As far as Lynn could remember, her house had been filled with boxes and jars of pickled vegetables. Every weekend and holiday, her parents were worried the safety of Lynn and her sister when they were at home alone. So they brought the girls along when they went out to sell pickled vegetables.
At that time, they had no loudspeaker. Lynn would shouted loudly in the wind, "Pickled vegetables! Anyone wants pickled vegetables?"
Because of what her parents did, Lynn would always be teased by her classmates and neighbors who knew it through her entire life. However, she would never look down on herself or feel sad for being inferior. They were selling the pickled vegetable, not stealing or robbing it.
"Look at what you wear today. You are like a peasant. It's so ugly." Elsie looked at Lynn's clothes with disgust, and then turned to Emily, "You retard, why do you make friends with her? Get over here."
Lynn didn't show any emotion even when Elsie was laughing at her, but she frowned and said with some dissatisfaction when she heard the word of retard, "You are her elder sister. You should be the closest to each other. Why did you humiliate her?"
"Mind your own business, village girl." Elsie rolled her eyes and coldly snorted, "If you like her, then take her away. She is a perfect match for you, a retard and a bumpkin."
Lynn became angry and shut up.
The winning of the argument made Elsie as arrogant as a peacock. When she was leaving, she deliberately hit Lynn's shoulder and looked at her contemptuously.
Lynn rubbed her shoulders and said to Emily, "You must hide from her when you are at home in the future."
Emily nodded slowly.
This delighted Lynn a little bit. "Finally you give me some reaction. I thought you don't want to talk to me because you hate me."
Emily didn't respond. She was never an outgoing person and didn't easily trust others' sudden enthusiasm to her. She would tend to give out a reaction after a careful consideration.
Lynn pulled Eliot and they arrived at the entrance of the lounge where Eliot was in. Harold stood motionlessly at the entrance loyally. He didn't stop them or open the door for them.
Just as Lynn was about to knock on the door, she heard a furious roar from inside, "Do you want to die?"
"Somebody, help! Let him go! You will kill him. Bastard! Let go! Let him go! Honey, how are you?" A woman screamed.
Lynn took a step back in confusion. She looked at Emily and muttered to herself uncertainly, "Eliot is a gentle man. Maybe we came to the wrong door."
However, Eliot's roars came right after, "Where is the money? Did you take it? Speak!"
Then a loud sound of 'Bang' came. The door was hit by someone's body inside and shaking because of the force.
Lily was screaming and howling. Daniel was begging for mercy. And Eliot was still roaring.
Lynn hurriedly pulled Emily and went back. As she was walking, she was still turning around to see if anyone chased out. After walking for a long distance, she discovered that Emily was calm the whole time.
Lynn suddenly sighed, "Actually, it is nice to be you. You won't feel afraid or have any troubles. You're innocent as a child. No, you're exactly a child."
As she spoke, Lynn stroke Emily's head gently. She didn't use much strength because she didn't want to scare Emily and be refused.
Emily did not move. She stared at Lynn with her big wet eyes without blinking.
Lynn moved down her hand and touched Emily's face. "It's so soft. You look like a beautiful doll."
"Lynn!" From afar came a shout, "We are about to leave!"
Lynn quickly replied, "Alright! Coming right away!"
Then Lynn took Emily to the lounge where Harold was standing. As soon as she reached the door, it opened. Eliot walked out breathlessly with a few scratches on his neck. There was even a bloody wound on his right cheek. Eliot looked quite gloomy and imposing.
Lynn stopped in front of him and didn't dare to act.
Eliot looked over here and saw Emily. Only then did he wipe the blood off his face and forced a smile. "Why are you here?"
Emily blinked and looked at Lynn.
Lynn then explained, "Sorry, I brought her here. I have to go back so I can only send her to you for the sake of her safety." She smiled at Emily and said, "I'm leaving now. See you next year."
Emily watched Lynn walking away and suddenly realized that she might not be able to see Lynn next year. Emily turned around and took out a business card from Eliot's pocket. She ran a few steps and grabbed Lynn's arm.
Lynn looked back at Emily confusedly with a smile, "What's wrong?"
Emily didn't say anything and just handed Lynn the business card in her hand.
Lynn took the business card and recognized that it was Eliot's phone number. She looked at Eliot behind Emily with a confused expression, "What does this mean?"
In the past, when they came, Eliot would only nod slightly at them as a greeting. He barely spoke to them. But today, he sent her a business card. Lynn was too shocked, and her big eyes were wide open.
Although Eliot didn't know about Emily's intention, he had his guess, so he gently looked at Lynn and said, "Call me if you have any need."
Lynn revealed a surprised smile, "Thanks, Eliot."
Lynn put the card carefully in her wallet, and waved to Emily and Eliot, "Happy New Year, goodbye!"
Emily watched her leave without saying a word.
If it was at usual, Eliot would definitely ask Emily why she did so. But now, he had other matters to deal with. There was something wrong with the the company's tax paying. He still had no clue about money that Beverly took. What was more, Maury started to doubt the DNA test report. So Eliot had no time to care about the trifles in front of him.
The only thing Eliot could do now was to make sure the success of the annual meeting of the Britt Group. After a moment of silence on the corridor, Eliot calmed his expression and took Emily back into the hall.
Eliot ordered, "Don't walk around, sit there and I'll take you home when it's over."
Emily nodded obediently.
On the other side, Maury's car arrived at the Britt Group. There was a look of fear in Beverly's eyes, and her hair was messy.
Before seeing Beverly, people from the Tax Bureau still thought that there might be some misunderstandings. But now they didn't feel any surprise.
During Eliot's hospitalization, Beverly almost controlled the whole Britt Group. Maury was resting at home during that time and knew nothing about Beverly's doing.
Only when the accountant printed out the tax lists did Maury know how many tax bills Beverly had evaded.
Beverly had also pocketed the money from Mr. Vincent.
"Where's the money?! Where did it go!" Maury almost pushed Beverly onto the wall in the finance office and shouted. He squeezed her neck with one hand with a great force, and Beverly's face turned puce. Beverly found it hard to say anything, "I ... money... she..."
People from the Tax Bureau came to stop Maury. "Mr. Maury, please calm down."
Maury angrily pushed them away, "Calm down?! She took five million! How am I supposed to calm down?" Maury turned to Beverly and gritted his teeth with hatred. "Where is the money? I'll give you another chance. If you don't say, I'll call the police. Beverly, you can't get away with this!"
As soon as the pressure on Beverly's neck was released, Beverly took a deep breath. However, hearing what Maury said, Beverly panicked before resuming her breathing to normal. She begged, "Don't!"
"Then tell me, where is the money?" Maury's chest also heaved up and down out of anger.
"I invested it." Beverly shrunk her shoulders and said as she looked into Maury's eyes. "Listen this out. There's no risk in this investment plan. I've already earned 100,000 this month."
"Alright, I'll give you ten minutes to get that money back." Maury looked at her coldly and said.
The people from the Tax Bureau were still checking the details of evaded tax.. As the total amount kept rising, Maury's heart was beating faster and he felt a headache.