Arriving at the apartment, Genevieve meticulously arranged Emily's bedding and thoroughly cleaned the dorm room, sparing no corner.
The four-person apartment currently housed only two occupants besides Emily: Sandy Melville and Lydia Sander, who was from a less affluent family and hadn't returned from her part-time job yet.
The butler placed two gift boxes on Sandy's and Lydia's desks. Meanwhile, Genevieve produced a thermos container Like magic, revealing a steaming tomato and mushroom soup enriched with matsutake mushrooms and sea cucumber.
"Dinner, Miss Rockefeller."
Having already made dinner plans with Sandy, Emily took the soup to eat at the cafeteria. “Okay, Genevieve, Malcolm, you can go back now. I’ll call if I need anything.”
"Take care, Miss," Genevieve replied, reluctantly following Malcolm out of the dorm.
Finally, alone, Emily washed up and changed into casual wear, bunching her hair loosely. She
"How much in there would make me 'retire' of this?" Sandy, with a playful twirled Emily's card between her fingers, which had been casually tossed on the table.Head tilted thoughtfully, Emily mused, "...Over 50 million?""What the fuck?!" Originally sitting with her legs crossed and awful posture, Sandy nearly toppled forward in shock. Her usual skimming modest sums from corrupt officials, nothing more than tens of thousands at best. Now, confronted with a staggering fifty million, she exclaimed, "Murray Gibson is obscenely wealthy!"Having dried her hair, Emily tossed a damp towel at Sandy's face. "Wipe your face and calm down. I haven't finished talking."Sandy, seemingly stunned, smeared her face with the towel.Emily slipped into a pink cotton pajama set, its ordinary coral fleece material adorned with cute bunny ears, giving her an irresistibly soft and adorable appearance.Seated at her desk, wiping her face, she casuall
Emily set her phone aside, pondering for a moment before forwarding Elton's message to Murray without alteration.His swift reply came back. 【Up to you.】Halfway through typing a reply, Emily switched to a voice message, "So, will you be at Fiduinvest tomorrow? I haven't seen you in a while, and, well, I kind of miss you."But, that moment, Lydia emerged from the bathroom, catching a snippet of the conversation. "Shameless!" she scoffed.Deep breaths...as long as I'm not embarrassed, others will be. Instead, Emily told herself while clutching her phone for Murray's response, but her phone remained silent. Unsure how much time had passed, she'd fallen asleep waiting. The next morning, Emily awoke to the loud slamming of the door by an angry Lydia. Checking her phone, she saw no reply from Murray.What was his deal, coming or not? No definite answer left her quite annoyed.Emily had planned to use the dinner with Elton as
Elton entered the room to find Murray on a call by the floor-to-ceiling windows while Emily was seated on the sofa, flipping through a magazine.The atmosphere was casual.Elton breathed a sigh of relief, laughing self-deprecatingly, overly suspicious.He walked over and sat down beside her. "What are you reading?"Emily put away the magazine and turned her head with a sweet smile, "Are you done with your work?"Elton nodded, "I've booked your favorite underwater restaurant.""Really? No one has taken me there since you went abroad for studies. I really miss QQ."QQ was a seal, a birthday gift from Elton during her 18th birthday celebration at the restaurant."We'll go see QQ first.""Okay!" Emily's smile crinkled her eyes.Just then, Murray finished his call and approached them.Elton stood up, "The Pier 9 proposal, Mr. Gibson."Murray took it, flipping through casually, "To produce such a detailed
"Emily, the promise I made to you twelve years ago still stands. You just enjoy life and leave the rest to me," Elton's hand suddenly covered hers. His palm was warm, unlike Murray's, which was always cold, making holding his hand feel like grasping a block of ice.Emily was startled and instinctively tried to withdraw her hand, but then she realized, was this a confession?Noticing his forwardness might have startled Emily, Elton quickly released her hand, stumbling over his words in an apology, "Sorry, I... I got a bit ahead of myself. Did I scare you?"Emily nodded, then said, "I've always remembered when you said you would take care of me forever, brother."Hearing her still address him as 'brother,' Elton realized she might have misunderstood his intentions. He longed to tell her that his desire to care for her was not just as a brother but as a lover. Yet, he also thought that with Emily's university life still unfinished, a conf
As Lydia stormed out, Sandy happened to come back. Seeing Lydia's angry retreating figure, Sandy asked, "What set her off again?"Emily didn't reply, simply pointing to the two lunch boxes on her desk. "I saved some food for you. Go heat it." Sandy lifted the lunch box lid, inhaling deeply with satisfaction, her eyes narrowing contentedly. “There's a lecture in the department soon. They've snagged a top-notch business mogul as the speaker. I should head over now and eat later.”Emily thought to herself that explains Lydia's return at this time.Emily thought to herself, no wonder Lydia came back now. Both she and Sandy were finance majors - Lydia had likely rushed back for the lecture, too."Want to come with?" Sandy asked. "No thanks," Emily declined decisively. "Oh, okay then," Sandy said, stuffing a crab leg in her mouth before grabbing her bag and heading out again.Once Sandy was gone, Emily felt an urge to leave, too. Ever since she moved back in, visitors had been frequ
Emily picked up her phone, still carrying Murray’s warm.She sent Sandy her location.Soon enough, Sandy arrived, oblivious to what had transpired. She asked Emily excitedly why she hadn't responded to her messages, but Emily’s expression clearly read “not interested.”Undeterred, Sandy teased, "Guess who the mystery business big shot was tonight?"Emily sipped her freshly served cold beer. “Don’t want to guess.”"You're no fun!" Sandy said. "It was Murray Gibson! Shocking, right?""Oh." Emily nodded; no wonder he had come to see her. “Honestly, I think your part-time job isn’t too bad,” Sandy mused, admitting even she couldn't deny Murray Gibson’s allure despite her usual indifference.Emily didn't interrupt, letting her wax lyrical to her heart's content. Only when she finally wound down did Emily briefly explain Murray's earlier visit and abrupt departure. Sandy took a swig of beer, grimacing at the taste, and then spat it out. “So, the tycoon’s old flame is back? Why haven’t
Murray arrived at the bar in response to Stacey's call.He found her being coerced to drink by a group of people, seemingly part of some rich kids' gathering rather than a business event. He scanned the group coolly - did they really need to get so wasted?Striding over, Murray shoved aside the man blocking his path and tossed him away like trash.The man whipped around, cursing. But spotting Murray, the fist already raised quickly dropped back down again."Oh, Murray! What brings you here?" His tone instantly turned ingratiating."Get lost," Murray said bluntly, not even sparing him a glance as he went over to gather the tipsy Stacey into his arms.The room fell silent, watching as he carried her away.Nestled against Murray's chest, Stacey was quiet in her semi-drunken state, breathing softly.Reaching his car, Murray said, "I'll take you home."“No, I can't go back. If I return like this, my dad will
Emily and Sandy met at the nearby milk tea shop by the hotel. Emily had always known that Murray had someone following her, thinking it was merely for her safety. Only after Woody's odd reaction did she realize the extent of Murray's measures. Returning to school and preparing for graduation was one thing, but a far more critical task must remain hidden from Murray. Emily understood Murray's nature well. If he realized she was aware of his secretive actions, he'd likely cease them. And Woody was the key to it all. First, she had Sandy add Woody on W******p, then arranged for him to meet up, intending to replace Sandy at the rendezvous. Before Woody's arrival, she deliberately let her tail see her, making it appear as if she was on a date. On their way to the hotel, passing a convenience store, she faked a need to buy something, but in reality, she swapped coats with Sandy there. Their heights and builds were similar enough, and with hats and masks in the evening, one couldn't t