Amelia was a little dazed and overwhelmed by what she heard. But she was clear with what she wants
and doesn't want so she replied aggressively, "Of course I don't want that!" She straightened herself up
to show what kind of girl she was. Inside her head she was screaming, "Who in this damn world would
want that!"
Shocked by Amelia's answer, the fat man shouted angrily, "Shit! Our boss is a renowned person in the
city. How dare you refuse him!" He couldn't believe Amelia's answer but he had no choice but to do his
boss' order. The fat man seemed to have lost his patience and his tone became more violent. Anger
obviously showed up to his face as he pulled up his sleeves. He was ready to force Amelia and do
anything to bring her to his boss, even if it required violence.
Amelia saw the anger in the fat man's face, she squinted at him and asked, "Is your boss a big shot in
the city?"
Hearing the sound of Amelia's voice, the fat man realized that she was afraid so he answered proudly,
"Of course, everyone in the city is afraid of him!"
"He is a tough guy! He wouldn't let anyone say no to him," the fat man tried to scared Amelia. Amelia
nodded, though she knew that the fat man was just trying to scared the hell out of her. With a scornful
smile, she said, "Everybody in the city must have some reputation. I don't think he's that well-known. I
don't even know him."
The fat man seemed to feel that Amelia didn't take him seriously. He frowned, put his one hand on his
waist and pointed at Amelia's face. "I'm asking you for the last time. Do you want to drink with our
boss?"
Amelia smirked, pulled her hair up, looked down at the angry fat man and said firmly, "Of course not!
Now if you don't mind, can you please go back to your boss and back off!"
She wasn't afraid of him no matter how influential he thought he was. And she didn't believe that this fat
ugly man would dare to force her in public. The people inside the store looked at them fiercely so she
tilted her head up proudly.
The fat man saw the people looking at them. It made him more mad and upset. He got very annoyed,
pointed again at Amelia and yelled, "You are brave! Just wait and see!"
The fat man walked away furiously. He stamped his feet hard to the ground like a child having his
tantrums. He exactly knew what his boss would do to him and it made him more frustrated.
Amelia didn’t care about what the fat man said, she thought he only said it out of anger. She continued
to eat all the dishes that she had ordered. She wasn't bothered by a babbling fat man who appeared
out of nowhere.
But Amelia wondered why did it take Courtney, her friend, so long in the bathroom? She left a couple of
minutes ago and still wasn't back.
After looking around, everyone was drinking and talking happily except her. It made her feel pity about
herself and at the same time, she was worried about Courtney. She stood up and went to the bathroom
to check on her.
As soon as she entered the bathroom, Amelia could hear Courtney's howling. She was frightened for
her friend so she rushed in and found Courtney crying her heart out while vomiting.
"Courtney, what's wrong with you? What happened?" Amelia said warily. She slowly patted her back up
and down. Amelia wasn't used to seeing her friend in that state. Amelia brought out her towel and
wiped Courtney's face.
"Amelia, that bastard broke up with me via text message. What on earth did I do wrong?" Courtney
said. "He didn't even have the guts to show up and tell it personally." Courtney was so drunk she
couldn't barely stand up. She held the phone up to Amelia's face to show his text message and tears
trickled down on her cheeks.
Amelia's heart got broken for her friend too after reading the message. She read it over and over again
as she didn’t believe what she saw.
"We are not meant for each other. Let's break up," Kent said in the text message. Kent was Courtney's
boyfriend for many years already. They'd been together for God knows how long.
The message was so simple as if they hadn't been together for so long. It was as if they had never
been there for each other for the ups and downs of their lives. It was as if he had only broken up with
his girlfriend for 5 days.
"Courtney, there must be some misunderstandings. Let's go out first, okay?" Amelia held the cellphone,
trembling constantly and thought of the right words to say to Courtney. "Maybe this isn't what Kent
meant. Maybe you just got it wrong. Let's go and we will talk to him."
Amelia helped drunk Courtney out of the bathroom. And Courtney said she wanted to drink more…
"Let's go home and stop drinking." Amelia combed the hair out of Courtney's face. She said it patiently
like talking to a child.
Courtney broke free from Amelia's grip and pointed at her. "You're my best friend. Let's get hammered!
Let's party until the night ends!" she said in a drunk voice, barely uttering the words properly.
Amelia went silent all of a sudden and just looked at Courtney, recalling herself in the same situation as
her not so long ago. She remembered the times when she also drowned her sorrows in wine and
alcohol. At this very moment, she knew exactly how upset Courtney was. So she escorted her back to
the table.
In the table, Courtney drank beer and Amelia didn't stop her. She felt so sorry for her but couldn't do
anything about it but to be present for her friend. After all, she knew it was better for Courtney to cry her
heart out.
"Hey, what happened? Why are you crying?" A voice came out of nowhere. Suddenly a man dressed in
a suit came over. With one hand placed on Courtney's shoulder, he said in a familiar tone.
He brought out his handkerchief and handed it to Courtney. Amelia thought he knew Courtney, so she
just looked at him quietly. She examined him from head to toe as he was not familiar.
The man looked about 34 or 35 years old. Tall, dark, and carried himself with pride and amiable smile.
"I didn't cry!" Courtney removed the hand of the man from her shoulder. She wiped the tears on her
face, combed her hair with her hands, straightened herself, raised her glass and happily said, "Cheers!"
The glass gave out a sharp, crisp sound due to the force of Courtney's hand. It had almost broken due
to the hard force.
The man's expression was a little shocked, but the smile was still on his face. He raised his glass and
drank with her. Then, he looked at the quiet Amelia and asked politely, "Miss, may I propose a toast to
you?"
Amelia didn't know exactly who he was, she wasn't even sure if he was a friend of Courtney. But for the
sake of respect, she still raised her glass with a faint smile on her face and took a sip of beer.
The man noticed that Amelia was hesitant. So he sat down beside her, fixed himself and said with a
smile, "This girl looks very sad. How can she relieve her depression if you sit down like this?"
The remorseful look of the man, however, was mistaken by Amelia to be his concern for Courtney, and
she thought that Courtney and the man knew each other.
"Yes, she cried, shouted, and got drunk. She would be fine," Amelia answered with a half-smile.
The man took a deep look at Amelia and raised his glass again. "You are beautiful. Here's to you." The
sparks in his eyes were obviously saying that he admired her. He couldn't hide it.
Amelia was not the type of person who could be flattered by other people's praise, so she just smiled
slightly without saying anything and turned her focus back to Courtney.
Amelia might sometimes be hard-headed and careless, but she was not the kind of person to give in
and be casual with others. Especially those whom she had met for the first time like this man. She
would rather pay more attention and take care of Courtney than to mingle with him. She needed to
send Courtney home so she opted to take only two sips of beer.
"I'm sorry but I have to go. I have to attend a dinner party. I won't disturb you anymore." He pointed at
the innermost private room. He said it warmly and modestly as he didn't want to sound rude.
Amelia just nodded to him and then turned her attention back to Courtney, who was also puzzled by
what happened.
"Courtney, is the man who just left your friend?" as soon as the strange man left and out of their sight,
Amelia asked the drunk Courtney for confirmation.
"Yes, of course," Courtney babbled the words as she tried to reply and also squinted her eyes.
"All right," Amelia, still puzzled, answered hesitantly. Seeing that Courtney was so drunk, Amelia
stopped her. She asked in a negotiable tone, "Courtney, let's stop drinking, okay? If you want to drink,
let's drink at home." Amelia was still upset by what happened earlier with that fat man and she wanted
to rest but she couldn't leave her friend alone in that kind of place.
Courtney nodded. She grabbed the bottle, pointed at Amelia's glass and said drunkenly, "Finish the last
glass and I promise we'll go home!"
Amelia looked at the half empty glass of beer and hesitated for a while. But then she remembered that
Courtney promised to go home after drinking this glass of beer, she gulped it in one shot without
hesitation. "Go Amelia! Go Amelia!" Courtney cheered her up as she was drinking it.
Drinking so much beer on the chilly day made her stomach feel like filled with ice.
Amelia couldn't help but thought of those warning words from Lucian, the love of her life way before.
She thought of the way he reminded her of the do's and don'ts, the way he got mad when she's so
hard-headed but still loved her all the same. She couldn't let go of this thought. Suddenly, she felt a pair
of eyes staring at her behind her head.
'This was probably a guilty conscience,' she thought.
After paying the bill, Amelia went to Courtney to take her back home, but she didn't find her.
Her heart skipped a beat and was so nervous. She searched around the hotpot restaurant and asked
everyone, but did not find Courtney.
She thought she came back to the toilet so Amelia ran and rushed to it. She checked every cubicle but
there was no one there.
Amelia was so anxious and nervous that she ran going to the receptionist to ask for the help of the
person in charge of the hotpot restaurant. She was panting when she asked, "Where is your manager?
I need your help. My friend is missing! She was drunk and I need to find her!"
The receptionist called their manager via phone and asked if they could come by. "This is our
manager." The receptionist led Amelia to the manager's office and got out.
"It's you?" Amelia asked, shocked by whom she saw. The manager standing in front of her was exactly
the same man who talked and drank with them a while ago. She didn't expect that it was such a
coincidence. Besides, Courtney said that she knew him and she believed her. On the other hand,
Amelia seemed to have found a savior in this chaos. She immediately pleaded sincerely, "Can you help
me to find Courtney in this shop?"
With an evil and attractive smile, the man snuffed out his cigar with his fingertips, stood up and walked
closely to Amelia. "Don't worry, Miss Amelia. I have asked people to check the surveillance video. I
believe there will be information about that Miss soon."
"How do you know my name?" Amelia was shocked and surprised. She took a step back and looked at
the man alertly, ready to fight back just in case he would try to hurt her.
The man raised his eyebrows and moved a little bit closer to Amelia, he looked at her and said with a
smirk, "Because of the Zhan Group."
Amelia immediately understood what did he mean. Her photos had been reported by the media
because of the issue that escalated way before. It was shameful that she couldn't bring herself outside
their home because everyone, even strangers, noticed her.
All of a sudden, Amelia felt hot on her face and head.
Amidst the hot that she felt, she wanted to plead the man in front of her to look for Courtney. But her
remaining energy was drained after everything that happened this night, she almost fell down.
"Miss Amelia, be careful." The man held her, and his tone was very gentle. From his tone, he meant no
harm to Amelia.
Amelia struggled to stand on her own feet, then pushed away the man's hands and said, "Thank you.
I'm okay."
She thought, 'It's so strange. I didn't even drink a whole bottle of beer tonight. Why did I feel dizzy
again?'
She was puzzled and wanted to leave the office of this man. No matter what it takes, to leave and
search for Courtney were the main priority right now. She didn't have time to think of her own issues
and explain herself to this man. She mumbled to herself, 'I must find Courtney.'
"Miss Amelia, where are you going?" When the man saw that Amelia was about to open the door, he
immediately walked up to her and held her hand.
Although there was a surge of heat in her body and despite of dizziness, Amelia tried to keep awake
and alert. She looked up and said lightly, "If you don't want to help, please let me go!"
Amelia was worried about Courtney. If she continued to stay here, it would only be a waste of time and
Courtney would be more dangerous.
"I'll go with you." The man let her go, put on his suit, and walked out of the office with Amelia.
After taking two steps, Amelia felt her body burning and weak and her eyeballs starting to swell. Her
head ached so much that she couldn't bear it anymore. Everything around her became blurred. She
tried to take steps again but then she lost her consciousness instantly.
The strange man approached her with full attention and tried to hold her. But Amelia didn't want any
help from him. She brushed off his hand and walked leaning against the wall.
At this moment the image of Lucian filled her mind. 'He could help me,' she said to herself.
She shook her head hard to get rid of the desire in her heart, the most important thing now was
Courtney. Then she picked up her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Lucian's number despite
feeling so dizzy and weak.
After the second ring, Lucian answered the phone.
"Hello?" His deep and magnetic voice was so moving that Amelia felt uncomfortable right after hearing
his voice.
Why did his voice feel like home? Why did his voice touch her heart? She just wanted run to him, hold
him tightly and never let him go.
"Lucian, I... I miss you. Please come quickly... " She sounded attractive.
After a short silence, Lucian sighed heavily and asked, "Did you drink again?" Just hearing Amelia's
voice, Lucian knew right there and then that she drank again.
"I drank a little, and then... Courtney was missing." Then she began to cry so hard.
"Tell me the place. I'll be there soon." The man on the other end of the line became anxious.
After the address was finished, Amelia hung up the phone and the man in front of her was staring at
her.
"Miss Amelia, did you just call Mr. Lucian?" the strange man said, puzzled. The man didn't get any
answer from Amelia so he just reached out his hand and helped her stand up.
Although Amelia was weak and feeble totally, she knew what she was doing and would not do anything
shameful again. She always kept a distance with the man.
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