Chapter 7
"You can always learn things like degrees and experience," Emma said, without hesitation. "But character is in your bones. You can't learn it.
"At its core, business is about being a decent person.
"If you stay true, you'll never lose your way.
"I believe in you," Emma said, her voice steady and full of conviction.
As she spoke, she took my hand and led me to the massive desk that stood as a symbol of absolute authority.
She picked up a solid gold seal from the desk and placed it in my hand.
The seal felt weighty in my palm.
Her name was engraved right on it.
"Vogue Group is yours now," Emma declared.
My hand shook, and I almost dropped the seal.
"No. I can't. This is too precious. I really can't take it," I blurted out, my voice trembling.
I tried to give the seal back to her, as if it were scalding hot in my palm.
"This isn't just meant for you," Emma said, her voice suddenly growing distant and tinged with sorrow. "It's also... a way for my grandson to make amends, to give you something in return for all you've endured."
Her grandson?
I froze, completely speechless.
"My grandson's name is John Lewis," Emma said.
She fixed her gaze on me, speaking each word slowly, making sure I felt the weight of it. "Five years ago, he got into a car accident and injured a girl.
"That girl gave up her college entrance exams, just so she could scrape together enough money for her medical bills.
"That girl was you, wasn't it?"
It hit me like a freight train. My mind went completely blank.
In a split second, every memory crashed over me, dragging me back to that night of pouring rain.
That car was spinning wildly out of control.
That young man, bleeding out on the street, was the one I desperately rushed to the hospital.
And that handsome face, still etched in my mind as clearly as if it were yesterday.
So, it was him.
Turned out, everything was already decided five years ago.
Emma's eyes grew misty, her voice thick with emotion. "That boy... he was stubborn like that ever since he was little.
"After he woke up, he wouldn't tell me anything about you. He said he didn't want to cheapen your kindness with money.
"He wanted to find you on his own, to thank you in his way.
"But three years ago, his old injuries came back... and he was gone.
"Right before he passed away, he finally told me everything and handed me your photo.
"He said you were the person he regretted hurting the most in his whole life.
"He made me promise I'd find you, and help repay his debt to you.
"Alyssa..." Emma called softly, her voice thick with emotion.
She gripped my hand, her tears falling like rain. "This empire was always meant to be yours.
"Will you accept it?
"Just take it as helping John and me fulfill our final wish."
I stood frozen, the heavy gold seal gripped tightly in my hand.
Even though it was cold, it felt like a brand searing my palm and my heart.
John.
That name hit me like a lightning bolt breaking through five years of dust, tearing open my memories in an instant.
My memories came flooding back.
Everything came rushing back.
Five years ago, that summer was blazing hot, just like today.
The night before the college entrance exams, I was still up late studying when suddenly, lightning and thunder crashed outside and rain started pouring down.
My mom asked me to run to the corner store and pick up some salt so she could make breakfast the next morning.
I had just reached the mouth of the alley, umbrella in hand, when a screech of brakes and the thunderous crash of something heavy jolted me.
A black sports car had smashed into a roadside utility pole, its front end completely mangled, white smoke pouring out.
I was scared out of my wits, but I summoned my courage and rushed over.
In the driver's seat, a young man's face was smeared with blood. He was already unconscious.
All I could think of was to save him.
I threw everything I had into dragging him out of that twisted wreck.
His blood splattered all over my white dress, turning it crimson.
No one stopped for us, so I had to half-drag, half-carry him, stumbling the whole way to the community hospital just a few hundred yards down the street.
The rain that night was coming down in sheets, so cold that it cut right through me.
Every single step felt like I was wading through a nightmare, barely able to move forward.
Later, he was rushed into the emergency room.
The doctor said if he'd come in ten minutes later, he would have died.
I used the only 30 dollars I had left to cover his hospital admission fee.
His phone was broken, so I couldn't reach his family at all.
All I could do was wait outside the ER, just waiting for him to wake up.
I waited there until dawn broke.
The nurse told me he'd made it through the worst, but he needed a ton of money for surgery.
I stared at my reflection. My face was pale from the cold rain and a sleepless night, and then glanced up at the clock on the wall.
It was nine o'clock in the morning.
The most important exam of my life had already begun.
I'd missed it.