A Call That Changed Her Entire Life novel Chapter 144

In an instant, Emily pushed the man away in utter disbelief. "What did you say?" she asked.

"I said, I am Jack." Jack responded slowly, but his voice was firm. "It's me this time, not... It's not Jacob. It's really me..." he said.

"How could it be you? You are lying to me again, aren't you?" Emily refused to believe what Jack was claiming. After all, this wouldn't be the first time he tried to pull something like this. She pulled the tall grass covered his face, in order to have a closer look under the faint moonlight.

Much to her surprise, the face of the man lying in front of her was Jack's, no doubt.

Amused by her startled expression, Jack laughed bitterly and said,"Disappointed? I am so sorry that I came to your rescue one step before Jacob."

"You... Why did you... save me?" she asked.

Emily looked at Jack's face with scepticism, wondering if all this was real. The warmth from her body abandoned her quickly, leaving her shivering with doubts.

All of a sudden, frigid tears trickle across Jack's face, as he coughed violently. Emily immediately, patted his chest. However, when she looked at her hand, she smelled a metallic stink lingereing in the air... blood!

At the beginning Emily was too shocked to understand, but now she could see the urgency in the man's features. His skin prickled with pain, and his chest ached with the pounding of his heart...

The wounds inflicted by the big black bear were showing all over his body... But he did not show any signs of suffering before, even when he carried her and swam her across the river. Although washed by the river water, his wounds were still fresh and bleeding profusely.

Under a black sky leached of starlight, the moon above them lit up brightly. Awash in white light, Jack's bleeding wounds stood out in perfect detail.

"Why do you look so sad?" he asked. Jack used the last of his wanning strength to raise the corners of his lips and said,"Is there something wrong with my face? After all, my handsome face is my strongest attribute."

"Stop talking." Unimpressed, Emily disregarded his intentional garble, as she helped him take off his tattered shirt to wrap up his wound. Unfortunately, nothing prevented the blood from permeating the layers of cloth.

"Emily, if you take off my clothes, you need to be responsible for me. Do you hear me?"

"Shut up!"

"I heard that people talk a lot before they die... That's weird, because I have a lot to say right now," said Jack. It was difficult to ascertain whether Jack was speaking to Emily, or to himself, but his low and fragile voice was very clear.

Emily, however, was not in the mood for jokes, as she yelled out angrily,"I told you to shut the hell up! Save it for when we go back! I don't want to listen to anything right now. Do you know you are very annoying?!"

In the thick of the night, for the very first time, Jack realized that Emily looked beautiful even when she was livid. Oddly enough, Jack smiled, seeming rather calm, for someone who was hurt and bleeding non-stop.

"I guess I can bother you a little more, Emily," Jack quipped.

Annoyed and distressed, Emily bit her lip tightly, unwilling to humor him. She was still wrapping his wound, trying to stop the bleeding...

However, at this point, Jack stopped caring about everything else. He seemed to have been brewing something in his mouth for a long time before he finally said,"Emily, for a long time now, I have regretted everything."

Speechless, Emily's countenance turned rigid almost instantaneously.

"When I found you there, I realized that I would rather die than see you get hurt," said Jack.

When Jack saw the black bear attacking Emily, Jack felt like his heart was going to leap out of his throat. He was afraid that if he didn't intervene the bear would have mauled her to death! Jack couldn't lose her! Even though she was no longer with him.

"Liar!" Emily shouted. Emily's words stung his heart with shock, she continued,"No matter what you say, I will never believe you again!"

Jack froze for a moment, showed her a pale smile, and said,"I know. I'm not asking for your forgiveness either. I understand why you hate me and the situation I am in today is because of my own fault. Look at me! Look at how miserable I am. Do you feel any better?"

Jack recalled the moment in the water, when he kissed her. The shortlived moment of peace that his soul enjoyed was the happiest moment of his life.

Jack soon realized that all his grudges, jealous and distorted feelings were because of his love for this woman all along. Sadly, by the time he understood that, the damage was already done, and it was too great to rectify.

"Don't say that again!" yelled Emily. Here eyes were fiery and her voice was hoarse, as she continued,"Whatever it is you want to say, can wait until we get back..."

"I am afraid I am running out of time..." Jack replied, sounding frail.

Emily's heart pounded with fear. She promised,"You won't! Don't you think I don't know what you're doing! You want me to feel guilty for the rest of my life, don't you? I'll never let you do that!"

"You've seen through me. I am not happy. Will you feel sad, if I die?" asked Jack.

"Don't think about tricking me! You need to live for me!" she screamed out. Emily could not hold back her tears any more. At last, they rolled down her cheeks like beads of white pearls. "Don't think you can run away from what you have done! I still want my revenge!" she said.

Emily despised Jack for cheating on her and hurting her feelings. She wanted Jack to pay for all the harm he had brought upon her life... But she never wanted him dead.

"You think your life is enough to pay back for all the pain you've caused me? I don't want your life!" Emily sobbed, fighting her urge to hit him, but she was afraid she would aggravate his injuries.

"You tears, are they for me?" Jack's voice became more and more fragile, as if the wind could blow the words out of his mouth. "It looks like I win..."

...

Meanwhile, Jacob had everyone scouring the entire island for Emily. All the members of the rescue team were involved in the search for Emily, but none of them could find her.

Jacob's worries and anxieties all turned into a terrible storm, affecting countless people. "I can't believe how useless you all are! You couldn't find even one single person! Rubbish! All of you are rubbish!" he screamed out of frustration.

Emily had been missing for more than ten hours. If he had known this would have happened, he would not have let her come to this shabby island no matter how much she begged him!

Standing behind Jacob, Sheila feigned the look of a concerned woman, but in her heart she was screaming with joy. 'God has finally listened to my prayers. The woman I envied so much has finally disappeared!

How could a woman like her deserve the noble Mr. Jacob? She should have crawled back into whatever hole she came out from!'

Apart from Sheila, most of the women were gloating, while only a few were really worried about Emily.

Jacob casually glanced around and noticed the corner of Sheila's lips curve up just a bit. Immediately, his eyes filled up with fury as he asked,"Are you laughing?"

Sheila's face stiffened. Looking at the man approaching her, she quickly changed her expression and replied,"No, I am just worried about the safety of Miss Emily..."

"Pah!" A stinging, open handed slap hit her hard across the face. The loudness of the slap struck everyone in the heart.

Sheila's left face was swollen within seconds, but before she could even understand it, Jacob had grabbed her neck with one hand and lifted her from the ground.

In the heat of the moment, his voice sounded like the angel of death, sending shivers down everyone's spine. "We're not sure whether Emily is dead or alive and you're smiling? How dare you smile about such a thing?" asked Jacob.