In the next moment, the expected pain didn't come. Instead, she heard a low groan in her ear, and felt a tightness around her waist as she was pulled into a cool embrace.
The icy fabric of his suit pressed against her face, and she could hear his steady heartbeat.
"Ethan!"
Emma's father looked shocked at the sudden appearance of the man before him.
Emma lifted her chin and met the deep gaze of Ethan, whose eyes were reflecting her face clearly.
For a moment, Emma was stunned.
Her father asked in surprise, "Ethan, why are you here now?"
Ethan took the golf club from Smith's father and threw it to the ground with a loud bang.
"If I didn't come, I wouldn't have seen such an exciting scene," he said in a cold and mocking tone. Emma suddenly came to her senses and realized that she was still clinging to him, breathing in his scent. She felt uncomfortable and tried to struggle, but Ethan noticed her movements and tightened his grip around her waist, almost lifting her up with his one hand.
Emma: ...
Her father didn't notice their actions and just felt embarrassed by Ethan's words.
He chuckled, "Emma is a naughty child who causes trouble at home, so I'm just teaching her a lesson."
"Just like that?"
Ethan glanced at the golf club on the ground.
He only asked a seemingly casual question, but Joseph Smith felt an inexplicable pressure.
"I was just scaring her. Emma is my daughter, how could I bear to really hit her?"
Looking at the two embracing figures, Joseph Smith had a feeling that something was different from what he had imagined, and he nervously wiped away the nonexistent sweat from his forehead.
He couldn't bear to really hit her?
Feeling the pain in his arm, if that blow had landed on Emma...
Ethan's eyes turned cold as he said directly, "You have no right to discipline her. If there's another time, we won't discuss the project with camil entertainment ."
Joseph Smith's face changed drastically at his words. "Mr. Matthew!"
He didn't even call him "Ethan," showing how scared he was.
Seeing his panicked expression, Emma couldn't help but sneer inwardly. She simply followed Ethan's lead and leaned against him to watch the show.
Ethan held Emma and glanced at her. "Don't you believe me?"
Joseph Smith was really at a loss. He didn't even have time to wonder when Emma and Ethan's relationship had become so good. All he could do was smile apologetically. "Ethan, we're family. Emma is my daughter. There's no need to make a big deal out of this. I didn't really want to hit her, I was just scaring her."
camil entertainment was the new project he was discussing on this business trip. In recent years, the entertainment industry had developed rapidly, with IP stars and idol launches being prevalent. Investing in entertainment companies was considered a lucrative business, and Joseph Smith had also set its sights on this area. He went on this business trip to discuss investing in Entertainment, and everything had been settled, including the down payment.
However, Joseph Smith had no doubt that Ethan's words could make all of this go up in smoke, making all his efforts go to waste.
Seeing that Ethan didn't speak, Joseph Smith gritted his teeth. "I'll definitely pay attention in the future, respect Emma's opinions, and communicate with her properly if there's anything."
In the future, the company will still rely on the reputation of the Matthew family to develop. As the Matthew family's in-laws, the intangible benefits they can gain from this are significant. Compared to the Matthew family, Emma only took away a piece of land that was losing money. If he had known that the relationship between the two had already been reconciled, why would he have bothered?
"By the way, Emma, what's going on between you and Lily? Weren't you two very close before?" her father asked. "Have you had any recent minor disagreements?"
Emma snorted. "Want to know the truth? Go find out for yourself." She had no interest in explaining to him, and he wouldn't believe her anyway.
Thinking of this, Emma felt that there was no need to stay any longer. Coming back today was a mistake. She pulled away from Ethan's hand and turned to leave.
This time, Ethan didn't hold her back.
"Hey, Emma?"
Smith's father was stunned and looked helpless as he said to Ethan, "Emma has always been like this. I haven't..."
"Mr. smith, we'll be leaving now."
Outside the Smith family's door, Emma looked at the car parked in front of her and asked, "What are you doing here?" She wanted to ignore him and leave Ethan hanging for a few more days.
Emma hadn't forgotten that they were still in a "cold war" phase. She was wearing a slim, warm orange knitted dress today, a color that was very picky, but it made her skin look even whiter, and her delicate ears were not adorned with any jewelry, with small, plump earlobes that were slightly red.
Ethan's eyes darkened slightly, and he shifted his gaze without a trace, saying coldly, "If it weren't for Louis being sick and calling you all the time, I wouldn't have come."
"Louis is sick?"
This simple sentence was like a bomb that instantly changed Emma's face. She pushed Ethan and said, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go!"
After speaking, Emma couldn't wait to get into the car herself.
wth stood still for a moment, then walked around the car and got into the driver's seat, starting the car.
Emma was restless all the way, especially worried that Louis was sick because she didn't come back yesterday. If that was the case, Emma felt that she might not be able to forgive herself.
When they arrived at Matthew's house, the car barely stopped before Emma quickly opened the door and ran into the house. As soon as she entered, she saw a woman sitting on the carpet in the living room, holding a bowl and patiently coaxing Louis to take his medicine. "Be a good boy, drink this medicine and we can play games."
Emma's footsteps suddenly stopped--
"Why are you standing at the door and not coming in?"
Ethan followed from behind, and with one sentence, he alarmed the people inside the house. Emma looked up and met the hostile gaze from inside the house.