Chapter 796 Others Don’t Cherish It; They Cherish It

Chapter 796 Others Don’t Cherish It; They Cherish It

"I heard what happened today. You've been through a lot — I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

Otto looked at Emily with quiet concern.

She'd carried herself in that video like she owned the room — composed, unhurried, almost defiant.

But she was so slight. So small. And she'd held her ground against a room full of people tearing her apart, against Simon doing everything in his power to humiliate her.

She must be exhausted. Truly exhausted.

She'd just learned to wear strength like a second skin.

"It wasn't that bad, really. Work comes with its complications — that's just how it goes." Emily smiled and kept her voice easy.

The more unbothered she sounded, the more it got to him.

Otto let out a quiet breath. "I know the Day Group is going through a rough stretch, but that doesn't mean you have to put yourself on the line like that. Don't do it again."

Emily met his eyes, still smiling. "Okay."

That seemed to settle something in him. He nodded.

Then added, "And don't worry — Simon pulled that stunt today, and I'm not letting it go."

"Don't."

Emily shook her head.

"Why not? Are you worried I can't — don't be. I may not be as young as I used to be, but I'm not useless yet."

"I said don't because today wasn't entirely his fault." Emily paused. "I played a part in it. On purpose."

"Go on."

Otto's expression shifted. The edge he'd been carrying dissolved, replaced by something that looked a lot like admiration.

Every man with something to leave behind wanted a sharp heir.

And right now, he was starting to think Emily might be sharper than he'd given her credit for.

Emily laid it all out — using Simon as a proving ground, cutting him down to size, making a statement the whole industry could see.

Then she got to the part that mattered most. "After today, everyone who needed to know heard about it — and so did everyone who didn't. I didn't have to run a single campaign. The research speaks for itself, and anyone worth talking to will come find me."

In that moment, something in her expression didn't belong to someone her age. It was the look of a person who'd already thought three moves ahead — measured, unhurried, certain.

She added, "And while we're at it, this is a good chance to flush out anyone inside the Day Group who's been working against us."

Otto looked at her with the kind of warmth that only comes from genuine pride. "That's my girl. I knew the moment I saw you. You've got the right mind for this." He held her gaze. "Tomorrow, we find out who's been making trouble. Whatever you decide to do with them — you go ahead. I've got your back."

Emily hadn't run today's plan by Otto. She'd figured he probably wouldn't have tried to stop her, but figuring it and knowing it were different things. He wasn't just okay with it — he was fully behind her, no questions asked.

For the first time in a long time, it hit her.

This is what family feels like.

She'd never quite known before.

Maybe connection between people really did come down to something like fate.

Blood alone couldn't manufacture it. Not if the feeling was never there to begin with.

"Then I'll make sure you hear good news soon."

Emily smiled and nodded.

Otto's curiosity drifted to the research itself. "Did you find your materials expert here in Silverlight City, or overseas?"

He genuinely wanted to know.

That kind of talent was rare. And this person had options — plenty of them. So why the Day Group?

Emily looked at him for a moment.

She trusted Otto. She'd decided that much already.

So this time, she didn't hold back. She told him about her other identity.

"Wait —" Otto was on his feet before he realized it. "The researcher at Celestial University — the one holding multiple patents — that's you?"

He'd known she was capable. He'd seen enough to believe that. But hearing it said plainly still hit him like a wave.

"Well." He settled, and the warmth that crossed his face was something close to relief. "Then I have no doubts about handing the Day Group over to you. I trust you, Emily. You'll take it somewhere I never could."

Otto smiled — the quiet, contented kind.

"I will." I smiled back, no hesitation.

We talked a little longer after that. But Otto, mindful of how much Emily's body had been through, wrapped things up before long and sent her off to rest.

She was on her way out when she nearly walked into Lika coming down the hall with a bowl of soup in her hands.

"Mom."

Emily gave a small nod in greeting.

Lika's face brightened the moment she saw her. She crossed the distance quickly and pressed the bowl into Emily's hands.

"You've been running yourself ragged. Drink this. You've lost so much weight — and on top of everything, you're still carrying that old injury. Now that you're home, I'm going to make you something different every single day. Something good. And you are going to drink every drop."

Lika said it the way people talk about doing the laundry — like it was simply the next thing on her list.

Something that had always been done. Something that would always be done.

But that was the thing.

Not once — not one single time — had the woman who raised Emily ever done anything like this.

That woman had spoken endlessly about sacrifice. About everything she'd done for Emily, for the family. Emily had heard it so many times the words had stopped meaning anything.

Now she understood.

Real care didn't announce itself.

It just showed up.

"Thank you, Mom."

The two words came out quietly, and they carried more weight than Emily had planned.

Lika felt it.

Her smile deepened, the tenderness in it unmistakable. If her hands had been free, she might have reached up and smoothed Emily's hair back without thinking.

"Don't thank me — just tell me what you like to eat. If I don't know how to make it, I'll have someone learn."

"Deal. I won't hold back."

Emily laughed, and for once she let herself lean into it — bright, easy, a little playful.

For a moment, she looked exactly like the girl she might have been, if things had gone differently.

---

After Emily headed back to her room, Lika made her way to the study.

The two of them had the quiet, settled ease of two people who had long since stopped needing to perform for each other. When Otto heard her come in, he set down what he was working on and went to take the bowl from her hands.

"You've been running low since your last flare-up — drink some of this too. I set some aside for Xiao Qin as well." Lika paused. "Did Emily tell you what she's planning to do about all of this? Because honestly, I keep wondering if you handed things over too soon. She's young, and those people at the company — they're wolves, every last one of them. They're already circling, thinking it'll be easier to take something from her than from you."

Her voice caught somewhere near the end.

Otto set down the bowl and pulled her in.

"You're underestimating her." His voice was steady. "Honestly, so was I — until tonight. She's so far past what I expected, it's almost embarrassing that I didn't see it sooner. Though I suppose I should have. She got me out of Zephyria, after all. That alone should have told me everything." He shook his head. "You have no idea —"

And then he told her. All of it. The patents that had caught even Axel's attention. The plan Emily had been quietly building. What happened at the bar — how she'd faced down Simon in front of everyone, and walked away without a scratch.

When he finished, Lika was quiet.

But her eyes were bright and her voice, when it came, was rough. "That girl. What did she have to live through to become someone who knows how to do all of that?"

Otto felt it too. "Just to get me out — whatever she did, wherever she trained — that's not something you get from an easy life. That's someone who's been through things most people don't come back from."

"And the Johnsons just — let her go." Lika's voice sharpened. "They had her, and they didn't want her. They chose some two-faced, rotten-hearted girl over her. What were they even looking at?"

The indignation in her had fully taken over now.

"Their loss," she said, with quiet, absolute conviction. "She's ours. That's just how it was always supposed to be. And I'm going to take care of her the way she deserves — she is my daughter. As far as I'm concerned, that's the whole story."

Emily had no idea.

That on the other side of the house, Lika's love for her had already grown into something she couldn't have contained even if she'd tried.

---

The conversation about Emily wasn't happening in just one home that night.

Across the city, in the Mitchell family's main residence, several of the company's board members had gathered in the study.

What Raina hadn't expected was to be summoned in as well.

She was doing her best not to show it, but she was unsettled.

Because not long before she'd walked through that door, she had been saying some very unkind things about Emily.