"And when I woke up, there was this huge hole in my bedroom door and Maria was acting all crazy," Anessa narrated.
Emily placed a spoonful of cereal in her mouth, "I think you should get rid of Maria, there are so many other AIs out there. I heard Alexa's very good."
Anessa frowned, "What's wrong with Maria?"
Emily placed her empty bowl in the sink, "What isn't wrong with her? She's strict, pushy, overprotective..." She paused and gasped, "She's your mother...an android version of your mother."
"She's not," Anessa defended.
Maria is an artificial intelligence program system that was designed by expert programmers at Mrs. Belle's request. She wanted to ensure her daughter would be safe and she could keep an eye on her when she and Mr. Belle is away on business trips.
Emily poured a glass of water from the fridge and sat on the stool by the kitchen island, "You're twenty-one years old Nessa, you don't need a babysitter robot anymore."
"I know but, who's gonna wake me up and stuff, and remind me to do things?" Anessa argued.
Emily smirked, "So, you do think it's a babysitting robot."
Anessa frantically waved her hands about, "No, that's not what I meant."
Emily chuckled behind her glass of water and almost choked on it when Blake walked out of his room...with a girl in tow!
Anessa's eyes widened as her heart pounded against her chest. She nervously chewed on her fingernails as she watched Blake and the auburn-haired woman whisper between themselves.
'What the hell is he doing?' she internally questioned and began to wonder if Blake knew gay men are not supposed to hook up with women.
Emily was yet to confront Anessa about Blake's sexuality, so she had no idea Emily already knew Blake isn't gay.
Emily kept her sharp gaze on the duo who paid no attention to the audience in the kitchen as she finished her glass of water. She couldn't help but wonder, 'I saw him retire to his room, when did he get the time to hook up with a girl?'
She slammed the glass down on the table and plastered a smile on her face. "I had no idea you could be attracted to women at all," Emily taunted.
"Being gay and all," she finished with a smirk.
The woman adorned in only a towel looked up at him in shock, "You're gay?"
"I swear I'm not gay," he swore to the panicked woman before glaring at a smug-looking Emily.
What are you doing? Anessa wanted to mouth to him, but she knew there was no convincing Emily otherwise now.
The auburn-haired woman's eyes danced along the floor as she entered deep thought. 'Oh my goodness, he's not gay but he's not attracted to women and he was attracted to me.'
She brought her hands to her warm, red cheeks as she continued to draw at her own conclusions. 'What if I'm one of those women in books where the sexy male lead has an illness and cannot be attracted to other women?'
Her eyes widened as she quietly mouthed to herself, "I'm that only woman."
The woman suddenly dashed to the door while whining, "It's too much pressure, I cannot be the only woman!"
"Aaliyah wait!" Blake called out, but the woman was already out the door.
Emily burst out in laughter, "I'm going to ignore that she ran out in my towel since that was so funny."
Emily made it her duty to know the weaknesses of each and every person in the building, so with Aaliyah being an obsessed Webnovel reader, she knew exactly what to say to break her.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Blake angrily cursed.
Emily folded her arms and hmphed, "I don't get why you're the one who's angry." She frowned but was blatantly still very amused, "I made you stay the night and this is how you thank me? By letting random women into my home?"
Blake's angry expression quickly morphed into a smile, "Oh? Your home?"
The amusement vanished from Emily's face in a split second as she narrowed her eyes at him. Blake looked behind her at Anessa who was just sitting quietly wishing she could just disappear into thin air.
"Should I tell her or do you want to break in the news?" he smugly questioned.
Emily's glare fell on Anessa, "Tell me what?"
Anessa tightly held her dress and dared not meet her eyes, "I'm very sorry Emily."
Blake handed a stack of papers to Emily, "Read clause 17 on page 9."
Her eyes widened as she quietly read the words scribed on the paper, "This contract can only be terminated on the terms that Emily Vancouver pays back in full the deposit of one million dollars paid by Blake Garcia."
Emily angrily tore the stack of paper to pieces, "This is fucking bullshit! I did not agree to those terms."
Blake took up a piece of the paper that had Emily's signature, "But you did."
Emily took a deep breath to calm her nerves before returning her attention to Anessa. "You lied to me about Blake and you modified the contract," she listed out.
Emily furrowed her brows, "Why are you doing this to me?"
"I just wanted you to move on," Anessa tearfully confessed, "Move on from him and give men a chance again."
She blinked back her tears as she tightly clenched her fists, "I don't know what Darniel did to hurt you, but that doesn't mean you have to hate everyone especially men for what he did to you."
"You don't understand anything!" Emily rebutted.
Anessa got up from her stool and held onto Emily's hands, "Then help me understand. Ever since you got back it's like you're a different person, you don't talk to me anymore."
Blake frowned, 'Darniel...she called me that before.' He clenched his fists, 'That asshole is the reason she's like this.'
Emily only stood quietly as Anessa probed her for answers. "Darniel," she started, "Who is he?"
Blake's brows shot up as he looked in the duo's direction. It wasn't his business, but he wanted to know too.
Emily bit her trembling bottom lip as she looked down at her and Anessa's clasped hands, "I don't know."