The Spoiled Girl

Emily had her head in the clouds, when suddenly her phone dinged with a message.

She picked up the phone, read the screen and then sprang up from the bed.

"USD 100, 000 has been credited to your account," it read. Emily could not believe her eyes!

Before she could recollect her thoughts, the phone buzzed again—another message came in. It was from Jacob, saying "100, 000 dollars, for a kiss".

'It seems as if I had lifted a rock just to drop it on my own feet, ' Emily thought, agonisingly.

Emily lived a simple life. Any money, which she did not earn by herself, was like a hot potato to her. Without further delay she texted back," I don't need it. I'll transfer it back to you tomorrow."

Jacob quickly replied," I don't like to owe anyone anything. If you transfer it back, I would owe you a kiss, and I'd have to give it back to you the next time we meet."

'Give it back to me next time? Oh no...'

Emily felt like her face was burning on fire. She did not want to reply Jacob's message anymore and turned off the phone. 'Why, ' she thought, 'why should I do anything as he told me? I will not keep the money! I have no interest in his "repayment"!'

Exhausted both physically and mentally, Emily lay on the bed and soon drifted off to dreamland.

It was, however, an unpleasant dream, in which her mother cried and said that she needed more money. Emily was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof; she did not know where to look for the money.

Once again, Jacob appeared in front of her. With a faint smile on his handsome face he said," Emily. One hundred thousand dollars for one kiss. Kiss me ten times and one million will be yours."

"One million, I repeat, one million in cash.." his voice sounded somewhat magical.

Emily whooped in delight and threw herself onto Jacob; she wrapped her legs around his waist and said," Jacob, don't seduce me! Or, I will kiss you till you go broke!"

The dream ended, abruptly. Emily woke up, like her soul had gradually gone back in her body. She recalled what she did in the dream and felt ashamed of herself.

'Kiss you till you go broke? Gosh, how could I say that to him! The girl who said that in the dream was definitely not me!'

Emily, however, failed to return the money to Jacob. The next day, her mother phoned her, in tears, just like she saw in the dream.

Her mother had borrowed money from all of her friends, and no one else was willing to lend her some money anymore.

Emily wavered. 'After all, it's a hundred thousand dollars.' She hesitated and then finally sent a message to Jacob, telling him that she would borrow the money from him and repay it later in full. Then she transferred the money to her mother.

When Jacob received Emily's message, he did not reply it at once. He decided to wait.

A few days ago he had someone conduct an investigation, after which he came to understand why Emily was in need of money. He decided to wait, assuming that Emily would soon think of him and ask him for help. He was willing to do anything for her—All she had to do was ask him.

The health of Emily's father deteriorated day by day. Emily still couldn't find a job. She lost sleep over her problems. Jacob's words haunted her thoughts from time to time.

"I will do anything for you, all you have to do is ask me."

Emily knew that Jacob was a man of his word. However, the thought of what awaited her once she accepted Jacob's seemingly generous help, made her feel uneasy. She believed that no one would be kind enough to help her and ask for nothing in return.

But she was at the end of her rope.

On one end of the scale, was her father, and on the other end, was her dignity. 'My dignity, by contrast, is definitely of little importance, ' she thought.

At the thought of that, Emily bit her lower lip, picked up her phone and called Jacob.

"Emily," Jacob's voice sounded like he was expecting her call. Although he answered the phone almost instantly, his voice still sounded indifferent, like before.

"Mr. Jacob..." Emily continued, too embarrassed to make her request. She abruptly changed the subject," Have...have you eaten yet?"

"Yes."

"Emm, so,

what did you eat?" When Emily heard herself talking, she wanted to kill herself at once, 'What am I talking about?'

"Western cuisine," Jacob answered patiently.

Emily never thought that Jacob could be patient with her, while Jacob was actually waiting. Waiting for the words he wanted to hear.

"Mr. Jacob, I..." Emily took a deep breath, and was about to come straight to the point, when suddenly she saw a new mail pop up on the screen of her computer.

She paused and clicked on the e-mail. After reading the contents of the mail, she almost jumped up and cheered for herself!

The mail was sent to Emily from the company she had submitted her resume to. She just tried her luck, since the company was newly incorporated. Much to her surprise, she got the offer without any interviews. It was a well-paid job, and she could even have an advance on her salary.

She could finally see a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

With no answer from the other end, Jacob assumed that maybe Emily was struggling to ask him for help, so he immediately tried to steer the conversation," Emily, what do you want talk about?"

He sounded like a wolf luring a rabbit.

Emily suddenly realized that she was still on the phone with Jacob, but she could hardly hide her excitement," Oh, nothing. I just want to say that the money I borrowed from you, Mr. Jacob, I will repay it to you as soon as possible!"

Emily said everything in one go and hung up the phone. Since, her good fortunates had offered her another way out, she would, of course, distance herself from Jacob as much as possible!

The phone was still beeping, but there was no one on the other end anymore. Jacob's face darkened, all of a sudden.

Was that all Emily wanted to say to him?

Jacob had long since prepared a trap for Emily; he saw her walking towards the trap; one step more and she would fall for it, but then? She just turned around and walked away?

Jacob felt out of sorts.

Guessing from Emily's tone at the beginning, he was sure that she was about to ask him for help. But then, what happened to make her change her mind all of a sudden?

In the meantime, Emily had already forgotten about Jacob. She found the contact number of the company and called at once," Hello, I am Emily Bai, I would like to..."

Emily paused for a moment. The voice from the other end sounded so familiar to her that she was caught by surprise and at a loss for words.

"Emily? You are one of us now."

"Mr....Mr. Victor?" Emily recognized his voice. Shocked and unprepared, she found it difficult to hide her excitement," Are you the boss of LA Jewelry Company?"

Victor smirked on the other end and replied," Yes. And you will be an employee in my company from tomorrow onwards."

Guessing that Victor was going to hang up, Emily quickly said," Mr. Victor, can I ask a favor of you?"

"What is it?"

"I... I want to have an advance on my salary," Emily requested, clenching her fist in embarrassment. After all, she hadn't even started her work in the company yet. But since her father's health was getting worse, she had no choice but to go all out.

"How much?"

"Salary for five months... may I?" she asked cautiously. In her mind, Emily calculated that the salary for five months was 200, 000 dollars, which was still not enough for her father's surgery, but she dare not ask for more. She felt uneasy as she was not sure whether Victor would agree or not.

Victor did not voice his answer quickly; Emily thought he would refuse her request. She thought about lowering the number when suddenly Victor asked," Are you in need of money?"

Emily's mouth twitched. Victor was the third person to ask her this question. The first two times, she never really told the real reason, but this time, she decided to tell Victor the truth because she felt like she could trust him.

"Yes. My father is in poor condition and needs urgent medical treatment."

Victor slightly raised his eyebrows," How much will his treatment cost?"

"I have managed to raise some money, but I still need about 660, 000."

"I will lend it to you, if you need it," Victor answered with no hesitation.