5 p.m., hospital.
"Doctor Cheng, and all the pretty ladies, Im off first." Wendy, the young nurse, smiled and waved goodbye to the group before turning around and bouncing in the direction of the elevator.
"Look at her face, she cant wait to get off work, shes still three minutes away."
"Can you not be anxious to have such a nice boyfriend downstairs at the right time?"
"A girl who is nourished by love is happy!"
The medical staff in the office talk and laugh as they turn in their shifts, and Cheng Lydia smiles as she writes the last line of her medical log and closes the book.
Girls who are nourished by love are indeed the happiest.
"Lydia, are you coming to dinner with us and then to Karaoke to sing?" Doctor Song asked casually.
In fact, everyone knows that Cheng Lydia doesnt have the time because she either has to go to another section department to take care of her vegetative mother or go home to her husband after work every day.
Sure enough, Cheng Lydia shook her head with a smile and said, "You guys have fun."
"Huh? Isnt that Lydias familys BMW?" Ann, standing next to the windowsill, suddenly called out, and her co-workers swarmed over, sticking their necks out and grinning, "Really yeah, Lydias familys car."
"Ugh, another happy woman whos been nourished away by love." Doctor Song sighed with an ambiguous face.
Cheng Lydia looked down at the window in surprise and saw her husband Lim Tobys car parked downstairs, a sweet smile tinting her pretty face. She quickly folds back into her seat and gathers her things, leaving the office to the admiring glances of her colleagues.
Lim Toby rarely picked her up from work at the hospital, so she was almost in disbelief when she just heard from her colleagues that Lim Tobys BMW was downstairs.
Lim Tobys BMW was parked in front of the inpatient building and Cheng Lydia cheerfully went up and pulled open the passenger door and got in, looking sideways at Lim Toby, "Why are you free to pick me up from work today?"
"Its our third wedding anniversary, so Im treating you to seafood." Lim Toby quirked his head and glanced at her, a slightly stiff smile on his handsome face.
Third wedding anniversary, yeah heh, shed forgotten about it if he didnt tell her.
She didnt think he would remember their anniversary when he was always indifferent to himself, was that a good start?
Cheng Lydia was suddenly confident about the days ahead.
The car drove away from the downtown area in the direction of Big Bay, and just as Cheng Lydia was imagining a bright future, the car turned right less than a kilometer from Big Bay and drove down another side road.
She surveyed her surroundings and was about to ask a question when Lim Toby slammed on the brakes and braked the car to a stop in front of a dilapidated factory building, unbuckled his seat belt and got out.
Cheng Lydia hesitated and didnt follow along down the line.
The place was so run-down and sparsely populated that just looking at it can be unsettling.
And just then, a womans terrified scream came from above her head, "Toby, you have to come help me, help me ...... Im so scared ......."
Cheng Lydia looked up at the sound of the voice and saw a man and a woman standing in front of a crumbling wall on the second floor, the woman was beautiful and slender.
The man, tall and thin with a hostile face, was currently circling the womans neck with one arm and holding a sharp fruit knife in one hand. The blade was pressed against the womans slender neck and looked like it could be dangerous at any moment.
"Toby ......." The woman was crying and trembling with makeup on her face, making it painful to watch.
Cheng Lydia has seen this Feng Ann woman before, and more than once, back when she was first married and Lim Toby was openly seen with her, his real wife.
In those three years, Feng Ann never withdrew from Lim Tobys life.
She just didnt understand whats going on today. Her mistress has been kidnapped? Her husband brought her here to plead with the kidnappers?
What could she, a weak woman, do to help?
Lim Toby spoke up, "Like I said, Ann is pregnant and you better not touch her."
Pregnant with ......!
Lydias mind went boom and went blank.
Feng Ann was pregnant with her husbands child?
"I also said that if you want her safe, either take five million now or bring your wife over in exchange." The man upstairs threw out violently.
Lydias brain was still in a cloud when the car door at her side was suddenly opened, followed by her body being ripped out of the car, Lim Toby took her in the crook of his arm, his mouth between her ears, his words coming out strong and cold, "Ann is pregnant, and thats something you cant do. If you still want to continue to be The Lim Familys young grandmother and get a penny from me, then get up from here and replace Ann immediately."
Lim Tobys arm waved and pointed to an equally dilapidated staircase.
Lydia stared at him in awe, clearly unable to believe what she had just heard.
This man named Lim Toby, her husband, since he told her to go and replace the mistress upstairs?
Her heart, instantly, chilled through.
Tears, instantly, curdled her eyes.
She knew that Lim Toby didnt love her, was even bored with her, but she was his real wife, wasnt she? How could he be so heartless?
"Go on!" His eager urging rang in his ears.
How worried is he about his woman?
Thinking of her mother in the hospital bed, Lydia tilted her face up and blinked her eyes, forcing the tears hard back into them. Then stepping away, she carefully made her way to the staircase that led to the second floor.
The man upstairs obviously didnt expect Lim Toby to actually trade his wife for his mistress, and was stunned speechless. He looked at Lydia a few meters away, and then at Feng Ann in his arms, and finally let Feng Ann go.
Lydia was held hostage by the man and was afraid to move.
In my ears was the mans violent shout, "Lim! I only give you one night, if you dont bring five million before dawn, wait until you collect the corpse of your wife ......."
Responding to him was the sound of the BMWs engine as it sped away.
Looking in the direction of the cars departure, Lydia laughed in despair.
Five million, a small amount of money that The Lim Family could easily come up with, but Lim Toby would rather trade her safety for Feng Anns removal.
"What are you laughing at?" As if realizing he had done something wrong, the kidnapper threw Lydia to the ground with an irritated hand.
Lydia sulked up from the floor and sat on the dusty floor looking askance at him, "Im laughing at you for being so stupid."
"What do you mean?" The kidnapper crossed his eyes.
"Cant you see that Lim Toby doesnt care if I die so that he can rightfully welcome Feng Ann into his home and live happily ever after as a family of three?"
"You ......." The kidnapper knotted in exasperation as he leaned down and grabbed her by the shirt, roughly lifting her off the ground.
Lydia still sneered, "He won't send the money, and if he had any conscience left, hed call the police immediately and have them come to my rescue. As for whether you kill me or let me go, he doesnt care."
"Ill kill you now!" The kidnapper raised his knife.
"Then you wont get anything." Lydia stared at him stubbornly, "If you kill me, the police will be all over town, and then not only will you get no money, but the law will make you pay for my life, which is not a good deal at all. Why dont I pay you 200,000 and you let me go, just as if Im buying myself a life."
"Two hundred thousand? You wish!"
"Thats all my cheap life is worth, so if you wont, then kill me."
The kidnapper stared at a subdued Lydia, a little shaken in his mind.
He did see the way Lim Toby treated Lydia just now, and didnt even say a word of confession when he took Feng Ann away, without any regard for Lydia.
Just at that moment, a siren suddenly sounded from far away outside.
With a low curse, the kidnapper dropped Lydia and turned to flee.
He ran a few steps, turned back, and pointed his index finger at Lydia: "Two hundred thousand, mark my words."
Once the kidnappers were gone, Lydia, who had been playing it cool, suddenly sat down on the cold ground with her legs weak.
Lydia was taken back downtown by the police and spent over an hour in the station giving a statement before finally regaining her freedom.
It was almost nine oclock, and she felt cold and hungry after not eating dinner.
The Lim Family villa was already lit up and from a distance, my sister-in-law Lim Edith could be heard saying in a disgusted voice, "Mum, as you can see, Cheng Lydia is simply a hen who cant lay eggs, so why dont you let your brother divorce her yet."
"Lydia is young, give her a little more time." It was Mrs. Lims voice.
"Its been three years."
"Shh. ......." Mrs.Lim saw Lydia walk in and was busy making a silent gesture at Lim Edith.
Lydia, long accustomed to such chatter, struggled to muster a polite smile to greet the duo on the couch, "Mom, Edith, Im home."
Lim Edith looked at her askance and coldly looked away.
Mrs. Lim then surveyed Lydias pale little face and asked with a concerned look on her face, "Lydia, whats wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?"
At this moment, Lydia not only looked bad, but also her clothes were dirty and wrinkled. She just wanted to go back to her room to take a hot bath and change into clean clothes.
"Im just a bit tired, Mom, so Ill go up and rest." She bowed her head and headed in the direction of the second floor.
The not-so-long spiral staircase was so hard, so slow for the first time, as if she would never reach the end.
Even at the end of the line, it was empty and lonely, not something she wanted.
The large, luxurious and sophisticated house did nothing to warm Lydias cold heart.
Lim Toby didnt come back as usual, presumably this would be preoccupied with calming his little lover.
She stripped off all her dirty clothes and sank her body into the hot water-filled tub, closing her eyes as everything that had just happened came back to her mind like a rewinding movie.
Lim Toby says Feng Ann is pregnant, something she cant do, and her sister-in-law says shes a hen who cant lay eggs. She also wants to get pregnant and have a child for Lim Toby to make a complete family, but has Lim Toby ever given her a chance?
After three years of marriage, she was still a virgin. How could she talk to anyone about such a humiliating thing?
Lim Toby had kept countless women on the outside, and had never even looked at her, his real wife, in the eye, much less touched her body, so how could she get pregnant?
On the night before her wedding, Lim Tobys words of love and affection had become part of her dream.
She stood up from the tub, her body reflected in the mirror across the room, white and delicate skin, slim and evenly toned, with breasts that counted as full. Each of these was still exquisite, so why did she fail to attract her husbands interest?
How deep was Lim Tobys dislike for her? And where did it come from?
