Chapter 23: Distance
After a while of trying to ask, Emily also knew the real reason for the wounds on her father’s body.
Turns out, there was no mistake, but it was a warning from a group of gangsters specializing in predatory lending. They threatened that if within a week he did not pay back both capital and interest, they would take his life.
She didn’t expect that her father would get into debt and the interest would multiply day by day.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
“Emily, don’t keep crying like that. Or… please ask Kevin to help us. He loves you so much that ignoring the past, he will help us. You are also creating a good relationship with his family members, right?”
At this point, Emily could no longer hide this from her father. She bitterly confessed to him that she was abandoned by Kevin the night she went to his house for dinner.
He brought another girl home to introduce her to his family and said he did so because he wanted her to experience being betrayed by someone else.
“So where have you been these days? If you don’t go to the company, why don’t you go home?” James asked worriedly.
“I… I’m just in the city. I was afraid that Dad would see some scratches, so I lied. I still go to work. In short, everything is normal, just don’t expect anything from Kevin anymore. Okay, Dad, take a rest. Dad, if we lose everything, we will run away and return to our hometown.”
Not knowing what else to say to comfort him, she said so. That’s the worst way. And if, after liquidating all of the company’s assets, they still have enough money to repay creditors, she and her father will stay here. The salary at Unicons Group will be enough for her to make ends meet.
After turning off the lights so he could sleep easily, she pushed the door open and walked out.
Seeing the man still sitting on the bench waiting, a warm feeling suddenly filled her heart. She thought he was gone already.
“Daniel, aren’t you going to attend the ceremony honoring young entrepreneurs?” She sat down next to him and asked him but her eyes were glued to the floor.
“No, I’m here with you.”
His answer forced her to move her eyes and look straight at the gentle but powerful face of the person next to her. He could see the tears flowing from the girl’s already red eyes.
“Daniel…”
“Emily, do you think that a weak girl like you needs someone by her side to lean on at times like this?”
His straightforward question touched a weak point in her heart. That’s right, she is a weak girl, not at all talented, not at all strong even though that is always the role model she tries to aim for.
Too many things happened and she didn’t have the talent to turn the situation around, she couldn’t turn danger into safety the same way he and Kevin could. The key lies in the words money and power.
“Daniel, I understand what you mean, but I’m not good. You know everything already. Me and your brother…”
“I don’t care. Emily, everyone has a past, we live for the present and the future, I only know that I like you very much now, like you, and will like you even more in the future. I want to be the man next to you.”
He spoke quickly and a lot as if afraid that he would no longer have the chance to express his feelings for her. He wants to do what his heart is telling and urging him to do.
To him, she is a precious gem. He was afraid that if he didn’t possess her quickly, someone else would take her away.
Currently, his brother has publicly announced his relationship with Emma, the past love story is nothing more than a not-so-beautiful memory.
If both sides feel awkward, he will take her out to live, not living in the same house, just visiting his parents on weekends.
“Daniel, don’t waste your time on me. Right now, the only person in my heart is Kevin, please stop talking.”
“He has fallen in love with another girl.”
“I know… but I can’t control myself. If you want us to remain friends, then please… don’t talk about this anymore.” She raised her hands to cover her ears and spoke in sobs.
Seeing her so agitated, he didn’t want to say anything more. Maybe he was too hasty.
It was the first time he knew how to love someone. Like a child, he always felt afraid that someone would take his candy away.
Perhaps for her, the time they met could be counted on the fingers and toes, but for him, it was love at first sight, when he saw her sitting on the bank of the canal, under the falling yellow autumn leaves.
At that time, he just thought that he saw a beautiful scene, so he fell in love. Until the day he witnessed her being abandoned by his brother, his heart was deeply shaken and he understood that feeling came from the love of a man and a woman.
“Do you need to take off work tomorrow?” He quickly changed the subject to break the awkward atmosphere.
“There is an important meeting tomorrow, and I have to prepare documents for Kevin.”
“So now I’ll take you back to the hotel, shower, change clothes, and then go back to the hospital.”
She dried the remaining tears on her cheeks, smiled, and nodded. Her father’s condition is nothing to worry about. Furthermore, there is a nurse who regularly comes to check on him, and the Empire Hotel is also close to here, so it doesn’t take too much time to run back and forth.
The moment Emily entered the bathroom, she was shocked to realize that the clock on the mirror shelf belonged to Kevin. Did he come here? Could it be that Kevin and Daniel share the same room?
She quickly showered and ran out, not forgetting to take the watch with her. She didn’t know if he had discovered her dresses. She had been wearing them to the company for the past two days and had left them for the staff to wash.
“It’s Kevin’s watch.” She spoke up as soon as she saw Daniel.
“Ah, perhaps he forgot it. Just now he came here to change his shirt because it was dirty.”
It seemed like there was thunder ringing in her ears. Kevin took the shirt which means he opened the closet and it means he saw those dresses already.
She doesn’t know how to explain it to him. He will think that she didn’t keep her promise and lured his younger brother.
Although they cannot walk together on the path of love, she does not want to become too bad in his heart.
“Please take a shower and then take me back to the hospital.”
After finishing speaking, she went back in, sat on the bed, and looked absent-mindedly at the wooden wardrobe.
Just looking at her eyes, Daniel also understood what she was worried about. However, he didn’t feel so bad. If Kevin knew that Emily was his future sister-in-law, he would not cause her any trouble because of his brotherly love for him.
All night long, Daniel stayed in the hospital with Emily. Because he suggested taking James to the VIP room, both he and she had a place to sleep, sleeping on the sofa.
James also felt that something was wrong between his daughter and the second young master of Unicons Group, but he didn’t know what was wrong. He also couldn’t ask.
“Dad, please stay here one more day for the doctor to monitor. I will take you home this afternoon.” Emily spoke up after putting the last spoon of porridge into his mouth.
“Yes, go to work, there are nurses here regularly, I can ask them if I need anything.” He waved his hand, signaling his daughter to leave quickly.
Daniel politely bowed to James before leaving the room. Last night, even though he didn’t have a warm blanket or soft mattress, he slept very well, a sweet feeling crept into every cell.
He will slowly, step by step, enter her life, and then there will come a time when she will realize that he is so familiar that she does not want to be without him.
As soon as the car stopped in the parking lot, Emily quickly jumped out of the car and ran inside. She didn’t want Kevin to see her walking side by side with Daniel again.
Seeing her avoiding him as if avoiding evil, he was not angry but felt that she was very lovely. He is the type of boyfriend who pampers the person he loves wholeheartedly. No matter what she does, he will still stand by her side. Of course, he believes that Emily would never do anything to harm anyone.
Throughout the morning, Emily noticed that Kevin was in a bad mood, or more accurately, unstable. He didn’t look at her, even while ordering her to do this or that, he still didn’t look at her.
He repeatedly signed the wrong documents, causing her to have to run around to the departments to ask them to reprint them.
Lunch came, she ordered food for him and arranged it on the table but did not dare open her mouth to invite him to eat.
When she opened her mouth, he automatically stood up but was dizzy and almost fell, having to hold on to the edge of the desk.
“Kevin, are you okay?” Emily quickly rushed to his side and asked.
“No need for you to care.” He pushed her hand away, tried to close his eyes, and then opened them again so he could see everything around him.
“Things at the hotel are not what you think.”
“Do I need to hear your explanation?”
“I’m afraid you’ll misunderstand.”
“That’s what I understand. Go get me a glass of cold water.”
As soon as he finished shouting, she ran away. And he had to find the swivel chair and sit down again.
Last night, he couldn’t sleep and had to use alcohol to comfort his broken heart. Last night, his younger brother didn’t come home and told his mother that he would stay at the hotel. Daniel made him feel scared of the word “hotel”.
When Emily returned, she saw Kevin standing next to Emma, his hand gently patting her shoulder and it seemed like she was crying, her thin shoulder trembling slightly.
Because Emily didn’t want to intrude on their private space, she quietly left and went to the hospital to give lunch to her father.
“If you keep being soft-hearted, you will only bring suffering to yourself and ruin your mother. If you can’t stand hearing her whine and cry, then temporarily stop visiting her.” Kevin tiredly advised her.
Emma nodded but kept crying. Yesterday, she went to visit her mother and saw how pitiful her mother was.
Her mother continuously begged her to take her home and promised to obediently sit quietly in the house, not wander around, take out loans, gamble, smoke, or drink anymore.
Emma knew that Kevin had spent a large amount of money to put her mother there, helping her rehabilitate her almost exhausted body.
But she is her daughter, and even though her mother is bad, she is still very sad when she sees her mother locked up, separate from the outside world.
“Emma, if you disobey me, if something happens to you in the future, I will turn a blind eye.” He finished the last sentence and then went to the sofa, picked up a piece of meat, and put it in his mouth to chew.
“Yes, I will obey you.”
After speaking, she wiped her tears and quickly left the room, going to the rooftop to cry again. Every afternoon after work, when she comes home and doesn’t see her mother, her heart aches.