Chapter 1

Ethan stepped out of the restaurant with a bright smile lingering on his face as he held on tightly to the small takeaway bag which contained the food he just bought. Noodles made at the restaurant have always been one of the cravings of his pregnant wife, and as usual, he didn't fail to branch at the restaurant to get it for her on his way home.

He stood at the roadside for about five minutes before he was finally able to get a cab, and the ride back to his apartment began. His body felt stiff from standing all day at the convenience store where he worked as a salesman.

The car finally pulled over in front of his apartment which was an old log house.

"Thank you," He said to the cabby before he headed toward the building. He placed a knock on the door when he arrived at the entrance door, hoping his wife would welcome him with a sweet and exciting smile that would probably relieve him of all the stress he had been through all day, but he was disappointed when he waited for about two minutes and there was no sight of her or any of sign of her coming out anytime soon.

"Where is she?" He mumbled as he finally pushed the door open, but he soon regretted his actions when he stepped into their supposed living room and found his wife naked underneath a stranger as the man pounded her the way he had never done before.

His jaw dropped, and his mouth dropped open in shock as he stared at the horrible sight unbelievably. His heart wrenched painfully, but for a moment, he didn't want to believe that this was true. He didn't want to believe that the woman under the man and moaning while asking for more from the man was actually his wife, the woman he had sacrificed so much for and had loved all his life. They were so engrossed in the sex that none of them even noticed his presence, that was until he spoke up.

"Emily!" He called out as the bag he had been holding on tightly to found its way to the ground, and the two jerked.

"Ethan... You're home?" He watched as she sat up on the old couch and quickly grabbed her clothes to cover herself. Her face was just normal without any display of remorse or shock, and this had Ethan confused for a moment.

"What is the meaning of this, Emily?" His voice quivered, and his lips trembled. His whole body shook as he stared at her, not knowing what to say. If anyone told him his wife was cheating, he wouldn't have believed the person, and now that he caught them himself it was still hard to believe that this was the woman he married.

"Nothing. You came home early. I didn't expect to see you so early," His heart dropped upon hearing that from her, and he slowly clenched his fingers tightly into a fist, enraged.

"How could you do this to me, Emily? How could you?" He clenched his jaw tightly, his eyes blazing with anger as he stood rooted in the spot. He had no idea how to react to this. He would definitely end up doing something horrible to her if he were to react based on his anger.

"You are pregnant, Emily! You are carrying our child, how could you do this?" He lamented, raising his voice a bit higher this time, and she scoffed while rolling her eyes.

"What should I do when you can't give me what I want? Are you blaming me for this when it was all your fault?" His eyes dilated in shock, stunned by the fact that she wasn't regretting her actions but blaming him for it instead.

"You come home every night and complain of being tired. When was the last time we had good sex? All you do is work...work...work! Who does that?" She finally stood up to defend herself, and Ethan scoffed, his eyes glistening with tears, but he held them back. There was no way he was going to cry in front of them. Never!

It felt like his chest contracted so hard that he couldn't breathe anymore, his blood felt so hot, enraged.

"Emily!"

"What? Is it the bondage you're keeping me in all in the name of stupid marriage?" her voice was high-pitched, and he scoffed.

"Bo...bondage?" He scoffed unbelievably.

"You can't even take care of me... You can't give me the luxurious life I want, so why complain of me seeing another man? I asked you to get me a diamond necklace for my last birthday, but what did you say?" She scoffed and flipped her hair behind her ear.

"'Wife, I'm sorry, but I can't afford it'," She mimicked him as she wore her clothes and finally stood up to her feet.

"What were you expecting of me when another man was ready to get me something I was so desperate about?" She scrutinized her eyebrows, then sighed and shook her head.

"Don't tell me you wanted me to say no just because I have a useless husband at home that can't even do anything good for me. Ugh! That's so pathetic," She clicked her tongue and shook her head, and Ethan's jaw dropped.

"I am working hard to provide for us. I am working hard to build our future ahead while waiting to welcome our child. I've been doing my best..." He lamented, then paused and swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. His eyes were itching to tear up, but he held it back.

"I gave you all the love and attention I couldn't even give myself and you still dare to blame me for your infidelity?" He lamented, his body trembled as he moved his leg toward the couch where she was standing with the man who didn't even care about his presence.

"How could you do this to me?" Again, he whispered, his heart breaking into a million pieces. His hands trembled as she reached for her face, and when his fingers were almost touching her, the man who was silent all this while pushed him off and sent a hard punch across his face that sent him staggering back.

"What do you think you are doing? Do you want to hurt my child?" He was even more dumbfounded when the man said that, and now the realization dawned on him that he wasn't the father of the child. He tried to deny the obvious truth, telling himself that it wasn't what he was thinking, but with the glaring truth, it wasn't something he could deny.

"Is that true, Emily? Is he the father of the child?" He roared, his eyes burning with rage as he glared at her like he was going to devour her.

"Is that even a question you should be asking me, Ethan? We barely had time to sleep together, so when did you get me pregnant and didn't know it?" His jaw dropped as he stared at her.

"Emily!" He charged toward her, but before he could get to where she was, he paused as something hit him on his backhead, and that was all he recalled happening before he passed out...

*****

Ethan's head banged as he tried to open his eyes, and when he finally did, he was welcomed by a blurry white ceiling.

"Where am I?" He mumbled as he managed to touch his head.

Seconds slowly ticked into a minute, and after a few minutes, his vision finally became clear, the heavy realization dawned on him that he was behind a bar gate. He was inside a prison.

"Wh... what's going on?" Scared, Ethan stuttered as he managed to stand up to his feet, but staggered back and crashed against the wall.

"Any... anybody there? Who is there?" His voice quivered as he crawled toward the bar gate and held it firmly, shaking it to get someone's attention since it was locked.

"Who is that making noise?" A faint masculine voice sounded from outside.

"I think the man reported to be abusing his wife is awake," Hearing the other thick masculine voice, his jaw dropped, and he sat back on the cold floor, staring into space. Recounting everything that happened earlier, he needed no one to tell him the situation on the ground.

"Did I really deserve this?" He whispered as he stared into space...