The CEO's Empathy Pregnancy Pains

Chapter 130 A Bolt from the Blue

Lunch was whipped up by Ava herself, and the table was loaded with all of Emily's favorite dishes.

Michael took one look and, even though he didn't really mind, couldn't resist giving Ava a hard time. "Ava, who signs your paycheck, me or Emily? Why do you always cater to her tastes? Aren't you forgetting who the boss is here?" Emily could tell Michael was just messing around.

She laughed along, remembering Michael's earlier hint to play nice in front of the staff. So she grabbed his bowl, ladled some soup, and smiled. "Why are you getting all jealous over me?" Michael didn't snap back, just gave Emily a loving smile.

Seeing their little lovefest, Ava got all emotional and had to sneak back to the kitchen to wipe her eyes.

With fewer people around, Emily's smile quickly vanished. She handed the half-filled bowl of soup to Michael.

Michael couldn't help but snort and mutter, "The Brown family's second daughter sure knows how to flip the switch!"

Hearing that title, Emily paused mid-bite and shot Michael a look. "Why are you calling me that? Who told you I'm the second daughter?"

Emily put extra emphasis on "second."

Michael shrugged. "Rumors."

Rumors again. These rumors were really stirring things up.

Emily couldn't figure out if Michael was genuinely clueless or just playing dumb. Didn't he know who was older between her and Sophia? "Do you even know how old I am?" Emily suddenly asked, and luckily, Michael remembered her birthday.

After a quick mental math, he said, "Twenty-five."

on, "And how old is

but Michael guessed, "Twenty-six? Twenty-seven? She can't be the same age as me, twenty-eight,

stunned. Michael didn't

public display of affection, men were all the same unfaithful and

than me, twenty-four. Now you know who the second daughter is, right? Mr. Smith, you're the president of Smith Corporation, yet you lack basic judgment and just follow baseless rumors. How have you managed Smith

her soup

left Emerald Lake Manor without looking

was going,

go find her then. What was the big deal? Michael rolled his eyes and looked down at the

it up, then put it down again. "Why drink it? I won't

doorbell rang

"What, did you forget something..." Before Michael could finish his sentence, the door opened, and it wasn't

a mess, her eyes red and swollen from crying, reeking of alcohol, and her makeup was

she hadn't been home

get so wasted?"

door frame, clearly not

I'm really upset. Why didn't you answer my calls last night? I missed you so much,

hug Michael. But Michael wasn't having it. He stepped

you doing!" A flash of unrecognized malice crossed Sophia's

she quickly

instinctively repulsed by Sophia. "You reek of alcohol. I just took a shower and have a meeting at the company later. It's inconvenient." Michael had countless reasons. Neither Sophia nor Emily from the Brown family

of Michael's distance, but also because of