295 Not Once Not Ever

"Hey hey hey wait a minute, I came here just for today," Harvey was shaking his head as he look at Amber and Ashton.

Amber was looking at him with her signature smile, the sweetest one. The smile one would never want to see at all.

"I already told you, no. I don't want to. Why do I have to get myself entangled to all of these?" Harvey asked seriously.

"You had your fun, it is time to pay it back," she answered.

Harvey looked at her dumbfounded, what kind of nonsensical reasoning is that?

Amber sighed seeing as Harvey was more difficult to speak to than Brian and Mathew.

"Look here, I am doing your Empire a favor by taking care of her."

For the first time a change in his eyes appeared.

'Just as I thought, among all of them. Harvey was the one who wants to devote his life to his Empire, he loved it more than he loves the power. It was the Empire itself that he loves, not its power nor its money.'

She added in her mind.

She was observing all of them for a long while now. Observing each of their reactions when it comes to their Empire and that is how she came to this conclusion.

"Why would taking care of her do my Empire any good? She was a renowned chef but she was not under us," Harvey seriously said.

Amber pursed her lips, she didn't want to tell him anything yet. Everything should be sure before she could tell him anything.

"I won't accept your offer unless you show me that this is indeed something for your Empire," was all he said before he left.

"I think I made your friend angry," was all she could say to Ashton.

"It's fine, just as you have thought. He loves his Empire a lot, he didn't want anything to happen to it. But currently he has no idea who miss Bareford is, so taking care of her was something he deemed uneventful for him or for his Empire."

"That was too hasty of me I suppose," she then said.

Ashton placed his hand on top of her head, "You can't always get what you want. And among us? The most difficult to speak to was actually Harvey."

Amber could only accept defeat, she was really too hasty just because she became close with them. It is not like anyone would just accept whatever she asks just because of this friendship.

On the other hand.

As Harvey left the hospital, he couldn't brush off the feeling that he had seen Russel somewhere before already. She was so familiar but at the same time unfamiliar.

He frowned and looked back to the hospital remembering Amber's words that she was doing their Empire a favor by taking care of Russel.

*****

Jennifer Brown followed her saviors, she was in the midst of being kidnapped a while ago when these people suddenly jumped in and saved her. Or maybe they are another group who wants to take her away.

She was powerless as she could only follow them, they didn't tie her nor did they put a blindfold on her. She can see the outside while they drive until they reached the hospital. Not knowing why she was there, they went in and entered a room.

It was not empty for another person was already there, sitting down across a table. This person looked up at her and smiled s if she had been waiting for her arrival. The men who brought her in left the two of them and closed the door.

"Good afternoon, ma'am Jennifer Brown," Amber greeted as she stood up and bowed slightly.

"You are?" Jennifer asked.

She couldn't see what this young lady looks like for she was wearing a mask covering half of her face. 

Seeing as Jennifer was staring at her mask, Amber smiled, "I apologize for this appearance. I am not a shady person at all just that I have a hideous scar that is better left hidden than being seen by everyone. I don't want to give other people a heart attack."

Jennifer blinked a few times feeling a light aura coming from Amber. She couldn't feel any animosity coming from this person at all.

"Shall we have a seat?" Amber asked politely as she gestured the sit opposite her.

Jennifer went ahead and sat down still not understanding why she was here. And what was with what happened a while ago.

"I would like to go straight to the point, are you really as unaware as you portray yourself to be?"

Jennifer was startled by this sudden question at the same time she felt confused, "I don't understand what you mean by unaware."

Amber smiled, "Let me have another question. I think you have no recollection of me but you do have a recollection of her on that day when you served that carbonara on that day of live cooking right?"

Jennifer's eyes shifted but she didn't say anything. Instead she didn't look at Amber.

"I think you are still unaware of the gravity of the situation she is currently in and of all the people you are the one she needed the most," Amber said her eyes staring straight at her full of seriousness.

Jennifer furrowed her brows and looked up.

"I really don't understand what is going on here miss. But I was in the middle of a shootout a while ago then I was brought here. Now you are asking me questions I don't understand even more."

Amber shook her head, "Being a mother, you seriously don't understand what I am asking when your eyes never left her figure on that day of live cooking of your restaurant?"

Jennifer was about to open her mouth but Amber continued.

"Do you think I also didn't notice that the carbonara was only served in our table?"

Jennifer's eyes slowly grew wider and wider in her every word.

"And finally do you still want to deny the longing I have tasted in that dish of yours? Russel must have tasted it as well, though because of certain beliefs she was not entertaining herself to think that that longing was for her. It must be for her father."

Jennifer still couldn't reply as this was pointed out to her.

"Then one last question, "Why do you think are we in the hospital?"

Finally other than shock another emotion came from Jennifer, her eyes were filled with worry as she looked straight in Amber's eyes.

"Yes she is indeed here. Do you think she was using Bareford because it was their training for her? No, she was using it because she was running away from them. She loves being in the spotlight because it is the only way she could think of of protecting herself."

"She..."

"Yes your daughter is fighting them all on her own. I may have only met her a few months ago but that doesn't mean I didn't understand that she wanted to run to you. She wanted to meet you after finding out the truth behind her birth."

"She already knows?" Jennifer finally asked.

"It seems that her father told her when he was about to die, though I think he too didn't know that you know. Who did it? Who told you to stay away from her in order to protect her?"

In reality, some of these were Amber's guesses. She was only able to confirm it by watching Jennifer's reactions as she speak.

"Her grandmother told me, I almost lost my mind back then when I found out that my child had died in that accident and it seems that her grandmother took pity on me and told me she was with her father."

"Though I must never show myself in front of her inn order to protect not just her but her father as well. I didn't want to accept it at first but then her grandmother told me everything he did in order to protect me from them."

Amber sighed as she started crying in front of her, in the end she chose what she think was best for her and her daughter and to the person she loves the most.

"Go to her then, tell her everything and never leave her side again. You are lucky you can still stay with your daughter that you still have your daughter. There are people out there who has an incomplete family and would do everything just to have them back."

"That's why, please do stay with her from now on. You two have wasted a lot of time already, it is high time you make up for all of it."

Jennifer nodded and was led to where Russel was resting, Amber watched her from the door of the room with a smile on her face. Russel was still asleep but she knew once she wakes up her life would take a turn for the better.

As she turned around to leave, her face turned cold. She will never forgive them, those who exploit others for their own good. Who uses money and power to trample on the weak. She will never forgive them, not once not ever.