STIGMA

Jingshi City, 8:00 P.M.

Emily Bai was on her way home from a long and tiring day of working overtime, when she suddenly received a call—it was from the police.

"Hello. Is this Ms. Bai?" the officer asked. "Yes, " replied Emily. "Your friends, Mr. Jack Gu and Ms. Rose Xu have been arrested under suspicion of solicitation of prostitution. They both insisted that they were meeting each other at the hotel for a date. Could you please come down to the station and testify that they are indeed a couple, so that I can let them go…"

The shocking news froze Emily's body to the point where she couldn't move a single muscle. Her mind struggled to form thoughts and sentences; she couldn't concentrate on anything else the officer had to say. She didn't realize that she had hung up on the police officer and somehow managed to take a taxi to the police station.

When she arrived at the police station…

With a single glance, she recognized the man and the woman sitting together in the hall. The man was her boyfriend, Jack Gu, and sitting next to him was her friend, Rose Xu. They were leaning against each other like a couple on their honeymoon.

With her fists clenched; the anger boiling in her eyes like the infernal flames, Emily walked towards them. One step at a time; her feet felt like lead.

Rose's eyes were the first to catch Emily's. "I am so sorry, Emmy..." said Rose with her deceitful eyes, pretending to be apologetic.

Jack turned around and saw his girlfriend walking towards them. Without thinking, he spontaneously pushed Rose away and stood up in a rush, before Emily could even say anything. "Hey Emmy, " Jack greeted with a sheepish grin.

He was panic-stricken, nervously shifting his eyes away from Emily's. His body went numb as he lost the courage to face Emily.

"Tell her everything, Jack, " Rose suggested.

"Nonsense. Stop it! Don't even joke about that." Jack glared at Rose, warning her to stop from spilling anything else. He turned to Emily again. "Emmy, I promise I'll explain everything to you later, but right now, I need you to tell the police that we're innocent, " he requested as if it were a matter of course.

He reached out his hand, but Emily wouldn't take it. She managed to squeeze out a sentence in response, "You'd better have a good explanation for this." She stared at Jack in disgust.

After going through the necessary paperwork and formalities, Jack and Rose were released and the three of them left the police station together.

"Jack, how could you do this to me? You jerk!" Emily yelled angrily after stepping out of the police station.

"Listen to me. Emmy!" Jack frowned and pleaded, trying to hold Emily's hand as she pulled herself away.

"I don't want to hear a single word from you! Not after you've been caught red handed, having an affair with another woman, " Emily howled at Jack. "How did it feel when the police officer accused you of screwing a prostitute? If I had known what was really going on, I would have never come to the station to bail you out." Emily wiped the tears off her reddened eyes, full of anger and disappointment.

To think they had the nerves to have the police call and ask Emily to bail them out, Emily felt sick to her stomach. Well, they got what they wanted if they were trying to disgust her!

Embarrassed by Emily's words, Jack snapped back at her, "Yeah, I slept with Rose. So what?"

After hearing those words, Emily felt light-headed and her heart sunk to her feet. She struggled to keep her balance. Jack approached her to help, but Emily jerked and pushed him away as if she had touched something dirty.

"Just go! Stay away from me!"

Jack felt like his heart was being pierced by a thousand needles. "Emmy, " he murmured and finally changed to a softer tone, "Forget about the other girls. You're the only one I love; my one and only."

Jack's words incited Rose's jealousy, but she pretended to be understanding and tried to persuade Emily in a soft voice. "He's right, Emmy. You and Jack are made for each other. I could never steal him away from you…"

"Shut up!" Emily sternly interrupted Rose, gnashing her teeth in anger, "You have no right to say anything, you shameless whore! We're done! We are no longer friends."

"Emmy, please don't do this to me..." Rose pleaded in a sad tone while her eyes were like a bad disguise, clumsily revealing her complacence and arrogance.

Hmph, if it were not for Jack, she would have never made friends with a woman like Emily! Now that she had accomplished what she set out to do, making the extra effort seemed quite unnecessary.