Chapter 43
The coat still held William's warmth, wrapping around Emily's entire body.
She clutched the clothes tightly, her fingers trembling slightly.
"Have you lost your mind?" William's voice exploded in the quiet room with unprecedented severity.
"Coming to a place like this alone - did you think about the consequences? If I had arrived one minute later..."
His words cut off abruptly. His gaze swept over James, who was curled up on the floor, looking deathly pale, then landed on Emily's disheveled clothes and swollen cheek. The fury in his eyes seemed ready to burn everything in sight.
Emily was stunned by his sudden scolding, and the grievance that surged up made her blurt out, "I was already prepared. If he dared to lay a hand on me today, I was confident I could get him sent to the police station."
But hearing her words, William's expression grew even colder. "Who do you think you are? Do you have any idea how dirty his methods are to have gotten where he is today? If something happened to you, what would happen to the two kids?"
Faced with William's questioning, Emily fell silent.
"I was prepared."
Emily's defense sounded ridiculous to William.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly, his eyes cold. "You think these little tricks of yours are enough to fight him? Are you stupid?"
Her eyes widened, tears welling up.
Emily tilted her head back slightly to keep the tears from falling. "Maybe I am stupid, but what else can I do? Should I just wait for him to hurt my children and threaten me?"
She suppressed the grievance in her heart, but a tear slid down.
For the sake of her two children, Emily had no choice.
If she didn't take the initiative, the result would be James finding her weakness and turning her into a puppet under his control.
Emily's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the fire burning in William's heart.
Seeing her reddened eyes, a strange feeling spread through him.
"That's not what I meant." William's weak defense came out as irritation rose in his heart, his voice lowering.
Emily just looked up at him, her reddened eyes holding grievance and sadness.
"This is how I've survived these past few years. What else could I do? I don't expect you to understand, and I never thought you would suddenly show up here today, but I won't accept your accusations." With that, she pulled the coat tighter around herself.
"For my two children, I can only choose to take the initiative, even if it means putting myself in danger."
Meeting her determined eyes, William fell silent for a moment, then was angered into laughter. "So you just deliver yourself right to the enemy's mouth?"
His words were really unpleasant to hear. Emily's expression grew even colder.
"If this is your idea of taking initiative, then I'm asking you to think carefully about whether you know..." His words stopped again, swallowing the rest of the sentence.
If something had really happened to Emily here, William would have killed James at any cost.
But what right did he have, what position was he in to say such things?
They were just strangers who had briefly crossed paths because of an accident. He didn't even have the standing to demand that Emily protect herself.
And this realization only made William more irritated, his tone sharper.
"Anyway, from now on, you can leave these things to me. Don't take matters into your own hands again."
"Leave it to you?" Emily seemed to hear a joke, the smile on her lips full of bitterness.
"What's our relationship? What gives you the right to interfere in my business? To be honest, I don't even know who you really are, or how much you've been hiding from me." As she spoke, her gaze fell on William's eyes and his legs.
William hadn't expected her to suddenly bring this up, and felt a bit guilty.
He coughed lightly, forcefully changing the subject. "Just because you saved me, I'll help you solve these problems."
Hearing him bring up the life-saving favor, Emily wasn't having it.
"I saved you because you were still breathing. I took care of you because you paid me. We just have a normal business relationship. You don't need to interfere in my affairs." Her cold rejection was like a knife, precisely stabbing the part of William's heart he least wanted to face.
His expression instantly darkened, his eyes like frozen ice.
"Fine, very well. Then continue with your initiative. I'd like to see if you'll be this lucky next time."
The two faced off, the air between them almost frozen.
Just then, a police officer walked in, helped the still-moaning James up, and spoke to Emily and William.
"Please, I need you two to cooperate and give statements."
William gave Emily a cold glance and was the first to follow the officer out.
Emily tugged at the coat on her body, took a deep breath, and followed.
The statement-taking process was silent and serious. Emily mechanically answered questions while William supplemented with information he had.
Since learning this afternoon that Emily was going to the meeting, he had secretly sent Robert to investigate James's intentions.
When it was all over, the police left, taking James with them.
Only William and Emily remained in the hotel corridor. They looked at each other, then both looked away.
"I'll take you home." William's voice was calm and flat, revealing no emotion.
"No need, I can manage myself." Emily quietly refused, looking down at her shoes.
"Let's go." William acted as if he hadn't heard her refusal.
He walked out first and directly hailed a taxi at the hotel entrance.
"Get in."
Seeing Emily still standing there, William rubbed his aching temples and softened his tone slightly.
But his earlier words had hurt Emily, and she didn't want any more interaction with him now.
However, it was getting late, and she really did need to get home - the two children were still there alone.
Thinking of this, she stopped being stubborn, turned, and got in the passenger seat.
When the taxi stopped at the courtyard gate, Emily paid the fare directly, opened the door, and got out on her own, leaving William behind.
William pressed his lips together, his expression not looking great.
He had saved Emily, yet she was giving him the cold shoulder.
No one had ever dared treat him this way before.
The contrast between Emily and others made William feel rather displeased.
The two of them walked awkwardly, one in front of the other, until they entered the house and saw Nina and Aiden cheerfully rushing over.
But when they saw Emily and William, their smiles stopped abruptly.