Emily shook her head as if to clear it. Then she put away her phone and went to put Beryl to sleep.
After a while, Emily lay in her own bed. It was already midnight but her mind was chaotic that she
couldn't sleep just yet. Emily had been having nightmares recently--tossing and turning through the
night. She often dreamed of dark, mysterious places and when she jolted awake, her heart would be
pounding rapidly.
Emily handed Beryl off to Zoe and left right away without even having breakfast first.
She was driving at full speed at a relatively empty road when a child suddenly crossed the road. She
didn't have time to slam on the brakes so she steered her car to the side as fast as she could.
Boom! Her car hit a black Aston Martin that was parked on the side of the road.
The child was stunned by the crash. Before he could do anything, his parents rushed to the scene, took
him away and disappeared at the end of the road. Neither of them wanted to get into trouble since
there was no possibility that they could afford the damages of two luxury cars.
Emily was a bit relieved because she was able to swerve on time and the child was fine. But then she
realized that the black Aston Martin wasn't empty. 'There's a man in the car? Oh god, I hope he's fine.'
Before Emily could step out of her car, the man inside the black Aston Martin had already stepped out
and was walking towards Emily's car.
This was the last thing that Jack expected to happen. He'd already had enough with Jacob nowadays
and this one time that he was in the mood for a ride and his car got hit! On top of that, he wasn't even
driving! What a bad day!
He initially thought to just ask his assistant to deal with the driver but he was in a mood and he wanted
to talk to this person directly. He was even considering giving the driver a taste of his fist and maybe
then a small sum of money afterwards for the damages.
"What the hell is wrong with…" Jack already had his hand reached out ready to pull the driver's door
open when Emily stepped out. He froze and he looked horrified as if he'd just seen a ghost.
All his anger flew out the window. Jack felt as if he was just dumped with a bucket of ice water over his
head.
"I'm really sorry, I swerved and I was avoiding the kid who was in the middle of the road. I didn't see
you parked there so I didn't mean to hit your car, don't worry I'll pay for all the damages," Emily said
apologetically as she took out her phone and dialed the number of a traffic enforcer or the police
probably.
Emily knew that when she decided to go here that she was definitely going to see some of the people
in her old life. But she decided this wasn't going to bother her at all--she was different now, stronger.
She was Cloris now, daughter of the Lu family, strong and brave.
Jack stared at her enthused. His mind went blank because he was way too excited. He'd dreamed of
this a thousand times and he never thought it would come true. He wasn't even paying attention to the
words coming out of her mouth. He pulled Emily into his arms in a tight hug as if she wasn't real and
she was going to disappear any second now.
"Emily…is that you…? I missed you so much…" He murmured as his head rested on her shoulder.
Emily frown and pushed him away, "I'm sorry, sir, but my name is Cloris." Her voice was cold and
distant.
"Emily…" Jack looked at her, startled and at a loss. This wasn't the Emily he knew but Jack was too
overwhelmed to think this through properly, "Emily, it's you! You're alive! I knew it! Where have you
been all these years?" He asked.
She is alive. Thank God she is alive. And she is here! After so many years…
"My name's Cloris. Didn't you hear me?" Emily took a deep breath and said it again. The traffic officer
had arrived, so she called her assistant to deal with the situation.
"Am I dreaming?" Jack hugged Emily again from behind. He closed his eyes as his heart pounded. 'If
this just another dream, then I won't wake up this time.'
"Emily, you don't remember me?" Jack asked her.
He was holding Emily so tight that she almost couldn't breath. She tried to wriggle herself free but she
couldn't so she shouted, "Let go of me!"
Jack wasn't in the right frame of mind until he saw the look on Emily's face--he realized she was angry
and offended. Then he released her reluctantly.
"Emily…I…" He tried to explain.
But Emily had already pushed him away and was already walking towards the police without even so
much as a second glance.
Jack followed her right away, "Emily, wait!" He was scared that Emily might disappear again so he
wouldn't let her out of his sight this time.
"Sir, I'm sorry but you've got the wrong person. My name is Cloris, Cloris Lu. I'm not this Emily girl that
you're looking for," Emily turned back and replied. She was treating Jack like she'd never seen him
before, like he was a complete stranger.
"No. I'm sure of it. I wouldn't ever mistake you for someone else," Jack said, he was hurt at Emily's
words. But then something came to his mind, what if Emily lost her memory due to the accident? 'If
Emily's lost her memory then maybe we can start all over again and if she didn't remember then she
probably doesn't remember Jacob, either... so this is a whole different game then...'
The possibility of being with Emily again lightened up Jack's mood. "Emily, it's okay if you don't
remember. What's important is I remember you and that's good enough for me..." Jack said, his eyes
gleaming.
"Please call me Miss Lu," Emily said coldly. The look on her face was so distant that Jack started to
question himself, 'This is Emily, right? I'm not mistaken, right? I'm not so sure anymore...'
Maybe she wasn't the same Emily that he had come to know and love before.
But Jack could still sense that there was still some of that old Emily in her. He noticed that she would
still unconsciously bite her upper lip and clench her fist when she was either annoyed or nervous. Emily
had always been like that before and here she is, still the same old Emily that she was even if she uses
a different name now.
"Okay, sorry, Miss Lu." Jack decided right then that he wasn't going to insist on calling her Emily
anymore because if she couldn't remember him from before then he would take this chance to leave a
brand new and better first impression on her. "I'm sorry, Miss Lu, I was caught up on my emotions," he
apologized as he gazed at her face, watching her reactions.
Emily bit her lip as she replied, "Well, my assistant's here, you can talk to her about the damages. Now,
if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go," she turned around to leave as soon as she finished speaking.
"I think the car's fine. Insurance can cover that. Where are you going, Miss. Lu? Can I give you a ride?"
Jack offered.
Emily's eyes turned to the Aston Martin then glanced back at Jack, "No, thanks."
"Err, I'm going to use another car, don't worry," Jack said awkwardly.
"Doesn't matter, I'm fine," Emily said dismissively, "Thank you, sir, but I don't need a ride." Emily didn't
want to ever go back to her old life again and while, she didn't mind bumping into anyone from her old
life that didn't mean that she was going to let them infiltrate her perfectly fine life now. There was no
way she was going to let that happen. Emily walked away, her heels clicking.
Jack tried to run after her but an officer stopped him and handed him a piece of paper, "Sir, please
check if our estimate on the damages is correct. You can sign here if everything looks good to you."
Jack pushed the police away and said, "I'm fine, I don't need them to pay for anything."
But he was too late because Emily had already hailed a cab and left. There was no way Jack could
catch up with her now.
He slumped and glared at the officer.
"Sir…" The officer was confused--he was just trying to do his job. Emily's assistant piped in, cutting him
off, "Is there a problem?" She already knew about Jack so she knew that it was useless for the police
to try to talk to him.
When Jack realized that she was Emily's assistant, he changed his demeanor, "She's an old friend, it's
okay, I'll deal with it on my own."
Both the assistant and the officer stared at him then at the damaged car in disbelief--they even
exchanged glances.
'What did he just say?
Fix the car by himself? Seriously?'
But Jack wasn't paying any attention to them. He was still looking towards the direction where Emily's
cab had driven off. His head was spinning so he raised a hand and slapped himself on the face as if to
convince himself that this was all real indeed.
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