"I don't care where you are," Carlos answered nonchalantly.
Emmett's heart broke. "You should care. I'm your assistant, and I've worked for you for so many years," he retorted.
Carlos lit a cigarette, took a drag on it and blew it out. "I heard you've been at the cafe near the office the last couple days."
Covering his chest, Emmett said excitedly, "Boss, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year, yet you expect me to work. There's a reason I'm at this cafe. This is my 36th blind date, and she'll be here in ten minutes."
It was already late at night, but he couldn't even go back home.
"That can mean only one thing," Carlos said.
"What?" Emmett asked while working on his laptop.
"Your taste in women has improved after you started working for me."
"Isn't that a good thing I have better taste? As for my future wife, I hope she's at least half as pretty as Mrs. Huo, and at least half as cheerful. She doesn't need to know anything about martial arts. I hope she can learn yoga and dance…like Mrs. Huo…"
Carlos knitted his brows as he felt like Emmett had some special feelings towards his wife. "You like my wife, huh?" he pried.
Emmett was too focused on deleting negative comments under Megan's posts on Weibo to figure out what his boss was getting at. "Of course. She's a classy lady. She's so special, the one and only. You are so lucky, dude," he said casually.
"Emmett Zhong." Carlos' voice was as cold as ice.
A shiver ran down Emmett's spine. He raised his head to look at the central heating, which was still working. "Boss, I'm deleting the comments on Miss Lan's Weibo. These kids are so mean…"
'Why am I cold? That's weird, ' he thought.
"After the Lantern Festival, I'm reassigning you to L City's branch in D Country. Gay marriage is legal in D Country, and you can find a husband there. I'll ask the manager there to introduce you to some excellent men. I remember you seem to like… muscular men like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Don't worry. You'll find the perfect husband there," said Carlos.
Emmett was stunned into silence. He couldn't believe his ears. "What? Mr. Huo, why would you do that? Did I say anything wrong? I'm really sorry if I— Wait, wait! Don't hang up!"
Staring at the phone, Emmett was desperate. Carlos had already hung up.
Then he dialed Debbie's number. She must know how to cool Carlos down.
However… she had turned off her phone. It went straight to voicemail.
Emmett slapped himself across the face. 'I was such a fool. Why did I say anything like that?
He's super possessive when it comes to his wife.'
At the same time, Kasie arrived at the cafe. When she found the table, she saw Emmett slapping himself.
"Mr. Zhong? Why are you doing that?" she asked.
'Is this Taylor's date? Emmett Zhong?' Kasie was shocked.
Emmett cast a glance at the girl before him and asked casually, "Why are you here?"
Kasie looked around the cafe, then back at him. "Are you Taylor Mo's date?"
Emmett took his phone out and checked the name—it was Taylor Mo. "You're her friend, huh? Where is she?"
"She asked me to tell you she couldn't make it," Kasie answered. Then a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute! You're Mr. Huo's assistant! Why do you need a blind date? Didn't Mr. Huo arrange someone for you?"
Emmett shivered at the thought of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and changed the topic. "None of your business. But I have something to ask you. You know you're in big trouble?"
Of course she knew. Her comment regarding Megan had caused a stir. She was scared to death—what if Carlos asked his men to kill her, just to please Megan? All she could do now was call Debbie and ask for her help. But she couldn't get through to Debbie on the phone. Kasie stroked her hair to conceal her nervousness. She gulped and replied, "Big trouble? What are you talking about?"
She didn't think Emmett had any proof against her.
Emmett was amused by her reaction. On the one hand, he knew she was the one on the Weibo account. On the other hand, her reaction had already sold her out. He turned his laptop and pointed at the screen. "See? You posted a comment, and I've been busy solving the problem for the last two days because of you. I had to do damage control on Mr. Huo's public image yesterday, and I've been hard at work deleting the comments and news posts related to Megan Lan today."
"You're Mr. Huo's assistant. Isn't this IT's job?" Kasie asked in confusion.
"Come on! It's the Spring Festival. No one is still working but me! What's more, Mr. Huo only trusts yours truly." Emmett had a perfect reason to neglect his dates—he had to work for Carlos and had no time to chat. It made it hard to have a social life when he was on call 24/7.
Looking at Emmett, Kasie pried, "Can you please not delete my comment?"
"Why not?"
Now that Emmett already knew she had posted the comment, she decided to admit it. "I said nothing wrong. Megan Lan is the third wheel."
"Well, true or not, it has nothing to do with me. I have my orders."
Kasie rolled her eyes. 'He has his orders? He thinks he's a soldier, huh? The struggle is real—not.'
She stood up from her seat and said, "I only came here to pass on Taylor's message. I'll leave you be. Bye."
"Wait!" Emmett stopped her.
"What?"
"Just stay. Maybe have a cup of coffee?" Emmett suddenly had an idea.
Kasie rolled her eyes at him. "Do you think I need you to buy me a cup of coffee?"
"Just do me a favor. Please?"
"Huh?" In Kasie's mind, Emmett was a sly fox. She needed to be more careful.
After a moment's consideration, Emmett said, "Let me take a picture. Then I'll put in a good word for you to Mr. Huo. That way you're in the clear, and he won't pursue charges of slander. Deal?"
Kasie was enraged. "I didn't slander her! Yes, I posted the comment. But what I said is the truth. Watch your tongue."
"Okay, okay. My fault. Miss Zheng, the problem is not whether you slandered her. The problem is cyber-bullying. Megan is distraught, and Mr. Huo is very angry. He might have me come after you. You get it?" If Kasie weren't Debbie's friend, Carlos would have already asked Emmett to get rid of her.
But the problem was that Kasie was one of Debbie's best friends, and Carlos did what his wife wanted. Emmett had no idea whether his boss would punish Kasie or not.
He just wanted to frighten Kasie using Carlos.
After some hesitation, Kasie argued, "I don't care. Debbie will help me."
"Mrs. Huo? She's sleeping off jet lag. When she wakes up, you could be dead."
His words did make sense. Kasie had called Debbie countless times, but her phone had been switched off.
She pried, "Will you put in a good word for me?" Little did she know that Emmett was unable even to fend for himself.
"Of course!" Emmett promised without hesitation.
"Great. Okay. You can take a picture of me. By the way, why do you want my pic?" she asked in confusion.
