Substitute Love: Her Boss Is Ex

Dawn broke and the birds began to chirp as another day began. The sun’s golden rays shone through the gaps in the curtains and warmed up the chilly room. However, no amount of the sun’s life-giving warmth could thaw Emily Dunstan’s frozen heart. Emily had gotten used to waking up early in the morning to make breakfast for her foster parents’ intellectually challenged son, Rocco. She also had to feed him one mouthful at a time. He was already twenty-six years old and still could not take care of himself. Emily squatted silently on the floor, and endured Rocco’s shrills and sneers, as she cleaned up the spilled food. “Emily, although your brother is mentally challenged, he’s your family and you should take care of him.” “We want you to marry him in the future, as you’re suitable for each other. Go back to the kitchen and make some more breakfast for him.” Her foster parents repeated these words to her for twenty whole years. She was abandoned with her brother by her parents and was grateful to her foster parents for adopting her. Little did she know that they did so for the sake of getting a government grant and had ulterior motives for taking her in. “Dad, Mom, I... I have classes soon. Can I leave first?” She stood up and sighed silently as she forced a smile and said, “It appears that Rocco doesn’t want to eat. Perhaps he’s not hungry. I’ll be back early at noon and feed him his lunch.” Johnny, Emily’s foster father, looked at her grimly and snarled, “You stupid girl, do you know how ungrateful you are? If you leave, how could Rocco manage on his own? Do you want something to happen to him?” Linda, Emily’s foster mother, stuffed an apron into her arms and said, “Go and cook the breakfast. Emily, all of us love you and are doing this for your own good. Don’t take our love for granted.” Emily looked at her foster parents and was flabbergasted. “I really have to go, I’m already late...” Slap! Emily’s mind went blank momentarily as she was violently slapped. Her cheek stung and she could taste the pungent blood in her mouth. She stood in place, stunned by the sudden assault. Johnny said sternly through gritted teeth, “Go and make breakfast!” She held her hand over the swollen cheek as tears welled up in her eyes. She realized right then that this was never her family. The government subsidies that they received for adopting her were supposed to cover her expenditures but they had never fed her well nor spent any of that money on her. Instead, most of the money was used to take care of Rocco. She was a very sensible girl and never complained even when she went hungry most of the time. When she grew up, she worked as a waitress whenever she could and gave whatever she earned to her foster parents. Even after doing all these for them, they continued to verbally and physically abuse her. She used to think that her foster parents were mean to her because they were under a lot of stress. However, that slap that she just received finally made her realize that she was treated worse than a nanny. She was just their tool to take care of their retarded son and was never treated as their daughter. Emily’s heart felt like it was being crushed and the pain was unbearable. She looked blankly at the couple who she once regarded as her family. However, they now appeared so distant and heartless. She felt incredibly disappointed and would not allow herself to be fooled by Linda’s sugar-coated words. “I won’t make breakfast for Rocco anymore, and I certainly won’t marry him!” Emily said softly as her voice quivered. Tears started to flow but she was determined to break away from this loveless family. She took off her apron, threw it toward their feet, turned, and ran out of the house amid Johnny’s relentless curses and Linda’s hysterical rants. There was no turning back, not that she had anything that could keep her back. They never loved her. Not once did they show any compassion or love toward her. She had always been an orphan. Emily walked aimlessly with a heavy heart until she found herself at the college. Her foster parents forced her to major in education so that she could become a kindergarten teacher. All her dreams and aspirations were dashed by them. They wanted her to become a kindergarten teacher so that after she married Rocco, she would have enough time to take care of him and their children. Emily was lost in her despair when she suddenly heard a commotion coming from downstairs. Curiosity got the better of her and she went to the window to see what was going on. As soon as she looked down, she saw a group of female students cooing and waving at a man who wore a well-tailored, expensive-looking business suit. This particular man was flanked by college staff members and walked into the building. “It’s the patron of the college! His name is William and he donates generously to the college!” some students next to her remarked excitedly. “What a handsome man! I’m willing to trade 10 years of my life if I could marry such a man!” “I should think about how to create some opportunities to get his number.” Emily was able to hear in detail what the girls were saying as she had developed an extremely keen sense of hearing because she had to take care of Rocco. Whenever he coughed or wheezed, she had to rush over to take care of him or she would be severely punished by Johnny. This caused her to associate her keen sense of hearing with unpleasant memories, resulting in her dislike for noisy environments. She walked away from them, went to a quiet corner, and leaned onto a railing to reflect on what had happened that day. At that moment, the group of staff with that well-dressed man walked up the stairs to the opposite corridor. William listened to the staff as he stood in the corridor. He scanned the area and saw a dainty-looking girl leaning on the railing, deep in her thoughts. Such beautiful ladies were a dime a dozen for him and did not interest him. He continued to look around and pretended to be impressed by what the staff was telling him. Just then, William felt a sharp splitting headache. He rubbed his temples and reached into his empty pocket. “Looks like I forgot to bring my migraine medicine again,” he said softly and sighed lightly as he knew that his chronic headache was recurring. He took medication for his headache regularly. However, he had forgotten to take the medicine with him for the college visit. William frowned as he endured the severe headache while listening to the staff. Suddenly, he felt something shoved into his hand. He looked down and saw that it was a bottle of painkillers. He then looked up and was surprised to see that she was the girl who was leaning on the railing, seemingly troubled by something. “Is this...?” William asked. The girl appeared tired and replied softly, “I heard you mention that you forgot your migraine medicine. It just so happens that I have some. I hope that they can ease your headache, Sir.” William was bewildered as there was a good distance between them. He had mumbled to himself for not bringing the medicine. Even those beside him did not hear what he said, much less someone across the building! That meant that this girl had incredible hearing abilities and could be nurtured for greater things. William said with great appreciation, “Thank you, you’re a lifesaver! Are you a student here? What’s your name?” “Yes, I’m a sophomore here, I’m studying to be a kindergarten teacher. I’m Emily.” “Very well. Thank you for the medicine,” William replied with a smile. Emily nodded as he turned and left with the crowd. Before she knew it, she had just become one of the many girls who had been mesmerized by his captivating eyes and smile. How could she not be? He was dashing, well dressed, with an air of nobility that set him apart from the others. However, Emily did not do this in order to gain William’s attention. There were two reasons why she took the initiative to give William her bottle of migraine medicine. Firstly, she heard what he said, and secondly, she did not want to hold onto anything that belonged to Rocco Feeding Rocco was already difficult enough. Getting him to take his medication was an even more challenging task. Her bag was filled with all kinds of medication. Whenever he had his relapses, she struggled to get him to eat his medicines. Since she had left that family, she would be throwing away those medicines and never have to serve Rocco his medicines again! Emily took a deep breath and went back to the class. She grabbed her bag, ran straight to the trash can, and dumped the contents of her bag. She heaved a sigh of relief and felt as though she had shed a ton off her shoulders. She decided to stay at the convenience store, where she worked, instead of going home tonight. That night, just as Emily was about to close and lock up the store, a delivery man turned up with a big bouquet of roses. Emily was both surprised and confused, who would send these flowers to her?