Sweet Revenge: Jace & Emerald

“This is not happening again! How many times do we need to face this, Dad?” Emerose exclaimed. She was angry that their business was facing bankruptcy once again. For three years, Emerson had been struggling to manage their business. The investment that Jace made went to waste since the Morgan patriarch failed to stop his family from spending too much.

“I’ve tried so hard to maintain this business, Emerose. I warned you and your mother not to spend beyond our means, yet you didn’t follow. So don’t blame me if we’re down the drain again.”

“Are you blaming us? As the head of this family, you are responsible for providing us with our needs,” Merly replied angrily. She hated that her husband was pointing fingers at her and their daughter.

“Find another investor, Dad. Or better yet, talk to Jace again. He might want to marry me this time since he was separated from Emerald.” Emerose suggested. Old Morgan looked at her intently while thinking. After a while, he smiled and nodded his head.

“That’s possible. He had not married after that jinx left.” Emerson replied.

“You should have approached him as soon as that jinx was out of the picture,” Merly told her daughter.

“Do you think I didn’t try? Ever since he came into this house and married that jinx, I’ve been constant in his life. But he keeps on pushing me away. The only time that he let me close to him was whenever Emerald was around. And I’m sure it was because he wanted to hurt her.”

“Enough of that; I think I need to go and see Jace now,” Emerson said and got up. Emerose and Merly were left in their mansion.

“Mom, don’t you have any news about Lucy?” Emerose asked.

“Why are you suddenly asking me that?” Mrs. Morgan asked, glaring at her daughter. “Didn’t I already tell you that one month after we took her to the hospital, someone took her as well?”

“I was just worried; what if the man you asked to do the job would go to the police and tell them about it?” Emerose asked.

“Don’t you know how much I have been paying that man so he would shut his mouth? Look at what happened to our business. If you had not asked me to do that, our situation wouldn’t be like this.” Merly said angrily.

“Are you blaming me now, Mom? After everything I did for you, you’re telling me this? I hid the truth from Dad.”

“You did! And at what expense? To make me kidnap Lucy so you could see that jinx suffer. Now the man I asked to do the job was blackmailing me so he could get money from me nonstop!” Merly shouted.

“Aren’t you happy as well when that jinx came here, crying because Lucy was missing? Didn’t it give you satisfaction as well? We both like it, Mom. So don’t put all the blame on me.” Emerose said and got up. She had lived her life like there was no tomorrow. Her parents gave her everything she wanted, no questions asked. So, losing everything they have now is a big blow for her.

Merly, on the other hand, has been restless for the past three years thinking about Lucy. She was worried that she might show up and told everyone what she did to her that caused her to be tied to the hospital bed.

***

“Creep, Daryl, please take care of everything here. Liam and I need to go and check if my nanny is still in Miami.” Emerald told her friend. The following day, after Liam told her about what Merly had done to Lucy, she immediately decided to go with him.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Liam, are you sure about that?” Creep asked worriedly. He didn’t want to see Emerald get disappointed again. They’ve heard of Lucy’s possible whereabouts for years, but when they check, she isn’t there.

“My friend told me that they’ve checked it thoroughly.” Liam replied, “Though I wanted you to do something.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to check on the hospital’s security system. Emerald said they checked the CCTV when they found out her nanny was missing, but we can’t be sure about that now. Maybe Merly paid someone to work on that to tamper it.”

“I can do that,” Creep replied, concluding their meeting. Emerald will finish everything she can to lessen the workload, but she will be left behind. Creep and Elise will stay in her house so they can look after Ace.

In two days, Emerald and Liam left, hoping that they would be able to find Lucy. For the past five years, young Morgan hasn’t lost hope that she will be able to see her nanny again. “Are you nervous?” Liam asked. Emerald looked at him and nodded with a hesitant smile.

“I want to find her, Liam. She’s the only family I know before my son, and everyone came into my life.”

“I understand,” Liam replied. Their plane landed, and they went straight to a hotel where they would be staying for a few days and rested for a while before Liam’s friend arrived.

“Jericho, this is Emerald, Emerald, he’s Jericho. The friend I told you found the man who took your nanny.”

Emerald nodded and shook hands with Jericho. “Nice meeting you, Ms. Morgan.”

“You can call me Emerald,” young Morgan replied, making Jericho smile. They took their seats, and the man started to tell them everything he found out.

“After the man took Lucy from the hospital, he brought her to an abandoned warehouse.”

“Where?”

“You wouldn’t believe it, but it’s one of the branches of your family’s grocery store,” Jericho replied. “It had been closed on your family’s business’ first downfall.”

“That’s after I was born. So they didn’t sell it? I thought Dad sold a few of our properties back then, and one of those is the warehouse closer to our branches, which faced bankruptcy.”

“After my investigation, I found out that your mother had an affair with the one who bought it.”

“What?” Emerald exclaimed while Jericho took out some photos from an envelope. “I couldn’t believe this. All along, I thought Mom had been loyal to Dad. I don’t even remember her leaving the house without my father.” she added as she looked at the photos from years ago until now.

“Don’t be too shocked, but your sister knew about it.” Emerald shook her head in disbelief. “I already set an appointment to see him. He was selling his house, and I disguised myself as a buyer.”

“When?” Emerald asked,

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Can I come?”

“I’m afraid not; he might know you. But I can bring Liam, and you can wait in the car.”

“That’s okay, but I want to talk to him personally.”

“Then let me handle that. Wait in the car, and I’ll call you when you can come in.” Emerald agreed, and Jericho left to get ready.

“Thank you so much for this, Liam. You don’t have to do this, but”

“Shh… I’m doing this because I know how much your nanny matters to you. I’ve seen how you try your best to become a better person, and you deserve this.” Emerald smiled, thankful God gave her Liam to be her good friend. And thought, if only she wasn’t thinking about Ace, they could take their relationship to the next level, from friends with benefits to into a relationship.

Jace, on the other hand, decided to go to Miami and stay in a hotel. He kept himself busy meeting women, just like Kyle suggested. He tried to get intimate with them, but in the end, he couldn’t. Emerald’s face flashes in his mind whenever he starts to kiss any woman.

It was over a week ago, and Jace went out of his hotel room to the pool area and ordered some drinks. Many women, as usual, were lurking around him, but he just ignored them. He was not in the mood to entertain anyone, especially women. He drank and drank until he was drunk before going back to his hotel room.

The elevator door opened on his floor, and he was in front of his room when he noticed a couple kissing in the corridor. He chuckled and thought, ‘Can’t they wait until they enter their room?’ He didn’t know why he stood and watched them until the man carried the woman, making her wrap her legs around the man’s waist and her arms around his neck.

The light was a bit dim, so the couple’s faces were not clear for him to see, and he was also drunk. He opened his hotel room door and looked at the woman’s face before entering. Just as he got in, he was stunned; sweat started to form on his forehead, and his body trembled. “Is that Emerald?” He was nailed to where he was standing for a few minutes until he turned around and opened the door to look at the couple, but they were already gone. ‘Is that you, Emerald? Or you’re just haunting me? Can you come back? I missed you already.’ he told himself before leaving his room and lying on the couch. A little later, alcohol and loneliness drag him to sleep.

“Argh..” Jace murmured when he opened his eyes and looked around. He felt like someone was pounding in his head because of the drinks he had the other night. Then he remembered the couple in the corridor and the woman. “no, it can’t be her. She said she loves me, so she will never let another man touch her that way.” he voiced out, making himself believe his words.

He got up from the couch and was on his way to the bathroom when his phone rang. He looked around in search of his cellphone and found it in his back pocket. He took it and looked at the caller before he answered it. “This better be good.” he said to the other line.

“Sir, we found Emerald Morgan.” with wide eyes, Jace felt some butterflies in his stomach.

“Where?” he asked while his heart was pounding out of nervousness.

“She’s in Miami as we speak.”

“Miami?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.” the man replied and remembered the intimate couple the other night. ‘Is it really Emerald?’