "You're hurting me." I muttered, and he released a sigh, brushing his hand across his face.
• "I'm sorry." He whispered, surprising me.
• "Are we done here?" I asked, ignoring his apology.
• For the past week since the announcement of our engagement, I had been forced to endure being on dates with Marco, in the name of getting familiar with each other.
• "You've got somewhere else to be?" He asked, looking slightly irritated.
• "You personally booked an appointment with the Doctor, for a reproductive health check today."
• It had come as an insult to me last week, when he informed me that I had to go for a reproductive health check, because he had to be sure I could do the very thing he was marrying me to do. Give him children.
• "My bad. I totally forgot." He shook his head. "Let's leave together. My driver would drop you off at the hospital first."
• "Okay." I nodded.
• Following him behind, we exited the gallery and soon, we were on our way to the hospital.
• As soon as we got to the hospital, they dropped me and drove off. I was thankful he didn't insist on going in with me.
• "Hi, good morning." I said to the receptionist at the front desk of the hospital.
• "Hi! Good morning ma'am!" She flashed me a wide smile that somewhat improved my mood. "How can we help you today?"
• "I have an appointment under the name of Emily Collombo."
• "Collombo?" She asked, to which I nodded. "Miss Collombo, your appointment was over an hour ago."
• "It was?" I frowned. "I thought it was for 11am?"
• "No, it was for 10." She took a file from her desk and opened it. "Here, I'm seeing that you were booked for a reproductive health check last week and....."
• "Yes, that's me." I cut her short.
• Had I known, I would have let her finish speaking. I would have avoided the future complications my nonchalance had caused.
• "Okayyy...." She released a long and frustrated sigh. "Sorry, I'm working double shifts. Been on it since yesterday."
• "It's totally fine. Well done." I gave a small smile.
• "So I would just call the Doctor and inform her that you're here. It's left for her to see you, or reschedule."
• "Okay." I nodded in understanding.
• I waited while she made the call, and was relieved when she said the Doctor had asked to see me.
• "Your room is 12B, on the second floor."
• "Thank you so much."
• "Sure." Came her reply, and I walked off.
• I was able to locate the room she had directed me to, and I gave a knock. I heard a light 'come in', and I did.
• "Good morning." I greeted the female in a lab coat, and she greeted me with a smile.
• "So sorry for the mistake. I thought my appointment was for 11am."
• "It's fine, Miss Collombo." She assured. "Please take off your underwear and lay on the table." She pointed at the table in the middle of the room.
• I did as she asked, and was on the table in no time.
• "Please part your legs to the side." She demanded, assisting me into the position she wanted. "I assume you have an idea how this works. But if you don't, I don't mind explaining to you."
• "Not at all." I shook my head, not the least bit interested in knowing. I just wanted to be done and out of here.
• "Just do your thing." I gave her a small smile in assurance.
• "Okay." She nodded. "It might be a bit uncomfortable, but nothing you cannot bear."
• "Go ahead." I consented.
• If only I knew what my consent would result into, eventually.
• If only.
• *******THREE WEEKS LATER********
• I had pleaded with the Russos to extend the wedding date by a month, giving the excuse of needing ample time to get to know Marco better.
• A plan I may not have achieved, seeing as I always tried to avoid the man at every given chance. Three weeks had flown past, and once again, it was one week to my wedding.
• Marco had been here earlier today, speaking about us both having a common ground, and making this marriage work.
• For a moment, I wondered if anything worse could happen.
• My family cared nothing for me, and more than anything else right now, I didn't want to see them win.
• They knew that marrying Marco was going to be a nightmare for me. But what if it turned out to be the very opposite?
• Very unsure in that moment, I picked up my phone and sent Marco a text.
• 'Alright then. I'm stuck with you. Let's make it work'.
• Eventually, I hit the send button, and released a deep sigh.
• I wondered if I was doing the right thing. I knew that it was better to cohabit peacefully, than to leave in a battlefield.
• I was already drained from the reality of having no family or friends now. Alexa and I were over, and I missed her dearly. She wasn't taking my calls, neither did she call.
• I couldn't afford to add a bad marriage to the list of my problems.
• Just then, my phone rang out. I looked at the screen to see that there wasn't any caller Id.
• "Hello?" I said, immediately I answered.
• "H... H... Hi!" Someone responded, sounding rather agitated. It got me worried for a moment.
• "Please who is this?" I asked.
• "This is Candice from LUMIN Hospital. The front desk representative."
• I remembered her immediately. She sounded quite agitated, but I didn't think much of it.
• "Oh? Okay." I nodded, assuming my test results were finally ready.
• "Ma'am." She muttered. "I'm afraid there might have been a mix up at the hospital." She said, and I sat up immediately.
• "What are you talking about?" I queried, my forehead creasing into folds.
• "Please we need you to come to the hospital right away ma'am. There may have been a mix up somewhere."
• "I heard that already, Candice. What exactly is this mix up?" I asked, gradually becoming tensed.
• "Ma'am, another lady with the name 'Elizabeth Collombo', was booked for an insemination three weeks ago..."
• She sounded really scared, but that was honestly the least of my concerns.
• "When you came along for your reproductive health check, I may have mistaken her file for yours, because of your surnames."
• "Sorry....?" I swallowed hard, sweat instantly breaking onto my forehead. "What does this mean? By insemination, wh.. wh... what do you mean?" I stuttered, my heart beating so wildly in my chest already.
• I silently prayed that it wasn't what I thought it was.
• "Ma'am....." She paused, most certainly hesitant to speak.
• "I asked a question." I reminded, in case she had forgotten.
• "An insemination is the procedure done for the purpose of...." She trailed off again. "The purpose of.... achieving pregnancy." She finally dropped it.
• I may have died and returned back to life.