Chapter 5

Emma walked into the company, dressed in a chiffon top, black trousers, and her four-inch heels. She walked gracefully and elegantly that no one would believe that she was a mother of three kids.

“Miss Emma Lions?” Someone asked and Emma nodded,

“Yes. Please, where is the meeting held?” She asked as she took the hand of the man who had asked her the question.

“This way,” he said as he walked in front of her, showing her the way to the meeting room.

“By the way, I'm Smith,” the young man said and Emma smiled,

“It's nice to meet you, Mr. Smith”

The elevator opened and Emma raised her brows at who it was that was already in the elevator. Elizabeth was more shocked when she saw Emma. They hadn't seen each other since the day she left Alex's house. She didn't bother to ask about her whereabouts, especially when she heard that her father had disowned her.

Emma wanted to ignore the elevator and wait for the next but on a second thought, she ignored Elizabeth and stepped into the elevator acting like she didn't even know the girl.

“So, I heard you went to different countries just to be perfect in tech. Like, I was wowed when I heard your achievements. I am one of your biggest fans” Mr. Smith continued to speak, not realizing the tension right in the elevator.

Emma let out a small chuckle,

“It's no wonder you could recognize me at first glance. I was shocked when you called my name like you knew me from somewhere”

“Of course,” Mr. Smith continued to speak while Emma listened attentively, making sure not to be distracted by the pest beside her.

Elizabeth could only listen, her hands formed a fist as she had thought that since their father had disowned her, she would drop out. Only to hear that she even did better, and studied wider.

Elizabeth wanted to speak to Emma and embarrass her in front of Smith. Make sure the girl felt ashamed that she would run back home, but before she could, the elevator clicked and opened.

When the elevator opened, Mr. Smith moved to Elizabeth's front before gesturing for Emma to walk out first. This angered Elizabeth, but before she could speak, Smith had quickly followed Emma behind, not even realizing what had just happened.

Anger rose in Elizabeth's heart, How dare they treat her like air? They didn't care that someone was in the elevator. They didn't even exchange pleasantries, not even a good morning from her older sister.

Emma and Smith were on their way to the boardroom when Liam came out of his private elevator.

“Liam!” Elizabeth quickly called before making her way to the man.

Liam was about to say hello to Elizabeth when he saw Emma, he raised his brows.

“Emma Lions?” He asked and she nodded,

“That's me. You must be Mr. Liam Payne, my boss” She smiled as she took the hand that Liam offered. He was informed just this morning that a new employee would be attending the board meeting as well.

Elizabeth clenched her fist when she saw that Liam was giving more attention to Emma than herself. It's been five years, and she was still trying to get the man to look her way. Aside from the good morning and good afternoon greetings, Liam never had anything to do with her again.

Liam, on the other hand, just couldn't understand why there seemed to be no connection, no matter how hard he tried. So he tried as much as possible to treat her well, take care of her, and pay her higher than she was meant to receive just because he knew he had taken her virginity without her permission.

They all made their way into the boardroom where everyone else sat waiting for their boss.

The staff stood to their feet when they saw Liam step in, Emma and Smith found their seats, while Elizabeth ordered a man to move from the right side of Liam. The man had to get up and change seats, while Elizabeth sat beside Liam. As for Victor, Liam's personal assistant, he sat on the left side of Liam.

The meeting started with the introduction as everyone introduced themselves, including the new member, Emma Lions.

After the introduction, Liam opened the meeting by greeting everyone before asking that everyone state their requests, suggestions, and observations about the new project at hand.

Some spoke while others, like Emma took note. Elizabeth who was eager to make sure Emma was disgraced in the meeting, suddenly spoke,

“Hey, the new lady, don't you have something to say? You look like you do”

Emma pressed her lips together as she wasn't sure what Elizabeth wanted her to say. Smith was about to speak up for her when Emma spoke instead,

“Well, first of all, my name is Emma, Emma Lions. And yes, I do have something to say. From what I've heard, the company is planning a big project concerning new software. We have all said a lot, but no one has spoken about the cost yet—”

“We don't do 'cost' here. We have all the resources, as you can see, this is a big company. Money is not our problem” Elizabeth cut her off with a smirk.

Emma waved her hand, “Yes, that is true, but that doesn't mean you allow wastage” She turned to Liam as she began to explain,

“It is important that a budget be arranged for it, how to manage risk to avoid wastage” Emma shrugged, “Just saying. The fact that there's money doesn't mean it should be wasted”

The meeting ended with Emma getting lots of applause from the board members while Elizabeth couldn't stop clenching her fist, especially when she saw the look Liam was giving to Emma.

Even when Emma was about to leave, she had noticed how both smiled and Liam had offered to walk her out of the meeting room. She needed to reach out to Alex again, Emma could not come and ruin her plans, not now!

Liam couldn't stop thinking about Emma even after the meeting. He wondered where he had seen her before. She looked familiar, and he felt drawn and connected to her. As he thought, he stood beside the window, where he saw Emma hugging a man who had come to pick her up. They were in the parking lot.

He narrowed his eyes at them as he wondered why his heart clenched when he saw Emma hug the man. Also, he saw three children who had stepped down from the car to hug her.

“She's married,” he murmured to himself.