Emma Johnson rubbed her temples. Her mind drifted back to a woman who had once told her that natural childbirth was far superior to a C-section. Her husband had even gone into the delivery room and filmed the entire process. The moment the bloody baby emerged from her belly, he fainted on the spot.
It was horrifying. Absolutely horrifying.
Emma decided right then that she wouldn't be having a baby anytime soon.
After two weeks of cooking practice, Emma had finally managed to learn a few dishes. But she didn't have the confidence to make them taste as good as Amelia White's.
She planned to find someone to taste her food and judge her skills.
So poor Elijah Clark became her first test subject.
"You made this?"
Elijah stared at the braised fish in front of him. It didn't look great, and it seemed to have a burnt smell. But that didn't matter. After all, this was the first time Emma had ever cooked for him. All that remained in Elijah's heart was pure emotion.
"Try it. Is it good?"
Emma looked at Elijah expectantly. Elijah picked up his chopsticks and took the first bite.
It was a little salty. It seemed she had put in too much sugar. And it definitely had a burnt taste.
"Delicious. Emma, you really have the skills of a chef."
Really?
Emma looked at the steaming food with relish, thinking that the last time she had cooked, it hadn't been very tasty. Had she succeeded this time?
She also picked up her chopsticks, eager to try, but Elijah stopped her. He wanted to finish it all by himself.
Watching him eat with such enjoyment, Emma felt that she could now cook for Liam Williams.
This cooking class hadn't been a waste of money after all.
Alexander Wilson watched Emma walk out of the building with a lunchbox, a happy smile on her face. He wondered what had happened in Elijah's office. She seemed very happy, her smile like that of someone in love.
He frowned. He thought that although Liam had married this woman for a purpose, she was far too unruly. She was openly bringing food to Elijah.
He decided to tell Liam everything he knew in detail. To prevent him from being influenced by this woman in the future.
Liam received a phone call from Alexander. His hand unconsciously tightened around his phone. When he hung up, he got up from his chair and went inside to pour himself a drink.
The strong vodka burned his stomach, but no matter how much he drank, he couldn't get drunk.
Until he finished the entire bottle, he kept reminding himself not to be influenced by this woman. Although he knew he was Emma's first man, that didn't prove she wouldn't work for a fox hunt. Maybe she would sacrifice herself for it?
After constant self-hypnosis, Liam felt a little better.
In the evening, when he came home, he looked at the braised fish on the table and saw the expectation in Emma's eyes. Liam heard a sneer in his heart.
But he didn't show anything. He just took one bite of the fish and didn't touch it again.
"Not good?"
"Try it yourself."
Liam put down his chopsticks and took a sip of coffee.
Emma took a bite, and soon her expression twisted.
"It's so salty. It was delicious when I made it for Elijah."
As soon as Emma finished speaking, she realized it was inappropriate and quickly looked up to carefully observe Liam.
But there was no fluctuation in Liam's eyes.
"Maybe it's because it's for different people, so the taste is different."
When Emma heard his light words, she felt he was mocking her. She bit her lower lip, then said sorry, and poured the braised fish into the kitchen garbage can.
Her nose stung a little, and she didn't know why she suddenly wanted to cry. Even though the taste wasn't good, she had learned it with all her heart. Even if it couldn't compare to Amelia's, he didn't have to be so picky.
She thought, no matter how hard she studied cooking. In Liam's heart, only what Amelia made was the best.
Dinner was spent in silence. Emma didn't even finish half a bowl of rice. The other two vegetarian dishes she had cooked were fine, but Liam barely touched them. This frustrated Emma and she decided never to go into the kitchen again.
She wasn't born to be a culinary genius, and now, hit by Liam's coldness, she didn't want to touch it anymore.
That evening, she was angry and didn't want to go back to the bedroom to sleep with Liam. She couldn't just tell him to sleep in the study, as that would seem too overbearing. So Emma grabbed a blanket and lay down on the living room sofa, pretending to watch a TV series.
The drama, with over a hundred episodes, had reached the halfway point. But only half of the episode made Emma so sleepy that tears squeezed out of her eyes. The hero on TV was still roaring hysterically, earning him the title of the new generation's "Roaring Emperor."
When Liam came out of his study, he saw Emma sleeping on the sofa. The LCD TV was still on. He went to turn it off, finally giving the living room some peace.
In her sleep, Emma felt as if she had been gently picked up. The chest was strong and broad, making her feel comfortable. There seemed to be a deep sigh above her head, and it seemed to say something.
But she didn't hear a single word.
The next day, she woke up in bed and rubbed her eyes. She was confused. Had she been sleepwalking? But that was impossible, so the only possibility was that Liam had brought her in.
She touched the other half of the bed. Maybe Liam hadn't slept in the bedroom at all last night.
He was very considerate. But Emma still felt ignored by him.
Jameson, the chief designer of Milan Fashion House, had finally passed the rest period and designed some new winter models for the brand. They were just waiting for the fabric to be selected and processed into finished products.
"Sir, we found Secretary Lewis's mistress and have a lot of evidence of his bribery. But when our men went to his mistress's place, they found she had disappeared into thin air. Her name didn't appear on any airport boarding information. Maybe she's hiding."
After reporting Jameson's affairs to Liam, Christopher Martin told Liam about Secretary Lewis, who had recently been investigated for his involvement in the Nanhu Village development project.
"No trace? I'm afraid she's not hiding."
"You mean, she was silenced."
After listening to Liam's analysis, Christopher quickly judged.
Liam nodded.
"We investigated the death of his mistress and parents. If she was killed secretly, there would be no missing person report."
"Go to Captain David Reed this afternoon and ask him if there have been any unclaimed corpses recently."