Mother...

Music Rec: Someone Like You by Adele.

As she pushed open the door, Avery steeled her already numb heart while bracing herself to see the worst. But the room was empty.

"Emma?" she called out loud, receiving no reply. She turned to look over her shoulders, suspecting that this might be a trap. Maybe the room was empty and Emma had been killed too. But that seemed highly unlikely judging by the conversation she had with Valentina; plus Emma's death wasn't announced in the news broadcast.

"Ouch…"

Avery jerked her head up as she heard a short whimper, coming from a source she could not trace, but was in this room. She stepped into the room as silently as she could and tiptoed to the other side of the bed, grabbing a scissors from the study table as she went.

"Emma, are you there?" she called again, her voice lower than earlier. Standing in the middle of the room, she swept her gaze around to find the place void of any human soul. "Emma, it's Avery. Let's talk…"

"Ouch," another whimper came. This time, Avery was able to trace the direction it came from.

The walk-in closet.

Hiding the scissors between the several pleats of the wedding gown, she tiptoed to the door of the closet, pausing only when her hand was on the door knob. If it was really Emma behind the door, what was she to do or say?

Emma, I'm here to die together with you? Or Emma, I am so sorry my stupidity caused all this? Emma, why did you testify against me? Emma, why didn't you tell me the investor did such a thing to you? Emma…Emma...Emma!

'Would Emma even look at me if I go in there? Since she knows now that I am adopted, will she hate me for letting my stupidity cause the death of her family? She thinks I posted the video…will she feel like killing me? Or will she berate me for not protecting them as the heiress of the group and letting the power get taken from me?' she wondered inwardly.

As the questions kept streaming into her mind without Avery finding an answer to any, she decided to search her mind for what she prayed to happen when she opened the door.

Clapsing her hand in prayer, she shut her eyes and wished beneath her breath, "Dear God, make Emma want to kill me."

When she opened her eyes, Avery was taken aback at the sight before her. Emma was standing right in front of her with nothing but a towel wrapped around her.

"Emma," she gasped at the cold black eyes that stared back at her, subconsciously taking a step back.

Right before her, the cold eyes slowly transformed into surprised ones, to shocked, then delighted, and frightened.

"Is that you, Vee?!"

Nodding, Avery felt tears well up in her eyes at that voice that would forever be filled with warmth. She had expected a scream, an angry yell, or even a cold voice but she got none. Instead, Emma still called her by that nickname only she was allowed to call.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you see the news?" she fired question after question, her worried eyes searching Avery's body up and down. "You should be out of the country!"

"What are you saying, Emma? It's—"

"Don't you dare say it's your fault. Those people are the wolves in sheep clothing," Emma interrupted her, pulling her into a hug.

Avery didn't resist and only buried her hair in her big sister's—adopted or not—shoulder. She could not remember having a mother, but she never lacked one either. Emma was always there, doing a wonderful job at one even though she was just two years older than Avery herself.

"I am sorry," she sobbed.

"No baby, I should be the one saying that. I couldn't control myself and had to put you in trouble."

Suddenly remembering the questions that she had before seeing Emma, Avery pulled herself out of her embrace.

"You should not be sorry, Emma. I was the stupid one. What did they do to you? Tina mentioned something about mental asylum or—" she started to ask, when Emma suddenly pushed her away.

"She is right, Vee. I don't know what they did to me but…" she hesitated. "Don't bother with me. You have to get out of here now!"

"Yes, we do," Avery agreed. "Let's get something for you to wear."

Emma didn't argue. Instead, she turned around to pick a bathrobe that was hanging on a rack behind her. Slipping into it, she tied the sash as quickly as she could and grabbed Avery's hand.

"You have to be brave, Vee. It's not going to be easy but please baby, you can't let Jon and his family go scot free."

Avery nodded in agreement, prompting Emma to continue.

"They have a powerful backer. I don't know who that is yet but I might find out later on," she said. Pulling Avery with her as she walked across the room, she stopped by the bedside drawer to take out an object which looked like a calculator at first glance. "This is a phone. I couldn't let them know I had one so I had to hide it. When I find out who the backer is, I will make sure to call you through this."

Brows furrowing in confusion, Avery finally began to realize there was something wrong with Emma's words.

"How do you intend to find out who the person is? Don't tell me you plan to stay here while I leave," she guessed, plea evident in her eyes. She got her answer when Emma avoided her eyes to pick up something else from the drawer.

"Emma, how could you think I will leave you here and go?!"

"You will, Vee. I'll force you if I have to," came the reply. "Was any of them behind you when you were coming here?"

Avery shook her head in response, "None of them, I'm sure. Tina was the one who told me you were here but I left her back at the funeral parlor."

"Great then. There's no camera in the hallway and here so they can't know what we are doing. I will get you out of here and when you leave, you can come back and take me."

Avery shook her head vigorously, refusing Emma's suggestion even before she heard it all.

"Emma, I don't think I can be able to return as early as possible with the police after me and no evidence to show that I am not the culprit. Why don't we leave together?"

"We can't," Emma replied, her voice betraying her emotions. "Don't worry about the police. I have an idea of what to do."

With that, Emma pulled her out of the room, breaking into a sprint as soon as they got into the hallway.