Entangled Heart

Episode Two

Emma, still in shock, rushed to the hospital and found Jaime’s mother and sister outside his room with doctors and nurses in motion. Jamie’s mother appeared really exhausted from crying since the previous night, and the nurses’ refusal to let her see her son only added to her distress. Panic filled the air as everyone anxiously awaited news.

After thirty minutes of waiting, a doctor came out of Jamie’s room with a grave expression on his face. Emma and Jamie’s mother both anxious, immediately sought answers about Jamie’s condition. The doctor revealed that Jamie had a seizure due to trauma and fractured bones in his body. While currently under observation, there was still possibility of surgery if another seizure occurred due to the severity of the damage.

Meanwhile, Daniel’s emotion was in turmoil as he saw the unsettling photos and the threatening texts from the unknown number reading “I’ll enjoy making your world crumble.” He vented his frustration by smashing his phone on the floor. Amidst his anger, he could not fathom how someone knew about the incident from three years ago, and why they remained silent up until this moment. Samantha came in, seeing his scattered phone on the ground, tried to calm him down, unaware of the true cause of his rage, and assured him that she would handle the situation. But Daniel remained preoccupied, lost in thought about the mysterious sender and their motive while Samantha was talking. Samantha noticing that Daniel wasn’t paying attention called out his name, reminding him of the urgency to solve the issue at hand. She proposed a damage control strategy, advising him to hold a press conference and apologize to the public and the victim, and his family. Daniel, not okay with this suggestion, was initially reluctant and adamant about not apologizing, and dismissing the victim and his family as ‘a bunch of f*****g losers’. However, Samantha’s persistent persuasion convinced him to agree, realising it was the only option to solve the problem given that the news had spread widely to the public.

In the meantime, Emma took out time to go to the hospital after work every day to check up on Jamie. Daniel eventually covered Jamie’s hospital bills and arranged for the necessary surgery, fearing the consequences of any further delay that will ruin his reputation further. Despite his mother’s disapproval, she was left feeling powerless; they were compensated to keep silent about the incident. The compensation offered to the family made Emma uncomfortable, making her hate him even more.

On the day of the press conference, everything was organized and arranged by Daniel’s team, reporters and journalists were present as Daniel delivered his speech. He started with an apology to the public and the victim’s family, emphasizing that the victim’s medical expenses had been taken care of and compensation provided.

While at work, Emma heard about the press conference and could not help but feel disgust at Daniel’s attempt to use his money to buy his way out of the situation. She couldn’t shake off the frustration at how the wealthy could often escape consequences through their influence, leaving her with a sense of injustice to the victim’s family as the press conference unfolded. Days passed after the press conference and another piece of news resurfaced concerning the waitress Daniel physically assaulted that night at the club. People were eager to know what he had done for her, considering he had compensated the first victim. The situation escalated at the Grants Corp. office building, where women of all ages held placards and protested. The news coverage showed the severity of the situation, as they labelled Daniel a ‘monster’ for assaulting a woman. The public made it clear they wouldn’t forget what they had seen in the video.

Emma heard the news and became increasingly worried. People were starting to recognize and point fingers at her when she walked in the streets. She wanted to avoid any trouble and didn’t want any form of compensation from anyone. All she desired was to maintain her quiet and simple life, but fate had other plans. One night, on her way back from work, she noticed a strange car following her. In an attempt to escape, she ran, but the car drove fast and caught up with her. Two men alighted from the car, grabbing her and covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming. They forcefully took her in the car to an abandoned building blindfolded, so she wouldn’t see where she was. Emma screamed for help, but there was no response leaving her in a state of fear and uncertainty.

Daniel, realizing the news that resurfaced had spread, could no longer ignore the situation. He believed that Emma was a gold digger seeking his money, he ordered his bodyguards to bring her to him forcefully. He was convinced that she had spread the news about him, hitting her when all he did was push her accidentally, and he intended to silence her by any means possible. His bodyguards went out to find Emma, searching her house, reaching out to her brother, and even checking her workplace and on her colleagues, but she was nowhere to be found. Their failed attempts at finding her only strengthened Daniel’s conviction that Emma was responsible for spreading the rumours and had gone into hiding to escape his wrath.

Three depressing days passed and Emma had refused to eat. Her mind was consumed with worry about her father’s deteriorating health fearing what would happen to him if he heard of her disappearance. At the same time, she was seething with anger, unable to understand the reason someone would subject her to such torture, wondering what she had done to deserve such treatment. Deep down, she suspected Daniel as the mastermind behind her a*******n, believing it was his way of making her suffer in response to the recent news.

The lady sent to bring her food since the day of her a*******n entered the room once more to offer her food, hoping she would eat something. Emma from her voice could sense she was a kind person, and had been pleading with her to set her free, using her father’s illness as an emotional plea. Tearfully she begged again, catarrh coming out of her nose, her voice trembling with desperation, “please, help me, I didn’t do anything wrong, please let me go, please”. In a whisper, the lady responded, “lower your voice, I’ve been thinking about how to help you escape, but right now guards are watching so we need to be very careful, so be ready tomorrow”. Emma, overwhelmed with gratitude, replied “thank you, I’m so grateful”. The lady continued, “make sure not to report your a*******n to the police when you’re free. I’m realeasing you because I don’t want somebody else to suffer the same fate my friend did three years ago due to someone’s quest for revenge”. Confused, Emma asked, “what do you mean?. The lady replied, ‘Never mind, you won’t understand, just eat your food, I’ll come get you in the morning, I hope we don’t get caug….”. Before she could complete her sentence one of the guards walked angrily towards them.