In the fifth hour of Mom’s surgery, Emily’s number showed up again.
“Brother-in-law, something’s wrong! Emily was in a car accident. Come quickly!”
My heart clenched, and I stood up before catching myself. I forced my voice to stay calm.
“If she’s in an accident, call the police and the insurance company.”
“Brother-in-law, she’s bleeding a lot! She keeps calling your name!”
Hearing that made my chest ache. No matter what had happened, my feelings for Emily weren’t something I could just erase.
I looked at the light above the operating room that was still on and called Lauren.
“Come stay at the hospital for me for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”
“Yes, President Anderson.”
After hanging up, I grabbed my car keys and rushed to the bar.
When I arrived, I saw Emily leaning against Grant, her face flushed as she laughed with his drunk friends.
I froze, then it hit me: she had lied to me, right when my mother was still in surgery. A cold feeling ran through me, followed by a wave of anger.
Grant smirked at Emily. “Emily, didn’t I tell you? In your brother-in-law’s heart, you’ll always come first. Even when his mom’s in surgery, one call from you and he comes running.”
“Hmm.”
Emily lifted her chin slightly, a look of satisfaction on her face.
“Good job.”
Around them, Grant’s friends burst out laughing.
“Emily, you lost. Shouldn’t you keep your promise?”
Grant looked at me, pretending to hesitate.
“That’s not really right, is it? Brother-in-law is here, and we were only joking.”
“What’s wrong with it? A bet’s a bet,” Emily said confidently, waving her hand.
“It’s just feeding a drink mouth-to-mouth. If he minds that, he’s too petty.”
After that, Emily didn’t pause. She took a sip of wine, turned, and pressed her lips against Grant’s.
“Nice! Emily always keeps her word, so daring!”
Grant’s friends clapped and cheered loudly.
In that moment, I felt like a fool standing there just for their amusement.
Emily pulled out a napkin, wiped her mouth, then waved her hand at me like brushing off a bug. “Alright, you can go now. Go back to the hospital.”
“Grant will send me home later.”
Hearing that, I took out my phone and transferred two hundred dollars to Emily.
She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, I just thought it might be too tiring for him to take you all the way home. Why not find a nearby hotel instead? It’ll be easier for him to take care of you.”