It was already past eleven o'clock at night, and the entire villa had fallen into silence, except for Nick, who was still playing games in his room.
Emily went back to her room to freshen up. As she pushed open the door, she noticed that the lights had been turned off at some point. She frowned and reached for the switch on the wall.
Suddenly, a powerful force clamped onto her wrist...
The bedroom plunged into darkness, and Emily detected a strong scent. Her initial thought was that it was Derek, but the grip on her wrist was so forceful that it almost felt like it would break.
Derek, whether before or after his amnesia, would never have been this rough with her.
Emily raised her foot and kicked a chair, but the man skillfully avoided it. In the darkness, he yanked her by the wrist and threw her onto the bed. His tall figure pressed down on her.
"Emily, it seems that you're living a carefree life. Did you already forget who I am?" a cold, low voice rang in her ears, causing Emily's eyes to narrow.
Swiftly counterattacking, she put her elbow against the man's neck and coldly retorted, "You know, you're no match for me. Don't push me too far."
"Yeah?"
Gimson suddenly pulled out a black object from his pocket and pressed it against Emily's brow. "So now you think I still can't beat you?"
Emily instantly realized what the object was. Through the thin moonlight outside the window, she stared coldly at Gimson's face. "You came all the way here to look for me. It shouldn't be because you want to bring back my body, right?"
"Of course, I can't let you die because I haven't fuck you yet." Gimson's gun slowly slid down, opening her collar. The blackened muzzle rested against her delicate collarbone. "Take your clothes off for me!"
Emily's face went cold. "Gimson, do you know what you're doing?"
"Of course, I know." Gimson grinned fiercely. "You've played me for a fool. I'm going to count to three. If you don't take off your clothes, I'm going to find your children, and shoot them."
Emily looked at him through clenched teeth. "How can you be so deranged?"
"Deranged is a good word; I like it." Gimson sneered. "I'm just going to show you how deranged I really am."
Emily bit down on her scarlet-colored bottom lip and exclaimed, "Alright, I'll take my clothes off!"
"Shouldn't you have done that a long time ago?"
In the darkness, Gimson stood against the wall, his eyes fixed on Emily sitting on the edge of the bed. Without meeting Gimson's gaze, she lowered her eyes slightly and undid the buttons one by one, revealing the camisole inside. The white camisole stood out in the darkness.
Gimson's throat tightened for a moment; he took a step towards the bed, his hands clasped Emily's shoulders. Emily felt a surge of revulsion, and she hard-pressed down the turmoil in her heart. The corner of her eye caught a cold light as she glanced at Gimson whose gun was pinned to his waist, calculating how to seize the gun without noticing.
While she pondered, Gimson's head had already lowered, and he was a centimeter away from kissing her neck when the balcony window was suddenly pushed open. The cold night air whistled in, causing Gimson bent over Emily to jerk his head up.
Gimson's gloomy eyes surveyed the scene, revealing a man wearing a gold mask walking in from the balcony.
Gimson instantly realized who the man in the gold mask was.
"Friedel, help me!" Emily threw on her jacket and lowered her voice to call for help.
Derek, who entered, had eyes that were chilling to the core. In that moment, he was filled with rage. He coldly pulled out the gun at his waist, and before Gimson could react, a bullet flew out of the silenced gun, directly hitting Gimson's right wrist.
Emily instantly smelled blood.
Gimson, unable to pull out his gun with a bullet in his right hand, hooked his lips and laughed fiercely. "Emily, it's me who underestimated you; you wait for me!"
Saying that, he made a leap and was about to jump off the second-floor balcony to escape. Unexpectedly, Derek quickly fired another shot, hitting Gimson's calf.
Gimson fell to the ground, and the room was filled with the smell of smoke and blood. Derek then clapped his hands and signaled for a couple of men to take Gimson down. "Lock him up and keep an eye on him," Friedel's cold voice ordered.
Emily buttoned up her clothes and said with relief, "Luckily you came in time..."
She looked up and noticed that Derek, who had just walked in. She turned around and switched on the lights in the room.
Derek raised his hand and removed his mask. Pursing his lips, he spoke slowly, "That man just now looked familiar."
Emily raised her eyes to look at him. "He's your twin brother's own brother, and it's all because of him that you've ended up like this."
Derek paused, then said, "Tell me about the old days."
As soon as Derek's words left his mouth, the room fell silent, with only the sound of the wind whistling through the window.
Emily looked at him and began to recount all the events that had happened before. Her voice metaphorically echoed in Derek's ears, and his mind was suddenly filled with fragmented images.
Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
"Derek, what's wrong with you?" Emily rushed forward and held his arm.
"Headache..." Derek closed his eyes. "But I can't remember anything."
"If you can't recall anything, don't force it," Emily whispered. "Just remember that you are my husband, the father of my children, and you have a happy and complete family. So, you need to quickly resolve matters on Seriski's side and then go back with me for our families to be reunited."
"I'm sorry, Emily." Derek hugged her.
He had just fought with Gimson, and his twin brother had the scent of blood about him, appearing as someone with blood on his hands.
He couldn't believe how Emily, a seemingly fragile woman, would manage Gimson, take care of four children, and find his whereabouts at the same time. He felt fortunate to have a wife like her.
Lowering his head, he kissed her eyes, his thin lips slowly moving down to nibble on her scarlet lips.
Emily responded to his passionate kiss.
Soon, Derek took care of matters on his side, and then he followed Emily back to the Scott family. This time, Emily didn't inform anyone. As they walked in, she lowered her voice and asked Derek, "Do you have a familiar feeling?"
Derek slowly said, "Yes, but I still can't remember some things."
"So, are you going upstairs to meet your mother?" Emily said softly, "She's unwell, and there are certain things you might not want to mention yet."
"I don't want to meet her for a while," Derek's voice was deep.
Although Emily didn't explicitly state it, he could guess why his twin brother could live in his house without fear, and his mother must have played a significant role.
Emily pursed her lips, a complex expression on her face. Faced with the feud between mother and son, between brothers, she didn't know what to say.
The two had just walked to the door when the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind them.
"You came back?" Emma's weak voice sounded from behind.
Emily and Derek turned around simultaneously.
They saw Emma standing on the staircase, without even a coat on, her bare feet on the carpet.
Emma was initially calm, but when she saw Derek, the whole person was suddenly stunned.
"You're Derek... You're not dead... Derek, you're really not dead!"
Emma stumbled down the stairs and embraced Derek.
Emily silently took a step back. Derek allowed Emma to hold him for a few seconds before saying in a light voice, "Shouldn't you be asking Gimson where he is?"
Emma's eyes widened. "Derek, what did you do with your brother?"
The corner of Derek's mouth curled into a sneer.
"Derek, don't you..." Emma's tears fell. "You and Gimson are both my children. No matter which one of you is in trouble, the person who suffers the most is me. When I heard the news that you might be dead, do you know how much pain I was in? I..."
"If you were in so much pain, why didn't you come to me?" Derek said quietly. "The one who found me and brought me home was Emily. You don't deserve to be my mother."
He composed himself with a cold expression and said lightly, "I'm not like him. Gimson is alive and well; he just lost his freedom."
Emma was completely distraught, and the tears continued to stream down her face. "I'm sorry, Derek. I truly had no choice. You know, I owe Gimson, and I can only do this..."
However, Derek simply turned around and ascended the stairs.
Emily approached Emma. "Mrs. Scott, is it convenient for us to have a chat?"
Emma forced a smile. "Yes, Emily."
Emily continued, "Mrs. Scott, I assume you're aware of Derek losing his memory."
Emma tried to ignore the coldness in Emily's tone and replied slowly, "Yes."
"Derek's memories were erased by Serena," Emily spoke. "Has Serena contacted you recently?"
Emma froze, then sighed in relief. She took out her cellphone and called Serena.
After the call, Emma walked back to Emily. "She'll be stopping by this evening."
Emily nodded. "Thanks," then turned and left.
Serena arrived at the Scotts' house late in the evening. Emily approached her with a cool gaze.
"Gimson isn't here. You're coming in with me." Emily turned and walked inside.
Serena hesitated. "Don't lie to me. I've seen him."
"What, you can't even recognize the man you love?" Emily snorted. "He's not Gimson."
Serena froze. She quickly stepped inside, her eyes scanning the room. She recognized a side profile at the table—only to find that it wasn't Gimson but Derek.
Serena's eyes widened, and she lost control, grabbing Emily's sleeve. "What about Gimson? Where did he go?"
Emily glanced at Serena's injuries and said coldly, "He did this to you, and you still care where he went? You think I killed him, don't you?"
Panic surfaced in Serena's eyes. "Emily, how could you do that?"
Emily pulled her hand away. "He's alive and well. He just lost his freedom for a while. Do you want to go see him?"
Serena nodded vigorously. "Where are you keeping him?"
Emily shook her head faintly. Serena, a young girl with a seemingly good life and plenty of options, however, chose to jump into the abyss.
However, Emily could just as easily use that to let Serena do something for her.
"Derek's memories were hypnotically washed away by you, so you're responsible for getting them back," Emily spoke in a faint voice. "I'll send you to Gimson whenever Derek’s memories come back."
As the two spoke, Derek walked out of the villa.
Seeing him, Serena recalled the events of that day. In the basement, Derek had an untreated scar on his face, dripping with blood. She still remembered Gimson's words: "There's no one in this world who has the right to look exactly like me."
Once if Derek remembered the past, it would likely lead to a much more miserable state for Gimson.
"No..." Serena shook her head.
"If you won't, then you've lost your only chance to see Gimson," Emily said, flipping her hair. "Serena, I'll give you ten minutes to think about it, and if you refuse, I'll change."
"Okay, I promise..." Serena quickly compromised. "But I'm not sure if it's going to work or not."
Emily turned and headed for the villa. "Let's go upstairs first then."
Emma, watching from the living room, sighed. When Derek's memory returned, it would be time for her to leave.
The entire hypnosis process lasted two hours. Afterward, Derek violently sat up straight from the couch.
Emily clapped her hands. The two bodyguards waiting outside the study walked in and pressed Serena's shoulders left and right.
"What are you doing?!" Serena struggled hard.
"Until Derek gets his memory back completely, you're going to stay well at Scott's," Emily said coldly. "Take her up to the third-floor guest room."
The two bodyguards escorted Serena up to the third floor and locked the door with enough force to stifle Serena's growling, silencing her unwilling voice.
Emily approached Derek and inquired, "Derek, did you remember anything?"
Derek sat on the couch, eyes narrowed, fingers gently rubbing his temples. He opened his lips and said, "Something is flooding my brain, and I need to digest it."
Emily took Derek's hand as they walked to the master bedroom. Applying a bit of essential oil to her palm, she waited for it to warm up before gently rubbing it on Derek's temples.
As she rubbed, she said, "Don't dwell on it for a while. Get a good night's sleep, and you should be able to remember things tomorrow after you slow down."
Derek held her hand and spoke in a soft, low voice, "Emily, thank you."
Since returning, Emily had been taking care of him diligently, attending to every detail perfectly. He owed Emily too much.
"I’m your wife; You don’t have to say that," Emily smiled gently.
Emily then sighed, "What if Emma forces you to release Gimson next? What will you do?"
"Never." Derek stared at her beautiful face, "I could have given him another chance, but he should never have laid a hand on you. Emily, I'm very grateful that you recognized me at first sight, and I appreciate that you didn't lose hope in me. If it weren't for you, I'd probably still live at risk."
"I thought we agreed not to say thank you again?" Emily deliberately pouted her red lips and complained.
In the next second, she felt the desire in the depths of Derek's eyes.
Derek's voice became husky, "I really missed you, Emily."
Emily's wrist was gently pulled by Derek, and she fell into his arms smoothly.
The temperature in the room rose steeply, and they fell down on the soft queen-sized bed, kissing and touching...