Chapter 1: When we drifted

Xiao Xing did not live a good life, much less a better one. Her life was miserable. Very miserable. From being ridiculed to being abandoned and being taken advantage of, all was her daily routine.

Xiao Xing lost her parents at a very young age. She never recovered from the wound the death of her parents brought to her. She always had nightmares about the time of their death as it happened right in front of her, in front of the main gate. Xiao Xing was an only child in the family and was favoured a lot by her mother and father. After she lost her parents in a car crash coming from work, Xiao Xing honestly did not know what to do.

Just as she was very stressed and confused, her second uncle came to her rescue. Cliché, right? That was what happened. Xiao Xing obviously knew the uncle as a kind and generous uncle, like most people. Her second uncle took her in as well as everything that belonged to her- the inheritance from her parents. It was said that the inheritance would be in her possession by the time she turned eighteen.

Absolutely relieved, she allowed her uncle and the rest of his family to move into her family home. At least she had someone to take care of her. Everything was going well until her 14th birthday. That was where things began going south. On that night, Xiao Xing's uncle walked into her bedroom without knocking and closed the door behind himself. In his hands lied a large gift box. As a young child, Xiao Xing honestly felt happy and appreciative of the present, even though she had yet to open it.

Just as Xiao Xing took the box from his hands as he handed it over to her, her uncle grabbed her waist and pinned her to his chest. Xiao Xing's screams and yells for help were heard all over the house but no one came to help her. The molestation continued on and on. The more this happened, the more she became brave enough to disobey her uncle. That did not work because he began threatening her with her inheritance.

Her eighteenth birthday arrived but Xiao Xing did not get any of the things she was promised. Instead, she got more bruises and got raped once again. It was really painful for her to continue living with the man and planned to escape and run away. At least, she wouldn't have to face him ever again. To her surprise, her uncle managed to get her back to the place she once called home.

At the age of 22, a group of businessmen came to propose marriage. Xiao Liming couldn't refuse. The far Xiao Xing was from the money and businesses, the better.

After getting married and being a wife, Xiao Xing did everything. From cooking to cleaning, to even getting her husband satisfaction in bed. At first, it was just a business arrangement. Everyone knew the kind of role they played in the marriage. After months of living together and staying married to each other, they fell in love. Of course, it was the first time Xiao Xing had fallen in love before. Three years later, the two of them began drifting apart.

The more the both of them drifted apart, the more insecure Xiao Xing was and that was the start of seeing other women in the house. Xiao Xing accepted it as got to know that Sang Ji liked women, and he always changed women. He did not sleep with the same woman twice.

One cold night, words could not escape Xiao Xing's lips when she saw her husband bringing yet another woman inside the house. How was Xiao Xing supposed to handle the humiliation? Everyone in the house looked at her as she was left standing by the door with her head bowed down. What was she supposed to do? Where was she supposed to go now? She could not accept everything that was happening around her, otherwise, her husband's reputation would be ruined.

All the giggle around the house made her angry and frustrated. "Why is Sang Ji doing this to me?", she thought as tears fell down her face. "Why is he hurting my feelings? Why did he make me fall in love with him? Why did he ask for my hand in marriage?"

The servants could not help but feel pitiful of Xiao Xing. All she could do those times before was keep quiet. It was enough now. Xiao Xing followed Sang Ji and that strange girl into the bedroom. Just as the door closed, Xiao Xing opened it and wide enough for everyone to see and stood behind it, pressing it against the wall. Sang Ji immediately covered his chest and looked towards her direction. Angrily, he took a vase from the other side of the bed and threw it towards her.

"Get out!", he said, his voice angry and disgusted. The vase moved past her out of the room and flew over the balcony where it fell onto the floor, breaking into pieces. The girl hid behind Sang Ji.

"Why are you doing this to me? Why are we drifting apart, my husband?"

Sang Ji got off the bed and walked towards Xiao Xing. "Am I really someone who you consider as your best friend? You cannot even call me by my name."

Xiao Xing tried her absolute best in saying his name out loud but failed to do so. Sang Ji scoffed. "Do you remember the night you cheated on me?"

Xiao Xing got nervous. 'When did that happen? When did I cheat on him?' Her heart could not stop pounding hard. His gaze was frightening that she could not even blink or flinch.

That night, they attended a business function. It was two years back. Xiao Xing could not find Sang Ji anywhere as she looked for him. When she found him in the car, Sang Ji was kissing another woman with his shirt already taken off. The woman in the car was wearing bra and tights at the time. The sight shocked her and left her heartbroken and she ran to where the glasses of whisky were and gobbled down a few. A little drunk, Xiao Xing went to the receptionist and booked a room for herself to sleep. Coincidentally, a man also booked a room that same time. Shortly after that very same man left, Xiao Xing took a key card given to her by the receptionist and walked to the elevator.

As Xiao Xing arrived on the 23rd floor, she walked towards the corridor, as the receptionist had directed her. Weakly and unsteadily, she walked past the corridor, searching for the room number 696 on her key card. Finally, she found it as she approached the end of the corridor. Heaving a sigh of relief, Xiao Xing faced her key card in front of the lock, but it did not open. Confused, she tried again but still. Suddenly, as a group of people walked past her, one of them bumped into her and she couldn't help but lean on the door for support. To her surprise, the door opened and shut closed.

"Darling, who is this woman? So rude of her to disturb two adults in the middle of the night!", the girl sitting on bed asked in a low and squeaky voice.

Xiao Xing looked at that girl intently from top to bottom. "Are those the kind of girls you like?", she asked in a broken voice.

Sang Ji ignored Xiao Xing's question. "Answer me, dammit! Did you have sex with another guy that night? Did you think I wouldn't know?"

His loud voice frightened Xiao Xing that she did not know how to respond. Of course she was innocent, but she had never see him that angry before. Sang Ji always used to be sweet and calm whenever he talked to Xiao Xing, about anything, really.

Xiao Xing was a person who could easily tear up. In an instant, tears flowed down her face like a stream, ruining her eye make-up.

Just as they were standing like that, gunshots began firing around the house like a shooting range. Everyone went for cover. Each woman in the house screamed for their lives as they fell to the ground and hid. Sang Ji ran to shield the woman on his bed.

Suddenly, one gunshot fired towards the window penetrated through it, breaking the glass and hitting the wall right in front of Xiao Xing's face. The flash light which flowed with the bullet blinded Xiao Xing's eyes and she felt them hurt. All lights in the house turned off in an instant. Just then, Xiao Xing felt a hand grabbing her armpits and dragging her out of the room. "Husband, help me!", she shouted, only to hear no response whatsoever. Again, she called out for him, but she did not hear a thing. A few seconds later, Xiao Xing felt a piece of fabric covering her mouth and nose, and she felt her body slowly becoming numb. She could no longer control it. The more she inhaled the sleeping drug on that piece of fabric, the weaker and drowsy she became.