Chapter 3

While Julian was scrubbing himself in the shower and the robot was busy playing victim, I ran to another guest room and locked the door from the inside.

Julian banged on the door after his shower, yelling threats. "If you don't open this door right now, you can forget about us registering our marriage! I will never make you my legal wife!"

Yes. For five years, Julian and I had only had a wedding ceremony. We had never actually signed a marriage license.

Back then, I had promised my foster mother on her deathbed that I wouldn't leave Julian, that I would pay back the Vance family's kindness.

Under my care, Julian’s business rose from the ashes, and Lily grew attached to me.

A few weeks ago, Julian had actually proposed to me, promising we would go to the courthouse to make it official.

At the time, I thought my patience had finally paid off. But Gemma's sudden death changed everything. It forced me to see Julian and Lily for what they really were: abusers who only wanted to keep me around as a free, live-in nanny.

My phone buzzed. It was Sebastian on Snapchat.

We had agreed to meet at the courthouse tomorrow morning to get married. He didn't ask for explanations, but he had still prepared a beautiful proposal for me.

"Jade, in the five years I was married to Gemma, I only saw her twice. After I found out she gave birth to another man's child, I never set foot in that house again."

I wanted to tell him he didn't need to explain, but his next words held me spellbound.

"If my bride isn't you, then a political marriage is just business. I regret tolerating Gemma for five years. But most of all... I regret not seeing through your pain back then and stealing you away."

"I don't care if you think I'm ruthless. When Gemma was in the ICU, I offered the Millers three massive business contracts. In exchange, they signed her DNR."

I reached out and squeezed his hand, repeating, "I want to marry you, Sebastian."

"So... wifey," Sebastian said, a faint blush creeping up his neck. "When are you moving out of the Vance house?"

I pretended not to notice how cute he looked. "Since my husband demands it, how about I pack up and move out tonight?"

I pinched his red ear play-fully and got out of the car.

When I returned to the Vance house, it was eerily quiet. I wanted to quickly grab my documents and leave, but the moment I stepped into my room, the door slammed shut and locked from the outside.

A cold dread washed over me. I quickly sent a Snapchat SOS to Sebastian, but a second later, Julian slapped the phone out of my hand.

"Jade," Julian whispered, his eyes wild. "Gemma feels cold. Her synthetic body isn't warm enough... she needs some of your blood."

"Don't worry. It won't be much. Just 2000ml. Just enough to fill her internal heating tubes."

My heart stopped. 2000ml? That was practically a death sentence. I thrashed wildly. "Julian! You can use synthetic fluids! Why does it have to be my blood?!"

The Gemma robot lay on the bed, her voice filled with synthesized excitement. "You don't understand, Jade. Julian wanted to use artificial blood, but I told him it felt too fake. We're family, after all. Your blood is perfect."

Julian’s face was dead serious. He gestured, and two burly men walked in, pinning me to the bed. Julian himself picked up a thick IV needle.

"I'm sorry, Jade. Just this once. Once we do this, we'll go to the courthouse. The four of us will live happily ever after."

I almost laughed at his sheer insanity. Tears of terror streamed down my face. I prayed to God that Sebastian would get here in time.

"Julian, stop! I don't want to get married anymore! Just let me go! This much blood will kill me!"

As I saw my dark red blood begin to flow through the tube into a plastic bag, I panicked. I saw Lily peeking through the cracked door. "Lily! I raised you since you were a toddler! Please, help me! Call the police!"

Lily flinched, her eyes darting away guiltily. "But... that blood is for my mom. You stole her life, Jade. You owe her this."

My vision began to blur as the bag filled.

But then, the front door was kicked open with a thunderous crash. Lily was knocked to the floor as a figure stormed up the stairs.

"Jade!" Sebastian’s voice roared through the house.

I wondered faintly why he called me Jade, but my brain was too oxygen-deprived to think.

Sebastian had brought the police. He burst into the room, and the sight of me strapped to the bed, being drained of blood, made him lose all control. He flew across the room and slammed his fist directly into Julian’s face.

"How dare you touch her!" Sebastian screamed.

Julian spat out blood and fought back. "Who the hell are you? What I do to Jade is my family's business!"

"She is my legal wife!" Sebastian roared.