A Hard Lesson

The ride from the Repose Hospital to the Pierre family mansion took less than an hour and Emery realized that her fiance wasn't living that far from her.

Once Marcus Pierre drove past the gate to his family's mansion, the vast vicinity of the mansion along with the magnificent mansion of the Pierre family was presented right before Emery's eyes. At one point, she even found it hard to believe it!

Her family mansion was already amazing but still, Marcus's family mansion was superior, perhaps in every term!

As she observed their surroundings through the rolled-down windows in awe, Marcus Pierre glanced at her several times, amused.

"It's as if you come here for the first time," he commented and shook his head. "This is hard. I don't think I'll be able to get used to it."

Hearing this, Emery Hayes shifted her gaze from the view to her fiance. "I have no memory, so it's practically my first time here. Stop whining like Jason." She sounded like a strict older sister who reprimanded her younger brother and Marcus can't help but laughed.

"Is your brother even capable of whining? He is always too soft for you," he mused, making Emery sigh.

"Just shut up and focus on driving. We are almost there."

Much to Emery's surprise, Marcus simply nodded without arguing with her; and in less than a minute, they got off the car and found themselves standing before the breathtakingly huge mansion.

"Both my father and mother are at work, so there will only be servants and security guards around," Marcus said to Emery who was looking up at the upper floors of the mansion. "Let's go," he said as he grabbed her hand. "You can look around the interior of the mansion first before you choose a place to rest."

Before she could say anything, Emery Hayes found herself being pulled inside by her fiance and this brought a little smile to her face.

He had truly become quite open and brazen compared to the day he first came to visit her when she woke up from a coma!

The two were welcomed by the butler but Marcus was too occupied with keeping his fiancee entertained.

Was it because he saw her in pain a while ago? He wanted to see her happy and cheerful again.

In a short time, the couple explored almost all the rooms of the mansion, and Emery's reaction to each of them was priceless.

The Pierres were truly at another level!

"You've become so easy to read," Marcus pointed out while he and Emery were walking side by side in one of the hallways. "Your thoughts are always written on your forehead."

"Are you saying that I'm hard to read before?" Emery asked; curious and playful at the same time. Her mood was lifted a lot compared to before and right now, it felt as if what happened just a while ago never happened.

Marcus Pierre nodded. "Yes, totally. I could never guess what you have on your mind." He briefly narrowed his eyes when he added, "But now that I think about it, maybe I didn't try hard enough."

Halting her steps, Emery glanced at her fiance who said, "We were promised to each other even before we know the meaning of relationship and marriage. So, it was hard for both of us to learn to accept each other. I mean... maybe we took each other for granted."

Marcus's response reminded Emery of the lone memory she briefly managed to recall before going to the hospital. Feeling a bit anxious, she squeezed her clothes to keep herself in check.

Even now, she can't recall what kind of person she was before losing all her memory but... everything that her brother and fiance told her was enough to let her know that she didn't fall under the category of a good person.

"Then... do you ever think of breaking away from this engagement?" She asked after maintaining her silence for a while. She didn't even know why she was suddenly curious about this.

Marcus Pierre appeared to be having a hard time answering her question. His legs were rooted in his place and his mind was occupied. Emery almost gave up when he finally spoke up.

"I admit that I gave a lot of thought to our engagement but... I never think of breaking away. You might already know this, Emery." He made a deliberate pause and his gaze briefly swept their surroundings before he continued, "The price we pay for living in luxury and enjoying the privilege that others don't have... is giving up the right to have absolute control over our own lives."

Emery Hayes raised a brow and Marcus promptly continued, "But don't get me wrong. We both accept this even when we were old enough to understand everything. Why? Because you love your father and respect him just like I love my father and respect his decisions. I'm sure that whatever he does... he does it because he wants the best for me."

Marcus was now observing Emery who stood still opposite him. Then after what felt like hours, she asked him a question.

"Are you always this way? What I'm trying to say is that... are you always this obedient towards your father?"

It seemed like her question made Marcus recall something but... the latter flashed a little smile and resumed his steps. Emery promptly followed suit.

"I was also once a rebellious kid," he started; responding to Emery's question. His voice was quite low and Emery Hayes believed that there was more to it. "I was tired of how my life was controlled by my father and at one point, I even thought that he didn't love me at all. That made me even more rebellious. To make things worse, I blindly believe in something that I shouldn't."

While maintaining his pace, he glanced at Emery who was looking at him, possibly curious about what he would be saying next. Then Marcus shifted his gaze and narrowed his eyes when he continued, "I ended up paying a heavy price for that. Though it was a hard lesson that I won't forget my whole life, I still gain something and that's me realizing how much my father actually loves me."