Chapter 54

Evening had settled in by the time Emma packed up her dorm room. Her old duffel bag was stuffed with her things. She welcomed the time alone. It allowed her to think and sort out the news she had just heard. Had someone told her that Will would take down her arch nemesis, she would laugh at them. But in the same vein, she remembered how he had saved her from Maurice.

​ “Why can’t I figure him out?” she asked the room. “What does he really want from me?” She pondered this on the way back to the apartment. Will was an enigma, a riddle she would never be able to solve.

​ “Have you had a productive day, Miss Emma?” Jack asked as he loaded her bag into the car.

​ “I think so. It will be strange not coming back here. It feels like I’m leaving part of myself behind.”

​ “You have a new life to look forward too,” he said in reference to her upcoming marriage.

​ “Yes,” she forced a smile. “I do. It will take some getting used to, I suppose.”

​ “Mr. Stewart is a good person. He has tough exterior, but there is a good heart underneath,” Jack assured her. The rest of the ride was filled with a companiable silence. She turned Jack’s words over in her mind. Conrad often told her that Will was a good, kind person who hated showing any vulnerability, and Jack also said similar things. When would she meet this Will? This golden hearted, kind and noble man. *It’s better that I don’t*, she convinced herself. Nothing good would of it.

​ Perhaps she was looking too far into it. It was only a rumor after all that Will had anything to do with what happened to Vivian. And even if he had done it, it wouldn’t mean anything. After a year they would be done with each other. She decided then she would just forget about it.

​ Jack helped her take her bag into the building when they arrived. She insisted on taking it the rest of the wat herself and thanked. As she walked in, Will was sitting in the living room like he was waiting for her. She hadn’t seen him in days. His eyes zeroed in on her duffel bag.

​ “What’s that?” he asked. “Where have you been?”

​ “Well hello to you too,” she rolled her eyes. “I was getting the last of my things from my dorm. I graduated.”

​ “Hmm,” he grunted and went back to ignoring her. He flipped through the pages of a book, and Emma couldn’t tell if he was actually reading it. She pushed herself to continue along into her room, but her curiosity broke her.

​ “I saw Vivian at the resident hall today. She was moving out too.”

​ “Uh huh,” Will didn’t look up.

​ “It’s pretty crazy. People were talking about how some anonymous person ousted her and she’s been kicked out of the school and isn’t being allowed to graduate.” She tried to bait him.

​ “Okay,” Will flipped another page.

​ “There was talk that it might have been you,” she continued.

​ “Hmm.” Another page flipped.

​ “Well, was it?” Emma gave up. “Did you expose her?”

​ Will closed the book and looked up. His face was disturbingly neutral. Not a flicker of emotion could be found.

​ “Vivian treated you like trash. She was a foul bully who humiliated you every chance she got. And instead of being happy that she got what was coming to her, you’re worried about how it happened? Vivian brought all that upon herself. What does it matter who exposed her? In the end, she got dealt the consequences of her actions.” Will looked down, opened his book and resumed flipping pages. Emma stared at him. He hadn’t answered her question, and she could tell he wasn’t going to.

​ She went into her room, and began to empty her bag and organize her things. On one hand, she sort of hoped it was Will who revealed Vivian’s true nature. It meant he cared enough about her to avenge her, and she could believe that he hadn’t slept with her. But on the other hand, she hoped it wasn’t him. Will was a powerful man with a powerful family name to back him. If he had done that to Vivian, what could he do to her if she crossed him. The thought made her shudder. At any given time, she could be one bad argument from having William Stewart ruin her life.

​ “Let it go, Emma,” she said to herself. “You’ve got to focus on the design contest.” Nothing stood in her way. Will had gotten her to quit her job, and her father was making remarkable progress. And she had graduated. She could devote all her time to perfecting her final submission. It had to be flawless. She was under no delusion that she would win. But she would be sure to leave behind the greatest impression possible.

​ For the next two days she was immersed in her work. Getting up early, staying up late. Only taking breaks to eat. She noticed that Will was home, and that he seemed a little more irritated than usual, but didn’t give him any other attention. She would not be distracted by him.

​ “What are you doing?” he scoffed at her, as she darted out of her room to get some water.

​ “I can’t talk, I’m busy,” she dismissed him. He was surlier than usual. Grumpy, and always huffed at her when she passed him. She knew that he thought what she was doing had no value. And so she refused to indulge him. Her future was on the line and not in his hands.

​ “I asked you a question!” he barked at her.

​ “And I said I was busy. I don’t have time for you right now.” She tried to go back into her room, but he grabbed her arm.

​ “Why are you even doing that? What’s the point of working yourself to death when you’re marrying into a rich family?”

​ “First of all, let go of me,” she pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Second of all, you’ve only bought me for a year. I have to secure my future so my dad and I will be okay. I’ll be able to live out my dream and make a good life for myself. Someone like you could never understand that!”

​ “Someone like me?” he scoffed.

​ “Someone born into money. You’ve had every luxury ever since you were born. You don’t know the value of hard work. Of pouring your blood and soul into something.”

​ “You don’t know anything about me!”

​ “I do know that you’ve relied on your family’s name for everything. You’ve never fought a day in your life for anything. You have gotten to enjoy your life in every way imaginable. That fact that you’re this miserable now is because none of it means a damn thing to you.”

​ “You really think…”

​ “Oh, I don’t think. I know. Now, if you’ll excuse me, some of us have a life to fight for.” She turned around and marched into her room.

​ “We’re getting fucking married the day after tomorrow. Make sure to put that on priority list somewhere,” he yelled after her before storming off into this room. Emma sighed when she heard his door slam. This was the life she signed on for. The next year would be full of nights like that. That further fueled her passion to focus on her project. She needed to do everything she could to secure her future.

​ It was the day before the wedding and Emma hadn’t gotten any sleep. She was obsessing over every minute detail of her project. She was so immersed in it she hadn’t realized that Will wasn’t home. The sun had risen and set and she hadn’t so much moved an inch from her desk.

​ Her phone rang, and she saw it was Will.

​ “Why is calling me? Why doesn’t he just knock on the door or something?” she asked before answering. “Hi? Is anything wrong that you can’t come in here?” she asked him.

​ “I’ve been gone for hours. You didn’t notice?” he was irritated. Emma was alarmed. But then realized she could hear loud music and talking in the background.

​ “No, I guess I hadn’t. What do you want?”

​ “I won’t be home tonight.”

​ “Okay,” she answered. *Is he really calling me for this?* “Is that all?”

​ “That’s not a good attitude to have with your fiancé.”

​ “You’ve never told me when you’re coming home or not. And since when did you want me to act like your fiancée anyway?”

​ Will didn’t answer, but she could hear his heavy breathing over the phone. Emma imagined he was trying to hold back from exploding on her.

​ “Maybe put that damn project down for tomorrow at least. It is our wedding day. Don’t be late.” He hung up. Emma shook her head, but put him out of her mind. She pulled an all-nighter and by 3am, she was satisfied enough to send her submission in for the final.

​ Her body was stiff from being hunched over her desk all day. A huge yawn escaped her.

​ “Let me just rest my head for a few minutes. Just a few minutes.”