Her questions were no answers but Emily continued talking to the young guy on a huge billboard.
“Don’t smile! I hate your smile! Lucky you, you can still smile. But look at me… Look at me!” She continued looking at her wet poor self with a tired shivering voice.
“Stop smiling you are so irritating!” She scolded the guy in the billboard. Honestly, she liked the young guy’s smile because she felt inexplicably warmth in her heart but she was irritated at the same time.
Who wanted to see smiles when you were in despair?
Some people were just so lucky to be gifted with a load of it throughout the way.
When she could not get answers, eventually, she was snapped back to her senses.
The deep pain in her heart was unbearable.
She couldn’t breathe properly and her body was shivering coldly like she would collapse at any time.
Still trying to hold on to the little strength left in her, she looked at the smiling guy in the picture then her lips eventually formed into a smile then she collapsed in the street.
And that it all started!
Emily couldn’t forget the guy she saw on that billboard that night.
Even in her unconscious state, she knew, she saw his face.
He was an angel…
Her angel..
He was with her but she wasn’t sure if that was just a dream or not.
The next day, she packed her things and got out of her mother’s house.
Claudette and Nichole were looking at her suspiciously.
Then when she was totally out, they mockingly laughed at her and waved happily like they won a lottery.
Emily looked back and promised to get what her grandmother gave to her.
She will never let these two homewreckers live in her grandma’s house forever.
She will go back and get it from them.
Emily swore!
5 years had gone in a jiffy.
One hour before Emily met Charles ….
After a long shift, she finally got out of work.
The big event earlier in the city was quite satisfying.
She went to sneak in the morning for the City Charter Anniversary to see her darling superstar.
As usual, Charles was still the most handsome man on the planet for her.
From the first time she saw him, he had grown mature and capable adding to his noble temperament.
Over the years, she could not get over him.
She developed intense affection for him by watching him from afar in his every guestings.
Emily could feel her jaw had locked due to her intense screaming out his name even though she was fully aware that he could not hear her and that she was just among the millions of crowds at that certain event.
Like a lone pebble in the Earth!
Actually, she cut one of her classes for this event.
She smiled satisfyingly after remembering Charles on the stage waving at his fans, he smiled charmingly and went away.
His appearances were always just like that!
After he disappeared, a huge number of the crowd disappeared too and Emily was included.
She ran back to school and just right on time, her professor handed her a test paper.
Holding it, she smiled openly with Charle’s handsome face in her mind.
His appearance at the event was very short.
However, the contentment of her heart was already fulfilled.
Thinking about that earlier great experience, Emily smiled satisfyingly while walking outside the building where she works.
Emily was in a hurry to reach home because she only had a little time to sleep.
Her first subject started at exactly 8:00 am and since she lived on an outskirt, she needed to travel one hour to reach her school and, same time reach her apartment from work and it was already 12:30 am.
She haggled her time very well and she was used to it for 5 years.
For her, living inside the city is a suicide!
It was a tiring night yet she was still full of energy because of seeing Charles on the stage earlier until an unexpected call came in.
She quickly frowned due to the caller’s number suddenly appeared on her screen.
Though she tried to forget this number but then once memorized would never be forgotten.
Why is he calling now?
After 5 years her dad remembered her again!
Emily felt the intense pain and the anger she buried deep down in her heart was instantly awakened once again.
Her shameless father!
What does he want now?
She shivered thinking about his shamelessness.
Her grip tightened on her phone line she could break it in no time.
Why did he call at this time?
She wanted to press the end call button but there was a little part of her felt a sting of nervous.
Calling at this hour seemed an emergency.
With her thoughts, she quickly answered.
"Emily, your mother Claudette personally prepared dinner specially for you tonight. Can you grace it?" Her father’s usual voice came in like they didn’t have any issues in the past.
Emily frowned deeply.
Mother?
Dinner?
At midnight?
Something is fishy!
Emily’s blood started to boil in rage.
"Why?" Emily asked suspiciously along with her raging heart.
Her tone was cold.
Claudette could never replace her biological loving mother!
She might want to try harder but Emily knew from the beginning Claudette’s intention is wicked.
Claudette and her daughter Nichole made Emily a lowly servant whenever her father was not around.
Emily knew her father would never be in her favor so complaining to him was useless.
Claudette and Nichole abused her physically, mentally, and emotionally for 3 years.
She let them be for the sake of her mother’s medical treatment.
"Well, the situation is different now, Emily." Her father mentioned with contempt.
Emily already knew there was something off with him.
She just wanted to hang up already as she never intended to talk to him any longer.
No!
She never wanted to talk to him anymore.
"Emily, we are going to sell the house…" After a moment of silence, her father dropped the real brazen intention of his call which made Emily blow up in anger.
'Shameless!'
She instantly cursed him in her heart.
"No, you can't do that!" Emily refused strongly.
Her heart was pounding hard and her breathing was unstable.
At this time, immense fury and sadness enveloped her heart.
"That is my grandmother's house! You don't have the right to do that! Dad, don't make me hate you more!" She behaved obediently for a long time even if it was against her will.
As for the reason?
It was always her mother...
He promised to continue the treatment of her mother if she behaved obediently and treated her new family well.
She did!
Now that her mother was gone, her father could not blackmail her anymore.
She had no family left and as for her father, she already cut ties a long time ago.
She never wanted to have anything to do with him, especially with Claudette and Nichole.
Nichole immediately occupied Emily’s room that same day she was brought in.
As expected, her father sided with Nichole.
So, Emily was obliged to transfer to their storage room.
Again, using her mother’s medical treatment, Emily complied.
It's just a room anyway, most importantly… her mother!
Emily just wanted her mother to live longer and be with her every step of the way.
She was the only person who cared and loved her.
When she left, Emily felt totally empty.
And now, her shameless father wanted to sell her house which she dearly held into her heart because of her mother’s memories.
Emily clenched her fist so hard and gritted her teeth in anger.
Shameless!!!
“Where is my mom’s company and her money? She left you everything but you used all mom’s assets to sustain your mistress and another daughter! I will never agree to sell my mother's house!" She was already screaming in anger.
Emily went away without any dime from their company only her little savings.
She worked night and day when in fact her grandma left her a house, a company, and some good fortune only to be used lavishly with her father and his other family.
Now that they had gone bankrupt, her dad won't spare her house.
"Even if you are an adult now, I will make your life a living hell if you don't cooperate. Do you understand?" Her dad bombarded her.
The first light of dawn crept gently through the thin curtains, casting a soft, golden hue across the small room. Dust motes danced lazily in the air, and the ceiling fan spun in slow, sleepy circles above them.Emily stirred first.Her lashes fluttered open, and for a moment, she didn’t remember where she was. The bed beneath her was too firm, the sheets too plain, the air too still. But then she felt it—the steady rise and fall of a chest beneath her cheek. The warmth of an arm wrapped around her waist. The familiar scent of him—clean, faintly woodsy, and unmistakably Charles.She blinked slowly.Her hand was still in his.Their fingers were still laced, even in sleep.She tilted her head slightly and found herself tucked perfectly into the crook of his shoulder, her body curved into his like they had always belonged there. His other arm was draped protectively around her, his grip loose but present, like even in sleep, he didn’t want to let go.Charles was still asleep.His face wa
The sky had deepened into a velvet navy by the time Charles and Emily were back on the road. The windows were down, letting in the cool night air, and the stars blinked faintly above them. The beach still clung to their skin—salt in their hair, sand between their toes—but neither of them seemed to mind.Emily leaned her head against the window, her eyes half-closed, a soft smile still playing on her lips. Charles glanced at her now and then, his hand steady on the wheel, the silence between them warm and full.Then—Thump.Thump-thump-thump.The car jolted slightly.Charles’s brows furrowed. He slowed down, pulled to the side of the road, and stepped out to check.Emily sat up straighter. “What happened?”He returned a moment later, brushing his hands on his jeans. “Flat tire.”She blinked. “You don’t have a spare?”“I do,” he said, glancing down the dark road. “But I’m not changing it in the middle of nowhere at night. Not with you here. It’s not safe.”Of course, she understood what
Emily stood barefoot beside the car, the warm sand curling between her toes. The salty breeze tousled her hair as she looked out at the endless blue, her eyes wide with wonder. She inhaled deeply, the scent of the ocean wrapping around her like a memory.Then she turned to Charles.He stood there, hands in his pockets, watching her with that unreadable expression—half amusement, half something deeper.Without warning, Emily stepped closer.So close that their shoulders brushed.And then—on her toes—she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.A whisper of warmth.A spark.Before he could react, she was already pulling away, her eyes gleaming with mischief.“Yeahhh!” she shouted, throwing her hands in the air like a child set free.She ran toward the water, her laughter echoing across the shore, her hair flying behind her like a banner of joy. The hem of her dress fluttered around her knees as she splashed into the shallows, spinning once, arms wide, face tilted to the sun.Char
The morning light spilled gently through the hospital window, casting a soft glow across the room. Emily sat upright in bed, her eyes fixed on the television screen mounted on the wall. The news anchor’s voice was steady, but the footage was anything but calm.Mayor Steffan, once the untouchable pillar of the city, was being led away in handcuffs.Emily watched in stunned silence as the man who had once stood beside her father, who had smiled for cameras and shaken hands with the powerful, now shouted into a sea of microphones and flashing lights.“Please… don’t let history write lies about me. Look into my heart. Look into your own. I swear I have never betrayed you. I only ever tried to serve.”The screen cut to a panel of analysts, but Emily wasn’t listening anymore. Her heart was racing. Her fingers trembled slightly around the remote.She didn’t know if it was justice or tragedy.She didn’t know whether to feel relief or fear.And then—The door opened.She turned.Charles stood
After the flurry of remote mishaps and cheek-burning TV scenes, the room settled into a gentler hush. The warm lighting painted soft edges on the hospital walls as Emily curled beside Charles beneath the blanket.She tilted her head playfully and whispered, “What about… a game?”Charles didn’t lift his gaze from the pages of the book. “Sounds boring.”“Hmmm,” she said, feigning dramatic suspense. “I ask you a question, you answer. You ask me, I answer. Simple. Honest. No dodging.”He flipped another page, unconvinced. “Not interested.”Emily scooted closer. “Well, I’m very interested in yours.”That earned her a glance—a slow, calculated look.Charles smirked. “Emily Greyson, you better fall in line if you want to know my life. Don’t you know there’s a sea of women out there who'd sell their souls for a peek inside this mind?”The sarcasm was heavy, but she grinned.“Please…” she whispered. “Please?”He turned back, caught the pleading sparkle in her eyes—lashes impossibly long, gaze
Morning crept in gently, trailing threads of light across the folds of white linen. The hospital room was hushed, but not cold. It felt… different. Warmer. Softer. Like someone had left the window open just enough for calm to step inside.Charles blinked awake slowly, disoriented at first.Emily was curled against him, face nestled against the crook of his shoulder, one hand resting on his chest like she'd staked her claim in the quiet. Her IV had been expertly maneuvered to give her room, and her breathing was soft. Steady.Charles didn’t move.Not because he didn’t want to.But because he couldn’t.His body was still for once—truly still. And his mind, so often raging in silence, was quiet.The guilt that normally clawed at him first thing in the morning… was gone.Not erased. But muted.Not forgotten. But distant.For the first time in years since the accident that took his parents—he had slept. Deeply. Peacefully. With her.His eyes remained fixed on her peaceful face, and somethi