Chapter 68 She Left the Estate
Charlie's eyes went wide as he shouted, "Oh no! Mrs. Harrison got stood up again!"
She'd been waiting there alone for five whole hours!
"Quick! Quick!" He sprinted outside while frantically dialing Nicholas on his phone.
"The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable." The cold, automated message came through.
He quickly called the driver instead.
The call connected immediately, the driver's voice equally frantic, "Charlie! I was just about to report to you! Mr. Harrison went to rescue Miss Perez! It was an emergency—he just took a speedboat out to sea! Thank God, Mr. Moore sent backup, too!"
Charlie felt the world spin around him and nearly collapsed.
"Dear God!" he cried out as he and the estate manager jumped into a car, flooring the accelerator and racing toward the riverbank at maximum speed.
The headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating a huddled figure by the roadside.
Emma was slumped against a stone bollard, her face paper-white, lips completely bloodless. Her left sleeve was soaked through with blood—a dark, shocking red stain.
Charlie's heart skipped a beat as he slammed on the brakes and jumped out.
"Mrs. Harrison! Mrs. Harrison, how are you?" He rushed forward, his voice thick with regret and guilt. "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! I came too late! I'm sorry!"
He carefully helped the nearly unconscious Emma to her feet and into the back seat.
The next day, Emma woke up in a soft bed.
Her left arm had been properly treated and secured with a splint.
She shifted slightly and could feel that yesterday's fall had completely reopened the wound that had been healing.
Charlie had been keeping vigil beside her. Seeing her awake, he immediately leaned forward, his face etched with guilt.
"Mrs. Harrison, how are you feeling? The doctor said you lost quite a bit of blood, plus you were exhausted and caught a chill."
Emma didn't hear the rest of his words, only asking hoarsely, "Where's Nicholas?"
Charlie's eyes flickered as he said quietly.
"Mr. Harrison had an urgent business emergency yesterday and had to rush back to handle it."
Emma's expression didn't change; only her eyelashes trembled slightly.
"It was about Zoe, wasn't it."
Charlie was caught off guard, knowing he couldn't hide it, so he reluctantly admitted.
"Yes... Miss Perez was kidnapped, and Mr. Harrison... Mr. Harrison went to rescue her. The situation was complicated. From last night until now, we still haven't heard definitive news about Mr. Harrison."
Before he could finish speaking, his phone suddenly chimed with a message.
Charlie glanced at it and was so startled he dropped the phone.
Emma had caught sight of the entertainment news alert.
The headline was eye-catching: #Nicholas Spotted Carrying Miss Perez into Crestview Medical Clinic Late Night, Blood-Stained and Possibly Attacked#
The accompanying photo showed Nicholas carrying a pale-faced Zoe, rushing into Crestview Medical Clinic. His own white shirt was stained with large patches of blood.
Emma's gaze lingered on the phone screen. Then, suddenly, she laughed softly.
The laugh was quiet but heavy with mockery, unspeakable helplessness, and a kind of completely resigned calm.
Her eyes seemed veiled with gray, no longer holding their previous brightness.
After a long moment, she finally spoke, her voice frighteningly calm.
"Charlie. Please have someone take me home."
Charlie was stunned, "Mrs. Harrison, your injuries..."
"Take me back!" Emma interrupted him, her tone brooking no argument.
Charlie hesitated, "But what about Mr. Harrison?"
Emma turned to look at him directly, her gaze cold yet resolute,
"If you don't want me to have another accident that you'd have trouble explaining to him, you'd better arrange a car right now and take me out of here."
Looking at her pale but determined face, Charlie finally conceded defeat.
He lowered his head, "Yes, Mrs. Harrison. I'll arrange it immediately."
Downstairs in the main hall.
The estate manager and all the staff stood by the entrance, watching Emma with longing eyes full of reluctance.
Emma stopped and pulled an exquisite small box from her purse, handing it to the manager.
She said softly, "Please give this chain to Jeffrey and have him wear it."
After a pause, she added, "This chain has been blessed by God. I hope it will keep him safe and grant him a long life."
The manager's hands trembled slightly as he accepted the box, his eyes reddening with emotion as he offered Emma a long string of heartfelt blessings.
The car slowly pulled away from the magnificent but cold estate.
As the car reached the estate's imposing main gate, Emma saw through the window an all-too-familiar black Maybach and the tall, familiar figure standing beside it.
Emma's heart clenched violently.
"Stop the car," she told the driver.
After the car stopped, she pushed open the door and, ignoring the pain in her arm and leg, limped toward that figure.
Matthew spotted her almost the moment she got out of the car and strode quickly to meet her.
When he saw her pale complexion, the splint on her arm, and her unsteady gait, his heart felt like it was being viciously squeezed, the pain intense.
He rushed to her in a few steps and, without unnecessary words, extended his arms and pulled her into an incredibly precious embrace. The force was as if he wanted to merge her into his very bones, yet careful not to hurt her.
The next second, he bent down and carefully lifted her in his arms, walking steadily toward his Maybach.
The car sped away, carrying Emma with all her wounds—even more injured than when she'd arrived.
That afternoon.
Zoe's condition finally stabilized.
Only then did Nicholas belatedly remember that his phone had been smashed to pieces during last night's fight with those bastards.
He grabbed a nearby bodyguard's phone and dialed Charlie's number.
As soon as the call connected, he asked bluntly,
"Emma—how is she? What is she doing?"
Charlie's voice on the other end sounded completely broken, thick with congestion.
"Boss... I'm sorry... I'm useless."
Charlie began rambling incoherently in confession, saying he'd been too careless, letting Mrs. Harrison sit alone by the riverbank in the cold wind for five hours.
In the end, she'd had to come out herself to find help, accidentally falling and reopening her barely healed wound.
When the doctor was treating her wound, she'd already passed out completely, unaware of anything.
Listening to Charlie's fragmented report, Nicholas felt his heart constrict violently.
It was a dull, sharp-barbed pain.
A heavy, almost suffocating wave of guilt crashed over him.
When he'd rushed to rescue Zoe yesterday, he'd only felt urgency and towering rage—when had he ever experienced this heart-shredding feeling?
"Where is she?" His voice was dry and hoarse.
Charlie paused on the other end, his voice even lower. Emma's hard-won good feelings toward Nicholas were probably going up in smoke.
"Matthew picked her up. She's... we don't know where she is now."
Nicholas's fingers gripping the phone turned white at the knuckles. He didn't know when he'd started being so emotionally invested in her, but wherever she went, it couldn't be with Matthew!
Without saying anything, he hung up the phone.
Then he tried calling Emma's number.
"Sorry, the phone you are calling is switched off."
The cold automated message was like a bucket of ice water poured from head to toe.