Episode one
“Emma, Emma” Jamie called out, gently tapping her, as she seemed lost in thought. In shock, Emma replied, “oh! , I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were calling me” Jamie asked about what was bothering her, noticing that she looked distant, despite just arriving at work. Emma confided her worries about her father’s health, recounting his recent seizure and the doctors’ recommended surgery to remove the blockage in his heart. She expressed her frustration working two jobs trying to save up for the surgery, but yet it seems her best is not good enough. Tearfully, she said, “I don’t know what to do anymore.’
Jamie embraced Emma tightly, showing admiration for her strength in handling such a heavy burden at a young age, taking care of her father and brother since her mom left. Jamie reassured her, saying, ‘Don’t worry, somehow we’ll find a way to gather the money for the bills. I’ll do my best to help too; I have some savings that I can give you to add up whatever you have saved, together, we’ll figure this out". Jamie said hugging Emma. "No, no, I can't let you do that, you are struggling yourself, I don't want to be a burden to you please” Emma said, politely declining his help.
“You will never be a burden to me. You are my best friend, I can’t see you struggling and not try to help out,” Jamie encouraged Emma. “So don’t worry about it, we’ll figure everything out.”
Their conversation was interrupted by voices echoing from across the room in the club, where a group of people were partying recklessly. Emma asked, “who are these people throwing away money like that?” Jamie, in shock, pointed at one of the guys and said, “Don’t tell me you don’t know who he is.”
Emma, trying to act nonchalant, responded, “who is he? I don’t know him.” Jamie continued, “His name is Daniel Grants, one of the most famous New York elites, CEO of Grants Corp. Ltd, one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in New York.”
“Oh! He is the owner of that famous company? Rich people really do not value money, just see how they lavish money, while there are people suffering and barely having anything to eat.” Emma said, expressing her disgust.
“Come on! Today is his birthday, and besides, he is rich, he can do whatever he wants with his money, so cheer up,” Jamie said, dragging Emma back to work to serve customers while Jamie returned to Daniel’s table to serve more drinks.
As Daniel and his friends continued to party at their table, Jamie accidentally spilled a drink on Daniel’s expensive clothes, infuriating him. Despite Jamie’s sincere apologies, Daniel ordered his bodyguards to teach him a lesson. Helplessly, Jamie was beaten up while the fuss caught the attention of others in the club, who started recording the disturbing scene on their phones.
Not content with the beating, Daniel took matters into his own hands and started punching him, while throwing insults at him. Emma rushed over to intervene, desperately trying to stop the brutal assault on her friend. However, her pleas fell on deaf ears as he continued to punch him. In an attempt to stop him, she reached out to hold his hands, but he callously pushed her away, causing her to fall to the ground. Realizing the extent of his actions and aware of the gathering crowd recording the scene on their phones, Daniel finally stopped.
With regret, he ordered his guards to confiscate the phones to prevent them from spreading any news with the video as evidence. Meanwhile, the rest of his guards escorted him out of the club, leaving Jamie and Emma to tend to the aftermath of the distressing encounter. Emma hurriedly rushed to Jamie who fell unconscious, because he had lost so much blood, and people in the club called for an ambulance. He had been brutally beaten, and the sight was distressing. The ambulance arrived, and Jamie was quickly taken to the hospital.
The next morning, Emma returned from the hospital to prepare for work, leaving Jamie, who was still recovering, in the care of his mother and sister. While at the Laundromat, Emma overheard two customers discussing the incident from the night before, with it already making headlines. Curious, Emma approached and asked if everything was alright. One of the ladies responded, “Haven’t you heard about what happened last night at Sun High Club? Daniel Grants assaulted a waiter there, and it’s all over the news.” She handed her phone over to Emma, and there she saw Jamie’s picture alongside Daniel’s, with a video of the incident below the page.
“Whoa! That’s quick, how did they even get Jamie’s picture?” Emma exclaimed, genuinely surprised. Before she could say anything more, her phone rang. It was Jamie’s sister, asking her to rush over to the hospital, she was crying. Emma immediately dashed off, her heart racing with worry about Jamie’s well-being.
Daniel stormed into the office, his face burning with anger as he discovered the news of the incident had spread like wildfire. He immediately ordered his assistants to contact bloggers urgently, demanding all posts from the previous night be taken down to stop the news from spreading further. The office was in chaos, phones ringing non-stop, but Daniel ignored the incessant calls, his rage drowning out everything else. He shouted at his assistants and employees, pressuring them to get rid the news that was rapidly tarnishing his reputation.
Amidst the turmoil in his office, Daniel’s own phone rang. It was his father calling. At first, he ignored the call, not wanting to deal with his father’s judgment. But the persistent ringing forced him to pick up. “Dad , I’ll take care of it; it’s my responsibility,” Daniel blurted out, not waiting to hear what his dad had to say first, frustration and anger evident in his voice, he attempted to explain that he wanted to teach what he perceived as ‘low class people’ a lesson, but he never imagined it would be captured on blogs.
His father’s scolding tone filled his ear, “How will you take care of this? It’s all over the internet, making headlines in every news outlet. Have you seen the comments? This reckless act will affect your reputation and the company’s stock. Why can’t you act responsibly for once? have you forgotten what happened three years ago?”
“Dad, you really don’t have to bring that up! I said I’ll take care of it!” Daniel retorted angrily. But his father remained firm and had already involved their lawyer, Samantha, who was on her way to handle the situation. His father insisted that Daniel let Samantha take charge to prevent him from further ruining everything he had worked so hard to build.
Fuming with rage, Daniel hung up the phone, but as soon as he did, a text message notification popped up on his phone from an unknown number. Due to curiosity, he opened the message, and what he saw left him in shock. The content of the message made him scared and angry making him wonder what kind of consequences he was about to face.
