That evening, Emma Johnson sat alone in the darkened room, curled up on the bed. Her mind was a haze of gray, and sleep never came, even as dawn broke.
When Liam Williams saw her again, his chest tightened at the sight of her bloodshot eyes.
Emma walked past him as if he didn't exist. Liam raised his hand, his long fingers hovering in the air, but he couldn't bring himself to reach out and grab her arm.
Early the next morning, Mia Lewis arrived with the lawyer. The attorney spoke with Emma for a long time, then confidently assured her that she would be cleared of all suspicion. Emma thanked him. Mia looked at Emma's face, even more haggard after a sleepless night, and felt a lump form in her throat.
Because of Elijah Clark, Mia hadn't slept much either after returning home last night. But her complexion was still far better than Emma's. Compared to being betrayed by a childhood friend, what hurt Emma more was being set up and used by her own husband.
If it had been Mia, she doubted she could have withstood such a double blow. But Emma was already incredibly strong.
"Everything will be okay," Mia said, reaching out to take Emma's hand.
Emma's fingers were ice-cold, as if they'd been frozen all night. There wasn't a trace of warmth in them. Her grip was weak and limp, as if a single squeeze might break her bones. Mia loosened her hold instinctively, but couldn't bring herself to let go completely.
"I know," Emma replied, forcing a smile at Mia. Though her eyes were dull, there was still a flicker of stubborn light in them—a light that refused to give up. It made her look all the more fragile.
Mia's heart ached, and she nearly burst into tears right there.
"I'm not sure when you're planning to take leave, Olivia. What kind of leave request is this?" Ethan Davis asked, staring at the form in his hand. The vague reason made him look up at Olivia Davis, who stood before him with a disdainful expression. She clearly hadn't rested well last night.
"Well, don't you already know, Mr. Davis? Thank you for being friends with that bastard Liam Williams," Olivia sneered, speaking without restraint.
"Olivia, what do you mean by that?" Ethan asked, confused. He had no idea what had happened the night before. Everything was a blur to him. He couldn't understand why Olivia would speak about his good friend Liam like that.
He wondered if it was because Emma and Liam had fought. Was Olivia taking her friend's side? But even so, she shouldn't bring her personal feelings to work. Taking leave on a whim was unprofessional.
"I won't approve this. Olivia, don't forget you're my assistant. You can't just take leave for any reason. And your reason isn't good enough. If you keep being unreasonable, don't blame me for enforcing the contract," Ethan said, growing annoyed at her attitude. He'd indulged her as her boss, but he didn't want her to act like this today. He felt he needed to put his foot down. Besides, selfishly, once she took leave, he wouldn't know how many days he'd have to wait to see her again. He'd grown used to having her by his side every day.
"It's just a few hundred thousand in damages. I don't care. If you won't approve my leave, I'll quit. I don't want to work here anymore anyway," Olivia shot back, her temper flaring. She ripped off her work badge and threw it on the desk. Her beautiful phoenix eyes glared at him angrily before she turned and walked out of the office without a second glance.
Ethan sat there, stunned, watching her wavy hair disappear from sight. It took him a long moment to snap out of it.
Once he did, he immediately called his good friend Liam. He wanted to ask about Emma, but more than that, he needed to know what had happened to make Olivia hate Liam so much—and why it was affecting her. He didn't have Emma's number, so he had to call Liam first to find out what had gone wrong between them.
Only then could he figure out how to get Olivia back to the office.
The phone rang for a long time before Liam finally answered. Ethan could hear something off in his friend's voice, confirming that the couple had indeed had a serious fight. But when he heard the truth from Liam, he didn't say much. Still, as sharp as ever, Ethan pieced together the reason from Liam's brief answers.
For a moment, he didn't even know what to say to his friend. After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"It's not fair to treat her like that. No wonder Mia called you a jerk."
"Yeah, she's right," Liam replied, his voice bitter. Ethan couldn't bring himself to blame his friend any further. After all, they'd grown up together. He knew Liam better than most.
Liam had always dreamed of being a soldier, and he'd always put the country's interests above everything else. During his time as a colonel, he'd risked his life to protect national security. Even Ethan, as a man, admired him deeply.
As for Emma's case, if the evidence was solid, then Liam's actions were justified. But if Emma was innocent, then he had deeply hurt this woman.
Maybe it was because of Olivia's influence, but Ethan didn't believe Emma was the kind of woman who would do evil. She didn't seem like someone with such a dark heart.
He hung up the phone, feeling a headache coming on. He started worrying about how to coax Olivia back to work.
Threatening her clearly wouldn't work. Olivia was like a hot pepper now—one wrong move and she'd explode.
He'd have to use other methods to lure her back slowly.
Two days later, because no evidence had been found, Emma was released from the police station by her lawyer. Liam was waiting at the station entrance, his face cold as he watched her walk out. He stood in front of her, wanting to say something, but found he didn't know where to begin.