Forcibly Taken Away

Standing frozen in the doorway of the master bedroom they once shared, Dante stared in disbelief. Only his belongings remained. Nora had erased every trace of her existence from the room. She had not left a single hair behind. It felt as though she had never lived there at all. In the center of the bed sat three distinct items: their marriage certificate, a divorce settlement agreement, and a tall pile of unopened gift boxes. These were the expensive presents he had casually bought for her over the past three years. The pristine packaging mocked him. He remembered how Chloe would smile and squeal with joy whenever he brought her a present, eager to tear off the wrapping paper, yet Nora always remained unimpressed and indifferent. A surge of cold fury tightened his jaw. With a sweeping blow of his arm, he knocked the entire pile of boxes crashing to the hardwood floor.

Miles away, at Maya's modest apartment, Nora sat huddled by the freezing window. The howling autumn wind stripped the yellowed leaves from the trees under the glow of the streetlamp, swirling them across the wet pavement. Her thin frame shivered. Knowing Nora's vitality was severely drained from the immense blood loss and trauma of her ectopic pregnancy, Maya grabbed her coat.

"My heater is acting up," Maya said, handing her a cartoon-themed heat patch. "I'll run to the convenience store and buy some more. Wait right here."

Maya slipped out the door. The apartment fell quiet, but moments later, a frantic knocking shattered the solitude. Assuming Maya had forgotten her keys, Nora pulled the door open. She froze. Dante stood fiercely in the doorway, his clothes drenched from the relentless rain. Water dripped from his dark hair. He looked more miserable and unkempt than he had been since he was an eighteen-year-old orphan, newly returned to the Carlisle residence. Nora glanced at the clock on the wall. It was past midnight. A bitter irony twisted in her chest. He only bothered to show up after finishing Chloe's lavish birthday celebration.

"Why didn't you listen when I told you to be discharged tomorrow?" Dante instantly launched into a harsh reprimand, his voice echoing in the small hall.

Nora didn't answer. She just stood there, quiet and still.

His dark gaze dropped to her bare feet on the cold floor. "Come home with me right now." He didn't wait for an explanation.

Smiling weakly, a ghost of her former self, Nora slowly shook her head. "Dante, did you see the divorce settlement agreement on the bed?" she asked softly. "You don't need to worry. I don't want a single penny from the Carlisle family's wealth."

Since her own father hadn't wanted anything because of her mother back then, she felt she had no right to ask for anything now. She would never snatch what belonged to Dante.

Staring deeply at her frail, pale face, Dante felt a sharp pang in his chest. Her dark eyes lacked their usual sparkle. He realized he didn't hate her. She had always been so obedient, bending to his every unreasonable demand without complaint.

His tone softened a fraction. "Nor, it's my fault. Come home with me."

She shook her head again, taking a weak step back. "No, Dante."

Her verbal protest snapped his waning patience. Ignoring her weak resistance, Dante lunged forward and forcefully scooped her up into his arms, determined to drag her back to the Pine House by brute force.

"Dante!" Nora gasped, her face turning even paler. She pushed weakly against his solid chest, but her drained body offered no real defense.

He carried her shaking form down the stairs just as Maya rushed back from the store.

"Dante, you prick!" Maya yelled furiously, spotting the kidnapping. "Where are you taking Nora?"

Dante paid her no mind, striding toward his parked car.

"Dante... please..." Nora stammered in terror, her voice breaking. "Let me go..."

Dante ruthlessly shoved her into the back seat of the car and slammed the heavy door shut. The locks clicked into place with a definitive thud.

The moment the door locked, a suffocating panic seized Nora's mind. She was terrified of sitting alone in the enclosed back seat of private cars. It was the exact traumatic environment she had been trapped in years ago when she watched her parents die right in front of her eyes, their blood pooling on the seats.

"Dante... Let me out..." Nora began to shake uncontrollably. Hot tears streamed down her pale cheeks as she pushed desperately against the locked door. "Please!" she screamed, pleading as she clawed at the window. "Let me out of the car!"

"Dante! Let her out!" Maya shrieked from the sidewalk, grabbing the door handle and yanking on it with all her might.

Ignoring Nora's horrific begging and Maya's screaming curses, Dante slid into the driver's seat, started the engine, and sped away into the stormy night. Maya stood in the rain, cursing him at the top of her lungs.

When they finally pulled up to the Pine House, Dante stepped out and opened the back door, expecting Nora to be pouting in silence. Instead, he found her huddled tightly into a tiny ball in the darkest corner behind his seat. She was trembling so hard it looked like she was having a seizure.

"Nor..." Dante's heart tightened into a painful knot. He reached into the dark vehicle to pull her into his arms. "What's wrong? I'll get a doctor."

But Nora was already far too weak and traumatized to speak a single word. The last ounce of color drained from her trembling lips, leaving her face ashen. In the very next moment, her eyes rolled back and she fainted dead away in his arms.