She looked down at her clothes. Clark had given her this dress yesterday. It was a conservative one. The places that should be covered were well covered. What was so sexy about it?
Seeing her puzzled gaze, Robert smiled and walked towards the dining table. Clark had already made the order to prepare breakfast.
Robert said, "Come and have breakfast."
"No, I'll go to the school cafeteria."
"In the future, Samuel will occasionally have breakfast with us. When we are having breakfast, you could make use of this bit of time and explain the questions he didn't understand the night before."
She walked over and sat down.
However, Samuel did not show up at any point during breakfast. She felt totally awkward having breakfast with him. He kept staring at her. Without any introduction, Robert explained, "After the meal, we'll take the car and drop you off at school first." The rest of the meal passed in silence.
When they arrived at the school gate, Robert said, "In the afternoon, I will get Tom to pick you up."
"No need. I can get around by myself."
"It would make far better use of that time to be doing something reasonable."
He really knew how to plan carefully. But he was also making her feel like a servant, a pawn to be moved around.
After class in the afternoon, she returned to the dormitory to pack her luggage. After packing, she left a note for her roommate Carrie Johnson, who lived in the same dormitory, before dragging her luggage and leaving. After passing through the dormitory's entrance, she happened to bump into Ted.
Both of them saw each other. There was no other path to follow. So, she could only brace herself and continue walking forward.
Ted looked at her with resentment in his eyes. He stopped in front of her. When he realized that she was going to keep walking, he grabbed her wrist. "Emma, do you have anything to say to me?"
Her expression was cold. "No."
"If you don't have anything to say to me, fine. I should have listened to my mother. Heh, Emma, you really are capable of it. You actually used me to change jobs."
Her brows furrowed in anger.
"That was the reason you were with me all along, right? You never really liked me. You just wanted to use me, right?"
Emma sighed and did not respond to him. She wanted to pull her wrist out of his grip, but he held it so tightly that she could not break free. "Let go."
"Do you feel ashamed that I saw through you? Didn't you think that I would find out eventually? The person who really gave you this opportunity is my mother,"
Ted shouted in pain.
She looked at him, her face full of anger.
He was cold and detached. "What, you have nothing to say, right? Emma, why did you want to use me?"
"Your mother has talked to me countless times, and the topic is always the same. If you break up with my son, I can let you stay in school to teach." Her voice was not loud, but he heard it very clearly.
"Before this, I firmly believed that I worked hard enough and studied well enough. I was completely qualified to stay with my own abilities. Even though I clearly knew that the people running this place didn't like me, that I could be let go at any time. However, in the face of your mother's threats, time and time again, I never thought of compromising because I believed in me and you. Ted, did you know that I even wanted to marry you? Even If your mother chased me out of school, I could find another job. However, you personally gave me a reason to finally listen to your mother. The moment I saw... that scene... guess what I was thinking?"
Ted looked at her in pain. He had not known any of this. She said coldly, "I was thinking that you were the one who destroyed me. If I had not been with you, then I could have relied on my strength to stay in school. But just because I was with you, even if I stayed in school, my reputation would have been destroyed. Because of you, I endured a humiliation that I didn't have to endure. Your mother said that I was an orphan and wasn't worthy of the Smith family. Do you know how sad I am? I am not an orphan. I have a mother. So, why am I considered an orphan?" As she finished speaking, she clenched her fists in frustration and pain.
Ted looked as if he had been slapped a few times.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I'm really sorry. I didn't know about this. I apologize for my mother's words and actions. Why didn't you tell me about this before?" She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "What could I have told you that would change anything? Do you want to go home and fight with your mother? Or would you reject your family for me? Or, do you think that if I told you, you wouldn't have slept with Kristen?"
"It was a misunderstanding between Kristen and me. I don't know why I was confused." Ted closed his eyes and looked upset. "Emma, tell me, what would it take for you to forgive me? As long as you tell me, no matter what price I have to pay, I am willing."
She looked toward the far side of the road. Kristen was running towards them.
She openly sneered.
Ted turned his head, saw Kristen, and frowned. "Emma, I..."
Kristen ran up to the two of them and grabbed Emma's hand. "Emma, It is all my fault. Please, don't blame him anymore. He is really pitiful. He really..." Ted shouted, "Kristen, don't make trouble for me. You can leave now. I beg you. Just go."
Kristen stood right in front of Emma. "It's me who is to blame. I liked him first. I know the damage is done, but..."
"Kristen," Emma interrupted her. "You said that Ted doesn't love me anymore. He loves you. What he liked back then was just my body, but I didn't give him what he wanted, right?"
Kristen's expression froze. "I did not say that. Emma, I know you hate me, but don't slander me."
"Whether you admit it or not, I have to tell you that Ted is not truly a lustful person. Maybe he could change his love. But he would not truly fall in love with a woman just because of her body. To me, he may be a scumbag. But he is not a womanizer. Also, stop acting like a saint. I won't play along with your silly act."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and left with her suitcase.
Kristen clenched her fists. Damn It, Emma, that slut. What would she have to do to take her down?
Seeing that Ted was going to chase after Emma, she stretched out her hand and pulled him back. "Ted, I really did not say that. I did not."
Ted shook her off and said, "I will not love you. I will never fall in love with you. I love Emma. I know exactly what I had to do to win her heart. So, I love her. I will love her for the rest of my life."
Ted walked away and left Kristen behind.
Kristen slowly wiped the tears off her face. She looked at Emma's back as she kept walking and gritted her teeth. "Emma, you just wait and see. I will not let you go."
On Saturday, Emma studied with Samuel in the morning and went to tutor another student in the afternoon. When she came out of the student's house, Clark called her and asked her what time she would be home for dinner.
She looked at the time. "Clark, I'm not going to be back for dinner."
Clark looked at Robert, who was sitting across from him at the table. "Then... When will you be back? I'll send a car to pick you up."
"No need. I have to work tonight. I'll be busy until late. I'll get back by myself."
After hanging up the phone, Clark looked at Robert. "Mr. Erickson, Miss Green still needs to work. She can't come back until late." Robert thought about this for a moment. "Go and Investigate where she works part-time." He needed to know, was this woman trying to avoid him on purpose?
At nine o'clock that evening, at the Agarwood Bar, Emma was wearing her work uniform and moved through the crowd, taking drink orders and delivering wine. She was nimble, graceful, and stood out from the crowd.
She had a high ponytail, a pretty face, and a slim figure. Even though she was wearing conservative work clothes, she could be noticed at a glance. This often caught the attention of lecherous customers, who asked her how much she wanted for a night. Tonight was no exception. As usual, she looked at the customer hitting on her with her signature smile. "Sir, I'm sorry, I'm just a waiter here."
"Bah, why are you acting so high and mighty? I want you to accompany me tonight."
"Then... Sir, I'm afraid you'll have to get a gender reassignment surgery first." "What do you mean?" The young guest glared at her. "Are you trying to say I'm not man enough for you?"
The smile on her face was still kind. "No, I'm telling you that I like women."
The man was stunned.
According to past experience, at this time, the other party would usually send her on her way in disgust. But this time, this man clearly did not play according to reason. He pulled her forward. Her footsteps were unsteady, and she fell onto the soft. The man stepped forward and blocked her from standing up.
"Now that you mention it, I'm even more interested. I've never slept with a lesbian before. Good, I'll start with you today."
People moved all around them, and no one helped. It seemed like this kind of thing was normal here.
The man stepped forward and pushed her against the sofa. His eyes were mean. "Little girl, meeting me today, consider yourself unlucky. You should know better than to offend someone paying your wages." After he finished speaking, he Moved closer.
Seeing that he was going to kiss her, she raised her hand and slapped him. This really made him angry. He raised his hand, about to fight back, when his wrist was grabbed mid-air. Now furious, he turned his head and shouted, "Which one of you doesn't care about your life..."
Before he could finish, the other man had already punched him hard on the cheek. The angry customer was knocked to the ground. He held his aching chin as he slowly stood back up. Before he could react, he was being dragged out by a few burly men.
Emma was half lying on the sofa. She looked up to see Robert, who was fuming with rage.Emma was stunned.
Robert raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to ask me why I'm here?"
She regained her senses and stood up to look at him. She was indeed surprised to see him here.
Robert crossed his arms in front of his chest. He looked at her. After a few seconds, he tapped two fingers against the center of her forehead. "I am discovering more and more that Miss Green is quite the mystery."