Loved

Chapter 22

Adrien watched as 4 interns read the contract, signed and submitted it but Emerson was just staring at it blankly.
When his assistant called her, "Ms Leone, your contract please",
Her reply silence the whole room.

" I don't want the internship. "

Everyone was frozen and surprised, even Henry and then Adrien snapped,
"What the heck do you mean by that? "
His tone held anger.

"Your program stated that the interns selected don't compulsorily have to take the internship. And I decided I won't take it. " She replied calmly.

Adrien was about to snap again but Henry beat it to him,
"Your reasons Ms Leone? "

"My uni work requires my whole time. I am not able to focus on my internship instead. " Her reply came.

"Ungrateful bitch" A girl muttered and only Em and a few candidates heard her.
She ignored it.

"The pay is good and even if you don't excel your uni, your future will be secured, then why? " Adrien asked in a calmer tone.

"Money is not a problem for me, excelling uni is important for me, my future does not revolve around an internship, it depends on my grades according to me." Her tone was polite.

Adrien's anger took best of him and he snapped thinking she is just seeking attention, " Of course money won't matter to you, daddy dearest pays a hefty allowance, doesn't he? " He asked in a sarcastic tone but regretted when he saw Emerson's face.

Emerson froze.
He knows nothing about it.

" Keep your mouth shut Adrien , I didn't raise you like this. " Henry boomed and every other person in the room was uncomfortable. Nathan didn't know what to say.

"It's ok Mr. Stone.-" She turned towards Adrien, "It was a low blow Mr Stone." She smiled towards him , took her things and walked away but stopped near Adrien and whispered so only he could hear, " It wasn't me who married a stranger for company's ownership." She turned towards others , excused herself and walked away.

Adrien was frozen in his seat.
He regretted his words but her words angered and pained him more.
'... It was a low blow Mr Stone.'
'... It wasn't me who married a stranger for ownership of a company. '

He stood up and stormed out of the room to his office.
His assistant and other Stones handled the rest.

Emerson walked out of the building and took her blazer out.
She called a cab and sat in it.
He didn't have any right to say that just because I didn't accept the internship.

Her breathing was heavy , her head was pounding and sweat covered her forehead .
She took her phone out and messaged Rose and Henry's buttler she won't be cooking today.
Her cab stopped near a supermarket.
She bought some snacks, beer and chocolates.
Taking another cab, she went to Clay's and took a convertible and set off on a drive.
She drove mindlessly for 4 hours, the night sky now shone with stars.
She stopped in a small town and booked a room in a bed and breakfast.
In the room, she turned off her phone, kept her things in a corner and opened the balcony door.

Meanwhile, when Adrien returned to the mansion, not to mention late, hw wasn't ready to see Emerson.
His ego was too big for him to apologize even if he knew what he did was wrong, since the internship was completely her choice and the daddy thing was low. Henry gave him a good lecture but he was still angry for Em's last statement.
Like she didn't marry me for money. And the company she talked about was something he worked hard for past 9 years.
She definitely denied the internship because even if she was smart, she didn't want to earn money.
But deep, deep down he knew it wasn't true.
He went to his office directly instead of going to the bedroom and freshened up in a guest room en suite.

Emerson sat in the balcony, sipping beer leisurely, after eating her snacks and staring at the stars, feeling the cool breeze whisper against her skin.
To anyone looking, it would look like she was relaxing and having time of her life, but only she knew her inner turmoil.
After 6 empty beer bottles, she just blankly stared at the sky for a few minutes and a tear escaped. Then another. Then again another. She didn't sob, sniffle, hiccup or wail. Her tears just flowed like water running from tap.
Her eyes shed tear, her chest constricted and stomach formed knots for ever bad memory, every heart break, every single pain.
Her tears flowed for her parents and siblings who never loved her, tormented her, tortured her mentally, for a reason even she didn't knew.
For all the bullying she went in school.
For the torture from hell called high school.
For her first heartbreak from her first boyfriend. Her humiliation from him.
For the incident which happened when she asked to study in Harvard.
For the betrayal from her fiance, her heartbreak on her wedding day.
For all the torture of rumours in college.
For death of grandpa Peter.
For her forced marriage.
For the insults.
For Adrien indirectly calling her idler.

She couldn't deny, his words hurt.
She started paying for her school fees since 7th grade.
Babysitting, tutoring, completing projects till she was able to get scholarship in high school.
When turned 16 , she took a job of barista in cafe, did extra shifts, tutored students , worked in library.
From her clothes, books, stationary, phone, laptop, everything was from her own earned money.
If some family dinners here and there excluded, she was just living under the roof of Leone's mansion without rent.

Full ride scholarship in NYU, and her high IQ helped her in college and luckily in senior year of Bachelor's course, she left her odd jobs for the job in company she is working in now.
Even her dress and Adrien's ring for which she was given limitless card, she didn't use it.
Then what gave him the impression that I use "daddy's allowance? "
She admitted that rumours and confrontation about her character in school and uni seemed harsher than his simple sentence, but the people there were still in a phase of immaturity, not a 28 years old multi billionaire who was known for his maturity.
And I thought I should try working out this marriage.
At the age of 12 , when other children started to hit teenage and they behaved immaturely, Emerson became mature than any normal child.
Not that she was normal in any sense, family, friends or IQ.

She knew the next day her frustration would be gone and she will behave as nothing happened, but the deep scar always remains there to remind.
She knew her thread won't last long before breaking, but she knew for now she had to put it together.

Adrien was exhausted at night , he just wanted to sleep, and when he didn't see Emerson in the room, he thought she went to her parents house for a tantrum and he slept alone in the room instead.

Next day Adrien woke up early , too early and remembered Emerson didn't come back.
A part of him dreaded if she was safe but the jerk in him had to dominate it.
She is a god damn 23 years old , adult enough to keep herself safe and not to sulk.
With that he drifted to sleep but was woken up a few hours later to loud yelling downstairs.