Revenge Rule #6: The closer they think you are to them, the faster their walls crumble.
TW: Mention of Miscarriage
As a kid Lilac was really small and scrawny, she also always kept to herself, that made her the subject of bullying in school. Sometimes it transcended to outside of school. It was on one of those occasions that Emily & her mother, Beatrix, found her, bleeding on the ground.
They took her to the hospital and took care of her when they found out she had no family. Beatrix once told her she adopted her because she looked so much like an old friend.
Lilac owed them a lot, or at least owed Beatrix and Emily a lot, the rest could burn for all she cared.
⛧⛧
After a three hour flight Lilac arrived in Country V. A driver was already waiting for her courtesy of Emily. Lilac didn't have any time to spare so once she freshened up she took a taxi to CRM—Emily's company.
The receptionist welcomed her at the front desk with a professional smile, "Hello, welcome to CRM. Who are you here for?"
"I'm Lilac Callen and I'm here to see Emily."
The receptionist paused for a second eyeing her suspiciously , it was not a secret that the Callen family only had one daughter, Emily. Also, no other person in Country V could have the same last name as them.
"Uh…do you have an appointment?"
Lilac shook her head, Emily didn't know she'd be coming once she landed from her flight. "No I don't. However, you can call your boss and tell her, Lilac is here to see her."
The receptionist's gaze changed from respectful to disdainful for a second. Already used to people like this she shrugged, "I'm terribly sorry but my boss is a really busy person. Come back when you have an appointment."
"Oh." Lilac pulled out her phone to call Emily but unfortunately she didn't pick up even after she tried several times. That meant she'd have to stay and wait for Emily until God knows when.
Thankfully she spotted a figure from the corner of her eye, a tall man with a silver buzz cut. Zade, Emily's husband. He was waiting for the elevator while holding something in his hand.
"Zade!" Lilac called jogging to him, the receptionist was going to call her back but decided against it, opting to watch her be embarrassed instead.
Zade turned around, it took a second before recognition graced his features.
"Oh wow Lilac! What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here? Does Emily know you're here? How about Mom? Did you…."
"Woah calm down a bit." She interrupted him mid rambling. The elevator dinged as the doors opened, they both stepped in together heading to the top floor. "To answer your questions…I'm here to see Emily for something, so yes and yes."
"I see. No one told me you'd be visiting, else I'd have picked you up by myself." Zade smiled.
"It was good they didn't. Having Young Master Zade pick me up personally is a luxury I cannot afford."
He chuckled, "You're still as cheeky."
She smiled in reply. No one spoke after that.
Lilac broke the silence, "Are you okay? How have you been?"
"I'm…good. Just extremely exhausted." Zade forced a smile standing upright.
She didn't push, instead nodded.
They got to the top floor after a while, they both stepped out going to Emily's office at the end of the corner. It was lunch time so the workstations were empty saving Lilac from curious looks.
Emily's office was a lot similar to Ezra's but with a female touch, her chair was white and on the gray table was a glass vase with pink roses.
Her curtains were drawn shut and Emily was lying on the red couch close to the door. Her curly golden brown hair was spread over the chair's arm rest, even with her eyes closed she looked quite stern in her green pantsuit, the blazer hugging her figure perfectly.
Zade rushed towards her while Lilac stood by the door. He put the lunch bag he was holding on the table and gently shook Emily awake.
"Emily..Emi."
She slowly woke up looking disorientated. With his help she sat up and gulped down a glass of water.
"Are you alright? How does your body feel? Mom said to bring this for nourishment." He brought a thermos from the lunch bag murmuring to himself, "I can't believe you came to work! Can't you even take care of yourself after losing a chi…" He suddenly stopped speaking, casting a worried look on Emily.
She took the thermos jar & spoon from him. Coldly she said, "It's fine to say it Zade. I had a miscarriage. See? Simple. I'm not a kid and that's not a curse word that you have to stop yourself from saying in front of me."
Lilac's eyes widened, shocked. She couldn't believe Emily had lost her baby... again. Emily had been pregnant a couple of times after the death of her child but she lost all of them. This further strained the couple's relationship.
"I didn't come here to argue with you." Zade took a deep breath gesturing for her to eat.
"Why? Because you feel some sort of guilt?" She taunted.
He glared at her, his eyes showing rage, anger, guilt and pain. She was right, he did feel guilty about everything and it ate him up. Unwilling to argue with her he stormed out. Emily brushed her tears away as the door shut behind him.
"Why do you hurt yourself and him like this?" Lilac couldn't help asking watching her wolf down the food.
"I want…no, I need him to get tired of me and leave. I'm hoping one day he'll love himself more, prioritize himself more and leave."
Lilac rolled her eyes, "Well you're wasting your time because you know damn well that man is not giving up on you..especially now."
She shrugged, "Then I'll force him."
"Why the fuck —"
Bang.
Emily slammed the thermos jar and spoon on the coffee table. "What do you want?" She crossed her arms assessing her. "Cause i know you didn't come all the way here without resting from your flight to give me marriage advice…bad marriage advice."
"Tch." Lilac clicked her tongue but quickly got to the point, "I want to take over the Sapphire Rose project in Country H."
The Callen family had a branch of business in Country H, their company CRM–Callen Raw Materials, provided rare materials to jewelry companies and also offered consulting, design advice, and crafted prototypes for them. Sapphire Rose was an ongoing project between CRM & ROWEN. If Lilac got the right to be in charge of the project then she could get closer to Brandon, then go from there.
"Why?"
Before she could reply Emily added, taking a sip of water, "Is this because of your little revenge list?"
"It's not Little!" Lilac snapped back, "And how the fuck do you know about it?"
Emily smiled languidly, "I know everything, even the little 'fling' you had with..whats his name again?" She paused for a second then snapped her fingers once she remembered, "Alex Dey."
"It was not a fling! Wait!..Are you having me followed!?" Lilac almost yelled seething in rage.
"Me? Sweetie, I'm not THAT bored." She stood up, walked to her chair and sat down comfortably. Emily had a bad habit, when she was in pain or hurt she loved to make others feel the same way.
"Then how do you know all of these?" Lilac sat on the couch she had just vacated.
Emily threw a stack of photos on her table, "Because of these."
There were about 10 or 15 pictures of her and Alex together, at the party and at the mall, one of them with Ivy included was the picture of them standing outside together.
"Someone is definitely following you…but me? Nuh nuh."
"How…who gave you these?" Lilac looked through each picture carefully trying to recall if she saw anyone suspicious around.
"Mom received these anonymously the day before yesterday. She was so happy thinking her little sweet angel had finally fallen in love." Emily drew air quotes when she said angel. "She almost flew to Country H to propose marriage, thankfully I stopped her."
Lilac knew how much Beatrix wanted her to find happiness and someone to love and someone who'd love her…even though that is never ever happening. Not in this life, not in the next.
"Imagine her shock finding out its a fucking married man!"
She slammed the table making Lilac, who was in her thoughts, jump.
"What were you thinking? Hanging around with the likes of him!? Forget his marriage his reputation is in shambles! Are you trying to make us…Mom have a heart attack!? I thought you were smarter than th—"
"It's complicated!" Lilac yells interrupting. She rubbed her temples plopping down on the visitor chair. "I don't have any type of relationship with him..look I can't explain but it's complicated."
Whatever she saw on her face made Emily sigh, "Okay, I get it."
Silence.
"I can give you access to the Sapphire Rose project. Only if you tell me why you want it."
"To ruin someone."
That was vague but enough for her, Emily nodded. "Come back tomorrow and I'll have the transfer documents ready for you."
"Thank you."
"If you're really thankful then come home for dinner."
Lilac stopped for a second weighing it. In the end she said, "I will."
When she got to the door she turned back to Emily, "You obviously have a very healthy body so have you ever thought external forces may be the reason you keep losing your babies? Like…I don't know poison?"