Austin dropped the basket of apples on the dining table before noticing a noise coming from the bedroom.
Remembering his wife was watching a film when he went to the market, he ignored the noise and carried dirty plates to the kitchen.
As he placed the plates in the sink, the noise came again. But this time it became strange and louder.
He left the kitchen and slowly opened the bedroom door, and what he saw shocked him. His wife was romancing another man on the bed.
"Scarlett," he said.
Scarlett and the man looked at him with disgust.
"Can't you see we are busy? Why did you distract us?" Scarlett asked.
Austin raised his eyebrows in shock, speechless.
"Darling, who is this?" Richmond asked Scarlett.
"He's the man my grandfather forced me to marry. I don't know who I am to him, but to me, he is my slave, and a slave can't enjoy what you are enjoying," she said.
She smiled delightfully at Richmond.
Richmond then looked at Austin. "I think you have heard what she said. Do you still want to be her slave or leave this house? Well, if you can still be her slave, I will give you a better salary more than you can get anywhere else."
Austin was confused.
"At least give us some space until we finish what we are doing. I will come and meet you in the sitting room later, and please don't forget to close the door," Scarlett said, covering herself with a blanket.
"Are you crazy?" Austin held his fist.
Richmond looked at him. "Me or her?"
"Both of you."
"Do you know who you are talking to?" Richmond asked while Scarlett grabbed her phone, dialing a number.
Richmond jumped at Austin, but Austin pushed his head to the wall. He kicked Austin's leg and received punches to his stomach and face.
Not long after, the police barged in, commanding them to stop fighting.
Richmond's face was rough and blood-stained, while Austin had no scar.
Scarlett quickly pointed at Austin. "He caused the fight. Please arrest him."
"Scarlett, you cheated on me and still called the police to arrest me. For what?"
"You are jealous. Too jealous, you don't want me to talk about business with another man. And you almost broke his neck?" Scarlett said with a determined face.
Dumbfounded, Austin stared. He barely believed she could do this to him.
Richmond tasted the blood on his lips and pointed at Austin. "You would regret ever laying your hand on me. You would forever rot in prison."
Two policemen held Austin's hands from the back before Richmond kicked his legs, making him crash his knees onto the ground. Two other polices pulled Richmond back, telling him to leave everything for them.
Austin looked at his wife, and it seemed he didn't know her after five years of marriage.
His eyes dropped tears as the police dragged him out, forced him into the car, driving him away.
***
On the fifth day in prison, Austin sat calmly, hoping old Mr. Carey would come, just like the night he saved him from a collapsed car.
That night, his mom was pouring water on his father the moment he couldn't breathe while driving. His father lost the track, and they had an accident.
They died, except only him, whose head was gushing with blood.
It was Mr. Carey who saved him, and since then, a neurologist told Mr. Corey the little boy had lost his memories.
Mr. Corey didn't care about the memories the boy lost. He felt satisfied as long as the boy was alive.
He then named the little boy Austin.
Years later, Austin knew he didn't belong to the Coreys family because of how others treated him.
Sometimes, Mr. Corey's wife and children would abuse him so much he would want to run away. Austin stayed with them because Mr. Carey had told him to inform him if anyone abused him. But he won't.
He had a gentle attitude that allowed people to abuse him the way they wanted.
"Please take me to my family." Austin would rehash many times in his head, but won't tell it to Mr. Carey.
Anytime Austin saw him coming, he would ignore those rehashed words, and hug him instead.
Now on the seventh day in prison, Austin concluded maybe nobody informs Mr. Carey he was in prison.
Maybe nobody would inform him.
On the eighth day in prison, Austin rose the moment he saw Scarlett coming with high shoes and a handbag.
"How are you spending your holiday here?" Scarlett asked.
Austin held the gate because he was too weak.
"Do you enjoy everything you cause by yourself? Or haven't you admitted you are at fault?"
Austin's prison release requires his consent, so he gives it.
"I am at fault. I'm sorry for beating your husband. Please help me out," Austin said.
Scarlett laughed hysterically. "Good. Very good of you. I will have mercy on you. But there is one thing I want to make clear to you before I bail you out. Number one, you are not following me to my house. All my family agreed to this, so don't dare to go to their house, because they might imprison you for life."
"Number two, you are not my husband because the grandpa that forced me to marry you had given up the ghost last week, but you don't know."
Austin's hand slipped off the gate. He then fell and fainted.
"Daddy, Mommy, help me!"
"Mom, please wake up!!"
"My head is bleeding...."
"Granny...."
Austin cried out from her tormenting memories, and his shout summoned nurses and the doctor.
They checked his body with different equipment before they concluded he was feeling fine.
Austin remembered the last thing Scarlett told him and wept uncontrollably.
The doctor faced the nurse. "He is feeling fine now. You can now discharge him."
The doctor walked out, and the nurse was discharging him before asking him politely to go out.
Austin walked out of the hospital and quickly covered his eyes as the glass of a car under the sunny sky glinted light into his eyes.
And now, as he wandered the street, he remembered the necklace he had received from the old Mr. Corey.
"I need to sell this treasure to survive."
He unbuttons the necklace and holds it to his heart.
Why would he sell the most precious things ever given to him by the person who saved him from dying?