Fortunately for James and Emily, dinner with Jake went off without a hitch, and Emily was almost done with unwrapping all her belongings.

The current day was halfway through, but Emily's flow of work was interrupted by the ringtone of her phone call. When she checked the caller ID, she saw it was her father. 

Henry Davies, her biological father. 

The guy she hates to associate herself with but is unfortunately bounded by blood. She cut the call immediately without a second thought. It’s the same reaction she has every time.

Normally, her so-called father always gets the unspoken hint and doesn’t bother to phone her back, but he did the exact opposite this time around. He called again. She cuts the call again, but today he doesn’t seem to get the message that she has zero interest in talking with him. He was just calling her again and again. It was the fifth time. 

Damn that thick-headed man.

"Emily, it might be urgent if the person is calling you repeatedly," James told her. 

He was slightly vexed with the constant ringing of her phone. 

Emily's phone was ringing, and she was not picking up the call, and neither did the person on the other side get the point that she was not interested in talking. Moreover, he could also not read Emily's reaction, as she had her poker face on. But she was also looking a bit aggravating.

"I highly doubt that." She said. 

She wanted to block her father’s number, but Jake asked her not to. It was not the right thing to do, and they shouldn't stoop to his level. 

Jake and his stupid, irrational morals.

James knew better than to counter her statement with his own, so he remained silent. He knew that he needed to let her be. Especially since he knew they weren't the best of friends, despite their pretentious relationship.

However, the phone rang again, and she groaned before answering it. 

"What the bloody hell do you want?"

"This is not the way to talk to your father," Henry said harshly to his daughter.

Emily wanted to show him his rightfully deserved place, but she decided against it and tried to keep her cool. She should have left the cabin to speak discreetly with her biological father, but unfortunately, she couldn’t. Because the cabin door security lock was malfunctioning, she and James were stuck inside until someone unlocked it. 

Apparently, James' cabin had a unique safety lock, and unfortunately, the only person who could access it was an hour away. Breaking the door was a tempting option, but sabotaging office property would tarnish her already a judgmental image, so she chose to stay put.

"What do you want?" She asked him again, trying to control her rage.

"I have arranged for a family dinner tonight. There will be a few distant relatives and friends. So, I want you present." Her father stated, expecting her to abide by his words easily.

"I have other plans." She simply said, trying to get away from his forced invitation. 

She was well-versed with her father's antics. He had a soiled reputation in the marketplace. Therefore, he was using her and Jake as pawns to prove to the public that he lived a near-perfect existence.

"I am sure you can cancel it. Jake had already agreed to come with his family. And who knows, maybe you'll find a gentleman here who might like you." Emily wished she could punch the man on the other end of the phone. 

"I don’t need your help for that. I already have plans with my BOYFRIEND, and I doubt we will be able to cancel them at the last minute." Her palm was clenched into a fist while she was trying to calm her ragged breathing.

"Your boyfriend's excuse is getting old, Emily." Her father spoke as though he knew everything there was to know about her.

"Or maybe you don’t want to accept the fact that I am not interested in having any kind of supper with you."

"I will see you at seven, Emily." Her father then hung up the phone. This guy has a lot of nerve, ordering her around.

James could clearly see that Emily was enraged. He carefully asked her, "Emily, are you okay?"

Emily took a deep breath and smiled. "Peachy,"

While Emily was contemplating her options, James gave her an unsure expression. 

Finally, she sighed and asked, "What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing. I have got no plans." He answered.

"Really? Nothing? Is there any important work we need to do or a deadline to meet? Like anything? There has got to be something." She was desperate, looking for ways to avoid this party.

"No, Em. Our work schedule is right on track. What's wrong?" James stated. 

Before she could respond, her phone rang. She was relieved to see it was Jake, but she also wanted to smack him at the same time. 

She took the call but didn't give her brother a chance to say anything. "Can you tell me what you were thinking when you agreed to go to tonight's party?"

"You know how he is, Em. He would have kept on pestering me about it. I thought we might as well get it over with." Jake tried to explain it to his sister.

"I don’t want to go, Jake." She told him straight-forwardly.

"Neither do I, but I think we should. Especially now that you have James by your side." Jake told her.

"What has he got to do with it?" She asked him, confused, and gave a quick glance at her fake boyfriend.

"Because Henry is trying to set you up with Robin." Emily was appalled at his brother’s words.

"What? Do you mean that cheating, lying, twerpy, good-for-nothing jerk who may have set a new record for treating women like trash? You do know that he had been married three times and had cheated on each of them with multiple women?” Emily stated. 

Her comments drew James' attention, and he immediately frowned at her.

"Yup, honestly, the only reason I agreed to come was because of James. He is the key to keeping Henry’s mouth shut." He told her.

"You want me to use him? It is not right." 

This thought did not sit well with Emily. She doesn't want to drag James into her family drama. He is a nice person who doesn't deserve to be pulled into her mess.

"I know this sounds terrible, but James will understand. I am sure about it. He seems like a good guy. Moreover, you guys are fake dating. This is a perfect way to come out stronger and show that you two are serious about each other." Jake tried to explain. 

Apart from the reason that he gave his sister, he wanted James to know everything there was to know about Emily. 

He had an intuition that James was in it for the long haul. He has a strong feeling that James is exactly what will help Emily to be herself and en-route herself on a new journey truly. 

"Jake, I don't think this is a good idea," Emily told him.

"Just talk to him." He insisted, hoping that his sister would agree. 

Emily gave a not-so-sure okay and ended the call.

After a few minutes of thinking and building up the courage, she called out his name slowly. "James…"

"Yeah?" He wanted to know what the deal was about, but he didn’t feel it was his place to demand that information from Emily.

"I need your help." She said, not sure whether she wanted him to accompany her or not.

"I am listening." He was looking at her, waiting for her to continue. 

It is rare when Emily openly asks for help. More like never.

"You can say no. I would not mind. There is no pressure. If you don’t want to be involved, just say the word." Emily told him. 

It was better if he said no. She can't have him see her differently. She was tough, but she didn’t want him to witness her behavior with her father, which he had already done to a degree.

"What is it, Em?" He asked her curiously.

"There is a small get-together tonight. My father has invited me over. Jake, Katie, and Max will also be present, so it will be a tad more bearable." She said.

"Your father, as in Bob?" He asked her, but he wasn’t sure if it was Bob.

"God, no! Henry, my biological father." She said, with distaste in her mouth. She despises talking about him. "If it were dad, then he would have called you himself. Anyway, you are free to say no, though." She added quickly.

"I will be there." He told her simply.

"Are you sure? I don’t…." But James cut her off.

"Emily, I am sure. By the way, what was it about you that you didn't want to use some person if you don’t mind me asking?" James asked her hesitantly.

"Jake wanted me to invite you over to help me. Henry wants to set me up with Robin. I didn’t want to use you." Emily expressed her embarrassment.

"I don’t mind being used," James said rather quickly. 

He didn’t like the idea of Emily dating anyone. Especially given her description of a robin over the phone a few minutes ago. 

Once he saw Emily's reaction, he reconstructed his words. "I mean anything to help you. Robin doesn’t sound like a decent guy."

"Believe me. He's the worst of the worst. Unfortunately, Henry's definition of a great individual is centered on how much money one makes." Emily informed him.

"Well, till I am there, you won’t have to worry about it." James chose not to comment on anything about her father. 

He didn’t sound like a sensible guy. In addition to that, he doesn’t know the entire story, so he should try to keep his thoughts and curiosity to himself until he knows everything, which he hopes Emily will tell him about with time.

"Thanks, James. I owe you." She told me earnestly.

"No, you don’t." With a smile, he said.

"You don’t often get the opportunity to have me in your debt. You are missing your chance." Emily joked.

"I know. But having you in my debt will be a lot more fun when my help isn't tied to keeping you sane in this cruel world. So I will get you under my debt some other time."

Emily was moved by James' words. Who the hell is he, making her constantly lose control of her emotions all the time?