Jonny was presenting in the school hall. School leaders deemed this conference of great importance
made even more pronounced by the president who came to witness the event. Outside the conference
room, students waited in line for the conference to commence.
"Amelia, take a seat at the front table. I'm afraid that I might be unable to find you if you sit too far." A
few minutes before the opening, Jonny found Amelia and pointed at the table in the first row.
Amelia quickly waved her hand. "Jonny, I'll take the back seat." It was too eye-catching to sit in the first
row. Amelia wasn't much of the type to grab attention.
Jonny knew that Amelia would refuse him. He smiled and said, "If you sit too far, you wouldn't be
cheering me on. You'll just make me even more anxious in front of this crowd. Not to mention, the
president himself."
The speech was about to start and the students all took their seats. If she hesitated, it would take
Jonny some time. Therefore, she had to agree reluctantly, "Okay, Jonny. Go for it!"
She sat in the first row which gave Jonny the confidence boost he needed.
Amelia was well aware the guests were school leaders and special guests. She felt a little awkward
sitting there among the distinguished people.
Realizing that no one was looking at her, she was relieved. 'Perhaps sitting here was better than I
thought,' she said to herself.
The host gave a speech after the opening of the event. It was a good time to go back to middle school.
At the same time, Lucian sat in the VIP seat led by others.
"Oh my God! Isn't he the CEO of the Zhan Group? I didn't expect him to be here! "
"Yeah, what a great day today! I can actually see two esteemed individuals in the house. God, help
me!"
"Jonny and Lucian used to be students here. Although, only for a short while, we still treat them as our
seniors. It doesn't come as a surprise to have him here."
"…"
The name of Lucian was like a fast gust of wind, making its way into Amelia's ears. All of a sudden, her
body was frozen stiff.
'Didn't he say he had a meeting to attend? Was it...'
Amelia turned her head in horror and instantly, her eyes locked into Lucian's gaze.
'Oh my God! What horrible luck! He found me at his first glance!' She tried grappling for ideas to come
out clean from the lie she had just told.
To get out of the hot mess, she had texted Courtney and asked her to cover the lie for her after she
answered Lucian's call. Now that he ran into her, the truth was finally out.
She thought that Lucian would get angry and drag her out of the hall. To her relief, he looked away after
a short while and fixed his focus on the speech platform.
There were only three people between them, and she could see him in the corner of her eye.
Looking at the man's angled face, Amelia couldn't help but get cold feet. Her thoughts felt like a ball of
entangled yarn—disorganized and in chaos.
As soon as she sat down, Jonny saw her at a glance. In order to show her support, she put on a smile
and began to focus on the stage. With the crowd's warm applause, she applauded even more
vigorously.
However, when Lucian saw how supportive she was, indescribable anger soon showed on his face.
After the speech, a wave of warm applause broke out. Cheers and smiles filled the audience as each
spectator was in awe of what they had just witnessed. While the crowd exuded nothing but a positive
atmosphere, Amelia looked worried. She saw Lucian shaking hands and greeting all the leaders.
Should she sneak away while he was distracted?
"Let's go and take a photo with Lucian!" Several girls came rushing from the back and tried to get close
to Lucian.
After a few seconds, Amelia's annoyance disappeared and her slim body was pushed into the crowd.
Staggering, the distance between her and Lucian became further and further away.
The students screamed hysterically around him, like a superstar in the Hollywood scene.
Realizing how crowded it was, Amelia tried to squeeze her way out. Just then, a cold voice pierced
through the whole hall, and the crazy scream also stopped. "Could you please let me through? My wife
is missing."
The voice was gentle, mellow and magnetic under a cold tone.
Amelia's heart trembled. While she was wondering if she was the one Lucian was talking about, a tall
man blocked the light and covered her.
"Amelia, where are you going?" Lucian grabbed her hand, raised his thick eyebrows, and smiled
playfully.
She lied to him which made Amelia feel guilty.
"There are too many people in the room. I want to go out and have some fresh air," Amelia replied with
a smile, and sweat began to roll down her back.
"I'll come with you." Lucian rested his eyes on the nervous look on Amelia's face as if he could read her
mind.
"They are waiting for you to take a group photo with them!" Amelia panicked and pointed at the
students whose excitement could be felt even from where they stood.
With an evil and attractive smile on his face, Lucian said coldly, "I'm not the star the night. They don't
need my photo. I only care about you."
Then, in the full awareness of the public, Lucian drew Amelia out of the hall.
Jonny, standing on the stage, was dumbfounded when he saw that. He intended to follow but was
instantly surrounded by a group of girls.
While the hall was teeming with people, only the chirping of the crickets could be heard outside.
Amelia had been dragged by Lucian to get into the car. Luckily for her, she managed to free her wrists
from Lucian's painful grasp.
Amelia glanced at Lucian and felt the atmosphere freeze.
"Why did you lie?" said Lucian angrily. His glance reflected the rage he felt. Amelia thought she might
burn staring into his eyes. She wanted to. How on earth could she wriggle out of this one now?
Amelia's face turned pale with fear. She kept blinking, and tried her best to find a reasonable excuse.
She was a horrible liar. She couldn't even fake it with a white lie.
"Sorry, I..." For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Her lips trembled.
"So you admit that you lied to me?" Lucian was motionless but furious.
"I was going to visit Courtney, I swear, but a big show was going to be held in the middle school. I didn't
wanna miss it so I..." She tried her best to find an excuse. At this point, she wanted the ground to eat
her up and end her misery.
"Amelia!" Lucian raised his voice. He sounded even angrier now. He looked at Amelia coldly and said,
"Do you know what I saw?"
Lucian had been persuading himself to trust Amelia, but it turned out that she had been lying all along.
Staring at Lucian's angry face, Amelia felt a shiver down her spine. She asked, "What did you see?"
With his eyes darkened, Lucian thought to himself, 'She has the gall to ask that? What? Is she mocking
me?'
"It turns out that the coat you love so much belongs to Jonny." During Jonny's speech, he noticed that
the coat Jonny was wearing was the exact same coat Amelia put on last time. He couldn't quite put a
finger on it, but when the photo of them chatting by the lake was sent to his phone, he was appalled.
Amelia looked at Lucian in shock. She didn't expect him to know that.
But since he had already known it, there was no use trying to conceal it. She bit her lower lip and said
guiltily, "Sorry, I should have made it clear last time."
"Then why didn't you tell me?" Lucian's words were concise and straight to the point. Every word was
as cold as ice. His sharp eyes stared at Amelia's, piercing her heart.
Amelia stuttered in horror, trembling from head to toe. "Because I didn't know that Jonny is Shelly's
brother..."
She couldn't tell him that she and Jonny had known each other for many years and they were best
friends through the letters they wrote each other.
Telling a lie was such a never-ending predicament. She had to make up another lie so she could cover
up the last one which would only make her say another. She was making a spiral of lies. She screamed
in her heart.
"Then what? Do you keep your distance from him?" Lucian approached Amelia slowly. His cold tone
was frightening.
"I don't understand." What Lucian said was just like a hammer pounding to her brain.
Lucian approached her again. His frozen eyes met hers. He raised her chin and said lightly, "You're not
making sense. I treat you as a treasure, but you went out and flirted with a man you once met. Don't
you feel ashamed?"
After saying that, he pushed her face away as if Amelia were the dirtiest person he'd ever held.
Amelia was trembling with fear. Lucian's words were like a sharp sword, stabbing into her heart. She
was too hurt to say a word.
Although she knew the gravity of her lie, her relationship with Jonny was not intimate at all. Even if
Lucian got it all wrong, she couldn't explain it clearly. But she thought it was better to not say anything
at all. She was afraid that if she explained it, Lucian would misunderstand her relationship with Jonny
even more.
In the absence of a reply, Lucian saw it as confirmation of his assumptions. His eyes were now as dark
as clouds, Amelia was fearful a storm was brewing soon.
"But you are still my wife, Amelia. No matter who you love. You and I are bound together," he said
coldly, looking straight into her.
Then the car drove into the darkness.
"You are still my wife..." These sweet words Lucian had said to her had been imprinted on her mind at
the very beginning. But thinking of them only made her feel bitter?
When they returned to the SJ Garden, Lucian remained silent. He threw his coat on the sofa, took out
an ice beer from the fridge and chugged.
Amelia wanted to stop him. She stopped herself when she saw the cold expression on his face.
This man was sometimes as gentle as a baby, while sometimes as cold as a blizzard. She couldn't
fathom how this was possible.
"Mrs. Amelia, what happened to Mr. Lucian?" Lily asked in a low voice as she ran to Amelia.
Amelia bit her lip and felt she was the one who should take the blame. He wouldn't have been so angry
if she hadn't lied to him in the first place.
She bowed her head and felt terrible.
"Mrs. Amelia, you better go and stop Mr. Lucian. The beer's too cold. How can his stomach handle
that?" Lily frowned. She shook Amelia's arm for help as a gesture of how anxious she felt.
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