Emerald Ease by Vantablack0 at Inkitt

Chapter 1

Elaria Theodora Harris sat at the table, waiting for her blind date, who was already thirty minutes late.

As a woman of principle, punctuality mattered to her. This kind of tardiness made her blood boil. Yet not a flicker of irritation reached her face. She remained perfectly still.

After all, this was her fiftieth blind date.

A chocolate-colored sheath dress embraced her graceful figure, paired with heels in the same shade. Their emerald-green outsoles—almost neon, almost poison green—were the unmistakable signature of her luxury footwear brand, Emerald Ease.

It’s been two years... and I still haven’t found him.

The thought surfaced with a familiar ache.

A vivid memory followed.

A broad masculine hand.

Near the inner edge of the thenar on his right palm was a scar shaped like the letter E—not an ordinary scar, but one that looked deliberately carved, as though an eternal blade had engraved it into his flesh.

Despite her relentless search, the image of that hand had never faded from her mind.

She sighed inwardly.

Just like the previous forty-nine blind dates, she expected this one to end in disappointment. Yet her father, Theodoros Harris, had personally arranged today’s meeting, making it unmistakably clear that this match had to work.

His desperate face flashed before her eyes.

She remembered him clutching his chest in agony, pleading—and almost ordering—her to like this “alien-looking guy” at any cost.

The pressure to marry had become suffocating.

If she failed to marry before turning thirty, her grandmother’s ancestral estate would legally pass to Ivy Willow Harris, the daughter of Theodoros’s cousin, Nikolas Ammon Harris.

Elaria herself had never cared about the land.

Her father did.

The mere thought of losing generations of family inheritance was unbearable to him.

She had never understood why her grandmother had attached such a peculiar condition to something so precious. Nevertheless, that single clause had turned her love life into an endless parade of blind dates.

That was precisely why she had left her office today with one unwavering resolve.

I have to make this one work... no matter what.

She unlocked her phone and looked at the man’s photograph once more.

“What a forest of hair...”

Her lips curled with visible distaste.

“It has swallowed half of his face.”

Then her gaze drifted to the name beneath the picture.

Emerald.

That name alone had convinced her to come. The minutes slipped by, and in the silence, she imagined the ticking of the clock’s second hand echoing in her ears.

She glanced at her watch.

“If the second hand ticks one more time, I’m leaving.”

Her fingers drummed impatiently against the tabletop while her right leg rested over her left, bouncing restlessly beneath the table.

The very moment she began pushing her chair back—

A man burst into the restaurant like a sudden bolt of lightning.

Breathing slightly hard, he hurried straight toward her table and dropped into the chair across from her.

“Hi...”

His breath came in noticeable gasps from the short run.

Elaria’s eyes widened as she watched him dash toward the table.

“Hi,” he repeated, giving her an awkward little wave, his fingers fidgeting nervously in the air.

She had been halfway out of her chair only moments earlier, but his sudden arrival froze her in place. Slowly, she lowered herself back into her seat and looked up at him.

“Hi.”

The single word carried unmistakable offense.

Seeing him in person, she could hardly hide her disappointment.

Dang... what did Dad find for me? An ugly duckling.

To make matters worse, he had grown a beard since the photo had been taken.

How am I even supposed to judge his face now — a black Amazon forest in itself?

With the composed air of a seasoned businesswoman, she arched an eyebrow and began silently evaluating him.

Before she could ask a single question, he smiled sheepishly.

“You can call me Emo.”

Her eyes drifted over his appearance. Casual clothes. Messy hair. Far too much kohl outlining his eyes.

Nothing about him looked worthy of a blind date.

After insisting twice, he finally persuaded her.

“Fine... Emo.”

She rolled her eyes with barely concealed distaste.

“So,” she said, her posture straightening with quiet authority, “what do you do for a living?”

The shy smile lingering on his face softened even further. He slowly lifted his cajoling eyes, framed by surprisingly thick, curled lashes.

“I’m the General Manager at Sapphire Sole.”

That single sentence was enough to ignite the fury simmering inside Elaria. She almost snapped.

Before she could respond, something in the reflection of a decorative mirror beside one of the hotel’s pillars caught her attention.

Her muscles stiffened.

Ivy Willow.

Standing at the far end of the restaurant. Watching. Spying.

A bitter thought immediately took root.

Of course...

She must have interfered again. Just like all the previous blind dates. Did she send him? Or pay him to make a fool of me? Fine... let’s see what game she’s playing this time.

In reality, her father had arranged today’s meeting himself.

But anger rarely left room for reason.

A faint, condescending smile curved Elaria’s lips as she looked back into Emo’s strangely captivating eyes, while secretly keeping Ivy within her peripheral vision.

“I hope Emerald Ease overtakes Sapphire Sole very soon.”

She leaned back confidently.

“Just wait and watch.”

Instead of looking offended, Emo smiled, almost as though he found her confidence entertaining.

“Wow... really?”

He tilted his head ever so slightly.

“Then I hope you’ll save a position for me.”

There wasn’t an ounce of hostility in his voice.

Only calm amusement.

That unsettled her even more.

Does he already know who I am?

His gaze suddenly drifted downward.

Toward her heels.

His eyes lit up. “Wow, ma’am... You’re wearing one of the most expensive pairs from Emerald Ease.”

Her shoulders lifted ever so slightly with unmistakable pride.

He smiled.

“Then why don’t we celebrate Green Day?”

She frowned.

“What?”

“Green Day.” His grin widened with innocent enthusiasm.

The suggestion left her thoroughly disgruntled. The conversation dragged on.

Still arching an eyebrow, Elaria asked, “So... who chose your clothes for this date?”

“I did,” he replied without hesitation.

“And your shoes?”

“My boss.”

“What?”

A wave of surprise rippled across her face.

“I mean...” he scratched the back of his head. “She has good taste, and she’s really kind. As the General Manager, I didn’t have to pick anything. She simply gave me the shoes free of charge.”

He finished with his shoulders slightly slumped, looking almost embarrassed.

Elaria stared at him in disbelief.

Then she remembered reading online that Sapphire Sole had been giving away shoes to underprivileged people. She had dismissed the whole campaign as nothing more than a clever marketing strategy.

Pushing that thought aside, she gestured toward the menu.

“You order.”

To her surprise, he ordered an entirely green meal.

Was that supposed to provoke me? she wondered.

While waiting for the food, he casually mentioned his salary before revealing his age.

Twenty-six.

That caught her off guard once again. She was already twenty-nine.

Granted, he looked younger than his age, even beneath that forest of facial hair. But then again, Elaria herself didn’t look much older than him. It was simply her composed, businesswoman-like demeanor that gave her a more mature presence.

A few minutes later, every dish arrived.

Green soup.

Green salad.

Green pasta.

Green juice.

Even the dessert had shades of green.

Elaria looked at the table in utter distaste. “There are way too many green dishes.”

Then she narrowed her eyes at him. “Why did you order everything in green?”

Emo pretended to think for a moment. “I love green.”

He counted on his fingers.

“The color of summer.”

“The color of grass.”

“The color of fodder.”

He paused dramatically before flashing a broad grin.

“The color of poison.”

“And... aren’t we celebrating Green Day today?”

The bitter taste of irritation settled on Elaria’s tongue.

That rogue...

Was he sent here to roast me? What a stupid, immature man.

Meanwhile, Emo calmly picked up his fork as though he had said nothing unusual.

Just then, a few of Elaria’s snobbish cousins appeared out of nowhere.

They walked past her table, pretending not to notice her. Then, as if suddenly recognizing her, they turned around with exaggerated surprise.

“Oh my God... Elaria!”

“What a pleasant surprise!”

“It’s so good to see you here.”

One of them beamed at her, while another’s eyes slowly drifted toward Emo. She examined him from head to toe.

Then her gaze shifted to the table overflowing with green food.

“Oh my, Elaria! Your obsession with green is completely out of control. Just look at this.”

She pointed dramatically at the table, while Emo simply sat there smiling like a fool.

“I never knew you loved green this much. Not only are your shoe outsoles green, but even your food is green.”

A heinous laugh escaped her lips, exposing her vicious teeth.

Elaria’s eyes instinctively darted toward Emo.

Great... my identity is on the verge of being revealed.

Emo blinked in confusion. “Product outsoles?”

The woman looked at him as though he had just crawled out from under a rock.

“You don’t know, Adonis?”

She chuckled again. “She is the owner of Emerald Ease.”

That odious laugh echoed once more.

Emo slowly turned toward Elaria, his eyes widening with apparent shock. For the first time, she saw his eyes clearly, lined with kohl, while the jet-black lenses seemed artificial to her.

She merely pressed her lips into a thin line.

The woman wasn’t finished yet. “I think Sapphire Sole was right after all.”

She smiled maliciously. “Too much green really does make people retch.”

The taunt was deliberate.

She wanted to ignite Elaria’s temper.

The ladies exchanged exaggerated looks of disgust before casually saying goodbye to Elaria and walking away.

That brief encounter was enough to make her blood simmer.

Instead of glaring at her cousins...

She shot Emo an angry look.

He looked genuinely puzzled. “Who were they?”

As though nothing had happened, he calmly picked up his fork and even began serving food onto Elaria’s plate.

“My cousins.”

Those witches must’ve been sent by Ivy. Either to spy on me... or to laugh at him. And this fool sitting in front of me is still celebrating Green Day.

Looking down at the neatly arranged plate he had prepared for her, she forced herself to bury her anger.

“So...”

She folded her arms.

“How do you picture yourself in the future?”

With his mouth still stuffed with food, he answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Running Emerald Ease.”

Elaria’s eyes widened.

He swallowed. “As your husband.”

Then he smiled as innocently as ever.

How cunning...

Look how smoothly he changed the direction of the conversation.

She slowly swept a hand across her face.