Days passed. The wounds on my body were fully healed, then came the time for me to be released from the hospital.

“Take this three times a day for 20 days to help with the pain. You can also take this one over here in case you start having symptoms like diarrhea...”

I was with Jaxon after changing out of the gowns I had grown accustomed to during my stay at the hospital. We were in the pharmacy section of the building, where the person in charge was busy explaining the dosage for my medication. 

Jaxon listened intently, nodding along with the pharmacist's instructions while pointing to the custom label with the medicine's written prescription.

And now you may be wondering, where will I stay after this? I was definitely not heading back to James and Alice’s home, considering what had happened to them. Even if the house was empty, the male lead might have known about it. I couldn't risk that.

So I was only left with one option, which I had been struggling to accept: living with the Barretts.

Jaxon had suggested it a few days prior, and I could only accept. I was left to believe what happened in the novel, that Emma was well taken care of by Jaxon and his father. And so I had found a place to stay, at least for a while.

“Let’s go.”

Jaxon and I found ourselves exiting the hospital a few moments later.

I was met with the view of a clear blue sky the moment I stepped out. It felt surreal because I had not been out ever since I was admitted.

‘I can’t believe I’m in a novel,’ I found myself thinking once more.

"Emma?” Jaxon called out, already ahead of me.

It so happened that there was a parking lot behind the hospital. 

"That way," Jaxon said, pointing to a black car parked some distance away from us.

I couldn’t tell its make or model. But as I got closer, I realized it was a sleek, expensive vehicle. The logo at the front showed a famous manufacturer. 

‘Jaxon’s family can afford this?’ I wondered to myself.

“So, where are we headed?” I inquired as we took our seats in the back. The chauffeur had already occupied the driver's seat.

“Home,” Jaxon replied as if it was obvious. 

The car then reversed and made a turn, eventually connecting with the main road.

I looked out the side windows at the scenery we were passing, admiring the trees and buildings.

The place didn’t look as overwhelming as I thought it would be. The novel described Rollinsville to be like a city, but it appeared like a small town in some ways. 

I, again, couldn’t believe that I was in the world of a novel.

I made a mental note to learn more about the place. I had done little exploring since I became Emma, so I was curious about the scope of the novel world.

About twenty minutes later, we arrived at Jaxon’s residence. 

I knew the guy was rich. I just did not realize how rich he was until I looked through the car window to see his home.

The place was far too large to be just a house. It appeared to be four floors high, taking over a large space of land. It was also surrounded by seemingly endless walls. 

Looking at it reminded me of the television show Dynasty.

"This way," said the chauffeur, opening the door for me. He had one hand extended to me and the other towards the entrance of the house. I grabbed the offered hand and glanced down, noticing we were on a cobblestone road. In fact, much of the area around the house was made of cobblestone. There was also a fountain with a horse statue in the center, and the sound of running water created a soothing white noise.

“Are you going to stare all day or are you going to move?” Jaxon spoke behind me. I turned to face him, noticing he wanted to go out the same way I had.

“Why don’t you use the other door?” 

“Yours is closer,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes at him as I stepped forward to give him room to exit the vehicle. He then closed the door behind him as soon as he was out.

“This way,” someone else apart from the driver had approached us, leading us towards the house. Based on their clothing, I assumed it was the butler.

The entrance to Jaxon's house was primarily made up of large wooden doors. When we passed the doors, I was met with the sight of maids and other house staff standing parallel to each other, leaving space for Jaxon and me to pass through the middle.

“Good afternoon, young master,” they all said at the same time.

For a moment, I thought I was in a different time period.

“Would you like a tour, young lady?” the butler asked me.

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Just show her around the house,” Jaxon told the butler. “She’ll see the other places another time.”

“Sure, young master. This way,” I walked with the butler around the large house. Jaxon also tagged along with a few maids.

We passed some office rooms, an entertainment room, a kitchen, another kitchen, a gym area, a swimming area… all the while, the butler was explaining the rooms and their history.

I wasn’t much of a house or decor fan, but I found myself nodding regardless.

We eventually came to a stop at a large wooden door.

“This is your room,” the butler told me, opening the door to reveal a large bedroom.

The room was surprisingly spacious. A large bed was positioned in one corner. Above the bed, but in the center of the room, was a large window partially covered in curtains. 

There was also a reading desk with a revolving chair on the other end of the room. And behind the reading desk was a door.

“In case you’re wondering, the closet and bathroom are all connected through that door,” the butler added.

‘Wait. What?’

“You could also instruct us about any changes you would like to be done with the room,” the butler told me.

“Nice room, right?” Jaxon commented beside me with a grin. I had momentarily forgotten he was with me. 

“Why does it look empty?” I asked him.

“Cause no one’s been here?” he replied. “And like the butler said, you can tell them how you want the place to be. You can add new furniture, a different look for the room…”

"Huh," was all I could say to that. I felt stupefied by the sight in front of me. I had greatly underestimated Jaxon and his family's level of wealth.

Then I began to wonder: are the other characters in the novel that wealthy? Perhaps more?

“Oh, wait,” Jaxon said, seeming to remember something. He then reached for his jeans pocket, pulling out his phone.

It was midtype when he directed his attention to me.

“What do you need?” 

“Hmm?” I did not understand what he was saying.

“For your room,” he filled out. “Clothes? A new phone? Wacbook? Furniture--”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, wait, wait,” I interrupted. “You aren’t seriously thinking of...”

I trailed off when I saw the look on his face. He was serious.

“Now for your phone– Wait. Are you an Android fan?” he asked, slightly backing away from me.

I could have scoffed and said something to him if I had not been so overwhelmed.

“Jaxon, I just got out of the hospital.”

“Which is why I need to know what you need,” he said. "Dad told me to look into everything you might want."

“... What?” 

“Or you could just leave it to the butler. But I know he’ll need to have your measurements.”

“Huh?”

“For your clothes. Why do you look so shocked?”

Jaxon kept looking at me expectantly.

“Just… Leave it to the butler,” I sighed. He nodded, moving to talk to the man who was still with us.

“Come with us, miss,” the maids suddenly came to me.

“Wait. Jaxon, what’s going–”

“Your clothes. We need to get you measured, remember?” he told me as I was being led away into the other room within my bedroom.

Some minutes later, I was out.

“We hope you enjoy your stay here, miss,” the butler told me, just as he and the other maids started to leave the room.

“Honestly, I’m not sure how much will get here today, but at least you’ll have something for tonight,” Jaxon said, moving to leave.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I think you need time to get used to the place. My dad also told me to call him once we were out of the hospital. So I’m going to do that now,” he replied.

I was left alone in my new room. I slowly turned to admire it, having not expected such opulence when I agreed to living with the Barretts.

It was something I could get used to. 

It didn’t feel bad agreeing to that decision.