Chapter 4

After coming out of the administration office, Emilie bid Ian farewell at the entrance. She didn't shake his hand before she left. She also didn't turn to look at his expression before walking away. She hurriedly walked toward her car which was just a short distance away. When she unlocked the door of the car, she realized that the front left tire was flat. She wasn't sure when or how, but it had been punctured.

The tire was pretty much completely flat. Based on the looks of it, there was probably no other way to continue driving the car other than to change out to a spare tire. It had been absolutely fine just a moment ago when she drove over... so how did it get completely deflated? She couldn't help but feel frustrated as she kicked the flaccid outer rubber in anger.

Ian's car drove over from a short distance away and stopped right behind her. He rolled down the window and inquired, "What's wrong, Ms. Audron?"

This spooked her for a moment. She turned around and pretended to be calm as she replied, "It's nothing."

He tilted his head to the side, his gaze went past her and landed on the flat tire. Then he turned back up and looked at her. He offered, "Ms. Audron, where are you headed to? I can have my driver bring you there."

"There's no need for that," Emilie refused the suggestion in a heartbeat. When she noticed Ian raising his eyebrows, she realized that her rejection was too direct and fast, to the extent that it was rather rude. She explained, "There's still some stuff at school that I have to get back to and deal with. Please go ahead first, I can walk there myself."

She was obviously lying. She had mentioned just a while ago while they were at the staff office that she had something urgent to attend to. But he didn't call her out on it. He simply smiled and bid her farewell, "Alright then, goodbye, Ms. Audron."

He gestured at the driver to be on their way. Soon, the car disappeared into the distance.

Emilie stood by the side of the road and watched the black car until it vanished from her sight. Then, she rolled up her sleeves and began to change out the tire. This was near the science and engineering faculty building, which housed an abundance of energetic and passionate male students. Soon, a couple of students who were passing by came up to help her. She didn't try to be overly polite and reject their help, and instead let the two students help her change her tire.

She didn't return to her alma mater to continue networking for her PhD, and she didn't return home either. Instead, she drove to the Southton City Police Department (SCPD).

Officer Jacob Carter was rather surprised when he received her phone call, but he didn't reject her request to meet. They agreed to meet at a cafe that was right next to the SCPD. "Is anything the matter, Ms. Audron? Why did you suddenly want to meet?" he asked.

Emilie was at a loss for words. They didn't actually know each other very well, and even coming over to meet Officer Carter was a rash decision. She asked, "Do you still remember me?"

Officer Carter smiled and answered, "Yes, I do."

Of course, he remembered her. She was the victim of the case that he was in charge of four years ago. In that case, after being violated by known criminals, she killed one of them with a fruit knife. Then, she drove her car into another one, permanently disabling his legs. After escaping, the first thing that she did was to call her boyfriend and ask him to call the police.

There were a lot of beautiful women in this world, and quite a number of them were both beautiful and smart. But an attractive and intelligent woman who was also calm and logical, and able to be ruthless and decisive at such a critical moment was as rare as it got. That was why he still remembered her despite not having seen her in the past few years.

Emilie was still thinking through how she should describe what she had been experiencing. This whole thing sounded absolutely incredulous, and Officer Carter would probably think that she was crazy if she described the situation to him as it was. She looked into his eyes and asked, "I would just like to inquire about the case four years ago. The criminal that you caught back then, it is certain that he has been sentenced to death, right?"

Officer Carter was a little taken aback by her question. "Pardon?"

"Shaun Breyne, I'm talking about Shaun Breyne," she uttered that name which evoked the deepest, most primal fear in her heart. The pace of her speech sped up uncontrollably. She continued, "Recently, I met someone who bears a great resemblance to him. His voice, his face, his physique, everything. Wait, no, they're not just alike, they're absolutely the same person!"

The nervousness and distress that she displayed evoked a sense of sympathy in the middle-aged police officer. Pity could be seen in his eyes as he said, "Ms. Emilie Audron - you're Emilie Audron, am I right? Please calm down first. I can tell you with utmost certainty right now that Shaun Breyne is dead. He was executed under the order of the law two years ago."

Emilie bit on her lips, then asked again, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Officer Carter nodded firmly and continued, "I have a very deep impression of him. Not just because of the atrocious crimes he had committed, but also because I heard that he did something very surprising before he was executed."

"What did he do?" she couldn't help but ask.

"He asked to donate his cornea."

Emilie was indeed surprised. That vicious criminal, that vile beast of a man, actually decided to do something generous at the very end of his life? That was indeed rather unexpected. She was silent for a while before speaking again, "But that person really looked a lot like him."

"There are people who look very similar to each other in this world. There are even people who are completely unrelated but look like identical twins. Perhaps, somewhere in this world, there's a lady who looks like a one-to-one copy of you," Officer Carter replied.

"But he... he tried to... I..." Emelie tried to find suitable words to express herself. "He tried to approach me, he tried to get my number, he even engaged in conversation with me. He wanted me to sit in his car. I'm really not being narcissistic or anything, I can sense his intentions."

Officer Carter couldn't help but chuckle a little. He asked, "Ms. Audron, given your looks, I'm sure you've had guys try to talk to you even elsewhere, right?"

The meaning behind his words was rather clear. Even if there really was such a man, and that man did try to approach her, it was just the normal actions of someone who was physically attracted to her good looks.

Emilie couldn't refute that. She was indeed highly attractive. There had been boys chasing after her since elementary school. The opposite sex's natural attraction toward her continued all the way until now. Even after she got married and her wedding ring remained on her finger at all times, she still couldn't stop men from trying to get close to her.

Officer Carter looked at her with a smile as she sank into silence. He tried to advise her, "You shouldn't dwell too much on this, just forget about what happened in the past."

At this point, it seemed that all evidence pointed toward her being overly anxious and worried, even a little delusional, about the incident. Even Emilie started to doubt herself. She pressed her lips tightly together and thought for a moment. Then she put forth her final question to Officer Carter, "Can you help me with something?"

Officer Carter didn't agree to her request immediately. "What do you need me to help you with?"

She took out a pen and a piece of paper from her purse and wrote down the full name, birth date, and address of Ian Tournox. She passed it over to Officer Carter and asked sincerely, "This is the personal information of that person, can you help me to confirm the authenticity of his identity? Are these all real?"

Officer Carter was clearly surprised as he looked through the piece of paper. He asked, "How do you know so much about him?"

"He let me look at his ID card. I only took a glance at it, so I didn't memorize his identification number," she replied.

Officer Carter chuckled again. "You remembered this much information just at a glance, that's a pretty good memory you've got."

She indeed had a good memory. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to remember what happened that night in such vivid detail. His face, his voice, the emotions (or lack thereof) in his eyes when he looked at her... They appeared again and again in her nightmares. She kept telling herself to stop thinking about it. Instead, she just looked at Officer Carter with a pitiful expression and asked, "Please? Can you just help me with this?"

A pretty lady's request was always difficult for a man to reject. Officer Carter smiled and put the note into his memo book. "Alright, I'll help you check it out when I get the chance to."

He was indeed helpful, and he called Emilie back just a few days later.

"Ms. Audron, I've looked into the guy's identity. Ian Tournox is indeed a real person, and all of his personal details are genuine. How do I put it..." He paused for a moment before laughing. "I guess I can't blame you for being scared, because I was shocked as well when I saw his photo. However, I can still tell the difference between them when I put their photos side by side. They're definitely two different people."

Emilie finally felt a great sense of relief. She thanked Officer Carter profusely, "Thank you so much for your help."

"Has that guy tried to contact you again?" Officer Carter asked her.

"No, he hasn't."

"Well then, I guess that guy wanted to get to know an attractive woman. Perhaps even he felt confused. He's so handsome, yet this lady avoids him like some sort of criminal!" Officer Carter joked with her, as he tried to cheer her up. "Miss Audron, forget about that incident, and live the rest of your life to the fullest!"

Emilie was sincerely grateful toward this police officer, she couldn't help but thank him again.

"In the future, if you run into any other trouble, feel free to look for me again, don't stand on ceremony." He added, "If that guy tries to pester you again, you may look for me as well!"

To be fair to Ian, he hadn't actually pestered Emilie. After Emilie confirmed that Ian Tournox and Shaun Breyne were two completely different people, she became a lot more logical and objective in the way she looked at this problem. She realized that it was probably entirely her fault that she was having such persecutory delusions.

Ian Tournox hadn't contacted her ever since.

There was one time that she ran into her colleague from the administration office. The colleague had told her, feeling rather upset, that Ian Tournox hadn't come over. She called his phone, and he answered. However, he didn't come back to the school personally. Instead, the person who came over to get the letter of authorization for Audrey Clendon's leave was a very tall and buff man - even his face was full of muscle!

Emilie instantly knew that she was talking about the man who drove the car for Ian. He seemed to be Ian's bodyguard.

Emilie consoled her colleague for some time and felt even more relieved. Her life seemed to return to its usual peace again. Ian Tournox had just appeared out of nowhere and gave her an enormous shock before vanishing and disappearing completely.

Eventually, she registered to be a PhD student at her alma mater. The mentor that she found was her teacher back when she was studying for her master's degree. This elderly professor had been a researcher and lecturer his whole life. He was an upright and rather uptight man. Although he admired her as a student, he explicitly told her that she would have to pass the entrance exam on her own ability, and he would not help her in any way.

Emilie sent a "cry-laughing" emoji to her mentor to describe her feelings, which was a blend of sadness and helplessness.

Her parents were not really supportive of her pursuing a doctorate degree. Although her family wasn't very wealthy, they weren't in financial need either. Her parents felt that she should just enjoy life as it was, instead of pushing herself to work even harder. Fortunately, she had Kevin who supported her in every way possible, from researching to running errands for her. Emilie only wished that he could be in the same field as her. The subjects that he had studied back in school were completely different from what she was undertaking, and he couldn't help her with her studies.

As she swam in the ocean of knowledge, her family received one piece of good news after another. First, her parents won a lucky draw and received an all-expenses travel package to tour the entire country. The elderly couple packed their bags and went on an exciting vacation together. Then, Kevin received a valuable opportunity to go overseas and receive training to upgrade himself.

Emilie would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little jealous. As she helped Kevin to pack his bags, she couldn't help but express her little gripes. She threw one of his bags on the ground and said a little resentfully, "Ahh! I don't care anymore, I'm so upset right now, why should I pretend to be a good, caring wife!"

Kevin couldn't help but laugh at her complaint. He jumped and pinned her down on the bed as he said, "If you don't want me to go, then I'll stay. Your mom and dad aren't around either. I'm honestly a little worried to leave you at home alone."

Of course, Emilie didn't actually mean it. She wasn't a kid, so she didn't need a guardian to accompany her all the time. Besides, this was an opportunity that would only come once in a blue moon, it would be greatly beneficial for his future. She tugged on his collar and said playfully, "Don't worry hubby, as your dearest wife, I won't hold you back at the most critical moments. Please venture forth and hone your skills in the faraway lands, while I shall retreat to the institution to sharpen my mind. In time to come, we shall reunite to ascend to the next phase of our lives."

Kevin laughed out loud at her sudden monologue. He lowered his head to kiss her on her lips. As they played and fooled around, both of them started to get in the mood. As he took off her clothes piece by piece, he teased, "I shall plant more seeds before I leave, so we'll get a good harvest next year."

The two of them tossed and turned on the bed together. Most of the time, he would be pinning her down, but sometimes she would gain the upper hand as well as she pushed him under her. When that happened, she would exclaim, "Haha! Do you surrender now? Do you surrender?"

And how could he not surrender? He panted and tried to catch his breath, but his eyes were tender and soft. He didn't answer her, instead, he said, "Emi, I love you."

She bent down and kissed him. "Kevin, I love you too."

She loved him, very, very much.

After sending Kevin off at the airport, she packed her own bag and went to school to revise for the entrance exam. She would mix in with the students and fight for a seat in the library. Often, others would mistake her for a student. It was only two days ago when a male student who didn't know her suggested helping her reserve a seat.

Emilie was rather proud of this when she called Kevin on the phone and told him about it. "Haha, Kevin you're really lucky to have married me. My face just looks so young! By the time you're 50, I'll look like I've just entered my 30s at most. By then, people would definitely think that you're my sugar daddy. Otherwise, how would it be possible for you to get a girl so much younger than you!"

Kevin laughed and agreed, then reminded her to take care of herself, "If you feel that it's too strenuous, you can quit your job. If you can't pass the entrance exam this time, we can try again next year, it's not like I can't take care of you."

"Oh shush! There's no way. I'm gonna fail the exam this year? Don't look down on my IQ! Back in the day, I was known for being a genius!" she scolded him jokingly. She thought that he might worry about her, so she added on, "But really, there's not much happening at school right now. The students nowadays are all quite mature, they rarely get into trouble."

People often talked about the times when Murphy's Law would exert its rule. The very next day after her claim, a student in her class got into trouble.

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