Pressing the bell, I waited.
The elevator opened, and a lanky middle-aged man stepped out in a floral shirt. Stopping, he eyed me up and down with his slightly red eyes. I faced away from him and tapped the bell again.
What’s taking her so long to open the door?
Once the creepy man unlocked his apartment next to the one I was standing before and went inside, casting me one last lingering glance before closing the door, I sighed in relief.
God knew how she stayed here with this creep on the other side of the wall.
With a click, the door opened, and her blonde head peeked through it. Surprise flashed across her brown eyes.
“Emerald? What’re you doing here?”
“Hi, Sierra!” I smiled. “Sorry, I tried to call you, but it went unreachable every time. I heard from Matt you weren’t well, so I thought I’d pay you a visit.”
“Uh, thank you for your concern. I’m much better now.” Her wary gaze flickered around. She still talked to me through the small gap.
I cleared my throat. “You won’t invite me in?”
She hesitated, but then nodded and held the door wide for me.
Flashing another smile, I walked into the living room of her small apartment. With an adjoined kitchen, there were two more doors attached to the room. An old couch, two chairs, and a small bookshelf filled the small area. Not anything fancy, but it was cozy.
“Would you like to have anything? Coffee?” she asked, stance awkward.
What’s with the weird behavior?
I shook my head. “No thanks. I just came to see if you were all right. Umm, why did you resign all of a sudden? I mean, if you needed more time to recover completely, then you could just ask Matt. He’d have helped you out with this.” I came to the point without beating around the bush. Her meetings with Arthur, taking leave and then resigning, I had a hunch it could be somehow related to him.
She shrugged, wringing her knuckles. “As you know, I wasn’t well. I needed some time to get better completely. I couldn’t just expand my leave like that. And I decided to give myself a break, to spend some time with my family, you know? So…”
“So, you quit your job?”
“Yeah,” she answered, licking her dry lips. The swell around her eyes and dark circles under them caught my attention.
“With your stack of bills pending?” I pointed at the papers on her small table beside the door. Clearly, she hasn’t been able to pay them on time.
She averted her eyes. “I-I was just about to pay the bills. I was just a bit late, and they sent notices.”
“You don’t need to explain anything, Sierra. I just want to know why you quit if you were facing financial problems?” I asked. “Is it—is it because of Arthur?”
Her eyes snapped to mine, they widened. So, I was right. He had something to do with it.
“W-what are you talking about? Why would he be the reason behind my quitting?”
“Because I saw you with him twice, Sierra. And both times, you were pretty shaken.”
All color drained from her already pale face. Fear flashed across her eyes.
“H-how? W-where? Listen, it’s not what you think it is—”
“What’s going on, Sierra? You’re definitely hiding something.” I cut her off. “Is Arthur threatening you? Or is there something else that you had to leave your job? Tell me, Sierra. Trust me, if there’s anything like that, I can help you. I’ll talk to Ace myself.” Placing a hand on her shoulder, I tried to assure her.
Shaking her head, she gulped. “You’re mistaken. He didn’t do anything. I left the job because of my personal reasons, which I already told you.”
“Don’t lie to me, Sierra. It’s in your eyes. I can see it. He’s done something that you had to take this step. I saw you with him. You were crying. Please tell me the truth. I can help you,” I probed, my voice was desperate.
I had been suspicious about this man from the start. At Tess’s engagement party he denied before everyone he hadn’t met me before. Which was a complete lie. And at our first meeting, the words he said, no sane person would say those things to a stranger just like that. So, assuming he may have forgotten wouldn’t be right either.
He’s always given me a negative vibe. And now that I was close to discovering the real face behind his polite mask, I didn’t want to lose the chance.
Taking a step back from me, she wrapped her arms around herself. “You can’t help me, Emerald. No one can. Don’t think too much of what you saw. It was nothing. Just forget it.”
“Of course I can. If I talk to Ace, he’ll definitely hear me out and believe me.” I knew he would. But… against his own uncle? Would he go to the extent of me to distrust his uncle who had always supported him in every phase of life?
Shaking her head, she took a glance at the door. “You shouldn’t have come here, Emerald. I think you should go now.”
“But—”
“Please, I’m begging you. I can’t tell you anything! Don’t drag us both into danger by digging something that isn’t related to you.” Though her voice was stern, there was moisture in her eyes.
Danger? Something churned in my stomach.
“What danger?”
“Emerald, please. Just leave. I’m telling this for your own good.”
I sighed. “At least tell me why you quit.”
She stayed silent for a moment, and then said, “I had to. I didn’t want to do things against my morals.”
Taking a sip on my tea, I watched the steam vanishing into the thin air slowly.
Why did she mean by that? She didn’t want to do things against her morals?
Though she didn’t give me a direct answer, I was sure now that Arthur was definitely not a man to trust. He was up to something. But what? I wish Sierra would’ve told me everything. But clearly, she was scared. How dangerous Arthur could be that if she opened her mouth, she feared he’d harm her?
A shudder ran through my spine.
“Em? Are you listening?” A hand waved before my face, pulling me out of my thoughts. Warner had a tiny frown between his brows as he watched me.
“Sorry. What did you say?”
“I asked if you’re doing well now. I mean, when I met you yesterday, you were a mess.”
After getting out of Sierra’s building, I got a message from him asking if I wanted to grab some drinks together. So here we were, sitting at a small buzzing cafe, sipping on our hot beverages.
“Yeah, I’m fine now. Even went to the office today.” Ace’s confession echoed in my head. A blush rose to my neck as I twirled the bracelet. The bracelet he gave to me.
He… loved me.
Warmth surged through my chest, along with the flutters in my tummy. I wanted to close my eyes and relive the moment when he said those words to me again and again.
After talking to Tobias and then him, it felt like a huge burden had been lifted off my chest. Though it still hurt thinking of everything, I felt somewhat lighter now. I could see the reasons. After all, we all were young back then.
“You went to the office again? I thought after what he did, you wouldn’t even see his face ever again!” he stated in disbelief.
I heaved a sigh. “It was the original plan. But I’m bound by a contract, remember? I had to go.”
“You could make him terminate the contract if you wanted. But clearly, you already forgave him, didn’t you? You forgot how he used your sister to break your heart!” he snapped.
My eyes narrowed at his tone. “I didn’t forgive him yet. And he didn’t use my sister to break my heart. Tess volunteered. And… he had a reason to do that. Not that I support his way, but he was only looking out for my well-being. Even if nothing much good happened in my life after his stunt.”
Irritation flared inside me again, recalling everything that happened since the last seven years. I couldn’t say he was totally wrong for his reasons, because they were valid. He truly wanted what was good for me. But in the process, he hurt us both.
“Yet? That means you’re considering forgiving him? You’re so lost in him to see he isn’t the right guy for you. Don’t you see how he behaves with you? He wants to control your life, Em. And you’re letting him!”
“I know what I’m doing, Warner. You don’t need to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. And about him being controlling, yes, he’s a control freak. But he doesn’t cross any lines if I tell him not to. He respects my decisions.” My voice came out firm.
He proved it many times. If I needed time, he’s given it to me without letting his dominating self in the way. Though his patience lived short.
“So, you’ll let him cross the line?” His jaw ticked.
“Honestly, I don’t know. And I really don’t think I need to answer you about my personal life.”
Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose before meeting my gaze again. “I’m sorry, Em. I was just looking out for you. I just don’t want you to make wrong decisions in your life in a rush.”
“You don’t need to worry.” I shook my head, leaning back into the chair. “I’m sorry too. I was a little harsh.”
He smiled. “It’s all right. I pushed you too much. Anyway, forget about it. You were looking tense a while ago. Is everything all right?”
Should I tell him? I knew I could trust him. He was my best friend, after all. Maybe he could give me some suggestions?
After I told him everything, my suspicion about Arthur and Sierra, he pondered for a moment, taking in all the information.
“You think he’s doing something at Achilles’s back?”
I nodded. “He definitely is. He threatened Sierra to do something she wasn’t comfortable with, so she left the job. I’m sure she didn’t want to deal with him anymore.”
“So why don’t you tell this to Achilles?”
A breath left my lips. “I can’t. I don’t have any solid proof against him. Nor did I witness him doing anything wrong. Ace and Caleb trust him blindly. They won’t believe me if I tell them about my doubt.”
“Then I think you should wait and see if you find anything against him. But honestly, after hearing what Sierra said, he seems like a dangerous man. I’d suggest you stay away from him, Em. Don’t drag yourself in any kind of danger,” he cautioned.
“But I can’t just sit and do nothing. He’s up to something, I can sense it. I want to stop him before he does some real damage.” Especially to Valencian Corp or Ace. But I doubted he would harm his own nephew.
Something lit up in his eyes. “I think I can help you. My cousin here in LA, he’s a detective. A genius. Though we don’t get along much, I think he will help you if I talk to him.”
“That’s great! Please, do that! And I’ll also try to provide him with as much information about Arthur as possible. Thank you, Warner. It’ll be a great help!” Grabbing his hands, I flashed him a grateful smile.
He squeezed my hands. “Anything for you.”
Once I was at OC Textiles, I headed directly to my office. I needed to call Tobias and ask him about Arthur. The more I knew about him, the better. And at that moment, only Tobias could help me without asking much.
“Emerald!”
Matt’s voice halted me in my tracks. Turning around, I found him jogging to me.
“Hey! What’s up?” I asked.
“A sudden board meeting came up. You need to be there. I’ve already informed the boss,” he said, huffing.
“Even though I attended every board meeting, I can’t today. I’m busy right now. Go, tell your boss.” I turned to leave.
“Wait!” He stopped me again. “You can’t miss the meeting, Em. As a board member, you have to attend.”
I frowned. “I joined the previous meetings just because your boss ordered me. I’m not a board member, just an ordinary employee like you, Matt. I think you’re mistaken.”
“What are you talking—” His eyes widened. “Oh, you don’t know?”
“Know what?”
He scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes. “Uh, nothing. My mistake. I thought you were really a board member since you attended each one in the previous month.”
A warning bell rang in my head.
“Don’t lie to me. You’re the CEO’s PA now. You should know who’s an actual member of the board and who’s not. What is it? What are you not telling me, Matt?” My gaze on him was hard.
His eyes flickered around as if looking for an escape.
“Matt! Out with it!”
“H-he will fire me. I swear, I didn’t know you weren’t aware of it.”
“Don’t worry, he won’t know anything. I won’t expose you,” I said, probing him to spill.
He shifted on his feet, looking at his right and left.
“Matt?”
“You promise you won’t tell anyone I told you this?”
“I promise. Now tell me.”
He sighed, his shoulders slumped. “You’re not just an ordinary employee, Emerald. You’re a member of the board.”
I tilted my head in confusion. “But someone only becomes a board member when…”
He nodded. “When they have a share in the company. And…”
“And?”
“And you own most of the shares of this company. The boss made you the equal owner with him in the business. Everything Achilles Valencian owns also belongs to you now.”
