ON THE BALCONY

EMMY stared blankly at the full moon shining brightly on the dark night sky. She was standing on the balcony of her room. She didn't want to think about anything. If she could, she wanted to be just an emotionless puppet right now. That way, she wouldn't feel this much pain. 

This excruciating pain that was slowly eroding her whole being. Consuming her heart bit by bit. She had a feeling that by the end of this night, she wouldn't be the same anymore. Maybe nothing would even remain. And she would be just a shell of her former self.

She clenched her fists tightly. She could feel her nails digging deep into her palms. But she didn't care. The pain it brought was the least bit comparable to the overwhelming pain she was currently feeling.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't understand how her father could do this to her. Even if he didn't love her as a daughter, she was still someone who was born from his genes. At the very least they were connected by this so-called 'family bond'. But it seemed like her father didn't care at all about that.

Just why did it reach this point? Was she not useful enough? Had he long been dissatisfied with her and this was his way of getting rid of her? If that was the case, then he could just disown her. Or maybe he wanted to squeeze the last bit of usefulness she had. And that chance arrived when Cecil Lancaster showed an interest in her.

Her father probably had long wanted to put Cecil on trial. But because of the Lancaster family, he couldn't do anything against him. At least, without any substantial evidence to back him up. If his daughter was married to Cecil and was abused and mistreated in the process, it would be enough to file a case against the other. Maybe she would even be ordered to find strong evidence that could bring Cecil Lancaster into ruin.

But why was her father so set on targeting Cecil? Yes, the other was a trash human being. But Anthony Grimaldi had never cared about any crimes committed by other nobles. As long as they didn't do anything that could affect his territory and his people, then he would just turn a blind eye to the things they're doing. 

Could it be that Cecil raped and killed someone in one of the planets under their jurisdiction? That's the most likely reason she could think of. But even so, was Emmy really so unimportant in his eyes that he didn't even blink when he decided to send her to that human trash?

Once again, she couldn't help but laugh bitterly. 

She had thought of just simply running away. But she knew how futile that could be. Because at the end, she would just be returned here by their family's guards. It would be just a wasted effort.

There's really only one thing that could get her out of this situation. The only thing that could quickly end her pain. She just had to kill herself.

But then again, she was not even sure if she would succeed.

If she tried self-harm, she had to make sure that she wouldn't be found quickly and thus be rescued. In this day and age, as long as an injured person was quickly put into a medical cabin, their injury would be more or less cured. The only way to successfully commit suicide was if she drank a strong enough poison or a gene breaking agent that could destroy her from the inside.

But where could she possibly find those banned things? No, the real question was could she find it without her father noticing? The answer was already pretty obvious.

Even if she managed to find those things, could she really kill herself? Could she let Casey experienced the pain of losing his only sister? Leaving him all alone in this cold and unfeeling house.

At least, if she went through with her father's plan, there's a chance that he might still come out of this alive. Albeit emotionally and psychologically scarred. Unless, of course, her father already planned on thoroughly sacrificing her.

She looked up at the moon, despair filling her sapphire blue eyes. She could not foresee any good ending. What waited for her at the end of it all was only misery.

She closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to cry again. But tears were already welling inside her eyes. A mocking smile appeared on her lips. Truly, how weak.

"You're about to cry again," said by a familiar voice. The voice from the man who had been invading her thoughts for the past two weeks.

No, but how could he be here? Was it just her imagination?

She abruptly opened her eyes. Then to her shock, she saw a tall and burly man softly landing on her balcony. He had shaggy brown hair and a pair of teal-gray eyes. He was staring straight at her as if she was the only one who could enter his gaze. 

Gage Thompson reached out to her cheek and wiped a stray drop of tear. "I told you, I don't like seeing you cry."