Chapter 74 I Gave You a Chance
The jarring ringtone shattered the coastal silence like a blade.
Nicholas frowned at the caller ID and declined the call. But within seconds, the phone rang again with stubborn persistence.
He finally answered.
"What?"
After listening briefly, his expression turned thunderous.
"How the hell did this happen? Bunch of incompetents!"
"I'm on my way!"
He hung up abruptly, his face twisted with barely contained fury and irritation.
He looked at Emma, his eyes filled with apology and conflict.
Emma understood immediately.
Zoe again!
That woman always had a way of summoning him with a single phone call, pulling him away from her side no matter when or where.
What was she to him? A permanent backup option? Plan B?
She pulled at the corner of her mouth, her voice devastatingly calm, "Nicholas, didn't you have something to tell me?"
"I'm giving you the chance. Say it now."
But he seemed agitated, restless. "There's an emergency. I have to go immediately."
"Emma, I'm sorry." He spoke quickly. "I'll have Nash drive you home. Tomorrow—tomorrow I'll definitely come find you."
With that, he turned toward the road.
The moment he turned away, Emma reached out and caught the edge of his jacket.
Her fingers were ice-cold and trembling slightly. When she looked up, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, reflecting the distant city lights.
"Nicholas." Her voice was barely a whisper, carrying the desperate humility of someone making their final gamble. "Can you stay?"
This was the first time she'd ever made such a direct request of him.
She was completely lucid—she just wanted to try once, to see if she could make him stay, just once in her entire life.
Nicholas's steps faltered, his heart stopping. He didn't dare turn around.
"Nicholas, can you please stay?" She asked again.
In that moment, she was fully awake to what she was about to lose.
She was just... trying one last time.
"I'm sorry." He said it quietly, then turned away.
He didn't look back, only called toward where Nash had disappeared, "Nash! Drive Mrs. Harrison home!"
"Yes, sir." Nash responded, quickly emerging from the treeline to open the rear door.
Nicholas walked to the roadside and waved toward a particular direction.
A black sedan glided silently forward, stopping before him.
A bodyguard stepped out to open the door.
He bent down and got in. The door slammed shut.
Through the rearview mirror, he saw that slender figure still standing stubbornly in the ocean wind, leaning against the car door.
Growing smaller and more distant, until she became just a dot.
The car sped away into the night.
The ocean wind dried the moisture at the corners of Emma's eyes.
She stood there for a very long time, murmuring repeatedly, "Nicholas, I gave you a chance."
"I really did give you one, but you didn't want it."
She smiled, slowly lifting her head and closing her eyes.
A scalding tear slid down her cheek and splashed onto the cold car body.
The heart that had once beaten so wildly for him now felt like shattered glass, each piece falling away.
Nicholas pushed open the villa's front door.
The living room was in complete chaos.
Broken glass, overturned chairs, and scattered fragments of decorative items littered the floor.
The air was thick with dust and an unsettling atmosphere.
He rushed upstairs and threw open Zoe's bedroom door.
Zoe was huddled in the corner, wrapped in a thin blanket, her shoulders still trembling.
When she looked up and saw him, she lunged forward like someone grasping a lifeline, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
She was crying, her voice filled with absolute terror.
"Nicholas."
"I can't stay here alone anymore. I'm so scared—those bad men came looking for me."
Her body shook even harder.
"Can I stay at your place?"
Nicholas's body stiffened. He looked down at the woman in his arms.
"Where are the people assigned to protect you?"
His voice was emotionless.
"They... they were all taken." Zoe sobbed uncontrollably.
"They suddenly burst in, so many of them... I hid in the closet or they would have taken me too."
Her words came in broken fragments, clearly traumatized.
Nicholas surveyed the room. The window glass was shattered, half the curtains torn down.
This definitely wasn't a minor incident. He didn't press for details—she wouldn't be able to provide them anyway in her current state.
"Let's go."
He helped her up by the arm, pulling her to her feet.
Zoe practically hung on him as they made their way downstairs, leaving the villa that had become her source of terror.
Early the next morning.
Dawn light filtered through the windows.
Emma sat at the dining table with a cup of cold coffee and a tablet in front of her.
Her finger absently scrolled across the screen.
[Ms. Perez Spends Night at Mr. Harrison's Estate, Doesn't Return Home]
The bold black headline dominated the entertainment section.
The accompanying photo was slightly blurry—a side-profile shot of Nicholas's tall figure with his arm around a petite woman as they entered his heavily secured private villa.
The woman's profile was unmistakably Zoe's.
Emma stared at the photo for several seconds.
Then she swiped to the business news section.
Complete despair really did build immunity, apparently.
She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. The bitter liquid slid down her throat without any particular sensation.
She closed the tablet and got up to change clothes. She had an important business meeting today.
As if nothing had happened at all.
Noon, at an upscale business club.
Elegant, quiet, with the air perfumed by a mixture of coffee and cigars.
The Moore Group was overbooked, so they'd diverted some clients here.
Emma sat on one side of the long conference table with several documents spread before her.
Across from her sat a greasy middle-aged man with a beer belly—Rhys Harris, representing PharmaFusion Inc.
Rhys was clearly dissatisfied with how the negotiations were progressing.
He drummed his fingers on the documents, his voice rising.
"Ms. Rodriguez, PharmaFusion Inc.'s credentials are right here! Every metric perfectly meets Dr. N's requirements!"
He leaned forward, trying to intimidate through sheer presence.
"What gives you the right to say we don't pass your review?"
"Do you even understand the technology? Know anything about pharmaceutical development?"
His tone dripped with undisguised contempt and arrogance.
"Don't think just because Mr. Moore sent you, you can push us around!"
Emma didn't bother looking at his face, which was written all over with disdain.
Her gaze remained fixed on the data in the documents, her tone as flat as if reading a manual.
"Mr. Harris, regarding the new drug you've submitted—Rebolar."
She tapped the name in the document.
"Its core patent was acquired at a bargain price ten years ago from the bankrupt Kaz Corporation, wasn't it?"
The smugness froze on Rhys's face.
Emma continued.
"Mr. Harris should know better than I do why Kaz Corporation went bankrupt. Core technology bottlenecks, side effects discovered during clinical trials that were never effectively resolved."
"Ten years later, has PharmaFusion Inc. actually overcome these technical challenges?"
She looked up at him.
Rhys's expression turned ugly. "You're talking nonsense!"
Emma ignored his protest and shifted to a more comfortable position.
"Additionally, regarding last month's small-scale promotional campaign your company ran. Three hundred thousand dollar investment, reaching fewer than five thousand people, with an on-site conversion rate below one percent."
"Frankly, Mr. Harris, your company's marketing execution capabilities are concerning."
She leaned forward slightly, her voice quiet but crystal clear.
"Dr. N's new project requires powerful R&D capabilities and market control."
"What exactly makes you think PharmaFusion Inc. has sufficient advantages to secure the Skyview City distribution rights?"
Rhys's face turned completely pale.
Being thoroughly exposed by a young woman in front of his own subordinates—this was more humiliating than being slapped!
He shot to his feet, his bulky frame making the table shake with a dull thud.
"Who the hell do you think you're looking down on!"
He pointed at Emma's nose, spittle flying everywhere.
"Listen here, you little bitch! Getting too big for your britches, aren't you! I'll teach you what respect means!"
As he spoke, his thick hand reached for Emma's arm.
Emma instinctively tried to dodge.
But another, more powerful hand appeared faster, clamping down on Rhys's wrist like a steel vise.
The soft sound of bone displacement.