Emily bent over quickly and picked Beryl up with haste. Emily turned to Jack and calmly stated, "You can't expect kids to keep remembering things."
"I guess you're right, plus I haven't been able to see her these days," said Jack. Jack nodded in agreement, but he soon changed the topic, "You just came back from seeing Jacob, haven't you?"
"Yeah." Emily didn't see any reason to deny this.
Jack clicked his tongue in disappointment, averted his gaze and said, "I knew it."
Emily looked straight into Jack's eyes and asked seriously, "Jack, why did you lie about being Beryl's father?"
"Wait, you know?" Jack was surprised when he heard this, but settled down soon after. He continued, "Of course you do. Was it ever possible that Jacob would choose not to tell you the truth?"
His answer was a shock to Emily. She was just bluffing when she asked that, not really sure if Jack was going to bite. He did. "So, you mean that four years ago, you and I didn't.."
"Yes. I regret that we didn't," said Jack, morose.
Jack thought that if he took advantage of Emily that time, Beryl could've been his real daughter. But now, Jacob had it all.
Emily, on the other hand, was emotionally in turmoil. She doubted this even before that Beryl was his daughter, but she didn't dare voice it out. She was unconsciously trying to escape reality.
Escaping from what exactly? She had no idea.
When she learned of the truth at this very moment, Emily didn't experience the relief she thought would wash over her. Because of deliberate misinformation and misunderstanding, Jacob and her had missed four years of bringing up Beryl.
And time was fickle.
"Do you hate me then?" asked Jack intently. He sounded weary but insisted on an answer.
Emily wordlessly looked at him. She just looked down, and shook her head slowly looking sorrowful. She then answered, "I did before, but now I just don't feel anything."
Jack laughed at this. His face was showed a bitter expression and his eyes hinted a moment of madness. He yelled straight at Emily's face, "That's because you don't care about me now, so much that you don't even have the feelings to invest to hate me! I knew it all this time. But I refuse to accept it."
How could he possibly accept it?
Emily was his girlfriend from the start.
But along came Jacob ruining everything and stole her away from him.
Even now when everyone was calling her Cloris Lu, Jacob was still the only one allowed to call her Emily. She must still care about him!
"Do you know what I have been doing?" asked Jack. He looked deep into her eyes when he asked this. He found nothing. She only disappointed him with silence. "Funny that I even asked! Why the hell would you care what I've been doing recently? Never mind! Forget it. Emily, I just miss you so much." His abrupt change in tone at the end just went past Emily.
"Dwelling in the past will only serve to make you more miserable." Emily seemed to direct this to herself and the man in front of her. She then turned around and walked away with Beryl still in her arms. She didn't even look at Jack when she said, "And soon I will leave Z country, and you'll be able to start to move on."
"You'll meet another good girl just for you. I hope that you'll sincerely treat her well and with loyalty. Please do not hurt another girl who falls for you." Even if you put the pieces of a broken mirror back together, the cracks are still there. You just can't pretend nothing happened.
When Jack looked at her fading silhouette, darkness shrouded his vision. His madness started to consume him, and dark clouds covered his mind.
Even if it was a broken mirror, as long as he wanted to, he would certainly turn it back to its former state, no matter at what cost.
He didn't know how long it would take to drag Jacob down forever.! He just couldn't wait another second.
…
Tina Tao. The ink glistened under the moonlight.
Emily sat at the desk and slowly wrote down the name with a battered ink brush late into the night.
Leona had paid the price. Now, the Tao Family was the only target left for her revenge.
There was the vicious Tina, her brother Mark who was as despicable as the devil herself, Mr. and Mrs. Tao who defended Tina's crimes, and Master Tao who looked the other way.
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