Chapter 103

The midsummer sun scorched the empty campus. The distant cheers from the graduation ceremony in the auditorium only made the tree-lined path feel more desolate.

Emily Smith's left ankle throbbed with excruciating pain. When she was roughly thrown into the backseat of the Rolls-Royce, she curled into a tight ball. Tears welled in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"Does it hurt?" William Johnson's voice was ice-cold.

He yanked her wrist with enough force to crush bone. His long fingers gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

His pitch-black eyes churned with a terrifying storm.

"Did I not warn you?" Each word seemed to grind between his teeth. "Stay away from that Daniel Chen."

Emily bit her lip until it bled. The metallic taste spread across her tongue.

"We're just friends," she whispered, barely audible.

"Friends?" William sneered, tightening his grip. "The way he looks at you is anything but friendly."

The air in the car turned suffocating. Emily could hear her own ragged breaths.

"And what about you?" The moment the words escaped, she regretted them.

William's gaze darkened dangerously.

"Me?" He leaned in, his warm breath fanning her face. "Don't forget your place."

The words stabbed straight through her heart.

Emily suddenly laughed. But the tears wouldn't stop.

"Right. I'm just an employee," her voice trembled. "I have no right to question my boss's personal life."

William's expression flickered. He released her and pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket, roughly wiping her tears away.

"Remember," he said lowly. "Your sister's treatment. Your father's sentence. They all depend on my mercy."

That shattered her completely.

"I was wrong..." Emily clutched his sleeve like a drowning woman grasping at driftwood. "I didn't know he would come... Please..."

Her tears soaked into his cuff. William stared at the damp fabric, his gaze unreadable.

Outside the window, the cicadas' shrill cries grew deafening.