Chapter 12 Seeking Refuge with a Close Friend
She asked with feigned surprise, "Miss Johnson, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying so hard?"
"Come on, get up. Don't cry yourself sick."
Emily suddenly raised her head, her red eyes staring at her intently. "You did this."
Each word deliberate, without a doubt.
Grace paused mid-reach to help her up, casually examining her freshly done manicure. "Miss Johnson, I have no idea what you're talking about. You barged into my room, and I haven't even questioned you about that yet."
Her room?
Emily shot to her feet, clutching the bracelet tightly in her palm, letting blood drip onto the floor. "While I was away, you had people move my things out. And now you've smashed my grandmother's keepsake. How dare you say it wasn't on purpose!"
Grace let out a dismissive laugh. Did she really think she was Mrs. Baker? Who was she to boss people around like that!
Grace shrugged indifferently. "Alex told me to move in, so naturally I could pick any room."
"I just opened a drawer to look around. Who knew the bracelet would fall on the floor? But looking at the quality, it's pretty ordinary—not even any luster. Not worth much money. How about this, Miss Johnson—go to my vanity and pick two bracelets yourself? I'll compensate you. Why cry and make yourself look so ugly?"
Every sentence dripping with mockery, her carefully made-up eyes full of provocation.
Almost every word deliberately stabbing at Emily's heart!
Emily trembled with rage, biting her lip hard, tears blurring her vision.
How dare she!
How dare she destroy her only memento of her grandmother!
Emily's face turned ice-cold as she raised her hand and struck!
The force was so strong that Grace's head snapped to the side.
On her foundation-covered face, a clear handprint immediately appeared, slightly swollen.
The viciousness in Grace's eyes vanished in an instant. Just as she was about to explode, her peripheral vision caught a figure coming upstairs.
Emily, you're finished!
She stumbled and deliberately fell onto the carpet, weakly and fearfully covering her cheek.
"Miss Johnson, I... I really didn't mean to. If you like this room and the jewelry, just take them. I really didn't ask Alex for anything, please don't be angry... I'll move out as soon as possible..."
Before she finished these sentences, tears rolled down her face, and with that swollen face, she clearly looked like she'd been badly bullied.
Alex had just reached the doorway when he saw this scene. "Grace!"
He rushed forward, scooped Grace up in his arms, and carried her to the bed.
When he turned around, his sharp brown eyes were full of anger. "Emily, have you lost your mind? How dare you hit Grace! I think you've forgotten all your manners!"
The cold words deeply hurt Emily, her heart sinking to rock bottom.
"What, are you going to hit me back for her?"
Her emotionless eyes looked directly at Alex.
Alex frowned. Looking at those eyes, he inexplicably felt panicked.
But wrong was wrong!
"Hitting someone is your fault. Grace is pregnant, how could you..."
"Enough!"
Before he could finish, Emily coldly interrupted him. "She broke the bracelet my grandmother left me. Hitting her was going easy on her!"
What?!
Her grandmother's keepsake?
Alex's pupils contracted, and only then did his gaze fall on her constantly bleeding palm.
Some jade fragments still remained on the carpet.
And what Emily was holding was clearly the bracelet broken in two!
Alex recognized the bracelet. Emily had treasured it throughout their marriage, rarely wearing it.
When he'd asked about it, she said it was her grandmother's keepsake - something she valued more than her own life.
But now...
Alex felt a rare twinge of guilt. His earlier words seemed a bit harsh.
"I..."
Grace's eyes shifted as she quickly clutched her belly and grabbed Alex's sleeve, crying even more pitifully. "Alex, I... I didn't mean to. I just wanted to look at that bracelet, but I accidentally dropped it. I already apologized to Miss Johnson and offered to compensate her with another one, but she hit me without even asking what happened..."
"Compensate?" Emily laughed until tears streamed down her face. "My grandmother's keepsake—can money compensate for that? Alex, tell me, how much money can buy back my grandmother's memory? How much money can make up for the pain in my heart!"
Those blood-curdling words crashed against his ears, and Alex's heart twitched slightly!
He knew he was in the wrong. His usually cold and hard voice softened a bit. "Your hand is still bleeding. Let's go bandage it first. As for the bracelet, I'll find someone to repair it..."
"Alex, you have no heart."
Emily was utterly disheartened.
She looked at Alex one last time, then turned and walked out.
Besides her grandmother's bracelet, she had nothing left to hold onto here.
She went downstairs to retrieve her design drafts and drawing board from the cardboard boxes, then took a taxi and left the Baker family villa.
Alex watched her resolute back, a sense of panic rising in his heart, his anger dissipating in moments.
He wanted to call her back, but the words stuck in his throat.
The bloodstains on the carpet were shocking.
Damn it!
He hadn't noticed!
Emily hailed a taxi and got in, giving an address.
It was her best friend Rachel's place.
Sitting in the back seat, Emily leaned against the window, tears silently sliding down her face.
The nearly numbing pain was about to swallow her whole.
Half an hour later, the taxi stopped in front of an apartment building.Emily paid the fare and dragged her exhausted body upstairs.
When Rachel saw Emily's pale face and bloody hands, she jumped up from the sofa in fright. "Emmie, what happened to you! Did that bastard Alex bully you again? I'm going to settle the score with him!"
With that, she was about to charge out!
Emily quickly grabbed her, but in doing so pulled at the wound on her palm, making her gasp in pain. "Hiss..."
Rachel hurriedly found the first aid kit and carefully cleaned her wounds.
As the alcohol swab wiped the wound, Emily leaned back on the sofa exhausted, not feeling any pain at all.
She briefly explained what had happened.
Rachel was so angry she could jump. "Scumbag and homewrecker, I hope they're stuck together forever! Emmie, this time you absolutely must stay clear-headed and never go back! You can keep the baby—I'll help you raise it—but the baby's father absolutely has to go!"
Rachel was furious and kept cursing Alex for a long time.
Emily smiled gratefully. "That's what I'm thinking too."
"This time... I'm not going back."
Her pale fingers gently covered her lower abdomen, where a tiny life was growing—her only family and attachment.
Hearing this, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief and quickly tied the bandage into a bow. "Exactly! You're so talented. If you hadn't hung yourself on that crooked tree Alex back then, you'd already be a rising star in the design world by now. Just stay here with me, take good care of yourself and your health—that's what matters most."