"Miss, we can't let you inside. Please don't create a scene here."

The woman once again said in a frustrated tone as she tried her best to make Emily realize that not anyone could enter the Alessandro Corporation and demand to meet Domenic Alessandro.

Emily just sighed as she once again tried to call her brother. But just as she predicted, none of her brothers picked up her call, not even Domenic which was making her confused about the entire situation.

She could understand why the rest of her brothers were ignoring her but she had no idea why Nick had also joined their group.

"Miss, please leave. Otherwise, I'll need to call security." The woman reminded her as she glared at Emily a little bit too harshly than needed.

Emily had enough of her nonsense but just when she was about to respond to the woman, her gaze landed on two very familiar figures that were entering the building.

To say that she had become eviler in the past four years would be an understatement. She had learned too many dirty tricks to win in situations similar to the current one.

But it was not her fault, or at least that's what she thought. She was a writer, she needed to learn such things to make her story interesting enough to grab the attention of her readers who liked drama.

However, she always made sure to never offend anyone with her tricks, nor she let an innocent person get affected because of her.

Just as the thought appeared in her mind, she started analyzing the situation. Her author's brain started running as she thought about a perfect solution for her current situation.

"Simon and Leo..."

She called out softly as she kept her eyes trained on the silhouettes of her brothers who were talking with a man as they walked inside the building.

Though her voice was low, it was loud enough to let the woman hear who was standing behind the front desk.

"Hey! Miss.....! Are you even hearing me?" The woman called Emily to pull her attention away from the two Alessandro Masters.

"Simon...!"

"Leo...!"

Emily called out her brothers and succeeded in pulling their attention towards her while on the other hand, she ignored the woman completely as she started walking towards her brothers in hurry.

Her instincts were telling her that her judgment about the woman was correct and soon enough, she would receive proof of it.

But what made her halt in her steps was the indifferent looks on Simon and Leo's faces as they glanced at her and then started walking towards the private elevator.

Her distraction was all that the woman needed because as soon as Emily came to a stop, she felt a sharp pain in her left arm which made her cry out in both pain and surprise.

"What the...."

She didn't get the time or chance to finish her sentence because the very next second she felt a burning pain in her right cheek.

The sound of the slap ranged through the hallway which suddenly became too silent. Emily was so shocked that she could barely process the situation. When she purposely tried to ignore the woman and started walking towards her brothers, she knew that the woman would try to stop her. She would probably have said a few harsh words to make Emily realize her place, that what Emily thought. She knew that if her brothers would have seen the woman talking so rudely with her, they would have probably not kept ignoring her.

What she did not realize was that the woman would go as far as slapping her. For a moment everything became dark in front of Emily's eyes as some very familiar old memories started resurfacing.

But this time, she knew how to deal with them. She just closed her eyes and started breathing deeply to calm her mind and body.

She was too busy keeping herself calm that she did not even realize that Leo was calling her name until he pressed one of his fingers on her right cheek which made her hiss in pain.

"Are you okay?"

He hurriedly asked as soon as he saw her opening her eyes before settling them on him.

She knew that her cheek was going to swell but she did not care about that at all. The thing that mattered the most to her at that moment was her brother who was standing in front of her with worry in his eyes as he waited for her answer.

Emily immediately shook her head but then hissed softly as the action caused a mild pain in her cheek.

"Don't move!"

Simon spoke as he came to stand beside Leo. His eyes were also filled with worry as he observed her.

"I'm alright. You don't have to worry. She's just doing her job." Emily said in a small voice as she bowed her head to let her hair fall around her face.

Suddenly, she was feeling bad. Bad for playing tricks on the woman, bad for playing with her brothers' emotions.

Her eyes hurriedly looked around to find the woman so that she could apologize but she could not find the woman anywhere in the entire lobby.

"Where's she?" Emily asked as she turned to look at her brothers with confusion.

"Exactly where she deserved to be," Leo replied in a cold tone as he gritted his teeth as if he was trying to hold in his anger.

"What? What are you talking about? What are you going to do with her?" Emily asked as she stared at both of her brothers.

"You don't have to worry about it. Just forget about her. No one will dare to lay a finger on you after this, I promise." Simon vowed as he made her turn to look right at him.

However, rather than feeling assured by his words, Emily only panicked more as she hurriedly shook her head.

"No, you are misunderstanding. It's not her fault. I was the one who purposely tried to create a scene in order to pull your attention towards me. She was just doing her job. All of this has nothing to do with her."

She hurriedly explained as she tried to make her brothers realize that the woman had no bad intentions towards her. It was not like she was going to murder her or something. Knowing her brothers' personalities pretty well, she could already tell that they were going to make that woman's life a living hell.

"No matter whatever you did or did not do, no one is allowed to hurt you. And she dared to hurt you this badly. She already lucky seeing that she's still alive. Stop thinking about her. We should get you to a doctor, it's starting to swell." Simon spike as he cupped her left cheek while checking her right one.

Just the mere sight of the bruised cheek of his little sister wanted him to kill the woman who caused such pain to his baby sis.

"Simon...! Are you even gearing what I'm saying? It wasn't her fault. It was me!" Emily was almost desperate as she once again tried to make her brother understand her point.

Simon pulled her in his arms as he hugged her while making sure to not hurt her already injured cheek.

"You are too innocent, Em. Do you seriously think that she's innocent? And if you really think like that then you still are not prepared to face this cruel world."

His words made Emily pull away from the hug as she looked up at him and tried to read his expressions.

"I'm just feeling like all of it was my fault. If I've not tried to trick her, nothing like this would have happened. Is it wrong for me to feel guilty about something that I'm really ended up ruining?"

She asked in a soft voice as she turned her attention towards Leo.

He had changed a lot too in the past four years. He no longer looked like a teenager who was busy enjoying his young life. Now he looked more mature and handsome. He looked like someone who knew his way around the world and the people living in it.

"Emily, this world isn't made of just white and grey. There are many more colors present here, some visible to every single eye while some are hidden so well that not everyone could see them. If you want to keep believing that your eyes will see through people based on the white and grey theory, then you will never be ready to face this world. But if you are finally ready to let go of your previous belief and accept the new one, then you are finally on your way to understanding this world a little bit better with time."

Simon explained as he once again cupped her face and looked straight into her familiar emerald eyes.

Emily was silent for a few seconds before she spoke, "You are speaking in an alien language!"