A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

Chapter 233 I Will Pay You Back

With confidence, Debby demanded, "For one second, let's forget that you are Jacob's girlfriend. You're still the young lady of the Tao clan. Come on, you shouldn't be so stingy towards your foster parents."

"I won't go back to the Tao clan, and I won't give you Jacob's money either. That's all, end of discussion," Emily answered. Words couldn't describe the turbulent emotions in Emily's mind. She wondered whether money was the only thing that mattered to her foster parents.

"Emily, think of your conscience!" Debby cried out. Debby did not anticipate any resistance from Emily, so she snapped the moment Emily refused to give her money. Since Jacob wasn't around, Debby didn't feel the need to keep pretending to be polite. "We have sacrificed a lot of time and money to raise you. Is this how you intend to repay us for our kindness? Aren't you afraid of retribution?" she asked.

Debby's arrogant words drove Emily up the wall, especially when she mentioned - retribution.

Stunned, Emily looked at her foster parents sitting in front of her with puzzlement, wondering if they had always been such heartless, conniving people.

"Well, then I am afraid that we will have to bother Mr. Andrew and Mrs. Debby for a bill outlining all the expenses they've had paid on your behalf for all these years. Don't worry. I'll give you back the money in full payment." No one noticed Jacob come down from the stairs. With malice and fury in his formerly emotionless eyes, he approached them, turning the atmosphere around him grim and murky with each sinister step.

Andrew and Debby froze, immediately. His intimidating presence had rendered them speechless and gripped their throats with fear.

"What's the matter - cat got your tongue? Steward, please show our guests the way out," said Jacob, without a hint of mercy in his eyes, as he waved his hands at the the steward.

Debby turned to Emily suddenly, and mumbled, "Emily, I..." It seemed that she still had something to say.

However, before Debby could proceed, Jacob cut her words short and said, "Do you need me to show you the way out? Steward, what are you still waiting for?"

"Yes, sir." The steward hesitated at first, but he soon followed Jacob's orders and escorted Emily's foster parents out politely, but assertively.

Emily did not try to intervene. In fact, she did not even glance at them again. The color in her eyes had faded away a long time ago. She waited until her parents had left, and then said, "Please send a driver to take them home, Jacob."

Jacob looked out the window, and found that it was raining outside.

Although Emily pretended to be cold and heartless, she still had a soft corner for her foster parents in her heart.

"Fine," he said. Jacob wouldn't reject her request because of the argument before. He sent for a driver for Emily's parents right away.

Emily sighed deeply, as if the tension had lifted leaving her with only relief in her mind. When she took a sip out of her tea cup, the bitter taste contorted her face with nausea.

As strange as it was, she couldn't tell whether it was the taste of the tea, or her heart.

In Debby and Andrew's hearts, she could never compare to their biological daughter. As for the Tao clan, she could never compare to Tina either, who they had raised as their own daughter. Emily felt like a pariah.

Tina complained about fairness, but what about her? When did the world ever treat her equally?

Perhaps, she was never meant to have the love and affection of a family, which she had longed for.

"Why are you crying?" asked Jacob.

When Emily heard Jacob's voice, she finally came to her senses. She rubbed her temples to relieve the dull thudding headache her parents had left her with, while Jacob's big, strong hands gently wiped the tears off of her face.

"If you want I can have the chauffeur drive them back here," he said.

Jacob could even make everything the same as before and make her foster parents pretend to care for her, so she could at least have perfect parents.

"Don't," she refused. Emily shook her head, with determination on her face. "I'm done with them. There's no point in looking back anymore," she said.

Considering all the heinous things Andrew and Debby had done to her, if Tina hadn't factored into the equation, perhaps she could have still lied to herself. But now, there wasn't even the slightest chance for a comeback. Emily was done looking in the rearview mirror of her life. She didn't want to lie to herself anymore.

Emily had made her peace with the fact that Andrew and Debby did not love her. After all, love couldn't be forced. She stopped blaming them for it.

Jacob pulled her to his arms and rested his chin on her head. "Never mind. You still have me," he comforted her gently.

Emily sobbed, but she hugged him back tightly. After all the drama from the past few days, the first smile finally appeared on her face. "Yes, I still have you," she replied. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Meanwhile, outside the Tyrone Mansion.

Sitting in the car Jacob had arranged for them, Debby and Andrew were at a loss. They didn't know where to go and where they belonged.

What did they do that was so wrong?

Guilt had walked out of their conscience just as soon as it had walked in. After all, they raised Emily for so many years, provided her with food and clothing, and paid for her education. If it hadn't been for them, where would she have been today? What else could she ask for?

'Now that she has a fling with Jacob, she thinks that she can just toss us to the side. This is entirely Emily's fault!' they told themselves.

As thoughtful as they were, they somehow failed to realize that if Emily had been raised by the Taos, she wouldn't have any connection with them. She could have grown up happily in a family that would have given her love and affection. Emily could have had all the things that Tina took for granted.

At the villa of the Tao clan.

Tina was spread over a soft bed, with her hands tied up to the bed frame with silk. Although she wasn't in pain, the madness in her face could not be mistaken for anything else. "Give it to me! Give it to me now! I don't feel well..." she yelled.

The people who stood around her, the medical staff, Mark and his parents, looked at her with concern written all over their faces.

"Just try to tolerate the pain. You will be fine soon..." Mark said, as he wiped the sweat from her forehead with a clean handkerchief. He was so pitiful for his young sister.

Sadly, none of his words made any sense to Tina. When she experienced withdrawal symptoms, the pain took up all her strength and her senses. She felt like being bitten by a thousand ants,

simultaneously. The constant craving nearly drove her insane.

"Give it to me! Just give me one hit, please! Bitch! Damn you!" Tina screamed her lungs out. From a bystander's perspective, it would be hard to distinguish between Tina and a common street addict, as she cursed and screamed profanities at the people around her, without any consideration.

Bess cried profusely, as she also found it difficult to swallow the image of Tina tied to the bed like that. "My poor baby..." she uttered indistinctly.

"Mom, dad, why don't you go out first? I need some time alone with her," said Mark. His voice carried a certain heaviness, devoid of any emotion, but he still failed to hide the hint of sadness lingering in his words.

"No, I don't want to go out. I want to be here for Tina..." Bess insisted, breaking down into tears. Tina was the light of Bess' life. How could she leave her under such circumstances?

"Mom, Tina is your pride and joy. I bet she wouldn't want you to see her like this. Please, go out. I will take care of everything in here," Mark urged her.

Bess still wanted to say something else, but she got dragged away by Abbott to the side. After a lot of persuasion, they finally managed to take her out.

The medical staff looked at each other with distress. "Mr. Mark, if you find any change in her condition, please let us know as soon as possible," they said to him politely.

"I know. Now please, leave us," Mark insisted.

Soon, Mark and Tina were the only ones left in the room.

Although the silken bounds were soft, Tina struggled so hard, that eventually they left red marks on her wrists.

Mark's face froze when he noticed the red marks, and he rushed to loosen her bounds.

As soon as Tina had her freedom back, she rolled down from her bed. Fortunately, Mark was quick enough to catch her in his arms. Despite her struggling, he didn't let her go.

"Hey! You're hurting me. Let me go! Please give me one hit of that drug..." she begged him. Deep inside her heart, she desired for something to ease her pain.