He got married, but his bride was not me.
***
Emery got married.
Sure enough, I was the only one who didn't know about it.
Watching everyone talk with Emery and his wife, and they glanced at me from time to time.
I could only keep smiling to hide the constant sourness in my heart...
When I was in school, I was with Emery. As a rich girl, I paid for all the expenses. Everyone knew about it.
Obviously, I loved him, but everyone ignored it.
Probably everyone thought that I, who was always willful, was playing with Emery, this poor boy.
"Emery, you're unbelievable. Among our classmates, you are the most successful, and you are the first to get married."
"When fate comes, it naturally falls into place."
Emery looked affectionately at the gentle and quiet woman sitting next to him.
I sat across from the round table and could clearly see them with my peripheral vision.
"Come on, let's make a toast together, wishing Emery and Wendy a happy wedding. We have to attend their wedding!"
Everyone stood up and raised their glasses, while I was still lost in my thoughts.
In an instant, everyone's gaze focused on me.
I stood up in a hurry and couldn't help but smile, "Yes, Emery, congratulations. Out with the old, in with the new. I wish you a happy life."
At this moment, even though my heart was in pain, I didn't back down and stared at Emery.
Until Emery's gaze turned towards me for the first time tonight, our eyes met.
In his deep and unfathomable eyes, I seemed to see a slight fluctuation...
2."Thank you, Pearl," he said in a deep voice.
"Oh, you're Pearl. I often hear Emery talk about you. Are you living in Boston now? Maybe we can go shopping together some day," Wendy beside Emery exclaimed in surprise.
"Does he often talk about his ex-girlfriend that he hates to his wife?
How is it possible?"
I looked at Emery in confusion, but he didn't look at me.
Under everyone's gaze, I was about to speak, when Jason's voice came out. "Oh, Wendy, aren't you and your husband always together? Do you still have time to go out with Pearl? She is very busy now. I also want to date her out..."
"Hilarious, Jason, you're unbelievable. Miss Quinn has become a secretary in a fallen state, and you haven't given her up yet..."
A group of classmates laughed at me. I had gotten used to such words over the years.
Jason liked me. I just found out recently.
All my attention was on Emery before, and I never noticed Jason's feelings for me. I always treated him as a good friend, and even asked him for help when I needed something. Now that I thought about it, I was really a scum.
The atmosphere became awkward in an instant, and I once again became the center of attention.
"Jason is right. I am very busy now. I'm afraid I don't have time to go shopping with Mrs. Wood."
I firmly refused. I really couldn't imagine how to get along peacefully with Mrs. Wood.
Later at the party, I drank a lot of alcohol, and even forgot how I got home.
It had been seven years. I thought I had forgotten everything.
Seeing him again, I realized that I still loved him.
3.It was a month later when I saw Emery again.
I accompanied my boss to visit Professor Sullivan, a leading figure in the industry. Our design project needed their professional guidance.
Emery was Professor Sullivan's best student. So Professor Sullivan sent him to assist us with the project.
"Mr. Lee, I'm really looking forward to working with you."
"Me too. Mr. Wood, you are such a young and talented young man!"
The cooperation was quickly negotiated, and I didn't have a chance to speak throughout the process. I had been trying my best to hide my presence.
Until Emery asked, "Mr. Lee, is she your secretary?"
"Hmm? Pearl? Oh yes. Pearl, come over. This is Mr. Wood."
"Hello, Mr. Wood." I tried to maintain a polite smile and extended my hand.
Emery just glanced at my hand and did not shake it. He calmly said, "Mr. Lee, I won't keep you any longer. Let Miss Quinn handle this project with me..."
Nate, my boss was obviously stunned, but quickly reacted, "Okay, no problem. Mr. Wood, feel free to tell Pearl if you need anything."
I was a little confused. What did Emery mean? I didn't know.
I stared at his sharp face, trying to see something, but found nothing.
He was very good at hiding his emotions, just like before.
At that time, I thought he loved me, but in the end, it was just my one-man show.
Just returned to the company with my boss, I received a message from Emery, [Bring the materials to my office at 8 o'clock tonight.]
4."Why do I have to meet him after work?"
I couldn't figure it out, and I didn't want to think about it.
Shaking my head, I replied him back, trying to suppress the palpitations in my heart.
But in the afternoon, I was still lost in my thoughts because of the message...
But when I knocked on Emery's office door, my heart calmed down instead.
"Come in," His deep and powerful voice came out.
I walked in. It was all dark in his office. I looked up to find him. The scattered lights in the night sprinkled on the person standing in front of the French window, with a unique charm, his back still so handsome.
"Where have you been all these years?"
I was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting him to ask so directly. I didn't know how to answer yet, and then I heard his deep voice again, "I just heard that your family is no longer rich. How does it feel to live a poor life for a few years?"
How could I not hear his sarcasm? You always have to pay for what you've done in this world.
He used to listen to me obediently and follow my orders.
But at this point, the situation had clearly changed.
My pride had been completely worn away in these seven years.
But for him, I was somewhat at a loss.
"Hmm... Mr. Wood, I've brought the data here. We..."
Before I could finish my words, he rushed over and grabbed my wrist harshly, saying, "Answer me! Didn't you say you would support me all the time? How come you disappeared..."
5.I lowered my eyelids. Emery had changed, becoming much more powerful than before.
At that time, we were both in high school. He was the only one in their town who was admitted to a prestigious high school in the province, while I had always been a carefree girl in the provincial capital. When I saw him during enrollment, I crazily pursued him, indeed causing him a lot of trouble...
"I was young and silly. And now I've got a taste of my own medicine." I joked, trying to change the subject. "After so many years, you've become so capable now. You deserve my love back then."
"But I've been looking for you."
I flashed a hint of surprise in my eyes, but quickly suppressed it.
"Looking for me?" I was somewhat surprised. After all, everyone said that Emery hated me the most after I dumped him.
"Looking for me to support you? Obviously you don't need it anymore. Besides, you're already married, aren't you?
To be honest, as you can see, I'm just a common assistant now. I have no money."
I hid from his gaze, unable to hide the bitterness in my heart, and said casually.
"Look at me!" he commanded, a tone he had never used before. I was startled and couldn't help but look at him. In the dim light, I couldn't see what emotions were hidden in his deep eyes, but at such a close distance, I could clearly feel his fluctuating heartbeats and warm breath.
"Pearl, you're really heartless, leaving like that for so many years! Yes, I'm married, but that doesn't stop me from getting what I lost from you..."
"What did he lose? His dignity?" I smiled bitterly.
It couldn't be his heart, right?
Until I left, I realized that I never got Emery's heart.
"This project, I convinced Professor Sullivan to do it. The importance of this project to your company, I don't need to say."
I tried to listen to him calmly and said, "Pearl, be my lover. This is what you owe me. Otherwise, I will withdraw from guiding this project."
"Lover?"
He did care that I supported him back then.
But he didn't have to force me like this for revenge.
6.Seeing that I didn't answer, he grabbed my hand and pulled it hard. I bumped into his chest and couldn't help but look up at him. I suppressed my pounding heart and said, "You're already married."
"So what? I ask you to be my lover, not my wife..."
Emery had changed. He was no longer my high school sweetheart who listened to me obediently.
...
"What's wrong? Are you scared now?"
His deep voice sounded above my head, and I suppressed the palpitations in my heart. It had been so many years since I felt this close to him.
Yes, I missed this feeling a lot. I loved him, and there was no pretense, but it seemed like he had never believed me.
I didn't answer. He bent down and leaned closer and closer. Our breaths intertwined. My head instantly exploded with a buzzing sound. A trace of rationality told me that I couldn't get in their relationship. I could find another job if I lost this one...
I shook my head slightly. As if he had discovered that I was going to refuse, he suddenly lowered his head, and his cold thin lips pressed against my trembling mouth, crazily starting to bite. I struggled, but he remained indifferent.
The affection in my heart made me slowly accept his passionate kiss, and the entangled breath made it impossible for me to think at all.
"You couldn't refuse me, Pearl. This is what you owe me!" He bit me and whispered hoarsely in my ear.
I knew I couldn't escape, and at this point, I didn't have the ability to escape.
Emery was the controller at this time.
I closed my eyes and made a shallow hum.
Apart from secular perspectives, I had no reason to turn him down.
When hearing my answer, Emery held me tightly, as if he wanted to blend me into his body. He seemed to be venting the pain that had been suppressed for so many years, and I shamelessly enjoyed it a little...
7.It lasted for a long time. When Emery let go of me, I was still immersed in the long-lost tenderness.
"Where do you live? I'll take you back."
"No need, I..." I instinctively refused, but when I felt Emery's sharp gaze, I stopped talking.
Emery put the documents from the handbag on the desk and took my hand to leave...
And I became Emery's mistress like this.
The project progressed quickly, and we often had meetings. I always deliberately avoided meeting Emery.
He knew it but didn't say anything. After all, we were together at night.
On the day of the project meeting, he still didn't come. But his wife came. Although we only met at a class reunion, I firmly remembered her appearance. Wendy was as gentle and elegant as her name suggested, completely different from my past self. Emery must like her.
"Hi, Windy."
The members of Emery's team all stood up and shouted, but Wendy walked straight towards me and said, "I didn't expect to see you here, Pearl. Emery didn't even tell me.
Are you involved in this project?"
I nodded with a bit of annoyance, feeling a bit uneasy in my heart. Was this the urgency of the mistress meeting the original wife? I didn't know, but I was indeed a bit nervous.
I just found out that Wendy was Professor Sullivan's daughter. It was true that daughters from scholarly families were different, unlike me, who grew up in a newly rich family and developed such a mischievous character. Oh, at this point, I didn't even have a rich family anymore!
The meeting ended while I was lost in my thoughts. When Wendy was about to leave, she came over and invited me to have a meal together. Once again, I declined. She left with a smile, but in her smiling eyes, I could see a hint of deeper meaning...
I shook my head and didn't dare to think further.
After all, I shamelessly had an affair with her husband...
8.Jason contacted me again and asked me out for a meal. I replied to him, [Okay.]
Since I left the Quinn family, I hadn't contacted any classmates.
Only Jason happened to run into me later, and we gradually reestablished contact.
Jason knew that Emery got married and even urged me to go to the class reunion. It was obvious that he wanted me to give up on Emery.
But since I still loved him, it was not that easy to accept someone else.
Besides, I was not a good match for Jason.
No matter what, we needed to talk face to face. Besides Emery, Jason was the only person I owed in these years.
We agreed to meet at the Japanese restaurant.
"I didn't deliberately hide it from you. I only heard from our classmates the day before the gathering, that Emery got married and would bring his wife to the gathering, so I came to persuade you.
I wanted you to know that he got married, and give up on him.
Pearl, give me a chance."
I really didn't expect Jason to be so straightforward. Actually, I was slow-witted. Except for my wholehearted love for Emery, I never noticed anyone else's feelings towards me. It was only after Jason proposed to me last time that I realized he had liked me for so many years.
"Jason, I'm sorry, I..."
"He is already married, Pearl. I want to take good care of you and don't want you to work so hard."
I lowered my head and didn't see Emery and Wendy walking in. I smiled slightly and said, "Actually, I'm doing pretty good now. The difficult days are over. No one can have smooth sailing all the time. Regardless of Emery's situation, I have no plans to find a man to take care of me."
Jason suddenly took my hand and asked, "Is there really no chance for me?"
I was just about to withdraw my hand when I felt a piercing gaze. I looked up and saw Emery and his wife. I quickly pulled back my hand and instantly laughed at myself. What was I so nervous about?
Emery was still holding hands with his wife Windy. I was just his lover. He didn't care about that, did he?
Jason followed my gaze and saw them, so he stood up and greeted them. My smile froze on my face, and I couldn't tell Emery's emotions. Wendy, who was beside him, continued to talk as usual, "Pearl, are you together with Jason?"
When she was speaking, she glanced at Emery, and I stared at Emery. His expression remained unchanged, but he glanced at the door and said, "Your father has arrived. Let's go inside."
They went into the private room. Jason and I stopped talking. I silently poked at the sashimi on my plate, but it tasted bland...
"I'll go to the bathroom..."
I finally left this low-pressure environment and rushed to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face, trying to wake myself up a bit. After taking a few deep breaths, I finally walked out.
"Oh my God!"
I didn't expect Emery to be outside the bathroom. As soon as I came out, he forcefully pulled me into the adjacent third bathroom and locked the door.