Chapter 174: Nicholas, Happy Birthday
The car window was suddenly knocked on.
A booming voice shouted from outside, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
Emma's mind went completely blank. She quickly scrambled off Nicholas, fumbling to open the car door.
She stuck her head out, saw who it was, and froze.
"Dad."
Nicholas also called out, "Mr. Jackson."
Daryl's face was stern as he addressed Emma, "Emma, come with me. It's late and dangerous out here—there are all sorts of creeps around at night. Don't come out after dark anymore."
She nodded quickly and hurried away without looking back.
Nicholas felt frustrated. They'd been so close—what would her answer have been?
His fingers flew across his phone screen, frantically typing messages.
But she never replied.
After a long while, the car slowly started up and pulled away from Jackson Manor.
Back in her room, Emma stood there for a moment before suddenly hearing soft crying sounds.
Without hesitation, she rushed to Evelyn's room.
Pushing open the door, she found Evelyn curled up in the corner, head buried in her knees, body trembling as she sobbed quietly.
She was thinking about Hawk again.
Emma hurried over and gently embraced her. "Evelyn, get up. Don't sit on the cold floor."
Evelyn looked up, her eyes red and swollen, filled with inconsolable pain. "I miss him."
"I should have believed him."
"But now there's no chance."
Emma helped her to the bed, carefully covering her legs with a blanket.
"Evelyn, this baby—are you planning to keep it?" she asked seriously.
Evelyn froze for a moment, remembering what Hank had told her before leaving—that Hawk had nearly chopped off a doctor's hands to protect this child, and had kept vigil by her bedside for an entire day and night.
So he had truly treasured this baby.
She nodded firmly, her voice resolute, "I want to keep him. I'm going to have this baby."
Emma patted her hand. "Do you know that excessive grief can cause birth defects, miscarriage, or deprive the fetus of oxygen?"
Evelyn's eyes widened in fear, even her sobbing stopped.
"For the baby's health, you can't just give in to sadness anymore. When the baby's born, then we can make up for all the tears, okay?"
Save up the sadness for later?
Evelyn was suddenly amused despite herself.
"If you want to keep this baby, the prerequisite is that he must be healthy, right?" Emma gently stroked her hair.
"Actually, you haven't lost everything. He left you the most precious thing. You need to get through this difficult time on your own."
"Emma." Evelyn sniffled and leaned into her embrace.
"Hawk hasn't left. He's still here—in your heart, watching over you and the baby from heaven." Emma gently patted her back.
It took considerable effort to finally get her to sleep.
When she returned to her room, Emma felt even heavier-hearted.
She couldn't imagine what would have happened to her if she'd lost Nicholas back then.
Her phone kept buzzing. She picked it up and saw he'd already sent her over a dozen messages.
She looked through them but didn't reply to any.
Those intimate words were making her heart feel unsettled...
The next day, noon.
Ruby wore oversized sunglasses, holding Emma's hand on the left and Evelyn's on the right, with adorable Nina beside them. Four stunning women of different styles walking down the street drew 200% of the attention.
She was in an excellent mood today, chin held high, radiating smugness.
Just as they were about to enter Emerald City's most luxurious shopping center, HG Mall, the security guard at the entrance extended his arm, blocking Evelyn and Emma's path.
"Sorry, ladies."
The guard's expression was blank, his voice like a programmed response.
"You're on Harrison Group's blacklist and cannot enter HG Mall at this time. Please shop elsewhere."
Ruby removed her sunglasses, and beneath her flawless makeup, fury ignited instantly.
"What did you say?"
"Who's on the blacklist?"
The guard looked down at the device in his hand, where the automatic identification system was flashing red.
"Evelyn and Emma."
Emma quickly grabbed Ruby's arm before she exploded. "Mom, let's go somewhere else."
She'd actually been thinking about picking out a birthday gift for him.
Well, so much for that—she couldn't even get through the door.
Ruby's temper flared instantly, and she was ready to let loose.
"That bastard Nicholas dares to blacklist you?"
"Call him! Right now!"
Evelyn also grabbed Ruby's other arm, lowering her voice persuasively, "Mom, forget it. Let's go to another mall. It's not like we don't have money—we can buy great things anywhere! Losing customers like us is Harrison Group's loss!"
The commotion at the entrance wasn't huge, but these four women were too eye-catching, and a crowd quickly gathered outside.
From the crowd, a young girl exclaimed excitedly, "Is that Dr. N? Oh my God, she's so beautiful and elegant in person!"
Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "Yeah! How could she be blacklisted by Harrison Group? Didn't she just support FD publicly? This Mr. Harrison is so heartless—talk about crossing the bridge and burning it!"
The discussions grew louder, and Emma, worried about causing unnecessary trouble, quickly pulled Ruby away.
Before long, the hashtag #Dr. N Blacklisted by Harrison Group# was trending online, along with various speculations spreading like wildfire throughout social circles.
"Mr. Harrison, this is bad! Look at this!"
Charlie rushed into the CEO's office with his phone.
Nicholas looked up from his documents and took the phone.
On the screen were photos from HG Mall's entrance and the ugly online commentary.
His expression darkened instantly.
How could she be on Harrison Group's blacklist?
No wonder she couldn't stay at Harrison Group hotels in Luminous City and had to stay at that shabby place where she nearly got kidnapped that night!
Thinking of that dangerous evening, his aura turned menacing, his handsome face filled with fury.
"Investigate!"
"When did this happen!"
Charlie's fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly producing a date.
Nicholas narrowed his eyes. He remembered that date—it was when Zoe had called him crying, saying some woman at the store had fought her over a dress, causing her tremendous humiliation.
It was her again.
She had manipulated him again!
His well-defined fingers clenched so tightly that veins bulged on the backs of his hands.
His desk phone vibrated, showing a number he knew by heart.
He swiped to answer, and a sweet voice came through.
"Nicholas, happy birthday. I'm back. I'm at Melody—can you have dinner with me?"
His lips curved into a cold smile, his voice revealing no emotion.
"Wait for me."
After hanging up, he strode toward the door. At the threshold, he suddenly turned back and coldly dropped a line.
"Issue a statement."
Soon after, Harrison Group's official website released a bombshell announcement.
[Regarding Dr. N being placed on Harrison Group's blacklist: This was purely a system error and completely false. To express our apologies, Harrison Group has decided to transfer ownership of all 433 HG Mall locations worldwide to Dr. N at no cost. We thank her for working hand in hand with FD through thick and thin.]
433 HG Mall locations—assets worth hundreds of billions—and Nicholas was just giving them away?
His indulgence of Emma was absolutely outrageous!
Zoe stared at the statement on her phone screen. She deeply regretted having Nicholas blacklist that woman over a single dress.
Her eyes welled up with tears.
Nicholas spoiled Emma to such an extent? How far had their relationship progressed?
At that moment, at Emerald City's most exclusive fine dining establishment—Melody.
Ruby finally settled into a private dining room with her three daughters.
As soon as they sat down, Nina grabbed the menu and flipped through it eagerly, practically drooling over the pictures.
She'd heard that Melody's owner was the same person who'd run the now-closed Banyan Blossom, and had created this top-tier restaurant from scratch—truly proving that talent shines wherever it goes.
Ruby channeled her anger into appetite, having Nina order a whole table full of dishes.
Before all the dishes arrived, Evelyn saw the news on her phone and excitedly showed it to Emma.
"Emma, look! You're now a major HG Mall shareholder!"
Emma looked at the statement, somewhat surprised.
Wasn't his behavior a bit too over-the-top? She'd seen people give houses and cars as gifts, but this was just insane...
Evelyn marveled beside her, "Nicholas really goes all out. With blacklists like this, I think you should get on a few more. Next time he might just give you Harrison Group itself."
Just as she finished speaking, a server brought over a bowl of clear fish soup.
The moment Evelyn caught a whiff of that fishy smell, her stomach churned violently. She covered her mouth and ran outside.
"I'll go check on her." Emma immediately followed, concerned.
Ruby watched their retreating figures with confusion. Wasn't fish soup Evelyn's favorite? How could she...
Something was wrong.
She set down her chopsticks, alarm bells ringing in her mind.
In the hallway, Evelyn was retching violently over a trash can.
Emma gently patted her back and waited for her to recover before helping her back toward their private room.
As they passed another dining room, a server opened the door to bring in food.
Through the crack, she saw a familiar, tall figure.
Nicholas!
And Zoe!
Zoe was reaching up to wrap her arms tightly around his waist, pressing her face against his chest. He was turned sideways toward the door, his expression unreadable.
Emma's steps froze instantly.
Zoe was back?
Suddenly, a strong wave of nausea surged up from her stomach, and she pushed past Evelyn, running toward the restroom.
Inside the private room.
Zoe's eyes were red. The moment she saw Nicholas, she couldn't control herself and threw her arms around him.
"Nicholas, please let me come back to Emerald City. I don't want to stay abroad anymore. I'm all alone there, with no one to rely on."
Nicholas reached out and expressionlessly pulled her arms away from his waist, his gaze ice-cold.
"I heard the White family acknowledged you. Since you're Ms. White, how could you have no one to rely on?"
Zoe's body stiffened, her expression somewhat dejected, her voice weak.
"But I only want to stay by your side."
"There's no possibility between us anymore." Nicholas's words were like a knife, piercing straight into her heart.
Tears welled up in Zoe's eyes. "I know you don't love me anymore. I just wanted to come back and celebrate your birthday with you."
He looked at her, his voice completely cold.
"I can overlook what happened before." He was referring to Emma being put on the blacklist.
"You must leave Emerald City tomorrow."
With that, he turned and walked away without a trace of nostalgia.
As he left, no one noticed that in his palm, he was clutching a strand of hair he'd deliberately pulled from Zoe's head.
He was determined to find out who the real Ms. White was.