Chapter VI

There were three types of people Emily feared most, something like her instinct told her to keep her distance from.

The people she knew. The people who forced friendship on her. And the people she didn't wish to know.

The reason she chose to be an introvert and docile was not to stand out much in the crowd. Her blooming years were ruined, but she had no regrets. She couldn't afford to get involved in unnecessary matters to survive when her parents wouldn't be around for her.

It did work out to her advantage, and Emily didn't have many enemies except for her grandfather, yet it was unexpected to get bothered this much by the kind of person she encountered today. She thought she wouldn't have to deal with the person in the third category she was terrified of coming across, but weirdly, she felt it would be easy to peel him layer by layer to get through his mind.

Plus, that man felt weirdly familiar. Emily didn't want to see him again, but why was her intuition telling her that when she knew she couldn't ignore him for now, she should get to know him more and get ready to get him hard before he got her trapped in his web?

But why on earth do I have to go that far?

Emily winced, grabbing her head. Her headache was getting stronger the more she tried to find the reason behind her mind telling her to be on guard from now on and fight back like crazy, just like she did three years ago in Brazil.

"Could it be that my grandfather was again coming after me?"

Emily muttered, leaning on her seat in her study. Her voice sounded a bit shaky, and then she heard Helenite.

"He has dealt an overwhelming loss against you. Twice, at that."

Emily sighed audibly. "Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut and reflect on your action, Ms. Kryeziu?"

"You- "

"Send that damn letter first and cut off your connection with your good-for-nothing group. This kind of networking won't help you to survive and put your family in dangerous situations repeatedly." Opening her eyes, Emily coldly glared at Helen. "You should know better than to keep these people around who would most likely desert you like they did today. Besides, you will be a lawyer. Through me, you have experienced many things over the years. Did you not get a brief grasp of the situation at the police station today?

"I...see." Helenite, who looked angry with Emily a moment ago, now had that dejected expression again. "I should have known that nothing would change even with your lawyer helping my teacher demote those corrupt officers at that time..."

This girl wanted revenge. Emily knew the situation wouldn't change much, yet years ago, she let Helenite do whatever she wished to do after making it clear to them that she didn't want to go after either of those people who took Cheryl away from her.

Yes, her grandfather failed in his desperate attempts to corner her and take her home, but again, Emily prioritized her and her people's survival the most. She certainly wouldn't gain anything from it as she knew where she was standing now.

Emily had many people to protect her sister, but what if they were attacked and lost their lives in this process? And that was why she was interfering in her friend's life choices. Emily was indebted to Helenite and her family, who stayed up countless nights on empty stomachs and fought for her to bring Cheryl back home while Emily was moving back and forth from Brazil to LA, where she almost died. It was a traumatizing and terrifying experience for her, but she felt lucky that her deceased stepmother was an assassin.

Shaking her head, Emily pushed away those thoughts that wouldn't be any help now.

"If you are done with sending your resignation letter, come and tell me everything you have yet to tell me about the club's incident."

Helenite's expression turned sour, but Emily ignored that. Cheryl was sleeping alone in her bedroom. Emily quickly wanted to wrap things for today before the little girl woke up and started Cherry Bomb Special Adventure in their kitchen.

Besides, Emily promised Helen's mother to convince her daughter to stop working as an intern in her current law firm. She'd keep her word no matter what, even if that meant threatening her friend that she wouldn't let her meet her sister again. Helen was fast enough to take the hint that Emily wasn't bluffing when she said that, which reminded her how Emily cut off everyone from her life.

"I didn't do anything last night in the club- ahem...um, sorry." Helenite coughed and avoided Emily's burning gaze at her, which was scary. "I mean, I did, but I also didn't. If you look at the bright side, you will say that I am innocent. Honestly, man, I wasn't supposed to be there. After hearing that you lost your job, I went after Adam to talk. You work to your bones for years. Girl, how could I not go and look for him? And there, I ran into some of those punks I was sent to gather evidence to take them down. I would have ignored them as I wanted to talk with your boss first, but they crossed the line when they started talking...things about you, ahem..."

"You sound like a street ruffian!" Helenite flinched but didn't talk back then. "You are lucky you came out unscathed, Helenite! Do you think any nightclub is safe after midnight? And you dare to look sad to leave that team of yours who was supposed to be there to watch over you when you are on field duty! What would Cheryl learn from any one of us after this? Gosh! This is too much!"

"They were there..."

Helen's quiet mumble angered Emily even more.

"And run away after the police raid with the charge of drugs and illegal weapons!" Emily felt awful to see how her friend was trembling, but that didn't keep her from throwing words_punches at Helen's face. "Did you hear yourself how pathetic you sound, Helen? I told you people in power see you guys as nothing but lambs to slaughter anytime. Do you think it would have been possible even for your cousin to clear those charges with his family backing? His family reputation would have hit rock bottom, and they would have lost influence in the market! And you, my friend, have no support. Your parents are teachers. Your best friend has no power despite being a heiress. Who will be at a loss if you involve yourself in unnecessary matters like last night's incident?"

No wonder that man demanded eight million from her! His intention was clear to Emily now, and he hoped that Emily would shoulder responsibility with him. Getting Helenite involved in this wouldn't do either one of us any good anyway.

That man just wanted to play safe, and that was all. Emily would try to be nice to him for his consideration for this time.

And as for Helenite, she kept her eyes glued on the floor and didn't say anything. "It's alright now. I made mistakes, too, and learned my lesson from that. So, I suggest you do the same." Emily still looked mad but said calmly, "For you, it is hard to ignore those who badmouth me behind my back. I am grateful to have at least one person to care about my feelings, but can I ever forgive myself if anything ever happens to you for me? Do you not see how afraid that little girl looked seeing you in jail today?"

Silence filled Emily's study. None of the girls said anything for a while.

Emily, who had been silently taking notes on her laptop about that incident, switched off the machine after some time and left her seat before making her way to her friend, who looked like she had finally come to her senses, which was a good sign itself.

Lifting her hand, Emily patted Helen's shoulder twice. "Now, get up, will you? You have to return to your hostel tomorrow."

Helen raised her head and looked ready to cry, "Do I have to?"

"Yes." Emily looked at her sternly. "For the time being. We talked about it. This is something your lawyer has also agreed with."

When it came to family, Emily acted very strict. It was hilarious how Helenite's parents doted on her and trusted her more than their daughter. At least, unlike others, they were aware of her situation and had helped Emily, caring less about their safety.

Her guilt would eat her up for not clearing their misconception about a man like her former boss. Emily didn't mean to deceive them, but what could she possibly do other than keep them in the dark now? She was helpless.

~

The next afternoon. . .

"Mr. Fernandez, you have a guest waiting in the lobby. Would you like to see her now?"

"We aren't done here."

The intercom went off with a swift swap of Bash's finger before even his assistant had finished talking.

"So, where were we?"

Bash flickered his one perfectly shaped eyebrow, tapping his finger on his desk, which showed his impatience.

His gaze fixed on one of the two men, seated on the other side of his desk, particularly.

Adam.

Emily's former superior and Sebastian's detective friend undercover.

The other guy in the room stood by the window, but Sebastian could tell his bodyguard was listening to them silently.

Adam had platinum blonde hair, the same as Bash, but not natural. His striking grey eyes looked sharper and merciless and gave away his personality by just the depth and darkness of his orbs that no one had ever seen in him. "I've reported to you everything."

"About the accident..." Bash's voice sounded blunter than a knife. With his meaningful gaze fixed on him, he pointed out, " -about the two months' leave she had taken three years ago, you have mentioned. Did you feel anything strange about her at that time?"

"I can't tell if it was an accident as the report says something else. It can be fake. Indeed, she was there for over a week, and that's it. It was strange how everything was erased from those records like she never existed. However, she returned when her leave was over, and since then, I couldn't help but cover up for her so that the media and none of her students or guardians posted her picture anywhere." Then Adam shrugged. "You see that for a rising star like her, it is troublesome to have people tailing her and bothering her family. She was efficient and hardworking enough to make me keep my word until now. I find nothing strange in it, Bash."

"...Anything from her side."

For Adam, trying his best not to side with Emily seemed unsettling for Bash.

"You mean her family? Recently, they have run into some crisis in their business, which indicates they won't stop their advances this time. Don't you think it is about time for them to pull all the strings to corner Emily now that they know about her weakness?"

Familiar anger surged in his heart, recalling the event that had almost ruined his life years ago.

That night, Sebastian was very nervous about the event the next day.

Who would have thought choosing an engagement ring of his woman's liking could be that hard? Later, he attended a party on a cruise to celebrate the success of the ongoing movie in theaters, and there, his drink was spiked, and he ended up in a luxurious suite.

And there, he saw her...Emily.

Bash wasn't sure about the last one because of the lack of evidence he had in his hand.

But the first one...the memory of that nasty night, and then her face and warmness, had all given birth to wrath and disdain in his chest that Sebastian had never felt for anyone before.

He had been looking for that face and sent his people to hunt her down, but he always failed.

She was not a passenger or had her name registered in that guest's book on that luxurious ship. Who would have thought their path would cross again that morning in his bar? And now, she had the nerve to look at her with no recognition in her eyes!

"What are you planning to do with her?"

"Once it gets confirmed it was her that night." Bash said venomously, "I'll do something that no one could ever expect from me,"

Since the day she came into his life, everything had changed in Sebastian's life for the worse.

Sebastian didn't want to remember those events, but now, Emily had made it difficult to bear the consequences alone.

That woman needed to shoulder the responsibility with him now. He would make sure to have her pay back the amount he lost because of her friend's surprise attack on his club, and his influence significantly decreased in his largest branch in Seattle.

He sneered mentally and answered this time with the intercom vibrating on his desk continuously. "Yes, send her in."

"Well, we should take our leave now, don't you think, Julian?"

Adam was about to leave his seat while asking the bodyguard, who was looking out of the window, but he stopped after hearing Sebastian's stern response. "I would like to talk with her alone. Any kind of interference would be intolerable."

Before returning to his post quietly, Adam froze, listening to Julian, "May I know why you asked me to bring this marriage contract file today, sir?"