Scarlet Enchantment

Chapter 15

Emily secretly locked the disc in her office drawer, hoping it could one day serve as evidence against Damian. She continued to go to work regularly, even more diligently and enthusiastically than before. She engaged with more people and handled more tasks, making herself appear busy and fulfilled, trying to disrupt Damian's surveillance on her.

An old classmate left her some information about the Blackwood Corporation online, detailing its founding, development, major industries, and some rarely known personal details about Damian. To Emily's surprise, Damian indeed had a real identity. He was born in this city and had a complete growth trajectory, which explained why Officer Mitchell was so certain he wasn't Sebastian Lane.

The only suspicious point was that this man had gone abroad three years ago and only returned at the beginning of this year. Emily frowned as she read the message on her phone. This seemed like a clue worth investigating, but how could Sebastian Lane have gone abroad three years ago when he was still in prison, not yet executed?

She couldn't figure it out.

As for Nathan, he was Damian's cousin. It was rumored that they had always been close, which was completely contrary to what Emily had witnessed at the club.

This was one of the suspicious points and possibly the best entry point into the whole matter.

She silently marked on the paper, then quietly fed it into the shredder.

The professor from the business school had replied to her, so she quickly contacted Mark, urging him to go for an interview. Near noon, Mark called back, saying the professor was very pleased with him and had decided to hire him as a translation assistant with a good salary. Emily was happy for him and joked, "Remember to treat me to a meal when you get your salary."

Mark hesitated and then said, "How about now? Do you have time for lunch?"

Emily had time but couldn't let a student treat her. She smiled and declined, "Save your money. You worked hard to earn it. How can I make you pay?"

"How about the school cafeteria?" Mark asked. "Let's go to the one near your place. I'm almost downstairs."

His persistence surprised Emily. She frowned, considering how to refuse him, when Mark hesitated and said, "Ms. Carter, I have something to discuss with you. It's about—it's about—"

"Mark!" She cut him off sharply, her voice turning cold. "I'm your teacher. I helped you because you're my student. If you want to talk nonsense, just shut up."

"Ms. Carter?" Mark seemed startled by her reaction, stammering, "I, I—"

Emily didn't give him a chance to continue. She hung up, threw her phone on the desk, and rushed downstairs. Sure enough, Mark was there, leaning on his bicycle, holding his phone, seemingly about to make a call.

She appeared out of nowhere, startling him. "Ms. Carter?"

She walked up, grabbed his phone, and canceled the call. After a quick thought, she edited a text message on her phone: "Ms. Carter, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. Please forgive me. But I still have to say, I like you and don't think it's wrong."

She sent the message, quickly deleted it from the records, and handed the phone back to him. "What do you want to talk about? Is it about Julia?"

Mark was still in shock, staring at her. "Ms. Carter, were you upset just now? I didn't mean anything, just wanted to treat you to a meal to thank you for helping me get a good job."

"Oh, I misunderstood. I'm sorry," Emily said, glancing at the time. "Wait here. I'll get my phone, and we can have lunch together. My treat, to apologize."

Mark was bewildered by her sudden change in mood but agreed. "Okay."

Emily ran upstairs, grabbed her phone, deleted the unread message, and went back downstairs to join Mark for lunch at the school cafeteria. It was early, so the cafeteria wasn't crowded. She used her staff card to get two meals and found a table. While eating, she asked, "What do you want to talk about? What about Julia?"

Mark hesitated, then said, "Ms. Carter, Julia didn't go abroad for treatment. I saw her in Serenity City again."

Emily paused, her spoon suspended mid-air for a few seconds before she continued eating. "Oh? Where?"

Mark looked at her, struggling to find the right words. "I used to work as a waiter at a nightclub and saw Julia there. A few days ago, I asked about her, and they said she was still around but had moved to a higher-end place called Eternal Bliss Club."

The same club Damian had taken her to that night, clearly his territory. Everything was falling into place. Emily remained calm, nodding slowly. "I believe you."

"So, Mr. Blackwood is lying," Mark said anxiously.

Emily asked, "And then?"

He was speechless, not knowing what else to say.

Emily felt conflicted. She could see that this boy meant well, but the more he cared, the less she could involve him. It was too dangerous. If Damian was alerted, this boy might be in mortal danger. She couldn't be selfish, especially not to those who cared for her.

She had to use coldness to thwart Mark's good intentions, frowning as she said, "Mark, let me tell you again, don't get involved in Julia's matters. And don't mention it to me again, whether over the phone or in person. As for whether Mr. Blackwood is lying, that's none of your concern."

The light in Mark's eyes gradually dimmed. He finally lowered his gaze and softly replied, "I'm sorry, Ms. Carter. I was meddling."

Looking at the dejected young man before her, Emily wanted to tell him that he wasn't meddling, that his words were very helpful to her, and she was grateful. But in the end, she said nothing, lowering her head and eating in silence.

Over the weekend, Emily went alone to the shopping center's brand store. She bought a coat similar to Johnson's and called her to ask for her address. "I should have brought this to you earlier, but I've been too busy these days."

Johnson was both surprised and delighted to receive the call, "You're too kind! There's no need to bring it. I can come to you. I'm just bored right now."

Emily thought for a moment and suggested a compromise, "I'm out right now. If you have time, let me treat you to lunch. I really appreciate what you did for me last time."

Johnson readily agreed, "Sure, lunch sounds great."

They arranged to meet at a specific place. After hanging up, Johnson hurriedly got out of bed, naked, and knocked on the neighboring room's door, shouting, "Lily! Get up! Don't just lie there like a corpse!"

After a few minutes, the door opened to reveal a sleepy, pretty girl who yawned repeatedly, "Ms. Johnson, it's so early. We work night shifts and do physical labor. Are you trying to kill us?"

"I'm your union!" Johnson lightly slapped Lily's cheek and shook her shoulders, asking, "You're the most educated under my wing. Tell me, what do cultured people like, and what do they talk about when chatting?"

Lily, surprised, asked, "are you turning over a new leaf?"

"Not a chance! If you were more capable, I wouldn't have to suck up to others!" Johnson scolded. Seeing Lily's exaggerated look of shock, she continued, "Don't use that silly look on me. Do you think I'm one of your clients?"

Lily returned to normal and said helplessly, "if you don't tell me what's going on, how can I give you advice? There are all sorts of cultured people—those who think highly of themselves, the pretentious, and the refined scoundrels. Which one are you dealing with? And who haven't I handled well for you?"

"Mr. Blackwood? Did you handle him well?" Johnson hit the mark.

Lily was speechless for a moment, rolling her eyes dramatically, "Ms. Johnson, can we not talk about him? I think surviving his company is a miracle."

"Admit it if you're not capable." Johnson laughed and couldn't resist telling Lily what happened at the club. "To upset Mr. Blackwood in public is rare, but the important part is that despite leaving angrily, He insisted on taking her home again, and wouldn't let her leave until he had f****d her one more time. "

until he had f****d her one more time.

Lily had heard the first part but not the latter. She was astonished, "She's quite the remarkable woman!"

"Absolutely! I heard Mr. Blackwood call her Ms. Carter. She's a teacher," Johnson said. Realizing time was running out, she quickly asked a few more questions about cultured people's preferences before rushing out.

They met at a unique restaurant. When Johnson arrived, Emily was already waiting. Emily handed her the bag and explained, "I couldn't find the exact original, and since I didn't know your preferences, I got one similar. Check if it suits you. The receipt is in the bag, so you can return it if you don't like it."

Just by the look of the bag, Johnson knew the new coat was expensive, much better than the old one. Although she didn't need the money, she appreciated the thoughtfulness, especially since it came from someone close to Damian. Without even looking at the coat, she said, "I trust your taste, Ms. Carter. It's definitely better than my old one!"

Emily smiled, "You're very kind, Ms. Johnson."

One aiming to climb the social ladder, the other with ulterior motives, they hit it off. Emily subtly tried to bait Damian but didn't want to rush. So, she patiently engaged in casual conversation, while Johnson couldn't resist probing, "Are things okay with you and Mr. Blackwood?"

Emily paused, then softly replied, "Because of Nathan, I made him very angry, but it's nothing. It will pass eventually."

Johnson agreed, "Nathan does like to cause trouble. Don't take it too hard. Mr. Blackwood scolded him, so he will know to be more careful around you."

Emily laughed at herself, "Ms. Johnson, no matter what, they are brothers. Blood is thicker than water, and I'm an outsider."

"Not at all!" Johnson waved her hand dismissively, "Don't believe that 'brothers are like hands and feet, women are like clothes' nonsense. The full saying is, 'Brothers are like hands and feet, women are like clothes. You wear my clothes, I break your hands and feet. You break my hands and feet, I wear your clothes!'"

She was humorous and witty, making Emily laugh, "I'll tell that to Mr. Blackwood and see how he reacts."

Johnson was startled, half-jokingly saying, "Please don't! He might actually break my hands and feet!"

Emily smiled, wanting to steer the conversation away from Nathan, casually saying, "By the way, Ms. Johnson, I need your help. Someone asked me to find a person, and you know a lot of people. Can you keep an eye out for me?"

Given Johnson's connections, she knew the person must be either a client or a worker. She smartly raised her brows, "Who are you looking for?"

Emily handed her a photo of Julia. "This girl. Her family lost contact with her and asked me to find her."

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