Evidently, Anthony wasn’t the only one Nathaniel understood well. Nathaniel easily saw through me too.
Since I had passed the test, I decided to continue with my act. “What time is the meeting tonight?”
“It’s at seven.”
“I’ll see you at The Jade, then.”
Since I would be heading to Emery’s turf, I thought it would be appropriate to give her advance notice. Hence, I headed directly to her home upon ending the call.
After all, Audrey and Gregory were in school during the day, and John’s family had moved in with Emma’s family. The entire house felt empty and desolate.
When I reached Emery’s house, the guard told me that she had gone out in the morning and didn’t say when she would return.
Just when I was about to give her a call, Hunter, who was dressed in casual clothing and sandals, walked out the main door carrying a pair of garden shears.
“Are you here to see Emery?” Hunter’s voice sounded more mature with the passage of time. Coupled with his gentle tone, he exuded a charm befitting men of his age.
Time seemed to be kinder to men. The scars of the past felt as if they had never happened before.
“Mm-hmm.” I nodded politely while scrutinizing him. From the way he looked, I wondered if he had moved in together with Emery.
Have they reconciled with each other? But it isn’t like Emery to do so.
Sensing what was going through my mind, Hunter waved his shears and explained, “Xavier hasn’t been feeling well lately, and Emery is bogged down at work, so I came over for a few days to take care of him. I’m staying in the guest room by the way.”
Hunter’s short explanation bordered between drawing a line and indirectly showing off. He sounded as if he would always be a part of Emery’s world as long as Xavier was around.
As for me, I had a stubborn attitude toward such matters. Even though it had happened a long time ago, I still didn’t know how I should interact with him. In the end, I replied with a smile, “That’s between you and her. There’s no need to explain yourself to me. Since Emery isn’t around, I’ll be taking my leave.”
“Do you want me to pass a message?” Hunter was considerate in the way he did things. He would have made a good friend if not for his relationship problems.
“It’s fine. I’ll just give her a call. Bye.”
With that, I returned to my car. Right after Hunter’s figure disappeared from the rearview mirror, I gave Emery a call.
Since I was calling her personal line, she answered at once.
“What’s up?” Emery asked directly.
She had grown used to speaking in a forthright manner due to her outspoken character. Although she seemed domineering to outsiders, those close to her knew how comfortable it was to be in her company.
“Wanna watch a drama together tonight?” I asked jokingly.
“Drama?” Emery had no idea what I was talking about. After giving it some thought, she asked, “Are you talking about stage dramas? Since when are you into such arty-farty stuff? What drama and where is it? I’ll see if I can get us some VIP tickets.”
Giggling at how serious she was, I continued toying with her, “The Jade Theatre. And it’s titled ‘The Falling Out of the Siblings.’“
“The Jade Theatre…” Emery repeated cluelessly before she finally got it. She raised her pitch dramatically and questioned me, “What’s going on? Sienna, are you making a fool of me to kill time?”
The threat between best friends was the least lethal, especially since I knew how soft-hearted Emery was. I burst out laughing. “No, I’m just kidding.”
“It’s not funny. I was planning to work hard today. If you’re trying to fool around, come again another time,” uttered Emery resignedly yet dotingly. I was sure that even if I pestered her and said a lot of nonsense, she would not get mad at me.
Empathy should be mutual, so I did not take it too far. “Okay. Time to get serious. The Jade will be very lively tonight. Since you’re the owner, I’m here to make use of my connections.”
“That’s more like it. Get straight to the point. What’s going on?” Instantaneously, Emery became good- tempered again. Her employees would probably be wondering which one was her true nature.
I explained the entire situation to her and finally concluded, “So, this is really important. Someone like Nathaniel will definitely make a reservation. I need to know whether he’ll be there or not. Only then can I think of a countermeasure.”
“I see. But this is a matter between Anthony and John. Nathaniel might not turn up,” Emery analyzed.
“No,” I immediately refuted her. “You’re wrong. Nathaniel won’t miss any opportunity to trample on Anthony.”
Destroying Anthony’s happiness was Nathaniel’s greatest joy. It was a morbid obsession. What he could not get, he would not allow Anthony to have it as well. In fact, he would even go to extremes to ruin everyone’s happiness. Therefore, he would definitely show up.
“Wait a minute. I’ll have someone check the guestlist for tonight.”
“Okay.”
After two minutes, Emery’s voice sounded again. “You seem to have guessed wrongly this time.”
“What do you mean? There’s no reservation from Nathaniel?”
“Mm-hmm,” she affirmed. “However, it’s also possible that he might show up without a reservation. VIPs always have the priority no matter what time they turn up.”
I had seen too many unusual behaviors of Nathaniel, so it was not so surprising. Now that I was not sure whether he would appear or not, it was difficult to determine how far I should take the act.
At that moment, I seemed to understand why Anthony had been so indifferent toward me because Nathaniel was like a ghost. It was impossible to know when he would appear and deal a heavy blow. Therefore, it was important to be vigilant at all times.
In that case, I could only give it a shot. “All right. Send me Anthony’s room number later so that I don’t run around like a headless chicken.”
“Don’t worry. Look for the manager on duty when you arrive, and he’ll lead you there,” responded Emery matter-of-factly.
“Things are different now, and rumors are spreading like wildfire. Anthony announced publicly in the company that day that he has taken all my shares. And every entertainment headline these few days is about Rylee and me. Not to mention that John has moved out of the Featherstone residence. The whole world knows that I’m being detested by my own family. Who else will treat me with respect?”
“That’s their problem. If any of my subordinates dare to add insult to injury, I’ll make sure they can no longer survive in K City.” Emery felt indignant on my behalf. Shortly afterward, she smiled. “Why do I sound so serious? It’s not like you’ve really suffered a downfall. All of these are just an act. Anyway, I’ll inform all my employees that they’ll have to give you special treatment no matter when you come over. Don’t worry and go ahead.”
“Thank you, then, Ms. Moore,” I quipped.
“Yeah, right. Is that all? I’m busy with the accounting reports, so I have to go now. See you tonight.”
“Okay, bye.”
The car stopped at the intersection of the commercial district when I hung up the phone. I inadvertently glanced out the window and happened to see a giant poster of Rylee on the exterior of a supermarket building.
She was wearing bold and bright-colored clothes with exaggerated makeup. That kind of fashion style might be acceptable to foreigners, but the natives might think that it was too much. I bet everyone who saw the poster would wonder if she had offended the makeup artist.
However, Rylee did not seem to care about that. Half of the advertising spots in the commercial district were full of her posters, and every single one of them looked horrible.
Everyone in K City knew that Anthony was her sponsor, but he had become an embarrassment because of her. It was as if she wanted the whole world to know that Anthony had abandoned his wife and children to be with a woman with such awful aesthetic judgment.
They were like a young couple who was madly in love, wanting the whole world to know that they were quarreling so that everyone could be entertained by the drama.
While the car slowly made its way down the street, I fell into deep thoughts. If it were me, would I still have trust in this world after knowing that everything that went wrong in my life was closely related to the person I loved?
I did not have an answer to the question. No one could really empathize with another person. Even a trivial matter would cause a series of chain reactions. My life is still a mess, so I don’t have the leisure to worry about others.
In just a few seconds, Rylee’s face was out of my sight.
Shaking my head, I shrugged off those thoughts and took a deep breath. This isn’t the time to think about them.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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