Chapter 7

Skylar waited for ten minutes, but she didn't receive the money from Christopher. She had known that he wouldn't return the money. Within ten minutes, she collected various records of her transactions to him and screenshots of every conversation where he had promised to pay her back. This evidence was enough to file a lawsuit against him, or result in even worse circumstances if she wanted. She decided to report it as a scam to the police first. Next, she clicked on the messages from Sadie and Jeffrey. Both of them had reprimanded her for being disobedient, and Jeffrey specifically mentioned terminating her credit card. Now that she thought of it, she indeed had a card that Jeffrey had given her when she had first returned to the Williams family. But she had never used the card. Maisy's messages were pretty straightforward; she had done nothing other than brag about Jeffrey's and Sadie's love for her. Her intention to mock Skylar was unmistakable. In Skylar's previous life, Maisy's gloating had often upset her. Fortunately, Skylar now had a chance to start all over again. She would only acknowledge Janine, her adoptive mother, as her own mother from now on. Her adoptive father, Finn Sullivan, had passed away in an accident when she had only been three years-old. As a result, Janine had laboriously raised four children alone. Just as Skylar was about to set aside her phone and drift off to sleep, she received another message. "Skye, are you getting used to life with the Williamses?" It was Steven Sullivan, her eldest brother who had always doted on her since childhood. Skylar stirred. "Steven, I've missed you." Steven sent a voicemail the next instant. "Skye, just come back if you're homesick. Mom has been mentioning you a lot these days." "Same. I really, really miss Mom. I'll come back tomorrow." "I'll cook for you once you're back." "How have you been doing lately? I remembered that you said you're going to publish a paper, right?" Steven fell silent. He let out a chuckle shortly after. "I'm doing fine." After hanging up, Skylar found a photo of her family in her album. Tears began to pool in her eyes as she stared at the photo. She hadn't seen them in ages, not since she had become paralyzed. She had been able to answer their calls sometimes, but only when the Williamses were in a pleasant mood. Jeffrey had refused to let anyone visit Skylar. Meanwhile, everyone had thought that she had been well taken care of. People had assumed that Sadie must have taken good care of her since she wouldn't have had to amputate her leg if she hadn't shoved Sadie aside. Besides, Sadie was her biological mother, after all. Wiping her tears away, Skylar switched off her phone. She needed to rest well since she couldn't show up with swollen eyes once she returned home. Skylar's alarm rang at six in the morning. Being used to waking up early, she went downstairs after a brief shower. When they had left Pearlhall Residence yesterday, Joe had told her that he didn't prefer having maids around. Instead, he had people from Pearlhall Residence come over to clean every day. He rarely ate at home as well. Skylar went downstairs and rummaged through the refrigerator. Thankfully, there were some vegetables inside. Seeing how fresh the ingredients were, she presumed that the people from Pearlhall Residence probably replenished and cleaned the refrigerator every day. She spotted a pack of noodles in the fridge, so she decided to make chicken noodle soup. Already dressed in a suit, Joe made his way downstairs and caught a whiff of the tantalizing aroma. Still not used to his married status, he was momentarily stunned when he saw Skylar cooking in the kitchen. The apron she wore couldn't hide her luscious curves. Skylar also felt somehow uneasy when she left the kitchen with the noodles. She asked politely, "Mr. Martin, do you want some chicken noodle soup for breakfast?" She had added mushrooms and vegetables as garnish. In fact, she preferred a hearty breakfast over mere toast and eggs. "Thanks, but I'm not used to having breakfast in the morning," Joe refused blatantly. He left a black card behind before he left. "Use this card for your daily expenses and household needs." Skylar glanced at it and took it. She was capable of earning her own money, so she didn't need his card. However, refusing his offer would arouse his suspicions. She figured it would be better for her to accept it; she would return it once their contract had come to an end. … At Martin Group, Paul brought Joe a cup of coffee as soon as Joe settled down in his office. Taking in the aroma of his coffee, Joe took a sip of it. As the liquid traveled down his throat to his stomach, he was suddenly reminded of Skylar's steaming hot chicken noodle soup this morning. Paul was in the midst of reporting that day's schedule to him, announcing that they were scheduled to visit the neighboring city in two hours. "Go to the restaurant across the street and order a chicken noodle soup takeout." Upon hearing an instruction that was totally unrelated to work, Paul thought he must have misheard. "Chicken noodle soup?" Didn't Joe dislike having breakfast? "Yes." It turned out that Paul hadn't misheard at all. Still puzzled by Joe's sudden cravings, he went out to instruct someone to buy takeout. Joe was finally greeted with steaming chicken noodle soup half an hour later. He took a spoonful. The moment the rich aroma of the soup exploded on his taste buds, he felt nauseous. The taste of chicken noodle soup shouldn't be this indulgent. He set down his spoon. Paul was bewildered. "Mr. Martin, is the soup too hot?" "Take it away." "Oh, okay." Paul was still spiraling in confusion when he took the noodles away. Had he lost his brain cells after experiencing the elevator ordeal yesterday, to the point that he could no longer decipher Joe's intentions? Nonetheless, the chicken noodle soup seemed delectable. He made a mental note to try it once he returned from the business trip. … Skylar visited a lawyer after she left Galaxy Villa that morning. Then, she filed a report at the police station. Around noon, she took a cab back to Janine's house. Her entire family had moved to Jipsburg three years ago when her younger brother, Harvey Sullivan, had scored first in his high school entrance exam. While she was in the car, Christopher kept calling her. She glanced at her phone and silenced it immediately. … Meanwhile, two police officers at Williams Group were glaring at Christopher, who kept making phone calls. His colleagues broke into a flurry of whispers, pointing at him as they speculated about what had happened. Christopher realized that Skylar had ignored all of his calls. "Listen, this is a misunderstanding. Skylar's my girlfriend; how would I possibly scam her? We had a fight, so she filed a fake police report," Christopher stated calmly. "Please come with us and make your statement," the police officers said. Christopher glanced at the time, realizing that it was almost time for him to meet with Maisy. He had finally mustered up the courage to get closer to Maisy after finding out about her relationship with Skylar. Maisy had always been his unrequited love during his college years. His feelings for Skylar had long subsided after the sheer amount of time they had spent together. Skylar was kind and considerate, and Amelia liked her as well. Thus, the thought of breaking up with her had never crossed his mind. Now that he had met with the police, it suddenly dawned on him that Skylar really intended to break up with him. She had meant it when she had told him to return the money. Feeling defiant, Christopher video called Skylar again but she ignored him. In the end, he could only follow the police to the police station. … Fully dressed in designer clothes, Maisy glanced at her phone impatiently at the main entrance of Phoenix Mall. It was already three minutes past the time she agreed to meet with Christopher. Just as she was about to call him, she noticed a few people striding out of Martin Group, which was just right across the street. One of them was Joe, the CEO of Martin Group, who constantly appeared in financial news.