Winning Her Heart Back

 Be a Little Less Heartless Towards Him

William went into a daze. He glanced down at his hand, which was still holding onto her wrist, and hesitated before pulling back. Then, he picked up the bottle and poured himself half a glass.

He held the glass in his hand and warned Emelie again. "I'm not joking with you."

Emelie replied, "Oh, Mr. Middleton, are you worried about me or Beathan?"

William's expression remained unchanged. "What do you think?"

He had the nerves to ask her that kind of question. Despite them being separated by just a small table, his dark eyes seemed veiled and shrouded in shadows.

It was tough for Emelie to discern whether William was merely asking casually or genuinely expecting her to give a specific answer.

"Isn't it obvious?" Emelie smiled. "Losing Charles was already a blow. If Beathan also falls, it must be quite uncomfortable for you, Mr. Middleton. Didn't you have a two-hour video call with Mr. Swanson just the other day?"

William paused. "How do you know that?"

Emelie shrugged. "I have a friend who's quite good with computers. He was bored and decided to challenge your defense system. It's top-secret level, no doubt. It took him over an hour to crack the system, but by the time he got in, your conversation was already over, so I didn't hear much."

After Charles's incident, William and Bryan immediately contacted each other to discuss a remedy. Emelie had intended to eavesdrop, but with the encrypted network they used, it was difficult to penetrate.

She didn't bother to keep trying with that and instead directly told William about it. Saying it so bluntly was a form of provocation in itself.

William said, "If you ask, I would tell you anything. You don't need to go to such lengths. Besides, we didn't talk about anything much. We just..."

Emelie shushed him. "I wasn't asking you, Mr. Middleton. You don't need to go through the trouble of making up stories."

"And how do you know that I'm making up a story to deceive you?" William asked.

Emelie was tired of this circular conversation and coldly replied, "We're getting off track."

William got back on topic. "Then promise me that you won't recklessly go after Beathan."

"Mr. Middleton, why are you saying it as though I'm about to declare war on Mr. Collins?" Emelie's tone was soft and gentle.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

"Mr. Collins might have some misunderstandings about me, which led to his actions, but I'm unharmed. For the sake of the cooperation between our companies, I won't hold it against him. Don't worry." William didn't believe a single word that she said.

After Emelie finished the last sip of her drink, she put down her glass and stood up. "I'm quite tired today. Let's stop here. I'm heading back now. Mr. Middleton, you should go back and rest early too."

It was indeed late, and William didn't try to keep her. "I'll have Ashton take you back."

Emelie didn't refuse. After she got out of the van, William followed her down and watched as she got into the car.

The car crept along the road back to the hotel.

Emelie propped her head up with one hand while scrolling through her phone with the other. She opened her calendar app and looked at the dates.

She was thinking about how she was currently restricted from leaving Capebatt City, and with the New Year approaching next week, she wouldn't be able to return to Mercianna to celebrate with Wesley.

If she didn't go back, Wesley would definitely ask why. She wasn't good at lying, so she would have to tell him the truth.

She thought it was better to tell him about the situation the next day, so he wouldn't prepare to celebrate with her only to be disappointed at the last minute when she couldn't return.

While Emelie was thinking about Wesley, she didn't notice that Ashton, who was driving in front, had been gathering her courage to speak to Emelie since they got into the car.

It wasn't until they were almost at the hotel where Emelie was staying that Ashton finally spoke. "Ms. Pierce."

"Hm?" Emelie responded.

"I know these words shouldn't come from me, but I can't hold back any longer. Please forgive me," Aston said.

Emelie glanced at the rearview mirror and saw half of Ashton's face. "Ms. Jones, what do you want to say?" Ashton pursed her lips. "Mr. Middleton didn't stay in Borealis City for treatment because his condition is quite bad, and the medical facilities there couldn't keep up.

"He flew back to Capebatt City by private jet tonight. He was supposed to go straight to the hospital, but when he heard the police took you, he rushed to the station without hesitation to bail you out."

Emelie recalled William's pale face earlier. The lights in the nanny car seemed deliberately set to a warm tone, making even a normally bloodless face look a bit better.

A red light appeared ahead. Though the road was empty at this hour, Ashton nevertheless stopped the car.

She gripped the steering wheel tightly. "He remembers how frightened and uneasy you were the last time you were detained, and he didn't want you to go through that again. He cares so much about you. Can't you be a little less heartless towards him?"