Chapter 5

Emily froze in place, her head buzzing with noise.

She couldn't hear the surrounding discussions, only staring intently at the man walking towards her.

The man wore a black shirt, with his suit jacket casually draped over his wrist. His slicked-back hair looked more mature than the buzz cut he had five years ago. He exuded an air of dominance and aloofness that Emily couldn't understand.

The light overhead shone on him, stretching his shadow until the man stood in front of her.

At that moment, when their eyes met, Emily's eyes instantly reddened with a sense of grievance.

She didn't care about Helen's provocation.

She didn't feel wronged by Jake's distrust either.

For these five years, she had lived like a mechanical being, as if without emotions.

But when she saw the man before her, Emily's eyes filled with tears.

She pressed her lips tightly together, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall, yet her whole body trembled uncontrollably. Her gaze moved from the man's eyebrows to the mole beneath his eyelid.

Luke Freeman.

It was Luke.

The face that had appeared countless times in her dreams, even the mole under his eyelid was the same.

He, he wasn't dead.

He was still alive.

God had finally heard her wishes.

In the end, Emily couldn't hold back.

A tear rolled down from her eyes.

Jake helped Helen stand up, and his previously arrogant attitude immediately wilted before the man.

He called out softly, "Luke."

Luke casually said, "Luke? Who do you think you are, addressing me directly?"

Jake's face stiffened. Before he could respond, Luke's lazy voice came again.

"So, you weren't in a meeting, you were bullying the little girl. How impressive?"

Jake panicked, and he quickly waved his hand. "No, Mr. Freeman, no one is bullying her."

Luke said lazily, "No bullying, then what were you doing?"

Jake became anxious. "Mr. Freeman, please don't get involved in this."

Luke sneered. "Though I'm no saint, bullying a little girl is something I definitely can't get involved in."

As he spoke, his eyes glanced at Helen in Jake's arms, his gaze filled with undisguised disgust, as if he had seen something dirty.

"Mr. Phantom, I seem to remember my foolish sister didn't look like this. When did she get plastic surgery?"

Jake's face froze.

The people around didn't understand the meaning behind Luke's words, but Jake knew very well.

The sister he was talking about was Luke's sister, Anna Freeman, the little princess of the Freeman family. The Phantom family had plans to arrange a marriage between the two.

Before Jake could answer, Luke spoke again, unconcerned. "No, this morning, I still saw my ugly sister, so..."

He paused for a moment, thought about his words, and continued, "Ugly, but plays around a lot? Not only bullying a little girl but also playing the cheating game?"

The scene instantly froze.

The guests around all had different expressions.

Who didn't know the character of Luke, the ninth son of the Freeman family, the richest family in Oceanfield?

Sir Freeman was quite old when Luke was born, so Luke grew up like a little tyrant, vengeful, and naughty, and he was the kind of person who would mess with anyone he didn't like.

No one expected that after going abroad for a few years, he would come back and suddenly start being a good guy, fighting for a little girl.

Jake's past reckless actions were nothing in front of Luke.

If what Luke said was true, and Jake had cheated on his sister, according to Luke's personality, Jake would be in big trouble with the Freeman family.

Jake had heard about Luke's reputation and hurriedly explained.

"No, I haven't even met Anna."

After saying that, he subconsciously looked at Emily.

Luke looked away lazily, then glanced at Emily. Her eyelashes trembled, and her eyes were still red.

He subtly shifted his gaze away.

"Alright," Luke said lazily, "I can see now, Mr. Phantom, your taste in women is poor."

With Luke's lazy tone, everyone's gaze fell on Helen.

Helen looked a little helpless and immediately turned to Jake, her eyes red.

"Jake..."

Jake more or less guessed what was happening and, feeling somewhat irritated, pushed her away. "So, you were trying to frame Emily?"

Helen looked like she was about to cry, choking as she said. "I... I didn't mean to, I just... I just love you too much."

Helen came from an ordinary family, with both parents working regular jobs. She had worked hard to get close to Jake, so she naturally wanted to hold onto him at any cost.

Jake looked at Emily and said indifferently, "Emily, this is a misunderstanding, Helen just has too little sense of security."

Before Emily could speak, Luke's lazy voice sounded again.

"Mr. Phantom really has two sets of standards, huh? If I hadn't been here today, this little girl would have probably been bullied and cried, and you just throw out a casual 'misunderstanding' to settle it?"

Jake was extremely frustrated but didn't dare to act out in front of Luke.

"Mr. Freeman, what do you want?"

Luke replied lazily, "Didn't you just ask her to apologize? What? Are you going to play dumb when it’s your turn?"

Jake understood what Luke meant. He turned to Helen.

Helen's eyes were red with grievance. She had originally wanted to intimidate Emily, but unexpectedly, she ended up being the one taught a lesson.

She was reluctant but dared not show it. Instead, she tearfully said, "Emily, I'm sorry."

Emily was still focused on Luke when suddenly being called out. She didn't quite react at first.

She seemed a bit dazed.

Luke lowered his eyes and met her gaze, the corner of his lips lifting in a shallow curve.

"What are you looking at? She's apologizing to you."

Emily turned her gaze to Helen and said coldly, "I'm not part of your love game. Don't drag me into it."

Jake glared angrily at Emily, supporting Helen as they left.

The surrounding guests dispersed.

Only Luke remained standing.

Emily, struggling to hold back her sobs, gently whispered his name.

"Lu... Luke."

Even though he stood right in front of her, Emily was still cautious, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, she might scare him away.

Luke looked up at Emily, his eyes soft.

"Long time no see."

Emily stared blankly at him, many questions swirling in her heart.

Why was the person who died five years ago still alive?

Why hadn't he come to find her all these years?

But those words seemed stuck in her throat, and she couldn't speak a single word. Her tears just kept falling.

One of the men, who had been watching the drama behind Luke, saw Emily's nose turn red and quickly spoke up. "Luke, what are you doing? Don't bully the little girl."

He walked up to Emily and said jokingly, "Young lady, Luke is cold and ruthless, so don't waste your time. If you want to repay him for what happened earlier, how about being with me instead? I'm not any worse than Luke."

Emily lifted her eyes, rejecting him firmly.

"No."

Liam Smith was rendered speechless.

‘Oh, seems like she's quite devoted.’

He nudged Luke with his elbow and winked. "Luke, be honest with me, when did you start messing with the young lady?"