Chapter 7 Bumped Into An Acquaintance

Emily looked around her, trying to find where the eerie feeling was coming from. She was surrounded by guests chatting and laughing in groups. No one looked weird or out of place.

After a while, she grew tired of looking around. Ryan was still engrossed in a conversation with some big shot. She figured it was a good time to escape to the bathroom.

As she made her way through throngs of people, she wasn't expecting to bump into anyone familiar to her.

Least of all, she wasn't expecting to see her colleagues here. A leader in their company, Anna, stood before her.

"Emily Mu!" Anna exclaimed as she recognized Emily. She was well-dressed and raised a haughty, judgmental eyebrow at Emily. "What are you doing here?"

Whenever they were at work, Anna had always treated Emily sourly at best. Emily tried her best to be respectful and modest towards her though. So Emily brushed off the passive aggressive comment and answered, "I came here with a friend."

Anna looked at her with disdain. "A friend?"

The guests of the party were either very rich or very powerful. What kind of friend did Emily have? She must be lying.

"Anna, who is your beautiful friend? You have to introduce me to her." Just then, a man butted into their conversation. He was standing beside Anna when she spotted Emily. He leered at Emily obviously, letting his eyes feast on her curves.

Anna curled her lips in disgust. She still remembered how she had been working her way to seduce her manager ever since she joined the company, and yet he was totally attracted to Emily. It was happening all over again now.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I was actually on my way to the washroom. Would you please excuse me?" Emily asked politely. She had a feeling that Anna had been actively trying to be hostile towards her. The last thing she wanted was to interact with someone who tried to make her life a living hell.

"Wait!" Before Emily could leave, Anna stopped her. "Do you know that this is the groundbreaking ceremony of the Heng Yu Group? How did you get an invite to get in here? Did you sneak in?"

"Tell me, how did you get in?" Emily asked back.

Anna was offended by Emily's question. This was a hotel. She could be here without asking for anyone's permission. She didn't see why she couldn't be here.

"You!" Anna's face turned red with anger and humiliation. When she came to her senses, she loudly called for security. "Security!"

"Miss, what happened?" The guards rushed over as many guests looked over their group. Some of them were outright staring at the scene.

"This person sneaked in. She had no right to be here. Take her out of here!" Anna pointed at Emily. "How could she ever get inside such a prestigious event?"

"I didn't sneak in!" Emily defended.

"Miss, please show me your invitation," the guard asked politely.

"I came here with a friend. I swear, I was invited."

She didn't have any invitation. Ryan brought her here.

Just then, Ryan's voice cut through the commotion. "She's my guest."

"Mr. Ning." The guards bowed respectfully.

Ryan walked up to Emily and placed a possessive arm on her waist. It easily gave her comfort and a sense of security.

Looking at Emily and then Anna, Ryan said, "She's my date tonight."

It took a while before Anna found her tongue. "Mr. Ning..."

'How could Emily know this handsome, rich man? What a whore!' Anna thought.

She wasn't convinced that they knew each other at all. "Shame on you, Emily Mu! Don't forget your place. After all, you're just a regular employee of the CCMM. Don't let your loyalties lie on another company."

Anna wore a pair of heavily tinted glasses to end her diatribe. Meanwhile, Emily paled at Anna's warning. "I just came here to learn more..."

"Mr. Ning, is this a groundbreaking ceremony or a gossip party? Are we letting in common gossips now?" A mocking voice said from a few feet away from them.

The voice made chills ran up Emily's spine. How could he be here?

"Edward!" Someone shouted in the crowd.

"Mr. Situ, you're here!" Ryan turned towards Edward, a neutral smile on his face. Edward and Ryan had been competitors in business. Whenever they would meet each other in person however, one would have thought they were good friends. They always treated each other civilly outside business.

Edward stole a quick glance at Emily. He was never a talkative person. He walked towards their small group. "Pleasure to see you here, Mr. Ning," Edward greeted Ryan curtly.

The two handsome and powerful men regarded each other. They exuded an aura only kings would have.

Ryan gestured towards the guards and motioned towards Anna, "Please escort this woman out."

"Mr. Ning! Please don't drive me away. I didn't mean to offend you." The guards dragged a screaming and pleading Anna out. Her screams reverberated the halls for a while.

"Please! Mr. Ning!"

"I'm sorry about the commotion, Mr. Situ." Ryan smiled gently.

A faint smile spread across Edward's lips. There was a hint of irony in his eyes. "Mr. Ning's date tonight is an envy of many."

Embarrassment colored Emily's cheeks. She secretly clenched her fists on her sides. She knew something bad was going to come out of Edward's mouth.

She really admire Ryan. If possible, she'd take Edward out of here so Ryan wouldn't hear anything bad about her from Edward's mouth.

Wasn't Edward satisfied yet? She was already very miserable. He had already ruined her family. Fortunately, the press and media had only mentioned a Miss Mu without displaying her face.

Otherwise, she would never be able to get over it for the rest of her life.

Over the months, she had tried to calibrate her brain over and over again, telling herself to forget the past. She really didn't want to have anything to do with Edward.

But God liked to play jokes, apparently.

Ryan's eyes darkened for a flash before he got a hold of himself. He gently took Emily's hand and said, "Should I take your word as a compliment to my date for her excellence?

Excellent people will always be envied and despised by vulgar people. It's just how it is. But it isn't their fault, right?"

Edward curled his lips into a faint sneer as he shot a look at Emily.

"Please excuse the small scene earlier. Let the party go on. Friends, enjoy your night," Ryan said to the guests.

The small commotion was easily swept under the rug with Ryan's comforting words. It seemed like the party wasn't truly affected by it.

Emily's peace and calm earlier had been disturbed inevitably with Edward's appearance. Her mind had stopped functioning and lost its ability to think.

Soon, Ryan delivered a speech amidst the applause and praises of the guests. Emily couldn't hear what he was saying at all. Like earlier, she felt like someone was burning holes on her back.

Subtly, she scanned the crowd to look for anyone out of the usual. Her eyes soon spotted Edward staring blatantly at her.

On the stage, Ryan announced, "Please enjoy yourselves. The dance floor is now officially open. Let me start it off with my beautiful lady. Do you think she will give me this first dance?"

As soon as he finished his words, the lights were turned off. A beam of light fell onto a beautiful lady in the crowd.

People began chanting around her. "Say yes! Say yes!"

Excitement filled the air of the banquet hall. Under Edward's gaze, loud shouts from the guests echoed through Emily's heart.