"Please, take this with you." Amelia handed the coffee to Lucian then returned to her desk. Her
shoulders slumped as she seated her tired form on her chair.
Lucian looked at the cup in his hand, and then turned his confused gaze to her. "Didn't you hear what
Eric had just said? Come on, let's go to the next room and have breakfast."
"He meant me too?" Amelia asked, her surprise evident in her voice. Did she hear him right?
When Lucian mentioned the two-people breakfast, she had thought that was for him and another
person. She didn't expect that his invitation meant her.
To anyone else, the offer would have been tempting. Amelia hadn't had her breakfast yet, and last
night, sleep had evaded her. The lack of sleep was evidently showing— she was listless and she had
lost her appetite, as if her anxiety had taken up all the space inside her body.
"Let's go and have breakfast together." Lucian reached out to her, coaxing her with his gentle voice.
Amelia was hesitant. She was not used to such gestures and gave him an awkward smile. "I had
already eaten at home."
Lucian frowned in displeasure at her answer. "I asked Lily. She told me that you left home today without
having even a bite to eat." His voice dropped lower as he continued, "I hate when you lie."
"I, uhm..." Amelia was unable to conjure up an excuse for her lie. She hung her head silently as she felt
shame wash over her. No matter how hard she tried to conjure up an excuse, she couldn't seem to find
words to dilute the blow. She had been dishonest, and she would only be more shameless if she tried
to cover it up with another deceit.
Sighing, Lucian walked closer to her and led her by the arm to the office next door. A feast had been
laden on the table, with all sorts of dishes lined up one after another. Amelia raised a hand to her empty
stomach and sat down, settling with a bowl of millet porridge.
Lucian frowned at her choice for a meal. "Is that all? You didn't have breakfast today. Aren't you feeling
hungry by now?"
He was becoming more and more upset with each passing minute. Lucian had already had breakfast
himself, but knowing that Amelia hadn't yet, he had especially asked Eric to prepare all this. And yet
she chose one meager and dull bowl of porridge. Lucian swallowed his disappointment and remained
silent as she ate.
"I'm finished. I'm full now, so I'll go first." Amelia got up quickly and walked back to the office, not giving
a dissatisfied Lucian a chance to stop her.
He watched her until she had disappeared from the door and turned to Eric. "Are you 100% sure that it
was Jonny who drove Mrs. Amelia to the company this morning?" he asked seriously.
"Yes, sir. I am certain it was Mr. Jonny. Although, I did notice something odd. The car stopped ten
meters away from the company. One would think he was avoiding someone," Eric reported carefully.
Shadows crossed over Lucian's features as he listened. This was the worst. Looking at the untouched
dishes on the table, he said coldly, "Take that away."
Only a brief moment passed when Lucian came into the office. Amelia had assumed that he would be
taking longer to have his breakfast, but she had been wrong.
Swiftly, she turned her eyes to her desk and bent over it, avoiding him. 'Be calm. Act natural,' she said
to herself, trying her best to keep things normal.
Lucian sat down on his own desk and glanced at her. There she was, working with such attention on
her tasks one would think paperwork was a matter of life-and-death. He said indifferently, "I don't have
any scheduled meeting this morning. You can go to the backroom and have some rest."
Amelia momentarily paused from what she was doing but said quickly, "It doesn't matter. I'll stay
anyway." She gave him a small smile, still as awkward as the first one earlier. By this time, she had
grown accustomed to her nerves. Hoping it would lighten her worries, she took a sip of ginger tea.
That distant, lifeless smile blew the fuse. "That wasn't a request, Amelia," he said, his voice hoarse with
restrained anger. She had been testing his patience for far too long now.
These cold words of his did not hide Lucian's anger from Amelia. However, she chose to feign
innocence as she proceeded to work. A few minutes later and he had still not said anything. The room
was stifling with the weight of the tense silence that had passed over them. Amelia continued sorting
out the items on the table until there was nothing left to do.
Holding her breath, she stole a glance at Lucian and saw him browsing some documents. He seemed
calmer now. Thinking that he had already forgotten what he told her to do, Amelia let out a quiet sigh of
relief. She took her phone and decided to browse the internet to kill time, if only to kill her lethargy.
"Bang Bang Bang..." The silence was broken with a heavy knock on the door. "Come in," Lucian said.
The door opened to the sight of Eric, cautiously stepping inside. "Mr. Lucian, Mr. Jonny is here," he
announced.
"Mr. Jonny?" At the mention of the man's name, Amelia whirled her head to Lucian's direction. Two
pairs of eyes met. She had no idea what was going on and she certainly had not expected this.
"Send him in." Lucian kept his eyes on Amelia as he answered, smiling at her almost mockingly. He
couldn't help but feel gratified at the sight of her wide eyes. She had put him through a lot of trouble
today. It was payback time.
Amelia could not for the life of her decipher what he meant with that smile. She was the first to cut off
their gazes, lowering her head as her heartbeat picked up its pace.
"Lucian, it's always a pleasure to see you." Jonny's voice sounded from the door, as bright and warm
as the sunshine in spring.
Amelia raised her head and smiled in greeting. It was a courtesy. Jonny turned around and nodded,
returning the gesture.
However, the otherwise ordinary exchange seemed to have captured Lucian's eyes differently. His grin
had disappeared and a vague, unreadable expression was in his eyes, as if he was conflicted about
something.
"Jonny, I thought you were busy. I didn't expect you to come so soon. How's everything going?" He
stood up, and the two men shook hands. Then, Lucian pointed to the leather sofa and said, "Have a
seat."
As she watched, Amelia was wondering whether she should make a cup of tea. Her question was
quickly answered the next minute when Lucian said, "Amelia, could you make a cup of coffee for
Jonny, please?"
"Alright. It'll only be a minute," she answered. Her cheeks burned with an embarrassment she couldn't
place.
After some small talk, Lucian had diverted the conversation to ask about Jonny's personal life out of
nowhere. His words had been friendly, but his tone had the undercurrents of malice, as if he was
implying something else.
Amelia walked in and gently set the cup of coffee down in front of Jonny. "Here you go. Enjoy your
coffee," she said politely.
Jonny chuckled as he reached for the cup. "Amelia, you will surely do great in a café," he remarked
casually.
Amelia's head shot to Lucian's direction, her face turning red. Her eyes met his dark gaze, which made
her even more nervous. She answered quickly, "I used to work part-time in a café, so I guess you could
say that I already have the experience."
She laughed lightly in an attempt to shake off the strange atmosphere that had surrounded them. She
didn't know why, but she felt compelled to explain herself.
All the while, Lucian regarded them with sharp eyes. Something in his gut stirred as he watched the
two of them.
"Why don't you make yourself a cup? I'm sure you know that it would be good for your spirit," he said.
Lucian's tone was light, but his words were sharp as he spoke.
By now, Amelia's nerves had once again gotten the best of her, so much that she found herself nodding
obediently.
The scent of freshly made coffee permeated every corner of the room. And yet, even the relaxing
aroma was unable to ward off the tension.
"Lucian, are you inviting me to have just a cup of coffee?" Jonny spoke, breaking the silence. Three
months had already passed since Jonny had come back and not once had Lucian met him. There must
be something else in Lucian's mind to make him summon Jonny all the way to his office.
Was it about Amelia? Had he figured something out? Jonny was afraid of what he might know.
Lucian gave him a meaningful smile. The next words he spoke shocked Amelia. "This morning you
sent my wife to the company, so I asked her to make a cup of coffee for you to express her gratitude.
This is just a way to say thank you." Lucian's smile grew broader and more forced as he finished
speaking. That, mixed with the sharp scent of coffee, almost sent a shiver down Jonny's skin.
However, he recovered quickly from being caught off-guard. His expression shifted once again to that
warm, sunny demeanor. Only his eyes had remained cold.
"Thank you. What a wonderful gesture. Of course, I'll take it," he said. Jonny took a sip of coffee, then
held the cup to Amelia and smiled. "The coffee is sweet. Thank you, Mrs. Amelia."
That was a strange thing to say. The coffee had not been sweet at all. It was strong, and black, and
somewhat bitter.
Amelia was bewildered at his words. She opened her mouth to speak but decided against it when she
saw Lucian's cold expression. Instead, she remained in her seat and just watched Jonny leave without
saying a word.
The door clicked shut, and then there was a dead silence.
Amelia wanted to say something, anything to break the strained air that surrounded them, but nothing
came to her.
"Are you unhappy?" All of a sudden, Lucian's voice pierced the silence with a biting coldness.
How ironic.
Amelia turned to Lucian. There was barely any expression on his handsome features. "Did you ask him
to come here because he drove me to work this morning?" she asked.
She almost didn't recognize her own voice. It had come out almost as a whisper— the foreign sound
bouncing off the walls in the cold placidity of the room.
Lucian looked at her and said calmly, "Yes. I wanted to teach him a lesson."
"Teach him a lesson? What does that even mean?" Amelia's voice was stronger now. She could not
believe what she had just heard. The man in front of her was being nothing but unreasonable.
"Are you questioning me, Amelia Mo?" Lucian snapped, forcefully articulating her full name.
"Do I not even have that right?" Amelia countered, "You were the one who took me as a wife. But that's
all there is to it right? There isn't even any trust between us!"
How dare he throw those words at her when he was the one who had not come back the night before?
His absence had weighed on her, but he did not hear a word of complaint. She bore her anxiousness
alone. Then, just as she felt that she should trust him, here he was, with nothing but accusations when
she had done nothing wrong.
"Exactly!" Lucian lashed out in frustration. "You are my wife. Do you understand what that means? Do
you even know how much I think about you?" He stood up from the sofa, towering over Amelia as his
eyes locked in on her. Beside him, Amelia seemed small and fragile. She felt the waves of his anger
crash against her own.
Amelia felt a cold feeling settle in her chest. Fear. She took a step back, putting some distance
between them. Placing her hands on the desk, she took deep breaths to calm herself. After a while,
she looked at him once again and said,
"Lucian, when you were with Sasha last night, do you know how I felt?" Amelia's voice quivered as she
began to lay all her feelings down. She felt vulnerable, as if nothing else protected her now. "I was
happy to be your wife, and you treated me like I was precious. I had always done as you said and I had
always been cautious not to embarrass you, but every time I had dinner with Jonny or talked to him,
you change suddenly greatly. Why are you being like this? Did I do something wrong? Is this some sort
of twisted cruel punishment?"
Had Jonny had not warned Amelia that she couldn't let Lucian that they had already known each other
since ten years ago, she could have caused a huge misunderstanding. It was already quite obvious
that Lucian did not like Jonny, and if that was the case, his dislike might extend even to her, seeing how
Amelia and Jonny had long known each other.
Lucian's eyes darkened into the deepest shade of night. He leaned over Amelia, clasping the marble
table with his hands and trapping her with his body. He had completely blocked her, leaving no chance
of escape. A sharp, burning gaze met Amelia's eyes as Lucian forced her chin upward with one hand.
"Now you're calling me cruel all because of that man?" he asked, his voice glacial with coldness.
The man in front of her was no better than a stranger. Amelia's chest beat wildly as she felt the anger
from his fingertips.
She struggled as his body barricaded hers, but Lucian's hold only grew tighter.
"Isn't that the truth?" she challenged him.
She seemed calm on the outside, but her entire body was screaming for escape against the callous
grasp that held her in place.
Amelia understood perfectly that Lucian's temper had reached dangerous height, but was not going to
back down. If she submitted to him this time, then she would really have no respect left.
"Alright, then. Since you seem to have made up your mind, I'll be exactly as you think of me!" The next
moments flew by almost like a blur. Lucian released Amelia's face as his hands tore at her clothes. His
movement was screaming of fury.
Amelia could only watch for a shocked, uncomprehending minute as the fabric of her clothes was
ripped. The next moment, she was desperately pushing Lucian away and shouting at him, "Lucian,
what are you doing? Have you lost your mind!"
She was at odds. This man, looking at her with such fury that she trembled from the force of it, was he
truly her husband? She looked at him, hopelessly searching to reconcile the disparate memory of
gentle hands that touched her with nothing but warmth, or the eyes that looked towards her direction
with tenderness. As he heaved long, enraged breaths, she recoiled in horror. She could see nothing but
a monster.
At the sound of the fear in her voice, Lucian broke through the throes of impassioned anger. Amelia
was pale and wide-eyed with alarm, her shaking hands clutching at her ripped clothes as she crouched
away from him. He felt as if he had been doused in ice. What had he done? Even then, as he was
being eaten from the insides with guilt, he was unable to bring himself to apologize. "Stay away from
Jonny!" he snarled.
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