"I don't know that either."
Even though Emilia Clark was Emma Johnson's friend, Emma didn't want Emilia to know about Daniel Taylor's intentions toward her.
Emilia wanted to say more, but Elijah Clark quickly changed the subject. She had no choice but to drop the topic of Daniel.
The group drove back to Maple Ridge Hot Springs & Resort. By then, the main power line had been repaired. When Mia Lewis chatted with the resort owner, Mr. Vance, he mentioned that the wire hadn't burned out on its own—it had been deliberately cut. Everyone looked surprised, except for Elijah, whose expression remained indifferent, a sharp glint flickering in his eyes.
Emma planned to go back to her room for a nap, then soak in the hot springs before heading home in the afternoon. Mia dragged Elijah to the leisure hall, and Olivia Davis went along with them. Emilia also chose to return to her room to rest.
Back in her room, Emma drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, a sharp pain on her lips jolted her awake. Her eyes flew open to find a strikingly handsome, cold face staring back at her. She gasped in surprise.
"Mm—"
Her soft lips were captured by the man's thin, cool ones. His dark eyes seemed to burn with a hidden flame. Emma's weak, boneless hands pressed against his iron-hard chest. He hadn't even taken off his coat, and the lingering chill on his body made her shiver involuntarily.
Her mind was still foggy from sleep. Aside from the slight sting on her lips, the man was stirring inside her mouth wantonly, as if he wanted to devour her whole. After what felt like an eternity, when Emma's lips were almost numb from the pain, he finally pulled back slowly.
His deep black eyes held a hint of ice she couldn't understand, reflected in her clear, watery gaze.
"Why are you here? Have you lost your mind?"
Emma stared at Liam Williams in confusion. If it weren't for the pain that woke her, she would have thought she was dreaming. After all, it took over two hours to drive here from the city. Liam should have been at home or in the office right now. There was no way he could be here.
"Why didn't you answer your phone this morning?"
Liam's cool eyes fixed on Emma, his magnetic voice carrying a hint of coldness.
"Phone? What call? Did you call me?"
Emma looked innocent and confused. She sat up and grabbed her bag. Sure enough, she saw a missed call on her phone, but she hadn't answered it this morning. She didn't even know Liam had called.
She checked the time of his call, then looked up at him.
"I was having breakfast when you called. I didn't know you'd called me. But who answered my phone?"
Emma stared at her phone in confusion. Liam watched her bewildered expression, and the coldness in his eyes began to fade.
"It was Elijah."
"Elijah? Why didn't that kid tell me?"
Emma's face lit up with sudden realization. At first, she hadn't thought much of it. But feeling the cold pressure radiating from the man beside her, she instantly understood why he had shown up here—and why he had kissed her like that just now.
"Liam, you don't seriously think something's going on between Elijah and me, do you? That's ridiculous."
She rubbed her temples, already feeling a headache coming on. She made a mental note to give Elijah a piece of her mind later. Had yesterday's surgery been so exhausting that he forgot to tell her about answering the phone this morning?
"I hope it's just a misunderstanding."
Liam's voice was light, though deep down, he wasn't entirely convinced. But he had no evidence, and Emma didn't look guilty.
"Why didn't you tell me Elijah was coming too?"
Even though he decided not to pursue the matter for now, he couldn't help asking why Elijah had appeared at Maple Ridge.
"Honestly, I didn't know until last night. Didn't Mia go to the hospital to get her bandages removed? She told Elijah about our trip here. Then he showed up. I had no idea beforehand."
Emma rubbed her throbbing temples, feeling helpless. She had wanted to relax for a couple of days, but things had been going wrong ever since last night.
For now, Liam chose to believe her. Even though he knew that when he heard Elijah's voice on the phone, his anger had flared like a wildfire. He hadn't even eaten breakfast before driving straight over. When Elijah saw him, his face had shown a hint of surprise, which made Liam realize he might have misunderstood something.
But no matter what, knowing that Emma was meeting Elijah made him unhappy.
Emma thought about what had happened last night and decided she shouldn't hide it from Liam. So she told him everything. When Liam heard that Daniel Taylor had appeared yesterday, his face darkened, and his eyes turned icy. It seemed Daniel wasn't going to give up until he hit rock bottom. Hadn't he learned his lesson?
In the leisure hall, Olivia and Mia exchanged glances, their eyes still holding traces of surprise.
"I can't believe Emma's husband, the CEO, came all the way here to pick her up in person."
"Yeah, I didn't expect that either. It seems her husband is really good to her."
As the two women sighed, neither of them noticed Elijah, who was polishing a cue stick nearby. At that moment, his eyes were dark and gloomy. He had never imagined that a single phone call this morning would make Liam show up in person.
If he had known, he wouldn't have answered the phone at all. That way, Emma wouldn't have had to leave so early.
Elijah bitterly regretted it.
He hadn't expected Liam to be such a man of action.
Because of Liam's arrival, Emma decided to leave the hot spring resort early. She said goodbye to Mia and the others and asked Emilia if she wanted to come along. Emilia glanced at the stern-faced Liam beside Emma, thought for a moment, and shook her head.
"I'll go back with Elijah. I have a follow-up appointment at the hospital tonight anyway."
Emma left with Liam. In the car, Liam answered a phone call. Christopher Martin's voice was loud enough for Emma to hear clearly.
When she heard Christopher telling Liam how many red lights he had run this morning, she was a little surprised. She wondered how fast Liam had been driving to run through so many red lights.
"I'll leave it to you to handle."
But Liam's face showed little emotion. He responded lightly and hung up. Emma admired his incredible composure.