Emily looked at Derek in confusion while the latter hung up the phone.
"It was Laura." Derek didn't find the outcome surprising.
Emily shrugged. "That's what I think, too. It's either her or Rose. I have only so many enemies."
"Derek, the police are here," Jackson interrupted their conversation.
The dazzling lights of the police cars approached from afar. Derek knew it wasn't the right time to talk, so he nodded at Jackson. Jackson knew what Derek meant, and he brought Kevin to the police.
"Let's go back." Derek gestured for the driver to continue driving.
Meanwhile, Laura felt very upset after receiving the strange call. She thought, 'If Joey's man succeeded, he wouldn't have remained silent on the phone.' She couldn't help but think of the worst-case scenario, in which the man was captured, and Emily knew that she was the one behind it.
Laura stood up nervously. She couldn't help but walk around, trying to keep calm.
She thought, 'Emily seems to have some doubts about what happened before after she came back this time. However, she is just suspicious. She can't be sure of it, and she has no proof. If the killer is compromised, then Emily's suspicions will be verified. It will be the same as letting Emily get the goods on me.'
Laura kept thinking quickly about how different assumptions might affect her.
"Laura, what's wrong with the call? Is Emily dead?" Rose asked anxiously.
Laura looked back suddenly, and her expression was grim. "You better hope he makes it. If he gets caught, we could get implicated as well."
Laura's words stunned Rose. "No, Laura, no way. I don't want to go to jail. I still want to inherit the Hopkinson family and become the hostess of the Scott family."
"Calm down, sweetie." Laura was very annoyed. However, she had to calm Rose down first. She said, "Joey's man doesn't know who we are. Don't worry. You can still be the hostess of the Hopkinson family and the Scott family. But first, I have to call Joey to confirm it. Don't disturb me, OK?"
As soon as Laura finished speaking, her phone rang, yet it was not the phone in her hand.
She walked to the drawer, unlocked it, and took out the phone inside. She was not going to talk first this time.
As she picked up the phone, she heard a man's angry roar.
"You stupid woman! You make me doomed! Kevin is my best man, and now he is caught." Even Rose heard Joey's angry shout.
"Joey, what happened? Did Kevin make it?" Laura asked with a cold face.
"Why didn't you tell me that the woman was special to Derek? You're going to get me killed this time. The price we agreed on isn't enough. I want double." Joey had suffered a lot this time.
"I can triple the price, but I want Kevin and your silence in exchange. You can't let others know about me," Laura agreed to Joey's request without hesitation. Money was not the most important thing to her right now. Instead, no one should know she was behind it.
"OK. I will ask Kevin to find an excuse. He'll say that he gets the wrong person. But I have offended the Scott Family, so you need to give me more money. I have to go away to lay low for a while," Joey went on.
After hanging up the phone, Laura gritted her teeth in anger. Joey took the opportunity to ask a lot, making her suffer a great loss financially. She blamed Emily for this.
"Rose, call Emily and tell her to come to work the day after tomorrow. We will take great care of her." Laura's face turned vicious. She was known and praised for her tolerance and loving smile in upper-class society, yet it was all gone. Her face was twisted because of hatred.
"Don't worry, Laura. She will suffer." Rose had the same hatred on her face.
Derek sent Emily back. When they arrived at Emily's place, Jackson came to report.
"Joey ran away." Jackson lowered his head since he failed his mission this time.
"Well, he reacted quite fast," Derek sneered with disdain. "Don't bother following Kevin. Now that Joey's gone, Kevin is worthless, since he took orders from Joey. There's no need to waste time on him."
After speaking to Jackson, Derek helped Emily carry Chris and Diane in.
"Thank you so much for today. If you hadn't shielded me from the knife with your hand, I'd be dead by now," Emily sent Derek to the living room downstairs and thanked him.
"It's nothing. It was just a subconscious reaction. Besides, Jackson and the others have been slacking off lately. They should let a hitman get to us so easily." Derek was angry, and he decided to intensify Jackson and the others' training on his return. Kevin was just a small fry. Derek and the children might have been in real danger if it were the Scott family's rival today.
After seeing Derek off, Emily began to feel afraid. She slumped on the sofa and felt weak all over. All of her attention was on Chris and Diane back then, and she only allowed herself to be weak now that she was home and knew that she was safe.
Emily sat on the sofa for a while, and then she got up and had a large glass of water. What happened tonight made her realize just how dangerous she was up against. Her quest for revenge had become more difficult, but none of this stopped her from wanting to know the truth.
She also thought about another factor. She thought, 'I'm already a threat to them, which means I should only be worried if they don't make a move. If they do, they are bound to leave traces. Then it will be my chance.'
"Mommy!" Diane cried.
Emily hurriedly ran upstairs. Diane was crying, but she didn't wake up. Perhaps frightened by what had happened today, she waved her small hands uneasily. Emily grabbed her hands and hugged her. "I'm here, Diane. Don't be afraid."
Emily's gentle voice gradually calmed her down, but her hands were still tightly clutching onto Emily's clothes.
Chris was the same. He didn't cry, but he furrowed his brows constantly. He didn't sleep well. Only when Emily hugged him would his brows loosen up.
Emily didn't sleep well either. She kept an eye on the two kids the whole night and only slept for a short while until dawn.
When Derek returned home, he immediately added training tasks for Jackson.
"Jackson, do you know what your mistake was this time? Do you know what would have happened if Kevin had targeted me or my two children?" Derek said expressionlessly.
Picturing that, Jackson was frightened. He was drenched in a cold sweat.
"I'm very sorry. I was too careless this time since it was the safe zone. I will take my punishment," Jackson said in guilt. He knew how serious his mistake was.
"Starting today, increase the bodyguards' training intensity. You guys must be more vigilant. I don't want to die because of lax guards. Copy?" Derek trusted Jackson very much, so his requirements for Jackson would also be stricter.
Jackson had already had plans regarding the training programs for his men. From today on, their screams due to pain during training never stopped, spreading Derek's reputation for brutality.
After Jackson left, Derek went back to the second floor. Aaron and Ian kept waking up all night, too. They only fell asleep peacefully after Derek took them out of the nursery to sleep with him.
Derek looked at Aaron and Ian as he pondered the evening. He had no idea why he had acted so impulsively and reached for the dagger.
Looking at the bandage on his wound, he couldn't help but think of Emily when she was bandaging him.