From the balcony, he watched Emma Johnson load the suitcase into the trunk of the white BMW. Then, still in her slippers, she opened the driver's door, and soon the BMW disappeared from this luxurious neighborhood.
"Emma, you can't live without me. I won't let you leave me."
In the haze of smoke, Liam Williams's voice was low, cold, and magnetic, like a spell that left no room for escape.
Sophia Johnson stared at her daughter, who stood at the door holding a large suitcase. Under her coat was a nightgown, and her feet were still in a pair of slippers. She was stunned.
"Emma, who are you running from?"
"Mom, Liam is on a business trip. I didn't want to stay in the apartment alone, so I decided to come home for a while."
That was the excuse Emma had come up with in a hurry while driving. Sophia and James Johnson exchanged glances, looking at their daughter's forced smile. They sensed something was wrong between her and her husband. Even if Liam was away on business, their daughter wouldn't need to rush home without even changing her clothes or shoes.
She made that apartment seem like a tiger's den, desperate to escape.
Emma returned to her long-abandoned room. Although it felt empty and cold after being unoccupied for months, she still felt that only her own home was the best.
Leaving the suitcase aside, she threw herself onto her bed, breathing in the familiar scent, feeling her mood lift slightly.
"Emma, you haven't eaten yet. If you want to sleep, you have to eat first."
Sophia knocked on the door from outside. Emma touched her empty stomach, which was already protesting. She was indeed a little sleepy, and the rush had left her feeling dizzy.
After a moment, she opened the door and went out.
Her mother had cooked her a bowl of noodles with a poached egg. Usually, Emma couldn't finish such a large bowl, but today, having skipped both breakfast and lunch, she ended up drinking all the soup and finally felt full.
Something was wrong. Definitely wrong.
Sophia watched her daughter, who had eaten her fill and gone back to sleep in her bedroom. She whispered to her husband, James, in the living room.
"I think our daughter must have quarreled with her husband. Should we call him and ask what happened?"
James suggested to his wife.
"If it's our son-in-law's fault, we'll be at a disadvantage if we call first. Let's wait until our daughter wakes up."
Sophia thought it was better to hold off until they understood the situation.
However, no sooner had they reached an agreement than, less than an hour later, their son-in-law arrived at their home.
"Dad, Mom, did Emma come home?"
Liam had a warm, gentle smile on his face, his usual coldness completely put away.
"She's home, but she's sleeping in her room now. Let me ask you, did you quarrel with Emma? What happened to make our little Emma so angry?"
Sophia felt her daughter had been wronged, and her expression was no longer as kind as before. She asked with a cold face.
Liam put on a look of admitting his mistake.
"It's all my fault. I resigned on Emma's behalf without consulting her."
"Resigned?"
Sophia and James were very surprised by this answer. In their previous guesses, they had thought the most likely scenario was that some woman had appeared around Liam, causing trouble in their daughter's life.
After all, with Liam's wealth, countless women would line up to throw themselves at him. They wouldn't care if Liam was a married man.
But what they hadn't expected was the reason for resigning.
"Yes. You both know that Emma's health hasn't been very good lately. The doctor said she needs to rest properly. I had suggested it to her before, but she always opposed it. Recently, she's been busy with work. She fainted when she got up this morning. I was very worried that if she continued like this, she would ruin her health, so I made the decision on my own. As a result, Emma got angry."
Seeing her son-in-law's helpless and worried expression, Sophia understood why.
So, the problem lay with their daughter.
"Good son-in-law, you did the right thing. Our daughter is a workaholic. When she married you, we expected her to resign, but she chose to keep working. That won't do. You don't have children yet. She can't keep working and still have children."
She patted her son-in-law on the shoulder to comfort him. After hearing Liam's words, the two elders had unconsciously tilted the balance in favor of their son-in-law, both complaining about their stubborn and unwise daughter.
After a full sleep, Emma opened her bedroom door and was shocked by the happy scene of three people sitting on the sofa in the living room, eating fruit.
"Liam, why are you here?"
"How do you talk to your husband? He was worried about you and came to see you. Can't he? Emma, come with me. Mom has something to say to you." Sophia looked at her daughter, who was surprised and clearly not welcoming her son-in-law, and glared at her.
Emma was shocked by her mother's attitude and looked at Liam, who appeared worried and apologetic. She thought to herself that this man must have taken the wrong medicine. Where was the overbearing look from the apartment at noon? His acting was truly first-class. It was a pity he didn't compete for the Best Actor award.
When the door closed again, before Emma could speak, her mother couldn't wait to lecture her.
"Emma, it's not that Mom wants to criticize you, but where can you find such a good son-in-law? Although he resigned for you without your consent, it was for your health. Think about it, you're only married now, and you don't even have children yet. What if you exhaust yourself and have trouble getting pregnant later? Don't forget, my son-in-law is the president of Pinnacle Corporation. It's precious that he would do this for you."
Sophia looked very earnest, but Emma felt like her lungs were about to explode.
This Liam was a man who twisted the truth. He wasn't doing this for her health; he was just teaching her a lesson. Because she had entered his office without permission and changed Emilia Clark's wrong statement. He had done this in a fit of rage.
She really wanted to tell her mother the whole story, but she didn't want her to worry. Emma was suffering inside, with no one to complain to, making her feel more wronged than anyone.
"Listen to Mom, don't be so stubborn. Later, go out and apologize to your son-in-law. In my opinion, if you quit your job, your working hours are never normal. When you're busy, you even live in the company for days and nights. If you hadn't married your son-in-law, I'm afraid your boss would have squeezed you dry."
Sophia patted Emma's hand and advised her.