Substitute Love: Her Boss Is Ex

Chapter 5

Thereafter, Emily moved into Dylan’s large estate and lived there. She stayed with her long-lost brother, helping him with translations and the review of work documents.

During work and interactions with her brother, Emily realized that she had many other talents beyond just being a kindergarten teacher. She already knew two foreign languages, French and Spanish, but in the course of helping her brother, she even picked up Arabic and Japanese. In barely a month, she was able to handle legal and contractual documents.

Dylan was very impressed and particularly proud of Emily’s excellent performance. He was never good at studies probably he had gotten into one fight too many as a child. Their father always said that he was stupid. It looked like he had somehow transferred some of his IQ to his sister, who turned out to be a genius.

One day, Emily left the house for the office with Dylan as usual but soon realized that they had taken a different route. They soon arrived at a training facility and Emily curiously asked, “Dylan, are we here today for a surprise inspection?”

Her usual training was done at the manor and there was no need for them to go to the facility just for that.

Dylan smiled and shook his head. “No, you’re here for a trial.”

“A trial?”

She was then led to the shooting range and a pair of ear defenders were placed over her ears. He hands him a revolver and then she realized what was going on.

Dylan showed her how to handle the revolver and urged her to fire at the target downrange. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then slowly raised the revolver. She aimed and then winced when she squeezed the trigger.

Bang... bang...

After shooting twice, she lowered the revolver and Dylan took it from her. He then retrieved the target and although Emily’s score was not perfect, it was much better than other first-time shooters. He smiled and patted his sister’s shoulder. “My sister indeed! I thought that you were a nerd and didn’t expect you to be so good at shooting! You’re much better than a beginner.”

Emily took off her earmuffs and asked curiously, “You brought me here to teach me shooting and unarmed combat. You even asked me to pick a few instructors so that they would give me personal lessons. What are all these for?”

Dylan looked at Emily solemnly, “Girl, although I am always here to protect you, I can never be by your side all the time. There are many uncertainties in the world and I can’t anticipate everything is to come.” He placed the revolver into her hand and continued, “Power flows from the barrel of the gun. In our world, respect comes from fear and fear comes from power.”

Emily smiled slightly and paused for a moment. She was momentarily worried by what her brother said, not because of the fear for her safety, but because he was worried enough that he wanted her to learn these skills.

She grabbed the revolver, unlatched the cylinder, spun it, and flicked it back into the frame. She side-glanced at Dylan and said with a grin, “Bro, I’ve always been better at everything than you. Just let me have a few lessons and I’ll be able to kick your ass! We’re family. I’ve got your back!”

“Great!”

Emily’s acoustic training had now reached the intermediate stage. After the expert’s coaching and training, Emily’s naturally keen sense of hearing had already surpassed the frequency and range of a human being. It could be said that her hearing was close to a superhuman level.

However, in private, Dylan was worried about her rapidly improving abilities.

...

“Three four.”

“Three five seven.”

“Two, four, six, five.”

“One, three, three, four, six.”

“Six, six, three, five, two, three.”

After the end of the day’s training, the coach, who Dylan had hired for Emily, was overjoyed. “Emily, your hearing is now keen enough to differentiate the points of six dice at the same time. No one has ever achieved these results. Mr. Tomson is so lucky to have a sister like you!”

“Is that so? Dylan, did you hear that? I’ve superhuman hearing!” she said proudly to Dylan who was also in awe of her abilities.

“My little sister is so talented!” Dylan smiled radiantly to cover his worries.

“Brother, I want to try out my skills at the casino,” Emily said with a smile.

“Can’t wait? Are you so eager to impress your brother?” Dylan asked with a smirk.

“Although my skills are close to perfection, they’re all conducted in a controlled setting. The only way to prove that I’m good enough is if I test my skills at an actual casino.”

Dylan sighed softly. His plan is truly foolproof...

He thought for a while and then said, “In that case, I happen to have an appointment a couple of days later. I’ll take you to a VIP area. The environment will be better than going to ordinary casinos.”

Two days later, Emily eagerly went with Dylan to a casino. She realized that she had underestimated how noisy a casino was. With ears as sensitive as hers, all the ringing from the jackpot machines, the clinking of coins, the bickering of the gamblers, and the croupiers’ shouts became a torment to her. It was as if a drill was whirling in her brain.

Emily frowned as she put on her soundproof earplugs and followed her brother into the VIP area which was much quieter.

Not long after they sat down, a tall, stocky, tattooed hunk also walked in, flanked by a group of men in black suits.

“My my my, isn’t that our Mr. Tomson? It has only taken 3 weeks for him to find a time to meet us.” The nasty man said sarcastically. He appeared pleasantly surprised to see Emily, who was wearing a red dress.

“Mr. Tomson, are you bringing a beautiful woman for luck? I didn’t know that you are so superstitious! Hahahahahaha, how ridiculous!” He laughed like a villain.

“Mr. Caper, please take a seat.”

“We agreed on this duel three weeks ago, then, as you stated, you will provide the dice and the croupier, and we will guess the points. It’s a total of 10 games. The percentage of the number of correct guesses represents the percentage of profit you will give me for this business.”

“Done!” He then looked at Emily and said, “What a cute girl. Whatever the result is, I will give you one more percentage point. Even if you don’t get any of it right, I’ll still give you a percentage of the profit, as long as you let this babe stay with me for one night. Aren’t I generous to you?” He continued to look lustfully at Emily’s breasts and legs.

Emily was disgusted by his prying eyes and tried to shift her legs to the side. Suddenly, Dylan took off his jacket and draped it over her front.

“Let’s begin, Mr. Caper.”

The match began and the croupier appointed by Johnson took the cup, tossed it in the dice, and began to shake the cup fancily. He waved the cup around in an elaborate performance as if whatever he did could influence Dylan’s judgment.

After several seconds, he slammed the cup onto the table and the dice rattled within the cup and came to a rest. Emily stared intently at the cup and focused all her concentration on hearing how the dice fell. She smiled, leaned over to Dylan, and whispered five digits to him. Dylan repeated the numbers while someone noted them down on the board. Johnson grinned and signaled the croupier to lift the cup.

Just as the croupier grabbed the cup, Emily heard a subtle rattle and she quickly tugged his coat. “Dylan...”

“Stop!” Dylan said and ensured that the croupier had not lifted the cup.

“What’s wrong?” he asked Emily.

“Just now he moved the dice when he touched the cup. Now the points are four, five, three, six, two.” Emily whispered into her brother’s ear.

“Oh?” Dylan looked directly at Johnson with a smile and said with a grin, “Mr. Caper, didn’t we agree to do this without any tricks?”

Johnson gloated confidently and said, “Mr. Tomson, why the accusations? Am I not sincere enough to agree to your proposal by doing this at your casino?”

“Since the cup has not been lifted, I should be able to change my answer.”

“Be my guest! Mr. Tomson, you can change your answers as many times as you wish.”

“Now the points are, four, five, three, six, and two.”

Johnson glared at the croupier, upset that whatever he did to change the outcome of the dice, it was still detected by Dylan. The croupier looked down guiltily in embarrassment.

When the cup was lifted, it was exactly as Dylan said, “our, five, three, six, and two.” Johnson’s expression darkened, slapped the table angrily, and snarled, “Go on!”

Johnson, who had always been a cheater and was frequently rather lucky. However, it looked like he had been abandoned by Lady Luck today.

The duel progressed and Dylan guessed correctly ten times in a row! After the tenth game, Johnson fumed angrily and yelled, “Again!”

Dylan gently raised his hand to stop him, “Mr. Caper, I know that you’re furious but I’ve already won ten out of ten games. It wouldn’t be fair to you if I were to continue. After all, we’re just talking about working together and not taking over your company. What’s there for you to worry about?”

The man fumed but managed to suppress his temper enough that he did not lunge at Dylan to wring his neck. “You’d better watch your back!” He snarled a warning, opened the door, and left in a rage.

After this encounter, Emily’s superhuman hearing helped Dylan to win every bet. She became Dylan’s casino ace and no matter how they played, they always won.

Time flew by as Emily continued to train and improve her gambling skills. Before she knew it, it was time to return to her classes.

“Dylan, my shooting and unarmed combat training seemed to have intensified,” Emily said.

Dylan patted her head and said, “There are some things that are moving in a direction that is beyond my control. Emily, I hope that you can master more means of self-protection.”

Emily agreed as she could see the worry in her brother’s eyes. She thought about how helpless and desperate she was when she was kidn*pped and was determined not to let that happen to her again. Even though Dylan had hired bodyguards for her, they could not be with her all the time. She must be able to protect herself when the unexpected happened.

Thus, Emily took her shooting and unarmed combat training very seriously. Unexpectedly, her acute hearing helped her detect her opponent’s moves before it was executed. That gave her a unique advantage over her attackers. Very soon, she was able to counter every of the coach’s moves and he could no longer attack her.

At this point, Emily no longer played for Dylan. He never needed the gambling wins. It was just to hone her skills in the casino environment. Now, when she went to the casino, it was to help him detect any gossips that might affect his business or the intentions of the mobs.

With Emily’s participation, he now controlled half of the illicit activities of the state. Very soon, ambitious henchmen of other gangs began to come out of the crevices to impress him.

Emily’s listening abilities became his best weapon against his enemies. All Emily needed to do was sit at the bar and take note of anything interesting that was said. She would then pass on the information to Dylan who would then formulate and adjust his moves against his enemies.

Emily now felt that her life was much better and happier than it once was, until one day when she overheard her brother’s phone call when she stood at the window below his study.

“Sir, this is a dangerous mission, we definitely could send someone else.”

“... No sir, I’m not disobeying you. It’s just that I think that Emily is still too young. She... She’s my sister. I’m not...”

“Sir, I’m sorry, but she’s not fully trained yet and this is too dangerous for her...”

Dylan kept pleading with the caller as Emily ran upstairs and opened the door to the study. “Is this a mission that I need to go on? I can go. Let me go. I won’t disappoint you!”

“Emily?” Dylan remarked in surprise when his sister appeared at the door. The caller snorted when he heard Emily agreeing to take on the task and said, “It’s settled then, Dylan. Your sister has agreed.”

“Sir? Sir?!” Dylan glared angrily at Emily for her intrusion and for eavesdropping on his conversation.

Emily tried to appease her brother and said, “I’ll be fine. I’ve been so well trained by the instructors who were handpicked by you. Let’s consider this mission a test of my real-world abilities.”

“But Emily, I don’t wish to...” Dylan had some difficulty accepting that she was going on such a dangerous mission. Although his boss insisted that Emily participate in the mission, Dylan did not want to involve her until the most important final mission. In fact, based on the original plan, she did not need to become a member of the organization so early.

“Dylan, you have to believe in me. I am confident that I can do it. Let me go on this mission!”

“Okay, you must be extra careful and not take any unnecessary risks. I’ll now tell you the details and objectives of this mission.”

“In the suburbs of Rand City, there is a manor near Wendel Town. The owner of that manor has some information I need. That information must not fall into other people’s hands. I was about to do it myself but since you insist on going, then do me a favor and make sure you protect yourself!”

When she heard about Rand City, Emily instantly thought about the years she had spent in Rand City. Her demon-like foster parents and brother, including that man, who she thought had loved her. To think that he already had a fiancée and wanted to treat her as a mistress.

She quickly came back to her senses. Rand City was large and she would only be there for three days. Surely the chances were slim that she would bump into these former acquaintances.

Emily said with her newfound confidence, “Not a problem, it’s just a file in the manor. Don’t worry about it, I’ll bring it back to you!”

When she finally opened the safe that was located in the study within the manor, she realized that she had underestimated the difficulty of the mission.

“William Kronto...” she mumbled as she looked at that disgusting name. Emily gritted her teeth and did not expect that her first solo mission was doomed to fail.

Damn, it! Emily cursed in her heart as she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer toward her.

She quickly placed the unopened envelope on the table and put her hands up as she was surrounded by many bodyguards. She slowly backed to the window and said, “Everyone, everyone... I really didn’t take anything nor did I see anything... I’m leaving now!” Before they could lunge at her, she quickly opened the windows and jumped out.

However, she had made the wrong decision. After she jumped out, she was caught by a large net. “Damn!” She looked up and saw William’s repulsive face.

“Sure enough it’s you!” Emily shot daggers at his eyes. She struggled to take out a signal flare.

This was something that Dylan gave her before she left for the mission. He assured her that once she launched the flare, do everything in his means to rescue her.

Emily was tied up and brought into William’s basement. She kept waiting for Dylan’s rescue but he did not come. As time dragged on, she eventually gave up hope of rescue...