Chapter 14
Adrian's assistant stood beside his desk.
"What are we having for lunch, Mr. Mercer?"
Adrian glanced at him.
"Shit."
His assistant:
"......"
A second later—
A file flew across the desk.
The assistant jumped out of the way.
Secretary Emma.
Where are you when I need you?
Who else is going to treat me like a human being?
Sure, Emma might be completely replaceable to Adrian.
But to his assistant?
She was irreplaceable.
Mr. Mercer is impossible.
Those were normally the kinds of questions Emma asked.
But she wasn't here today.
The assistant quietly picked up the file and placed it back on the desk.
Then wisely decided not to say another word.
Adrian hadn't expected Emma to skip lunch too.
I already told her I wasn't getting married.
What is she still upset about?
Does she really want to marry me that badly?
They hadn't even dated, and she'd already jumped straight to marriage.
She really thinks ahead.
The office fell silent.
After a few seconds, the assistant cautiously tried again.
"Mr. Mercer... should I go get Secretary Emma? She's in the cafeteria."
He'd just seen it in the company group chat while pretending to work.
Adrian immediately frowned.
"Why would I want her here? She's annoying enough already."
He irritably tugged at the silver chain around his neck.
"Mr. Mercer is in the cafeteria!"
"He only came down here during his first few days at the company, when he was still pretending to be a normal employee."
"I wonder why he suddenly came today."
The moment Adrian stepped into the cafeteria, employees started whispering.
Even his assistant had no idea what Adrian was thinking.
Maybe he genuinely hadn't known what else to eat.
The cafeteria wasn't particularly large.
You could see almost the entire room from the entrance.
The assistant took one quick look around and immediately spotted Emma.
There was no denying it.
Emma stood out in any crowd.
Her posture was elegant, her features striking, and even surrounded by dozens of employees, she was impossible to miss.
The assistant quickly stepped in front of Adrian.
"Mr. Mercer, this way. Let's find a table over here."
Anywhere but near Secretary Emma.
No need to make his mood worse.
Adrian shot him an annoyed look.
"I'll sit wherever I want. Move."
The assistant silently sighed.
Question Emma. Understand Emma. Become Emma? Never happening.
Meanwhile, everyone at Emma's table was still trying to figure out what she'd meant earlier.
Mia cautiously tested her theory.
"So... you're saying you never actually wanted to be with Mr. Mercer?"
Emma nodded.
"Yeah."
Who would want to date a spoiled rich kid with a personality problem like that?
I'd like to live a few more years, thanks.
Mia was about to say something else when someone suddenly whispered,
"Don't. Don't say anything."
She pointed toward the entrance.
"Mr. Mercer is here."
"What?"
Everyone looked up.
Adrian was walking past them with a tray in his hands.
His chin was slightly raised, his expression arrogant as ever.
He looked like he owned the entire building.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw Emma suddenly stand up.
Adrian's mood instantly lifted.
There it is.
She couldn't resist.
She's finally coming over to talk to me.
Then Emma said,
"I'm full. You guys enjoy your lunch."
And walked away.
Without even looking at him.
Adrian:
"......"
You've got to be kidding me.
She's doing this on purpose.
He watched her walk straight out of the cafeteria.
Adrian dropped his tray onto the table.
Some of the soup splashed over the edge.
His assistant jumped.
"What happened, Mr. Mercer?"
"I'm full."
Adrian pushed the tray toward him.
"You eat this too."
His assistant stared at the two full meals.
"......"
"...Both?"
Emma had always eaten quickly.
Back home, there had always been work to do.
There was never enough time to sit around and enjoy a meal.
After she started school, she had to balance studying with work.
That left even less time for leisurely lunches.
Whenever she ate with Adrian, he always complained that she ate like she'd been starving for a week.
After lunch, Emma stopped by the bank.
Not long afterward, her phone rang.
It was her grandmother.
"Emma, was that money from you?"
"Yes!"
Emma sat on a bench outside the company building.
A faint smile spread across her lips.
Her eyes curved into little crescents.
She rarely smiled like that.
"You sent so much this time."
Emma looked up at the blue sky.
"I got paid for a movie I worked on recently."
"Really? Emma, that's wonderful! You're not even graduated yet and you're already working on movies!"
Her grandmother sounded delighted.
"When it comes out, tell me! I'll go into the city and watch it."
Emma lifted a hand to block the sunlight from her eyes.
She didn't answer that part.
"Grandma, take care of yourself, okay? Use this money for whatever you need. If it's not enough, I'll send more."
"And for the kids at school—buy better desks and chairs if you can."
"Summer's here too. Make sure they have fans."
Her grandmother laughed happily.
"Okay, okay. I'll thank you on behalf of the kids."
Emma's grandmother was the principal of the small elementary school in their village.
She'd worked there since she was young.
She should have retired years ago.
But she couldn't bring herself to leave.
The village was desperately poor, and almost no one wanted to teach there.
The school itself was old and badly maintained.
A few months ago, severe flooding had damaged the building so badly that part of the school had collapsed.
Emma had been sending money home ever since to help rebuild it.
She knew that school was her grandmother's lifelong responsibility.
And for the children in that village, it was one of the only places where they could learn to read and write.
After talking for a few more minutes, Emma ended the call.
Then she opened her phone and sent Diana Reeves a text.
Emma's father had died when she was very young.
When she was in high school, her mother became seriously ill.
Their already poor family was suddenly buried under medical bills.
Her mother had wanted to stop treatment.
Emma refused.
She went from relative to relative, borrowing money wherever she could.
Eventually, there was nowhere left to borrow from.
Her mother still couldn't be saved.
That was when Diana Reeves approached her.
She said she could lend Emma money.
As much as Emma needed.
Emma knew exactly what kind of lender she was.
A loan shark.
But Emma had refused to give up on her mother.
So she'd borrowed $15,000.
It still hadn't been enough.
Her mother died.
The debt, meanwhile, kept growing.
Interest piled on interest until that original $10,000 had somehow turned into more than $200,000.
Emma couldn't simply ignore it.
Her grandmother was still back home.
And her grandmother was simple and trusting.
She had no idea what was really happening.
She genuinely believed Diana was simply a kind woman who had helped Emma when her family was desperate.
If Emma stopped paying, they would go after her grandmother.
They could even damage the school.
In their small, isolated hometown, Diana had connections everywhere.
There was no one Emma could turn to.
She had to pay.
Originally, she'd been given ten years to repay the debt.
Then, during the second half of her junior year, Diana suddenly changed the terms.
Two years.
Emma had to clear the entire balance within two years.
It had completely destroyed her original plans.
But now—
She had finally paid everything off.
Every last dollar.
Sometimes Emma couldn't help making fun of herself.
Apparently, I wasn't just carrying student loans.
I was carrying a whole six-figure disaster.
Her original plan had been simple.
Become an actress.
Make money.
Pay off the debt.
Easy.
Except she'd quickly discovered that becoming an actress wasn't exactly the straightforward career path she'd imagined.
At one audition, someone had openly quoted her a price:
How long she was willing to sleep with the director determined what role she'd get.
Emma had walked out.
At another audition, a male director had looked her up and down for several long seconds before casually saying,
"Take your clothes off. Let me see."
Emma had been so shocked that she'd turned around and run.
That was when she realized just how naive she'd been about the entertainment industry.
She couldn't sell her body.
But she desperately needed money.
So she found an internship.
And then she started taking every legitimate part-time job she could find.
If it was legal and paid, Emma would do it.
She worked constantly.
Some days, she slept only three or four hours.
Maybe that's how Mrs. Mercer eventually noticed her.
And, fortunately, becoming a professional admirer actually worked.
In a way, wasn't that just another kind of acting?
Emma planned to save a little more money.
After graduation, she'd go home.
She'd teach at the village school.
And she'd stay with her grandmother.
Her grandmother was the only family she had left.
Emma had once been painfully naive.
She'd never seen much of the world.
She'd simply believed acting was the fastest way to make money.
She hadn't understood how difficult the real entertainment industry could be.
But that was okay.
Life was full of stages.
She just had to find the right one.
Diana Reeves was standing outside her house smoking when she saw Emma's message.
Her eyes narrowed.
She'd originally assumed Emma wouldn't be able to repay the debt.
If that happened, she'd planned to send Emma to a nightclub owned by one of her friends in the city.
Emma had become prettier and prettier as she'd grown up.
Someone like her could make a lot of money in a place like that.
But Emma had refused every time.
She'd insisted she would find another way.
Now, looking at the transfer confirmation, Diana had her answer.
She found herself a rich man.
There was no other explanation.
Two hundred thousand dollars in less than two years?
Unless she sold herself, how else could she have done it?
Diana thought for a moment before replying.
If she's already found one rich man, what's one more?
Once you've had a taste of that kind of money, surely one man isn't enough.
Emma initially had no intention of responding.
But she knew Diana.
She was the kind of person who cared a lot about saving face.
When Emma saw the new contact request, she reluctantly accepted it.
The message came almost immediately.
Emma rolled her eyes.
Of course.
Why would today be normal?
Before she could even reply, another message arrived.
This time, it was a picture.
Emma stared at it.
Eight divorce certificates.
The man followed up:
Emma stared at the screen for several seconds.
Then casually typed:
She put her phone away and headed back inside.
On the way, she passed a little ice-cream shop.
She stopped.
Emma looked at the sign.
Then at her phone.
Then back at the shop.
Today, I'm debt-free.
I deserve a celebration.
She walked in and bought herself an ice cream.
Adrian was in a terrible mood.
He'd gone downstairs to get some air.
And there, right outside the building, he spotted Emma.
She was happily eating an ice cream.
They passed each other.
She didn't say a word.
Not even a glance.
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
Seriously?
How childish can she be?
What is this, middle school?
She's really going to play the "I'm ignoring you" game?
Then—
He stopped.
Took several quick steps backward.
Reached out.
And snatched the ice cream right out of Emma's hand.
Emma's hand suddenly felt empty.
She turned around.
Adrian was already walking away with her ice cream.
Emma's eyes widened.
Her hand shot forward.
She grabbed a fistful of his bright blue hair.
"Give it back!"