“Nathan, I’ve been feeling unwell the last few days, so I don’t have a present for you,” she said as she clung onto Nathan’s shoulder and drew circles on his chest with her delicate fingers. She knew this was his weakness.
As expected, Nathan took her right hand and responded in a forgiving tone, “I know it’s hard for you being pregnant, but tonight you can make it up to me.” Nathan’s vague words passed through her ear.
At the same time, she could also feel his hot breath tickling her earlobe. Amber smiled shyly as she nodded okay. They’d been together for a few years, so she couldn’t possibly disregard him completely. But thinking that Emma may take this opportunity to take him back, she felt like she had to protect her pride.
Even if she didn’t want him, she couldn’t let Emma have him. Therefore, she decided she would cancel the meeting with Mr. Whitaker and spend the night with Nathan instead.
“Nathan, do you think any of these presents are from Emma?” she asked. In truth, Nathan was already wondering this and asked himself, “Does Emma still care about my birthday?” In past years, she’d always put her whole heart into getting a present for him, but he’s always ended up spending the night with Amber, making Emma wait the whole night by herself.
At the time, he thought Emma would always be like that, right in the palm of his hands. “Let me take a look,” Amber was determined to humiliate Emma as she searched through the presents. However, she was disappointed to find nothing. “It seems she finally learned to behave herself.”
“But Nathan, it’s been a while since we’ve had a meal with the staff. Why don’t we ask Emma to join us for lunch?” He understood her intentions and furrowed his brows. In the end, he just nodded in agreement. “You give her a call then,” she flashed him an innocent smile before snatching the phone from his pocket and dialing Emma’s number.
“Emma, it’s Nathan’s birthday today. We’re having a staff lunch. Will you join us?” Amber asked with a winning attitude. She felt proud to be using Nathan’s phone to call her. “Oh, Emma’s busy,” Lisa’s voice responded on the other end of the phone. “She’s currently filming something for TTQ.”
“Is she busy or is she just not brave enough to attend easily? I know you’re desperate for Emma to see your display of affection, but Emma does not have time to attend so-and-so’s birthday. You may not have any work, but her schedule is full,” Lisa scoffed as she hung up the phone. She couldn’t be bothered wasting any more time talking with Amber. Emma noticed Lisa grinning at her, and she returned the smile. This would be Global Pictures’ final celebration.
Night came around, and Nathan and Amber staggered into the Champagne Hotel arm in arm. Nathan had blacked out from drinking too much. After laying him on the bed, Amber started to unbutton his shirt. Just then, she received a phone call from Mr. Whitaker. Amber anxiously ran into the bathroom to answer.
“Mark, didn’t we agree that tonight was canceled?” she asked. “Well, do you still want Creative Century’s contract?” he responded threateningly. “I’m in room 29 on the 30th floor.” Amber’s heart began to race at the mention of Creative Century.
This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. She couldn’t let it go. After all, Nathan was completely drunk. He probably wouldn’t even notice she was gone. After weighing the pros and cons, Amber made her decision. She managed to settle Nathan into bed before catching the elevator up to the 30th floor.
However, she never would have imagined that Nathan would actually wake up in the middle of the night, realizing Amber wasn’t in the room. He sat up immediately and rang her phone. She didn’t pick up; it was the middle of the night.
Where could she have gone, he thought? He ran downstairs and ended up questioning the receptionist. He even checked with the security room, afraid that Amber might have been in danger. However, after the hotel staff showed him the security footage, he realized Amber had gone to the 30th floor and headed into room 29.
“Mr. Davis, do you want us to send someone with you?” the security guards asked him. “No, it’s okay,” Nathan felt a sick feeling in his stomach. Although he hadn’t witnessed it himself, he could already guess what was going on. He clenched his fist tightly so no one else could see.
Normally, the hotel staff respected their guest’s privacy, and footage like this was quite common, but they never dared to expose it. However, this man had practically caught his partner in the act. Everyone looked at Nathan with pity. The feeling of humiliation ripped through his heart.
“Mr. Davis, are you okay?” one of the staff asked. Nathan’s face was pale, and his legs felt weak. However, he maintained his calm demeanor as he stepped out of the monitoring room and boarded the elevator up to the 30th floor.
His thoughts were so clouded with anger that he didn’t even remember knocking on the door of room 29. He pretended to be a staff member until the door opened, and Amber stood in the doorway wearing just her nightgown.
Upon seeing her, he slapped her square across the face, like a lion unleashing its anger. She fell to the ground in shock, meanwhile, the man she was having an affair with was lying sideways on the bed, sound asleep.
“Nathan, Nathan, don’t hurt him! You can’t hurt him!” she held onto his arm and pushed him out of the room before closing the door behind her. “Go away!” Nathan shoved her off him, then he spun around, and his tall figure quickly disappeared at the end of the red carpeted hallway. Amber collapsed; she felt a sense of dread and fear as she trembled. Everything had been happening too quickly and too suddenly.
A while later, the door opened, and Mr. Whittaker stepped out. He helped Amber to her feet and back into the room.
After she explained what happened, he scoffed, “What do you need a man like that for? You’ll be leaving Global Pictures soon, and you’ll be the winner of a top 10 model award. Who cares if your relationship is destroyed in the process? As for Emma, she’s so arrogant. Do you really think she can go on like this? Sooner or later, he’ll stomp all over her.”
Hearing these words of comfort, Amber began to calm down. “Mark spoke the truth, Nathan. You should be blaming yourself for being useless, not me for being heartless. But he has some important evidence against me,” she pointed out.
“So what if he exposes it? It won’t benefit him either. If he’s smart enough, he’ll keep his mouth shut,” Mr. Whittaker sneered. To be absolutely certain, he got someone to erase the surveillance footage from the hotel later that night.
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