Bonnie couldn't wrap her head around it. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't put her finger
on the answer. She felt misunderstood, "Mr. Jacob..."
Jacob shook his head, burning with impatience and dismissed her, "Leave me alone."
He would have asked Bonnie to pack up and get out of his house if it wasn't because of that thing. Not
to mention, Emily, that empty-headed woman. Was she deaf? Didn't she hear him asking her to come
to his study? What was taking her so long?!
What the hell was she thinking?
Jacob had a feeling at the back of his mind that Emily was seeing someone else when she was looking
at him. As if he were a surrogate for someone else.
But who could that be? Jack or Sean?
Or perhaps it was Magee?
Jacob's eyes were as dark as a night sky without any stars. The light in his eyes that once shined
bright was no longer there.
...
Emily stayed at Tyrone Mansion. Everyday she would be assigned with different tasks, albeit,
somewhat boring and menial. However, much to Emily's surprise, Bonnie's attitude towards her had
gotten much nicer and tolerable than before.
Unfortunately, that didn't last very long. Soon after Jacob had left, Bonnie showed her cloven foot. She
came back to her former self of being a toxic and cynical human being.
However, despite her nasty attitude, she didn't have the audacity to hurt Emily. The slap to face Emily
had given her, was still fresh in her mind, and the pain from which was a constant reminder that Emily
was not one to be pushed around so easily. Besides, Jacob's attitude towards Emily was still unclear.
Did he still love her? Or maybe he hated her? And if she turned against Emily, would Jacob support
her? Bonnie wracked her brain with questions.
Although, she wanted to make life very difficult for Emily, Bonnie knew there was no cure for her itch. At
least not at the moment.
All the while, Emily would keep out of Bonnie's way. In truth, she didn't concern herself with matters
regarding Bonnie. The only person that took up most of Emily's worries was Jacob and all she could
think about was what Sean had told her before.
Deep in her heart, she knew that even if the chip did not exist, she would have to ask Jacob to go a
thorough physical test just to rule out the doubts. After all, there could still be other viable solutions
available to them.
The problem was that Jacob didn't want to have anything to do with her. In fact, he didn't even want to
see her. How could she possibly persuade him to take a test? Would he even listen to her?
Emily fell into a state of great distress.
It was just another day, washed clean of summer's dust by days of gentle rain. Emily stowed away
Jacob's laundry as some of his clothes needed to be hand washed. She was no longer the Lady of the
house, and the never-ending house chores had become a part of her daily life.
Emily took out the clothes and pulled out laundry detergent from the shelf. She wasn't particularly
familiar with the brand, but she didn't pay much attention to that. She twisted the lid off and poured it
out slowly.
While pouring the sticky, concentrated detergent solution, some of it accidentally splattered on her
hand. Immediately, Emily realized that something wasn't right. Before she knew it, she felt a burning
sensation on her hand rise up.
"What is this..." Her eyes popped in surprise when she saw her skin start to blister, "What? Is this
concentrated acid? Yes, it definitely is!"
It only took a second to react. Emily bit her lower lip to endure the pain as she took out one of Jacob's
shirt to wipe her hand, before she put her hand under the sink and washed it over and over again. She
looked frantic, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows and little beads of sweat on her forehead.
'Who did this? Who poured acid into the detergent bottle?
Who would want to hurt me?'
Bonnie was the first name that popped in her mind. 'That crazy woman...' Emily firmly believed that
Bonnie was responsible, but the pain on her hand reminded her that she didn't have much time to go
on looking for evidence to prove her suspicions. Without wasting any time, Emily pulled out the medical
kit from the shelf and applied some ointment on her hand.
Her face turned pale the moment she applied ointment to the wound. The flash burn of skin left seared
spot that was too painful to touch. The pain was excruciating!
Emily clenched her teeth and bound the wound with gauze. The sharp pain was so overwhelming that
she barely managed to dress her wound properly.
However, she didn't shed a single tear, even though the pain was killing her. She forced her tears back
inside.
After she had lost the man who was supposed to protect her, the only person she could really rely on
was herself.
Emily knew it well that the world would swallow her up if she wasn't tough enough. And a tough woman
wouldn't cry in the face of danger!
'Whoever poured acid into the bottle lives in this house! Only the people who live with me here would
have the chance to do this.' Emily came to a conclusion.
If that weren't bad enough, the culprit was someone who knew her daily routine well. They knew she
would have to hand wash Jacob's clothes and she would have to use the laundry detergents. 'What if
this isn't the only thing they've tampered with...
What if Beryl comes across something like this? No! I can't let anything happen to her!'
Driven by her fears and anxiety, Emily made an exhaustive search, which fortunately revealed nothing
further to be afraid of. She felt thankful for the slightest bit of relief she could gather from the situation.
It was time to find out who the perpetrator was!
...
The other side, in A City.
Jacob was away on a business trip, and it had been three days since he last saw Emily. All the while,
he felt upset, as if something really bad had happened to someone he cared about deeply.
Although he had important business to take care of, his heart just wasn't there. He closed the deal as
quickly as he could and bought a ticket back home.
Jacob told himself that he was going back ahead of schedule only for his daughter. He was certain that
Beryl missed him just as much as he had missed her, if not more.
As for Emily, he didn't care about her at all. Jacob did not deem the woman to be worthy of his extra
attention.
While he was flying back, he kept telling himself that it wasn't about Emily. Luckily for him, it worked.
Jacob gave credence to his own words and went back home confidently.
However, he had forgotten that Beryl wasn't home. She was staying in the kindergarten. Besides, Beryl
was so contented with Emily that she even forgot that her dad wasn't around.
Apparently, Jacob wasn't aware of that fact.
When Emily heard that Jacob had returned earlier than his plan, she was a little surprised, as he was
supposed to stay in A City for a week.
But now that he was home, he would definitely see the wound on her hand.
'It doesn't matter anyway. He doesn't care about me. Will he even notice that I hurt my hand? No.
Tough luck, Emily. Don't flatter yourself.'
A wry smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she thought about that.
She stood in the garden, pensively looking at the flowers in front of her. 'What a beautiful world... but
my life is such a mess...' Emily breathed out a bitter sigh.
'When will you start to notice my love for you, Jacob?'
Little did Emily know, that while she was staring at the flowers, lost in deep thought, someone was
observing her from the corner.
The first thing Jacob did after he returned to Tyrone Mansion was look for Emily. He was worried about
her, and he even got a little upset when he couldn't find her anywhere in the house.
Fortunately, before he suffered an aggressive outburst, he saw the woman standing silently in the
garden. All of a sudden, his anger disappeared just as soon as he laid eyes on her. He was no longer
angry at her for not being where she was supposed to be. Once in Jacob's heart where there was
resentment, was now a strong urge to hold this woman into his arms.
However, Jacob could tell that all kinds of thoughts were whirling around in her head, so rather than
intruding on them he kept silent. 'Silly woman, why are you here? What are you looking at? And what
are you thinking about?' He stood still, staring at the woman.
While Emily stood there completely motionless. All she did was sigh at some plants with her eyebrows
furrowed. Clearly something was bothering her which pained Jacob's heart more than any physical
scar he had ever incurred. He wanted to take away all her worries so she could smile once again.
From a close distance, she seemed to have lost quite a lot of weight. It was almost as though the wind
could blow her away any minute.
'What's going on with her?' What Jacob saw didn't give him the satisfaction he thought he would get.
Yes, he wanted to torture Emily, and she needed to know that there were consequences to her actions!
But he didn't mean to starve her. Jacob wouldn't sink that low!
Suddenly, Emily turned around, as she could feel his eyes burning into her soul.
When Emily turned around, Jacob hide himself without a conscious thought. Perhaps it was because
he didn't want her to see him. He didn't want her to know that he was thinking about her all the time.
Jacob felt embarrassed by his weakness for her.
When Emily turned her head and saw no one behind her, she looked back at those flowers.
But before she turned around, Jacob caught the grievance in her eyes and he was stunned.
'What is she grieving? For who? Why was she grieving?
Is it so unbearable for her to be with me?
But why? Why is she trying so hard to stay with me?
Beryl? Is Beryl the reason why she did not want to leave?'
Jacob clamped his lips tightly, raging deep in his heart. But a few seconds later, his anger dissipated
like a candle flame that had been snuffed out.
'Painful huh? Well guess what? You won't get the chance to leave me! I will show you the true meaning
of pain.'
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