He looked up at Noah, as if asking for help from him.
Noah looked up at his boss and gave him the ‘I don’t know too boss’ kind of look.
Joel sneered and looked back at the tray.
“Which one?” He muttered softly as he pressed his index finger on the tiny bud in his ear.
“The brown paper boss.” Came the reply.
He nodded his head and wasted no time in picking the scrunched brown paper. He handed it over to his assistant and looked back at the crowd.
Danielle’s body systems were now malfunctioning due to the paper she was staring at in Noah’s hands.
Out of all the ladies in the hall, she was nervous the most.
She knew who Joel was going to dance with but she still had a tiny bit of hope it would be her.
But what if it wasn’t her he picked? The shame. How was she to face people with the shame? What about the reporters?
She was still deep in thought when she heard Noah announce the name she dreaded the most in her life. EMILY CHEN.
“Ahem.” Noah had cleared his throat as he unwrapped the piece of paper in his hands.
“The lucky lady tonight is…” He had at first prolonged the people’s anxiousness.
“EMILY CHEN!” he had then finally announced.
“Mbo?..”
“Who is Emily Chen?”
“Where is the person?”
Whispers broke out all over the hall.
Emily who had also, like the rest of the ladies been nervous, hastily clasped her palms on her face in embarrassment.
“Miss Emily, wherever you are, please come forward.” Noah’s voice rang out through the hall.
“Emily, go quickly. Don’t keep the big boss waiting.” Maria nudged.
What was wrong with the girl? She couldn’t help but shake her head.
Every lady would be super excited to have a dance with the CEO but the girl beside her was actually blushing in embarrassment. Woah!
“Unnie, you are keeping The CEO waiting…” Min Ah whispered.
The projector already had Emily on the screen.
Slowly, and with her head to the ground and her left hand serving as a shield from the piercing gazes boring hole into her body, Emily stood up and dragged her feet to the stage.
“And here she comes!” Noah grinned as he watched Emily walk towards the stage.
“Mwo?”
“Isn’t she the same person the CEO helped the other time?”
“She is really lucky.”
“It’s her lucky night tonight.”
Gossips and murmurs filled the hall as all were on Emily. Even though she had a mask on, people still recognized her as the one the CEO had helped from falling.
Emily stopped in front of the stage and bowed her head.
Joel smirked and climbed down the stage. Lights went out and the only light on was the one above Emily and Joel, and it was centered on them alone.
Joel smiled as he pulled Emily closer to him. The flooring they were standing on suddenly began to move up.
Everyone in the hall-Emily included-gasped and wowed as they watched the flooring stop mid-air in amazement.
Joel placed his hand on Emily’s waist and entwined his other hand in Emily’s.
A Korean waltz music came on and the duo moved slowly and rhythmically.
Danielle who couldn’t take the shame any longer stood up on her feet and rushed to the restroom.
Since it was dark and everyone had their eyes on duo on the dance floor, no one noticed her leave the hall.
Joel breathed out softly on the crook of Emily’s neck. “Mrs Emily Manchester…”
Emily looked up at him as they danced on, “mwo?”
“I love you.” Joel crooned in her ear.
“Yah! People are watching, what if they hear you?” She whispered anxiously.
“Who cares?” He smirked.
Emily cleared her throat. “Hmm…”
Danielle couldn’t stop crying. She left the water running so that her cries won’t be heard by anyone.
She sank into the floor as she went bitterly.
Even though she knew Anderson would soon get everything that belonged to the Manchesters, she was still very sad and angry.
Her efforts over the years, were they all going to be in vain? Just like that?!
The world was just so wicked. She had sowed so much, why wouldn’t haters let her reap what she had sowed.
Danielle hit the floor hard with her hand as she cried.
She sure was going to deal with the wench called Emily once Anderson had captured her.
She knew the dance would by then be going to an end so Danielle stood up on her feet, dabbed her teary eyes with a handkerchief, touched her makeup lightly and walked back into the hall-elegantly.
Joel twirled Emily around again for the last time and let her fall lightly on his forearm as their dance came to an end.
The lifted flooring returned back to ground level, the duo bowed to each other and Emily walked back to her seat as applauds filled the air.
Joel walked back to his seat while Noah climbed up the stage to proceed with the next highlight.
Michael was listening to Noah with rapt attention when his phone dinged.
He reached for his pocket and brought out his phone. He opened the message he received and read it.
It was the address he was going to take Emily to to meet his wife’s captor.
He looked up at Joel and sighed.
He returned his gaze back to his phone, and did some things on it. Shaking his head wearily, he stood up on his feet and walked out of the hall.
Emily was sipping at her wine with pleasure when she received a message on her phone.
She turned it on, clicked on the message and saw that it was from Michael. It was a message asking for her to meet him behind the hall.
Emily furrowed her brows, she looked over at Joel and saw him sitting on his chair, busy with his phone. She sighed and stood up on her feet.
“Where to?” Maria asked.
“I… I need to use the restroom, I’ll be back soon.” Emily replied and walked away.
Stephanie who had been looking for a way to drug Emily and take her up to one of the rooms stood up on her feet and followed her out of the hall.
She took the turns Emily took around the hall, trailing after her. Immediately she saw that Emily had stopped, she stopped and hid behind the wall.
Emily looked around around as she stood exactly where Michael had told her to wait.
She wasn’t seeing anyone that looked like Michael in sight, she wasn’t seeing anyone at all.
She was about to call Michael when she felt something like a neck snap behind her. She froze in her spot and turned around but she didn’t see anything or anyone.
Everywhere was just as silent as a graveyard. Quickly, she walked away.
She was still walking towards the hall in haste when she felt a banging pain around her neck and slipped out of consciousness.
Michael tied Emily’s hands and tied a piece of clothing on her face.
“I’m sorry, Emily.” He muttered bitterly.
In order not to attract suspicions, very quickly, he carried Emily on his shoulder and headed towards his car. He placed her in the backseat, got in the driver’s side and drove away.
Alas! It wasn’t Emily Michael had knocked out, it was Stephanie!
Michael drove as fast as he could to the address his captor’s wife had sent to him. He arrived at the address and stepped out of the car, looking around the dim lit street.
After a short while a call came in on his phone, he picked the call and placed the phone on his ear.
“Where is she?” the caller asked.
“She’s in the car.” Michael replied quickly.
“Carry her and walk into the garage opposite where you are standing at.” The caller ordered and dropped the call.
Very quickly, Michael carried Emily out of the car, crossed the road and walked into the garage he had been told to walk into.
As soon as he entered the garage and dropped Emily’s body onto the floor, he was hit on his head from behind him.
In a twinkle of an eye, he was searched thoroughly for any sort of bug and tied to a chair.
E C S T A S Y
“Boss! Boss!” I suddenly can’t find future madam.” Stone panicked as he communicated with Joel with the bud in his ear.
He had searched around the hotel hall for Emily but hadn’t found her.
“Really?” Joel asked calmly as looked through the crowd from his seat.
“Yes boss. I think something is wrong.” Stone rushed out as he stood outside, in the dark.
Joel smirked. “Alright then. Let’s move it.”
“Mbo?” Stone’s eyes widened.
What the CEO had meant by they should move it, he didn’t know.