Not wanting to see them fight, Amelia interrupted. "Mom! Dad! Lunch's ready,"
she blurted. The couple looked at Amelia who quickly averted her eyes by looking down.
"Who are you calling Mom?" The more Amelia spoke, the more Fannie grew furious.
"Ignore her, Amelia. Just because she doesn't want to eat doesn't mean we should starve ourselves,"
said Nicholas, who was only too happy to be wheeling himself into the dining room.
Across the hall stood Lucian with a frown on his face. He watched everything in silence.
It hadn't occurred to Amelia that things could turn this sour. She stood there, refusing to believe what
just happened.
Lucian approached Amelia and tried to comfort her. "You don't have to push yourself to do anything."
Amelia was right, he thought. She didn't have to do what Fannie wanted.
Seeing as no one wanted her there, Fannie marched upstairs, fuming still. But before she could go, she
turned back to scream at Lucian, "Sure! Go ahead and ignore me! But I'm doing this for your own
good!"
In the dining room, Nicholas praised Amelia's cooking. Fannie's absence made the atmosphere rather
delightful. Everyone was able to ease up and enjoy the food.
Lucian expressed the desire to head back after lunch. Not wishing to anger Fannie more, Nicholas
didn't press them to stay.
"Guess what Dad told me earlier." Lucian broke the silence as they drove home. A smile was playing
on his lips.
Amelia shook her head.
Lucian was playing coy to tease Amelia, but with the gentlest of smiles, he eventually confessed, "He
said we should consider having a child."
Amelia's face turned a bright red. She quickly averted her eyes and pretended to look at something
outside the car window.
It was a good thing Lucian didn't say anything else, or she would have turned a deeper scarlet out of
embarrassment. The rest of the ride home was nothing but quiet.
Monday came as it always did and Amelia had to return to Zhan Group with Lucian. Work had always
been simple and easy, and she found that it was there where she felt most at peace.
She felt even more comfortable seeing that Lucian became more caring and attentive. This was after
he made a promise in front of her mother's grave that he would spend the rest of his life with Amelia.
Work weeks in the office usually began with a meeting, and seeing that it was almost ten in the
morning, Amelia gathered the documents she needed to prepare. With Eric's help, they placed
important files in the boardroom before she went to the CEO's office to report to Lucian. They may
have a personal relationship, but in that building, they were boss and employee. And like everyone
else, Amelia addressed Lucian as "Mr. Lucian" when talking to him.
Amelia quickly familiarized herself with work processes and so she was able to adjust to everything
with ease. During the meeting, she had all the needed files and required documents. No trouble arose
that she didn't have a solution to.
It was just a standard meeting, and everyone was pleased that it ended quickly without any issue,
especially considering that the last conference they had didn't go as smoothly.
After collecting her things, Amelia headed to the lavatory to wash her hands. She was in the middle of
doing so when a voice came from behind, "Don't think that it's going to be smooth-sailing from now on
just because you're married to Lucian. You will never be able to take my place in his heart."
It was Sasha who stepped out to meet Amelia's gaze. She was wearing a bright red dress, an
expensive coat, and lacy black stockings paired with stiletto heels.
Amelia remembered that Sasha and Shelly would always wear thin silk stockings during winter.
"Please, Miss Sasha," Amelia said. "Enough with this. Nothing you say would change anything." Amelia
believed in Lucian. She trusted him with all her heart.
The look of determination on Amelia's eyes stunned Sasha. Recovering herself, she said with a smirk,
"Lucian is out of your league. You don't belong in his world."
"That's funny," Amelia affected a laugh. "You say that and yet Lucian and I still share the same bed
every night." Amelia leveled her eyes with Sasha's. She had always told herself that she wouldn't let
Sasha's painful words get to her, but she'd had enough. She couldn't let this go on.
The words from Amelia's mouth took Sasha by surprise. Without waiting for Sasha to respond, Amelia
walked out and headed back to her desk.
That she was able to say those things to Sasha stunned Amelia herself. She was already on her desk
but she couldn't focus on her work. Seeing the expression of agitation on her face, Lucian walked over
and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
Amelia snapped back to reality and immediately put on a smile. "I'm fine," she beamed.
"I thought I saw you looking troubled." He reached for a glass of water and offered it to her.
"Mr. Lucian, uh," Amelia hesitated. "Can I talk to you about something that's not related to work?" She
fidgeted, recalling the text message Courtney sent her.
"I'm not really a fan of you calling me Mr," Lucian said. "I'd much rather hear you calling me honey." It
was obvious that Lucian was enjoying teasing Amelia.
Amelia didn't appreciate the joke considering that she had a serious matter to discuss. But keeping her
smile on, she continued albeit shyly, "It's Courtney. She just broke up with her boyfriend and I really
want to comfort her. Would you mind if I clock out early to meet up with her?"
"Well..." Closing the gap between him and Amelia, Lucian continued, "That depends. Will you give me
something in return for my permission?"
Lucian always looked stern and gave the coldest regards, and yet when he was teasing, he looked like
a mischievous kid. It was impossible to hate him.
Lucian had always enjoyed making Amelia blush, and she knew it. Nevertheless, she asked naively,
"What do you want?"
Lucian saw Amelia for who she was, pure and innocent. He softly told her to close her eyes.
Amelia was hesitant, but she did as she was told.
She was wondering why Lucian asked her to close her eyes when she felt it. Lucian held her cheek in
his hand and planted a kiss on her lips.
Shocked, she immediately opened her eyes. Lucian's face was so close to hers that she could feel his
breath on her lips. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, and yet she didn't feel the urge to push
him away. Quite the opposite, she wanted nothing more than to hold him.
But Lucian got to her first. He grabbed her in his arms and kissed her again, more passionately this
time. Amelia never thought of that dull, old office as a site of romance, and yet she found herself
responding to his kisses. In that moment, she wished they could stay in there forever.
Lucian's kisses were gentle but ardent. And the more she returned them, the more Amelia felt lost in
his love. Withdrawing, Lucian took a strand of hair that fell on Amelia's face and tucked it behind her
ear. He looked at her reddened cheeks and playfully pinched her nose. "That was good," he finally
said. "You can go. It's okay."
"Really?" Amelia hadn't recovered from the heat of her passionate encounter with Lucian, and yet she
couldn't hide feeling happy having secured his permission to leave early.
But despite Lucian's assurance that it was alright, Amelia was getting second thoughts about skipping
work. It was unprofessional to be leaving her post, and she didn't want her colleagues to think that she
was getting privileges for being Lucian's wife. With these thoughts in her head, she collected herself
and said, "I'm sorry. I should just get back to work."
"I'll be leaving with you," Lucian replied. Lucian could see that Amelia was feeling bad about leaving
early despite her clear concern for her friend.
"Really? What a coincidence!" Except it couldn't be a coincidence, Amelia thought. She wondered
whether Lucian merely said what he said so she'd feel more at ease about going. Upon seeing him
reach for his briefcase, however, Amelia followed him out.
"Will you just drive me there or will you be following me?" Amelia asked. She was trying her best to
read Lucian's expression. The latter kept his eyes on the road.
Her thoughts went back to the last time Lucian asked to see her home. It felt like he was keeping watch
on her at all times.
"Sometimes, it's not nice to ask too many questions, Mrs. Amelia." Lucian dropped her off in front of
Courtney's coffee shop. She closed the car door behind her, but Lucian rolled down the window and
called out to her, "Call me when you're ready to go home and I'll pick you up."
"I will." Amelia waved as she watched him drive off.
Amelia entered an empty shop. There was no one there except for Courtney who was sitting at the bar,
slumped over the counter.
Amelia reached out to her. "Courtney! How many drinks have you had? Why did you drink so much?"
There were empty bottles around Courtney who looked as if she'd been drinking the whole day. Amelia
made the mistake of stepping on a bottle and almost fell.
Courtney was a mess. Her hair was matted and her eyes were bloodshot. Amelia's heart ached for
having seen her friend in this state. She picked up the bottles strewn on the floor and set them up on
the bar counter. She made a mental note of cleaning this up after she'd sorted Courtney out.
Courtney had already sat up. She was trying to tidy up her hair when she met Amelia's gaze. Courtney
forced a wide smile. "Hey! You're here!"
Amelia sighed and pursed her lips. Without returning Courtney's greeting, she tried to help her friend
tidy up.
"It's terrible, Amelia. Business isn't good these days," Courtney said. "No one's coming in. Only two
people went in earlier to have milk tea. I don't want to clean up anything. I don't even have to, anyway."
Amelia could only sigh.
Amelia knew that Courtney opened this shop because she regarded running it as a hobby. Courtney
also said that this business would help her save money for her wedding. But now it looked as if
Courtney had lost every reason to keep the shop.
"Do you want anything to drink? I can whip up something for you," Courtney asked. She stood up to go
behind the counter but staggered all the way through.
"Two cups of coffee, please," Amelia replied coolly.
Courtney smiled and nodded. She grabbed two cups from the counter and went into the kitchen to pour
some coffee. She came back, sat behind the bar, and placed a cup in front of Amelia.
They sat in silence opposite one another. Amelia merely looked at her drink, subtly trying to gauge how
Courtney was feeling. Courtney picked up her cup and brought it to her lips before setting it down
again. She was looking out the window.
"Why is it so bright out?" Courtney rubbed her eyes and rechecked.
"That's because the sun is still out," Amelia said with a smile. She took a sip from her cup of coffee. Her
senses welcomed the bitter aroma and she found herself perking up.
She came over to comfort Courtney but she quickly realized that saying anything wouldn't make a
difference.
Only Courtney could get herself out of this situation. There was nothing other people could say that
could help her move on.
Only two things could happen once a person's heart gets broken: The person could break down and
lose it, or that person could move on and forget. But even moving on was easier said than done. The
whole process always dealt pain.
"I've been thinking a lot in my family these days, Amelia." Courtney had a slight smile on her face, but it
didn't do anything to hide her pain. She was still looking out the window, avoiding Amelia's probing
eyes.
"Remember when Jasper and I broke up and you told me that the pain I felt meant that I was growing
up? Looking back now, those five years with him feel like a dream. It's like I'm not even sure they
happened." Amelia knew the feeling all too well. Only, she considered herself fortunate to have met
Lucian. Had she never met him, she wondered if she would've gotten over her last relationship as
quickly.
"I know that what Kent did was wrong, but the truth is, I don't blame him. I don't think he could've
helped it." Courtney tried to stop herself from crying by forcing herself into another smile. But the tears
rolled down her face as quickly as she tried to hide them. Courtney told Amelia everything Kent told her
about the night he betrayed her.
It was a busy time for the sales department of Kent's company. There were dinners with clients every
night and Kent was required to attend them all. In one of these parties, Melissa got herself drunk. Kent
only wanted to help Melissa get back to her hotel room, but he was equally intoxicated. One thing led to
another, and it was too late before Kent realized his mistake.
After that, Melissa had been trying to go after Kent, threatening that she'd tell Courtney what happened
and break them up. Kent felt tormented because he didn't want to lose Courtney. Moreover, he didn't
have the guts to confess what happened. He just didn't say anything, even after Courtney became
suspicious and began asking a lot of questions.
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