Guardian ✓

twilight

EMMA WAS TERRIFIED.

Terrified of what he'll do. If she had found out anything about Noah from these past few months, it was that he always got what he wanted. Even her own mother was scared of him.

Which meant she had to break it off with Conrad. Him and Anna were the closest thing to friends she had ever made and if Noah did something to them she'd never forgive herself. She loved her brother. Loved him to the point that even if he turned out to be worse than her mother and Kevin combined, she'd let him do whatever they did to her with a smile on her face.

She worshipped him.

But she wasn't blind to his wrongdoings. She knew what happened behind closed doors of Crawford III Inc. He was ruthless.

And she wouldn't let him hurt anyone other than her.

"Hi baby," Valeria Solomon smiled on the screen, giving her a small wave before getting in the car. Her other mother was too busy these days but she never missed an opportunity to call her during important occasions. Last week, Emma had gotten her university acceptance and while Noah had merely nodded in acknowledgement before going back to work, Valeria had taken her to dinner.

And given her a gumball machine she desperately wanted.

Minestrone, a traditional Italian soup made with delicious vegetables, Parmesan and pasta was her new favorite food. Emma had every intention of bringing back Noah and Matthew a container after she had two for herself, much to her mother's amusement, at the restaurant. But as soon as she entered the penthouse, she was hungry again. She completely forgot she had emailed Noah from her mother's phone to come down until she was caught red-handed, having finished his soup and opening Matthew's container.

While Matthew was amused, Noah not so much. He punished and teased her until she was close to crying before he had gone back to work. While Matthew didn't help her until Noah really went too far with his teasing, he did reassure her to not make them anything as they had already eaten dinner and were coming downstairs just to see if all the exclamation marks in the email were really worth it.

Apparently they were.

"Mommy," Emma nodded, shaking her head as her mind went to the dinner they had together a couple of days ago again. "I am leaving in ten minutes. I'll get my Calculus and German results today. Can we go to Mangia Bello if I get a hundred percent–"

"Don't say yes," Noah came up behind her and squeezed her thigh, making her squeak. But he maintained the bored, stoic look on his face as he looked at his mother. "You're spoiling her too much."

Valeria laughed, making Emma think about how beautiful she was once again. She had cut her dark, chestnut hair which accentuated her high cheekbones even more. Valeria took Emma to the salon before they had their dinner. Whilst Emma didn't even know hair could be cut, Valeria knew more than most people about fashion. Noah didn't want Emma's hair cut so short thus they went just below her hips.

"And you're not?" Valeria teased, completely clueless to how Noah really was.

He rolled his eyes, pulling Emma so that her back was almost touching his chest as he stood behind her.

"Please hang up so she can finish up her breakfast, Mamma. She woke up late today."

Emma gasped, looking back at Noah to see a tiny smirk playing on his lips. He had deliberately kept her in bed by–

"Mommy when am I going to see you again?" Emma couldn't help but pout, her eyes filling up. Her mother was far too busy and she needed a break from Noah once in a while. He was too much for her to handle even if she saw him less than she saw her mother.