Chapter Five - Kahlan's POV - Forgotten

I should have known Emiliano's promises were lies. The morning after my father's funeral, I stood at the doorstep of what was once my family home, watching as men in dark suits carried out furniture, paintings, and anything of value.

"You said we could keep the house," I hissed, turning to Emiliano, who stood beside me, looking utterly unbothered.

He tilted his head, feigning amusement. "Did I?"

"My mother has nowhere to go!" My voice cracked as I grabbed his arm. "You swore to—"

He yanked his arm free, his emerald eyes flashing with mockery. "Did you really believe me?" He laughed, the sound cold and cruel. "You were naïve enough to think this marriage meant anything more than ownership?"

A sharp pain twisted in my chest. "You promised—"

"I promised to take what I'm owed," he interrupted, stepping closer. His fingers gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him. "And I have."

I wanted to spit in his face, but fear held me back.

Behind him, my mother, frail and shivering, stood with a single suitcase in hand. She looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Please, Emiliano," I whispered, my pride shattered. "Let her stay. She won't interfere. I'll do whatever you want—"

He sighed as if bored. "You already do whatever I want, sweetheart." He waved a dismissive hand toward the guards. "Get rid of her."

"No!" I screamed as the men pushed past me, grabbing my mother by the arms. "Don't do this!"

She sobbed as they dragged her away. "Kahlan!"

I ran after them, but Emiliano grabbed my wrist, twisting it hard enough to make me yelp. "You are my wife," he said through clenched teeth. "You belong here. Not with her."

I fought against him, but he was stronger. He pulled me inside, shutting the door behind us as my mother's cries faded.

I never saw her again.

***

I thought things couldn't get worse.

I was wrong.

Life with Emiliano and the De Mor family was a waking nightmare.

Their estate was a lavish mansion in the city, filled with towering chandeliers, endless hallways, and a suffocating air of cruelty. It wasn't just Emiliano who delighted in making my life miserable—his entire family thrived on it. His mother, Carmen De Mor, treated me like a pest, sneering whenever I entered a room. "You don't belong here," she would say over dinner, sipping expensive wine.

His older sister, Luciana, was worse. She took pleasure in reminding me I was nothing more than a desperate girl who sold herself for security. "You think you're special?" she had laughed one evening, watching me scrub the floors. "You're just another stray my brother decided to keep for amusement."

Then there was Sebastian, Emiliano's younger brother—a twisted, arrogant bastard who saw me as nothing more than a toy. "You belong to all of us now," he had whispered once, trapping me against a wall.

Every day was the same.

I was their maid, their servant, their toy.

I cooked, I cleaned, and I played the perfect wife at Emiliano's side during business events. He would wrap an arm around my waist, whispering fake sweet words into my ear while gripping my skin so hard it left bruises.

And at night… I belonged to him.

No matter how much I fought, no matter how much I screamed, he took what he wanted.

Every. Single. Night.

I stopped fighting eventually.

What was the point?

I had no one. No way out.

And then—

My mother died.

***

I woke up to the news.

Carmen delivered it over breakfast, sipping coffee as if she were discussing the weather. "Your mother jumped off a bridge," she said casually. "How tragic."

Silence fell over the room.

I stopped breathing.

No.

"She left a note," Luciana added, flipping through her phone. "Something about having nowhere to go. Sad, really."

Sebastian smirked. "At least she knew when to give up."

The coffee cup slipped from my hands, shattering on the floor.

Emiliano sighed dramatically. "Do you always have to be so clumsy?"

I looked at him, my vision blurred with rage and grief.

He saw it.

And he smiled.

I snapped.

I grabbed the knife from the table and lunged at him, aiming for his throat.

His hand shot out, gripping my wrist mid-air. "Tsk, tsk," he mused, twisting my arm behind my back. "You really are pathetic, aren't you?"

Tears streamed down my face. "You killed her."

"No," he whispered against my ear. "You did. You abandoned her. You left her to rot."

I crumbled.

Right there, in front of them all, I broke.

They laughed as I sobbed on the cold marble floor.

But something inside me shifted and I remembered him again - Aldrich. What if I went for the one who truly loved me? A whole year already had passed in this dungeon. I wasn't going to survive another day in this place.

I was done.

***

That night, while the household slept, I ran. I took nothing but the clothes on my back, slipping past the guards and into the darkness. I didn't stop running until my lungs burned. The city swallowed me whole, and for the first time in a year, I breathed.

Freedom.

I had no money, no plan, but I didn't care. I was done being a puppet. For weeks, I lived in the shadows, taking small jobs, keeping my head down.

Until I saw his name.

Aldrich Maximus – CEO of Kingsport Companies

My heart nearly stopped.

Aldrich.

My Aldrich.

I barely slept that night, excitement bubbling inside me. After everything, he was here. The next morning, I walked into Kingsport Companies, my hands trembling as I filled out a job application for a secretary position. The receptionist called my name, leading me down a hallway.

And then—

I saw him.

He sat at his desk, his dark hair neatly combed back, a tailored suit hugging his broad shoulders.

My chest tightened as I stepped forward. "Aldrich?"

He lifted his gaze.

For a moment, I saw a flicker of recognition.

Then—nothing. His expression remained blank, his grey eyes cold and distant.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

I froze. My lips parted, my heart hammering. "It's me… Kahlan."

Silence.

He stared at me as if I were a stranger. A lump formed in my throat. "Aldrich, it's me."

But he didn't react.

He simply turned to his assistant. "Send in the next applicant."

Tears pricked my eyes. "Aldrich—"

"Leave," he said flatly.

I felt my world crack apart for the second time.

I had escaped hell to find him.

And now, he didn't remember me.