Lucian had a faint smile on his face when he asked, "You've always been forthright. Tell me, why did
you get yourself involved in this business conflict?"
He was not one to place himself in complicated situations. If it weren't for Nicholas' poor health, Lucian
wouldn't have taken over Zhan Group. He found it difficult to understand how Jonny could do what he
never wanted in the first place.
"A desperate man will do anything," Jonny snorted before reaching for his drink. After quickly draining
his glass of wine, he refilled it.
Seeing his sad demeanor, Lucian took a few sips of wine and sighed. "If it weren't for this, Amelia and I
would probably still be together."
"I can't believe you're still not over here. I haven't seen her in a while. I guess that makes me a bad
boyfriend." Jonny had never been good with alcohol but he kept on drinking. It wasn't long until his
cheeks went red and he felt himself a bit more drunk than he wanted to be.
Lucian looked at him and smiled, "Let me drive you home."
"Don't be jealous, Lucian. I do like Amelia, but I respect you too much. I know that my friend's wife is off
limits." The alcohol felt like liquid courage to Jonny. He wouldn't have said those words if he were
sober. Even if he would end up on bad terms with Lucian, he would have still kept his pride.
And if he couldn't win Amelia's heart, he could at least stand by her side as her boyfriend.
Seeing Jonny struggling to stay on his chair, Lucian stood and propped him up. "You know you're not a
heavy drinker. Why did you drink so much?" he asked.
That question took Lucian back to when he was in high school with Jonny. They would always spend
time drinking and singing at KTV bars, and he would always end up carrying a drunk Jonny home.
It seemed as if Jonny's alcohol tolerance didn't get better with time. On the contrary, it took him less
drinks just then before he felt his consciousness slipping away.
Lucian was glad Jonny didn't go to the business circle, or he would've been inebriated frequently.
It was all over the news that Jonny had invited An Group's major shareholders to a conference. After
that, rumors spread like wildfire that Jonny was taking over the business and was supported by many
of An Group's executives.
Gossip also had it that An Group CEO Edmund fell ill and was immediately rushed to the hospital when
he heard the news. He was heard to be cursing in his ward, calling Jonny an ungrateful and disloyal
son.
Courtney was happily drinking the tea Amelia prepared while she read the news on her phone. Upon
reading a particularly surprising headline, Courtney immediately turned to Amelia. "Your boyfriend is in
the news!"
'What boyfriend?' Amelia wondered before realizing that she could only be referring to Jonny.
She hadn't seen Jonny in several days but she thought it was just because he was busy at work.
"He likes keeping a low profile. How could he be in the news? Did he find a new girlfriend?" Amelia
hoped that Jonny had found a girlfriend. She felt news like that would bring her some relief.
"No!" Courtney said, her bright eyes still on the phone. After reading the article, she summed it all up
for Amelia. "It seems that Jonny's turning against his father. It's not clear whether he inherited An
Group, but it clearly said that he was going to be competing with his father for the management of the
company!"
"Really? Jonny is not interested in An Group. Why would he go against his father?" Amelia knew that it
was Jonny's biggest dream to be a designer. He even completed a fashion degree to fulfill his goal.
How could the news be true? Could it be that reporters were merely cooking up a story that would turn
all eyes towards An Group?
"Based on these comments, Jonny is popular; as for Edmund, he gets nothing but foul words."
Courtney looked at her friend to see her reaction.
Amelia just stood in a daze. She wondered if she should call Jonny.
"By the way, Amelia, can you handle everything this afternoon? I have to go home, you see." Courtney
had put away her phone.
Amelia's attention was drawn by Courtney's question. She immediately replied that she could handle
the shop alone because it was not a busy day.
"Nancy had to quit because of her studies. I need you here to watch over the shop because I have to
go home. It's my father's birthday," Courtney explained.
"Is it uncle's birthday?" Amelia thought that she should give a present, too.
"When I was with Kent, I always pretended that I forgot his birthday. But I have to go home now. At
least, I still have my family even though I don't have a boyfriend anymore," Courtney quietly said. She
seemed to be coming into terms with everything that had happened.
Amelia smiled at her before turning to her phone. She ordered a cake for Courtney's father and wrote
him a short message.
Since she didn't graduate from college, Amelia used to always find herself cash-strapped. She would
often go to the Lin's for free meals. Courtney's parents treated her well. She only stopped visiting when
Courtney eventually fell out of contact with them.
Courtney thanked Amelia for her work, and after about an hour, she was gone. As soon as she had left,
Shelly came to the shop.
It was a quiet summer day in May and the sun shone to reveal Shelly's bright orange dress and
flattering makeup. Amelia thought she looked like a doll.
"Would you like something to drink, Miss Shelly?" Amelia greeted her politely despite Shelly's cruel
expression.
Shelly looked suspicious of Amelia's behavior. She glared at her with anger and jealousy in her eyes.
She slammed her fist down the table where Amelia had just placed a glass of honey water. The glass
fell on the floor and broke into pieces. "You said that you were done with Lucian, but what did you do?
You met with him behind my back!" Shelly screamed.
After fighting with Lucian last night, Shelly had gone back to the An family, thinking that Lucian would
eventually pick her up and apologize. He didn't show up until the next morning. Shelly was so furious,
she decided to talk to Amelia.
Amelia knew that nothing she could say would pacify Shelly. Keeping her silence, she stooped down
and started wiping the mess that Shelly made when she knocked the glass off the table.
"Oh, stop playing innocent with me! That only works on Lucian but he's not here right now, is he?
You're just making me even angrier!" As Amelia was wiping the floor, Shelly stepped on the back of her
hand. She forced the point of her high-heeled shoe down Amelia's skin, making the latter wince from
the pain.
Amelia said nothing; she merely gritted her teeth.
Seeing the pained expression on Amelia's face made Shelly's heart beat faster. Crushing Amelia's
hand with her foot made her feel like she was stomping on a pesky ant.
"Let this be a lesson for you, Amelia! If you don't leave Lucian alone, I will kill you!" Shelly said with
rage in her eyes. Growing up spoiled, Shelly had never really cared about the words that came out of
her mouth. After venting her anger, she turned around and walked out, kicking a potted plant that stood
by the gate.
The scene that unfolded broke Amelia's heart.
She was not trying to play coward; Amelia just didn't know how to resist Shelly. In her heart, she felt
sorry that Shelly had to see her with Lucian that night.
She tried to ignore the pain in her hand and went straight to cleaning up the mess.
"What's going on, Amelia?" Carlotta said as soon as she entered the shop. Seeing the glass shards on
the floor and the broken pot outside, she asked Amelia, "Did we get robbed?"
"No, it's nothing like that..." Amelia said, feeling a little embarrassed. She didn't know how to explain
everything to Carlotta, so she merely focused on the job of wiping the floor.
"Who destroyed my plants?" Carlotta shouted as she hopelessly tried to put back together the broken
pot.
Amelia went up to her and apologized, "I'm sorry, Carlotta. It's all my fault..."
Carlotta knew that Amelia could never do such a thing and that she was only covering up for someone.
Incredulous, Carlotta said, "I know it's not your fault. Why do you want to take the blame?"
Carlotta went to the bar counter to check the surveillance video. After watching Shelly storm out, she
turned to Amelia and asked, "Who is this girl? I'm going to tear her to pieces!"
Amelia hadn't considered that Carlotta would check the surveillance video. Before Carlotta could dash
out of the store, Amelia stood in her way and said, "It's because of me that she's angry! Please don't do
anything rash. It's no big deal. I'll just clean everything up."
Hearing Amelia's words only infuriated Carlotta. "She just walked all over you and you're letting her get
away with it? I'm not even the one who should be angry, Amelia. It's you who should be furious!"
Carlotta brushed Amelia aside and dashed out of the shop.
Amelia tried to stop her but Carlotta had already left by the time she reached the gate.
Feeling helpless, Amelia returned to the empty shop. Lost in her thoughts, she picked up her phone
and anxiously made a call. "Jonny, do you know where Miss Shelly is?"
Jonny and Lucian had been talking about business when Jonny saw Amelia's name flashing on his
phone screen. He threw Lucian a curious look before answering. Hearing Amelia's worried voice in the
other end of the line, he said, "Don't worry, Amelia. Tell me where you are now."
Lucian was stunned after hearing Jonny mention Amelia's name. Restless, he stood up and asked,
"What's wrong with Amelia?"
"She was crying and said that Carlotta was looking for Shelly..." Johnny didn't fully comprehend what
Amelia had said.
"Can I borrow your car? I'm going to Amelia," Lucian grunted and hurriedly walked out of the room.
Jonny was about to say more but Lucian had already left. Jonny could only shake his head, feeling lost.
After sending Carlotta a message to not act impulsively, Amelia could do nothing but wait at the side of
the road.
Amelia had always thought of Carlotta as graceful and collected. But seeing her fuming made Amelia
scared of what she could do to Shelly.
"Get in the car, Amelia!" Lucian shouted once he'd stopped the car in front of her.
Amelia was shocked to see Lucian. She was about to ask why he was there, but after remembering
that the matter had something to do with Shelly, she immediately followed his words.
"Mr. Lucian, I'm sorry..."
"There's nothing to apologize for. Let's talk about this once we get to SJ Garden," Lucian calmly
replied. He had already called Carlotta while driving to Amelia so he knew about what had happened.
But seeing Amelia, he thought it best to pretend like he didn't know anything.
Amelia was busy trying to hide the wound in her hand that she didn't see the concern in Lucian's
eyes.
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