"Do you recognize who it is? I bet I don't need to introduce this person to you since you're obviously
quite familiar with him," said Tina. She laughed hysterically and hid the phone behind her when Emily
tried to take the phone.
Emily bit her lip tightly, failing to keep the calmness in her face together. The burden of a nightmare
from many years ago fell on her heart once again, Emily stuttered,"How did you... get this video..."
"If you don't want people to know about it, you'd better listen to me," said Tina, as she slowly put her
phone back in her handbag, and hummed dismissively,"Your stuff can be easily found as long as I want
to."
With a hateful expression on her face, Tina continued,"Would Jacob still love you if I spread this video
to the public to let everybody know just what kind of person you truly are?"
Tina's words hit Emily like a lightning bolt, sending shockwaves throughout her entire body, causing her
to tremble with fear.
Emily bit her lip so hard that it almost bled, making it difficult for her to speak out. She weakly
murmured,"You... What do you want exactly?"
There was no denying the fact that Emily was just clutching at straws, fearing the alternative.
Petrified with crippling fear, Emily was worried about her past getting exposed to the public. She did not
want to relive her nightmare all over again, followed by the hatred and resentment from the people
around her...
No, she couldn't let anyone else know. No matter what the cost was!
"Here's the deal. From now on you have to listen to me and stay within the boundaries of your status.
Do not dare to dream of the things you should never dream of. If you comply, perhaps I may even help
you to cover up the truth; understood?" asserted Tina.
"... Yes." Emily had too much to lose. She had no other choice but to agree to what Tina was asking,
because the secret that Tina was holding was powerful enough to destroy everything Emily had worked
for.
"So you agree?" Tina winked her eyes at Emily and said,"I thought you had integrity, but I was wrong
about you."
Speechless, Emily clenched her fists while staring at the ground, trembling with rage.
"Now that you have agreed..." Tina laughed delightfully with pure satisfaction. Looking at the lost soul in
front of her, she demanded,"My shoes are really dirty. Why don't you help me clean it, hmm?"
Tina stretched out her left leg. Her shoes were clean and spotless, without a single speck of dust on it.
It was quite obvious that Tina already knew that. She was just looking for an excuse to humiliate Emily.
In any case, Emily's mental stability was in shambles, as she kept playing the video Tina had just
shown her in her mind. Emily stood there motionlessly, like a statue, frozen with fear.
A sense of impatience flashed through Tina's eyes. "Looks like you want everybody to know about your
secret," she threatened Emily.
"No..." Emily's voice trembled. With a deep sigh of resignation, she took out a piece of tissue to clean
Tina's shoes, even though it was clean and dustless.
Tina was glowing with pride and satisfaction. 'Your place is at my feet. This woman should have humbly
knelt before me, rather than looking straight to my eyes all along.'
Tina looked at Emily with resentment from a high position of power, while switching her right leg for
Emily to clean. With an unpleasant briskness in her voice, she said,"It is a privilege for a woman like
you to clean my shoes."
Emily was downcast. Only the dullness could be seen at the bottom of her eyes. Her bodily movement
was more mechanical than organic.
Tina took advantage of the opportunity to raise her feet and step on Emily's hand. She pressed hard,
until she could see Emily's eyebrows furrow inwards in pain. "From now on, I want you to stay aware
from Jacob. You don't deserve to be seen with him!" said Tina.
She did not move her feet until she finished her words, then she let Emily go and walked out of the
ladies' room.
Emily stood there for a long time, looking at the footprint on her hand. She couldn't even clench her
fingers as they were sore with pain. As for the video in Tina's phone... What could she do with it?
...
In the following days, Jacob noticed that Emily was distancing herself from him on purpose. She
seemed so devoted to the new project that she wouldn't even take some time off to talk to him.
Jacob realized something was off when he called Emily over and saw the discomfort on her face, as
she asked for to be excused. Right at that moment, Tina approached Jacob and said,"Jacob, Emily isn't
feeling well today. Why don't you let me become your assistant?" Tina knew for sure why Emily did not
feel well. Emily even tried to help her by creating many opportunities for her to get close to Jacob. Tina
was so satisfied with her compliance that she gladly held up her end of the bargain by not exposing
Emily's video to the public.
Jacob looked down at the papers and did not look her in the eyes. "No, thanks," he casually dismissed
Tina.
Tina continued,"I can do everything. I am capable of handling Emily's work without guidance. Please let
me stay..."
"Sam is enough for me." said Jacob.
Finding only Jacob's reluctance, Tina was afraid that he would get annoyed, so she stopped insisting.
She cast a short glare at Sam angrily, for being the third wheel.
Sam stood there oblivious, unaware of what he had done to deserve Tina's hatred.
After Tina had left, Jacob kept looking through the files, but his heart was already far away from the
office. Thinking of Emily's recent behavior, he finally realized something was wrong.
Emily just let Tina approach him without a word? Or did she do that on purpose? What did she want to
do exactly?
Jacob's facial expression turned solemn and the atmosphere around him was depressing. He needed
to find out whether Emily was just pretending to be silly or if she really was silly.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Jacob's head as he pushed all his affairs aside. He left the company
and drove straight to Emily's apartment.
"Knock-Knock."
Emily was in bed, fast asleep when her sleep was interrupted by the knock on the door. She raised her
sleepy head and struggled, as she dragged herself to open the door.
At her doorstep, stood a man, tall, sullen and handsome. He looked like he was about to explode in
anger, unable to handle the burden he was carrying in his heart.
"It's you," said Emily. She had a lot going on in her life and she was not in the mood to handle Jacob's
temper tantrums.
Jacob curved his lips upwards, waiting for a reasonable explanation from her. When he laid his eyes on
Emily, she was wearing pink and white pyjamas and her gorgeous hair was a complete mess. From her
drowsy look, it was obvious that she had just gotten up from bed. Jacob did not like the pale look on
Emily's face.
In an instant, Jacob's anger dissipated. "Are you feeling unwell?" he asked.
"Yes, I have a little fever," she nodded. "Do you want to come inside?" she asked him.
Jacob walked in naturally as if he was entering his own house, and then closed the door behind him.
Emily suddenly remembered the deal she had made with Tina. She dreaded to think about what would
happen if Tina had found out that Jacob came to visit her...
Emily's head was pounding. She wondered what the right thing for her to do was. However, it was too
late for her to kick Jacob out. She did not want Jacob to suspect anything...
When Emily was lost in her thoughts, a warm big hand covered her forehead. Jacob was checking her
temperature.
"It's a bit hot. Have you taken any medicine?" asked Jacob.
"Yes, I have," assured Emily, in a low voice. The fragility of her voice scratched Jacob's heart.
Soon after, he pulled Emily to his embrace and took her to her bedroom where she wrapped her hands
around his strong shoulders, without a conscious thought.
Emily rested her face to his chest. All she could hear was his heartbeat. It gave her comforts, as though
he was her most powerful support.
Perhaps, the only way she could solve her problems was by telling him the truth...
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