Emily left the hotel by herself and took a taxi back to Tyrone Mansion. On her way back, she wept silently.
After returning to her room, she went to the bathroom and took off her clothes. Then she turned on the hot shower and stood under it. The hot water kissed her body, soon filling the bathroom with steam.
Emily slumped into a state of torpor as if nothing could cheer her up. The hot water flowed through her whole body, scouring every inch of her skin.
Emily was a traditional woman, and she had thought that she would be committed to Jacob only. However, after being tricked by Jack into believing that she had sex with him, her world came crashing down around her. She felt eternally stained, as if nothing in the world could wash away the filth off of her body.
"We both know that the thing Jacob hates the most is betrayal, be it mental or physical. If he finds out that you've slept with me, do you think he will still love you?" Jack's words reverberated in her ears. Every word was like a hammer hitting at Emily's heart.
Emily's mind scrambled, wondering when Jacob would come back, and how she would explain to him, and what she could do to deal with all of this.
Emily kept washing herself over and over until her skin turned red due to the heat of the hot water. When her body went numb, she went out of the bathroom and slowly put on her clothes.
Although she didn't want to break up with Jacob, Jack blackmailed her with a picture he had on his phone that could easily cause a misunderstanding between her and Jacob. Jack threatened to send it to Jacob if she did not comply with his demands. Moreover, since she couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation to give to Jacob, she decided to hide away in shame before he was back.
Emily knew that running away from her problems would only make things worse, but at this moment, she just wanted to lock herself away from the rest of the world. She didn't want Jacob to know about the horrendous incident she had suffered.
After taking a bath, Emily packed up her clothes and moved back to her previous apartment. While she stayed there, she did not receive any calls from Jacob, so she assumed that he must have been too angry to call her, but on the other hand, she also felt relieved.
Although Emily left Tyrone Mansion quietly and there were only a handful of people who knew this, soon Jack learned about it from an informer, as did the Tao clan and Emily's foster parents.
Andrew and Debby were the first two people who came to visit her.
After all, they had raised her. Emily could not go against her conscience to shut the door on her foster parents. She opened the door and let them in.
"Emily, what happened between you and Mr. Gu? Why did you move out of his house? Did you have a fight with him?" Debby asked anxiously. Knowing that Tina showed no inclination to take care of her and her husband, made Debby sad, but she never complained about her biological daughter. Instead, she changed her mind to focus all her attention towards Emily, showing her care and love.
As strange as it were, she didn't sincerely repent and earnestly reform herself. From the bottom of her heart, she only cared about how much money Jacob would give her if she pretended to be a good mother.
Emily looked at their wrinkled faces, feeling helpless from her heart and soul. She said in a weak voice, "Dad, Mom, I've broken up with him. I'll find you another house. Just go back and move out of Jacob's house."
"Broke up?" the couple gasped. Andrew got angry in an instant, glowering at her, then he raised his voice to scold her, "Are you out of your mind? How can you break up with Mr. Gu? He is so rich and powerful! You will never find another man like him. Why would you break up with him? Don't be silly and petulant, or you will lose everything you have come to own, and so will we!"
Debby also began to lecture her, with a hint of accusation in her tone, "Emily, I have to say, you've been very wayward these days! You'd better get along well with Mr. Gu and keep your relationship with him. Don't act out impulsively, otherwise, you will lose more than you've gained."
Emily listened to their words quietly, watching them act like two ridiculous pigs, and she got a deeper understanding of their endless greed. Then, she burst into laughter and asked in a sarcastic tone, "What's wrong? Did you hit your head on the way here? Both of you wanted me to break with Jacob, remember? Now I have granted your wishes. Shouldn't you be happy and satisfied?"
"Now the situation has changed. We are only trying to do what's best for you! We love you!" she answered Emily. Debby spoke with a lot of confidence, without the trace of doubt on her face, as if she was looking at everything from Emily's perspective and thinking about her future only.
"Even if you have broken up, you can't leave so easily," Andrew said, with a greedy expression on his face. "The least he could do is pay you a large sum of money as alimony!" he added. Andrew's lack of legal knowledge and education shined brightly through ridiculous claims.
Emily bit her lips hard, as if she was using all her strength to control her temper, and not let loose a torrent of abuse towards her parents. After a pause, she said, "Please go back home. I will deal with this in my own way."
"Emily, why are you being so stubborn..." said Debby. Having lost all patience, Emily rudely interrupted her mother by simple walking away. She ran to her room, and shut the door behind her.
"Emily, please come out! We need to talk to you!" Andrew and Debby yelled from the outside, hammering at the door— "Bang, bang, bang"
Emily covered her ears with her hands. She slowly slipped down the door panel and sat on the floor, frustrated and exhausted. Her joyless eyes were a pitiful sight. Hearing her foster parents yelling outside the door, drove tears out of her eyes, like pearls from a broken string.
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