Overbearing CEO's Contract Love
Chapter 287: I Want to Drop Out

Chapter 287: I Want to Drop Out

Inside their opulent residence, tears once again betrayed Emma Hart’s composure, trickling down her cheeks relentlessly. Damien Sterling quickly stood, pulling several tissues from a nearby box and handing them to her.

Emma sobbed for a few minutes before wiping her eyes and facing Damien. "I... I want to drop out of the competition," she confessed, her voice wavering.

Damien’s brow furrowed. Emma had been so determined to enter this competition, even making a deal with him to secure her spot. Why would she suddenly want to quit? Could it be...

"Did you see the news?" Damien asked, his head lowered slightly.

"Yes!" Emma’s voice cracked with emotion. "Why are they saying these things about me? How have I wronged them?"

"So, you choose to run away?" Damien’s response was unsparingly blunt.

"I just don’t want to be in it anymore!" Emma was near breaking point.

Damien lay back on the bed, legs crossed. "This is what you wanted to show our child, huh? The sight of their mother chasing her dreams," he mocked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You..." Emma was visibly upset.

"Am I wrong?" Damien knew Emma well; provocation often spurred her into action.

"Backing out now would be cowardly, and it would tarnish my reputation," Damien stated flatly. He hadn’t expected Emma to win first place, and her withdrawal now would negatively impact his social standing and potentially affect the entire Sterling Group.

"Hah, I knew it. In the end, you only care about your company," Emma scoffed, chiding herself for being foolish enough to get addicted to Damien’s attentions.

"You’re right. If you were just anyone, I wouldn’t care whether you quit or not. But as the wife of the Sterling Group’s CEO, your actions reflect on the company’s reputation."

Damien’s words left her feeling powerless.

"If you insist on quitting, you’ll need to compensate for the economic damage your departure causes to Sterling Group," Damien added coldly, his businessman’s pragmatism at the forefront.

"Fine! I’ll continue in the competition!" Emma realized with a heavy heart the predicament she was in. If only she hadn’t boasted during that live broadcast, if only she hadn’t entered this accursed competition.

"Good, Emma Hart. Now, go to sleep," Damien said softly, patting her head as if taming a wild kitten, pleased with the resolution.

Damien Sterling lay on his back facing away from Emma Hart and murmured reassuringly, "Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of the news. Go to sleep." Relieved, Emma finally settled down to rest.

But sleep eluded her once again.

After only three hours, Emma woke up, haunted by a dream where she was surrounded by a throng of reporters. They bombarded her with questions about her contest entry and her relationship with Damien, their cameras flashing relentlessly. She felt utterly alone, crouching and covering her head in distress.

Beside her, Damien slept soundly. Emma rose from the bed and went downstairs to pour herself a glass of water. Restlessly sitting on the sofa for a while, she found the silence eerie and hurried back to the bedroom. Her panicked entrance woke Damien.

"What are you doing?" Damien sat up, still groggy.

"I... I had a nightmare."

"Come here, let me help you."

"Huh?"

Damien got out of bed, pulled Emma into his arms, and lay back down.

"What are you doing?" Emma was startled by his action, wondering if he was sleepwalking in search of a pillow.

"Sleep now, I’ll hold you. If you’re scared, just hold my hand," Damien murmured beside her.

Emma’s face flushed, her breathing quickened. Too embarrassed to push him away, she closed her eyes.

Surprisingly, with Damien holding her, Emma managed to fall into a peaceful sleep and didn’t have any more nightmares.

By nine in the morning, they were awakened by the glaring sun.

"Beep—" Damien’s phone suddenly rang.

It was a notification about the semi-finals of the design competition: "Dear Ms. Emma Hart, the theme for the second round of the competition is ’Fairy’, and it will be conducted as a fashion runway show streamed live online. You may choose your model. The live broadcast will be on January 15th at 3:00 PM at Century Stage A."

"Emma Hart! Wake up! Time to train!" Seeing the message, Damien also woke Emma, determined to give their all to the competition.

"Huh? Training!" Hearing the word ’training’, Emma tensed up, realizing Damien was serious about preparing her.

After breakfast, Emma Hart looked at the competition notification and sighed, "Oh my! This is incredibly challenging. A model? And a runway show?"

"Don’t worry about the model, I’ll arrange for a top world model to assist you. You just focus on designing the outfit," Damien Sterling replied, making everything sound so simple.

"Okay." Emma Hart’s enthusiasm was clearly waning. She decided to just do as Damien suggested.

"Now, just go back to your room and think about what kind of outfit to design," Damien instructed.

"Miss Emma is so smart, having won first place last time. I’m sure this won’t be a problem either," Mrs. Harris came in to encourage Emma.

"Thank you, Mrs. Harris!" But I’m afraid you might be disappointed this time... Emma thought to herself.

After finishing his breakfast, Damien rushed off to a meeting at the company, while Emma paced around alone in the study.

"Fairy... fairy... fairy... Maybe I should watch the latest fantasy historical drama!" Emma gave up, figuring since she was clueless, she might as well relax and watch a TV series. Who knows, it might spark some inspiration?

"Ha ha ha!"

Knock—

"Miss Emma! I’ve brought you some afternoon tea!" Mrs. Harris called from outside the door.

Emma quickly turned off the TV show and went to open the door for Mrs. Harris.

"Miss Emma, what were you laughing at in there?" Mrs. Harris asked.

"Oh, nothing! I was just telling myself jokes!" Emma’s lie was a bit feeble.

"Alright, remember to call me if you need anything. Don’t stay cooped up in the study all day, come down and move around a bit!" In truth, Mrs. Harris understood, but it wasn’t her place to say much.

"Thank you, Mrs. Harris," Emma responded.

After Mrs. Harris left, Emma shut the door again and resumed watching her TV series.

The scriptwriter’s plot twists were hilarious, but those costumes... something seemed off...

Suddenly, Emma had a flash of insight—watching the show had indeed worked! She secretly rejoiced, realizing she was quite clever after all.

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