Chapter 1

"Let's have a divorce!" These were the exact words that me and my sister heard as we stood outside our parent's room, ready to tell them that the tooth fairy had paid us a visit.

Such frightening words were quiet common to the point where they had been drilled into the minds four year old, making her question as to why they were spat out with so much hatred with every passing day.

But an opportunity to ask why had always slipped through her slender fingers by her elder sister by two years, when she dragged her back upstairs and towards the room they shared.

The little one always wondered why the elder always whispered assuring words to her before walking over to her own bed and crying herself to sleep.

But everything slowly began to make sense once the woman, who's face they no longer remember, disappeared without uttering a single word with only heartbreaking sobs leaving her lips.

The following years had gone by a flash, not letting the younger grasp the sudden change in her life as her education mattered more than the woman who was never at her side for even once in her life. And before she knew it, her father remarried a woman with the same tragic story as him, resulting in the two sisters to not only gain an ideal motherly figure but also three siblings. Triplets to be exact.

Which leads us to today — a girl of 17 years, a.k.a me, dashing down the staircase towards her father, in the living room who was busy drinking tea while reading a newspaper when my step-sister, Nicole appeared behind him and gently gave him a kiss on the cheek, making sure not to scare him.

"Love you." She returned the smile that dad gave her before running towards the kitchen. Following her lead, I did the same , soon heading over to the kitchen to grabbed a French toast from the nearby plate before rushing out towards the main door where Ella and Nicole proceeded to hug our step-mom goodbye. "Be careful." She told them as she leaned on the door frame, watch as they rushed outside, still unaware of my presence.

I watched as she stood there, arms crossed with her slender black facing me, her black beautiful orbs gazing over the world outside. Upon watching the relaxed aura around her, I couldn't help but smile at the woman who taught me how much importance a mother holds in the hearts of a child.

To my utter relief, I had silently approached her without disturbing her and had slowly leaned over to her ear. "Morning." I whispered, causing her to jump. "God! You scared me." She exclaimed, moving her hand to the heart. I laughed earning a pinch on the cheek before her gentle arms wrapped around me. I returned the gesture for a second only to pull away to take a bite of French toast. I grabbed the strip of my bag by my free hand and side hugged her once more before dashing out of the house knowing that I still have a chance.

\~Sam's POV\~

Watching Lin running down the street, I then let my body lean against the door frame once again as my heart continues to beat faster and louder after the heart attack I received a few seconds ago.

I still can't believe that I am here and I am actually happy. Years ago, just like others, I did believe that I wouldn't find any happiness after my first husband left me with the kids. But now... I found happiness. And it was all thanks to my sister-in-law. She was the one who introduced me to Troy.

My lips curled up into a smile as I remember our first so called 'meeting'.

I am interrupted from my flashbacks when I hear my boys from the other room and I turned around just in time to see them running out of the kitchen towards me. "Thanks mom." Mitsu smiled as he picked up his bag from my hands before giving me a side hug. "Love ya."

"Be caref—!" I stopped when another pair of hands came to hug me in such a force that I almost lost my balance. "Whoa.. careful Ren." I laughed.

"Sorry but I love ya sooo much!" He smiled pulling away from me to pull the strap of his bag over his shoulder.

"Stop flirting with my wife and head to university." I hear my husband say when Ren places a kiss on my forehead. I felt a hand snake around my waist before it pulled me to the right, a few inches away from Ren and into a strong chest.

Smiling, I looked up to meet my husband's coco eyes.

Oh, how I love those eyes.

"But she was my mother first!" Ren directed, pouting like a kid. Rolling my eyes, I shook my head with a chuckle before I brought my hands down to cup his cheeks. Upon placing a sloppy kiss on his forehead, I was met with a chuckle from him before he shot his step father a victory smile who simple raised an eyebrow at his childish behaviour.

After dramatically bowing down to me, Ren wastes no more time to turn around and sprint in the same direction his siblings had left in, leaving another adoring smile on my face.

\~Lin's POV\~

A few hours into the daily college routine earned me about a million teasing and mocking looks from my siblings, continuously reminding on how I was the last person to across the finishline in our daily races — which had cost be to go bankrupt by their selfish demands of buying them lunch and dessert.

Which, I might add, came with a few death glares and one hell of annoying complains. Upon looking at their faces every time I open my mouth, I was quiet satisfied with the look of 'regret' they expressed, leading me to annoy them even more.

Despite knowing well that I'd be getting back at them in the following days, I couldn't help at the sudden change in my mood by the time dinner rolled in. Maybe it was due to the assignments and presentations rolling in like a sandstorm or the slight headache that I had gained sometime before that I couldn't help and miss out on dinner but only after munching down a few spoons.

After slashing off a few assignments from my to-do list, I proceeded to presentations until my back began to ache from the slouching position I had been in for the past few hours, leading me to consider the short nap that I had been avoiding ever since I started.

A knock on the door brought me out of my sleepy state, causing me to lift my head from the pillow in my hands and blink a few times before glancing at my surroundings and then towards the clock on the side table. I shifted on the bed when I couldn't see the clock.

It was 11:30pm.

There was a knock on the door again which was followed by step mom's voice. "Darling, are you okay?" I could sense the worry in her gentle voice.

"Lin?" I hear the door creak open and mom's head popped out from behind it. I gave her a weak smile when we made eye contact. "You okay?" She asked, as she entered and slowly walked towards me after closing the door.

"Yeah." I gave a small nod knowing that a nod alone wouldn't be enough to convince her. "Just tired."

"Busy day?"

"Yeah." I slowly sat up straight as she came to sit on the bed beside my legs. She patiently waited for me to say 'and.' And when I didn't, she raised an eyebrow to which opened my mouth and then closed it back tightly as if she was gonna open it by force.

We had a staring contest for a minute or two before she gave out a small sigh. "Alright. I won't force you to tell me." She said, running a hand through her hair. "But under one condition."

"And.... that's is?"

"Finish your dinner." I thought about for a second, not really in the mood to but I guess it's better than any other conditions that she could have given me. I gave her a small nod earning a pat on my knees cap.

We both head downstairs and towards the kitchen where I helped mom heat up my unfinished dinner. Grabbing my plate, I sat down on my usual chair as she grabbed a glass of water and took a sip of it before starting a conversation to breakup the silence between us. I didn't mind at all.

/A few hours later/

I whimper in my sleep as the pain in my stomach gets worst. Forcefully, opening one of my sleepy eyes, I slowly sit up straight earning another striking pain.

"Dang it." I curse under my breath as I clench my stomach with my right hand and used my left to push away from the bed. My wobbly legs slowly carried me towards the bathroom while I stop after every two seconds when I felt the stomach cramps getting worst.

Upon finally entering the bathroom, I switched open the lights while heavily breathing in and out continuously.

\~Ren's POV\~

A few knocks on the door, woke me from my deep sleep causing me to stir around on the bed.

I frowned, deciding to ignore it as I was too sleepy and my eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Turning my body to the other side, I snuggle in my cold yet soft pillow and to my relief, the person decided to stop after a few more knock. I smiled as slowly drifted off but only to wake up again to another knock a minute later.

I groaned in a way, making sure the person could hear it— telling them to go away.

"R-Ren?" I hear my sister's weak voice, call out from the other side of the room. Slowly opening one eye, I glanced up at the clock that hung on the wall only to see it was 2am. Sighing, I forced my body off the bed and dragged my feet towards the door only to open it in a flash causing the small figure in front of me to flinch.

I blinked a few times, adjusting my eyes in the dark. The only light that helped a little was the moon light that shown from the window in the hallway.

From what I could figure out, Lin stood there sleepily with her body bent a little forward as she held her stomach with one hand. She was wearing a white plain hoodie and black trousers. Her brown messy hair that reached her waist now fell messily all over her face, almost hiding her right eye. I must admit that she did looked a little scary.

"Lin?" I squinted. "What is it?" My voice was raspy and it sounded... sexy.

"Sorry to wake you up but I need your car keys." She said in a weak voice, a little above a whisper. "I don't want to wake up dad and Mitsu is not—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Car keys? Like right now?" I asked confused yet curious. "Have you seen the time?" After she gave me a nod, I knew something wasn't right or she is just.... sleep walking?

"I am not sleep walking Ren." She said reading my mind. Her gaze was now fixed on the floor. "Can you please give me the keys? I am in a hurry."

"In a hurry? Looking like that?" Now I was really curious and wide awake. I mean, what the hell? Is she going to act in a horror movie?

To my surprise she didn't say anything as if she just figured out what she looked like right now. Is she really sleep walking?

I moved my hand over her shoulder, ready to take her back to her room but I stopped when she lifted her gaze to look straight at me. Her pleading coco eyes met my hazel ones and it was clear that she was exhausted.

Exhaling from my nose, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "This better be an emergency."

/25 minutes later/

After parking my black bentley in the parking-lot, me and Lin slowly made our way through the quite street, towards the small pharmacy at the corner of the street.

Knowing that Lin wasn't feeling well, I had asked her to stay in the car but she wouldn't take no as an answer and stepped out of the car before I could stop her. Moving a few strands of hair away from her face, she pulled the hoodie over her head and slowly walked towards the pharmacy. I quietly followed her lead.

Upon entering the pharmacy, me and Lin were welcome by not only a cool breeze that sent shivers down our spine but also by a bored voice. "Welcome..."

It was a cubby guy in his late thirties, with a thin slim mustache and messy dirty blond hair. The eye bags under his eyes told a clear story about his sleepless nights. "How may I help you, at this time of the night?" He asked, not hiding the tiredness in his voice as we approached him.

"I would like to have a pain killer and a few other medicines." Lin said, moving her hand out of her hoodie's pocket and pulling out a small list. She handed the list to him and he took it with a small sigh. He studied the list for at least ten seconds before turning towards the shelves behind him and picking out the required medicines.

"I am gonna grab a few stuff from the other selves." She said, already making her way towards the shelves in the corner. "You stay here."

"Sure." I nodded yawning before stretching out my arms.

Man, my shoulders are stiff!

Exhaling, I took my time to study the pharmacy while the guy continued to mumble something under his breath.

The pharmacy was small enough to fit in at least thirty people but no more. The paint on the walls was slowly tearing off and the white tiled floor beneath me was clean but not clean enough. There were five shelves in front of me, holding various medicines while the shelves to my right held tooth brushes, razor, syringes, various types of creams— you name it.

Half a minute later, I heard a small ruffle of a shopper bag before Lin appeared from behind the shelves on my right, holding a brown shopper bag in her right hand. She slowly walked towards the counter and and placed the paper bag on it.

"Is this all, miss?" The guy asked after turning around and placing seven medicines on the counter.

"Yes." Lin said, checking the medicines one by one, just in case he left something behind. I moved a little forward, curious on what type of medicines my sister was buying but backed away as a reflex, when I felt something vibrating in my trouser's pocket. Moving my hand into the pocket, I pulled out my cell and glanced at the caller ID to see Mitsu calling me.

I frowned confusedly, wondering if he had returned from Elvin's party already. "Excuse me." I said turning away and walking towards a corner with my back towards Lin. I answered the call. "Yeah?"

"Hey, where are ya?" To my relief, he didn't sound drunk. "I just came home and noticed your car was missing. I thought I should make sure that it wasn’t stolen but I was met with an empty bed."

"I'm at the pharmacy with Lin." I said, looking over my shoulder towards Lin to see her placing a tablet on the edge of her tongue before taking the plastic cup from the blond guy and drinking it. "She didn't feel so good so she asked me to take her to a pharmacy." I explained. "Just now, she took the medicine so don't worry. Hopefully, she's feeling a little better than before."

"I hope so." Mitsu sighed, still worried. "I think we pushed her too much today."

"Could be." I said, yawning once more. "Anyway, we'll be—" I stopped upon hearing a small muffled voice which was then followed by something sharp scraping my ear — splitting my cell into two.

It took me a second to figure out what had just happened. "The hell?!" I almost yelled angrily as immediately turned my body around to see a figure in all black holding a pistol, a few inches away from my head.

My eyes immediately went towards where Lin was standing to see the blond bastard holding a pocket knife not to her neck but to her temple as his other filthy hand covered her mouth, stopping her from breathing through it. I met the fear and worry in her eyes.

I gritted my teeth, feeling the rage slowly rising from within me.

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