"This tastes like home," Lucian said as he sampled the food in front of him.
"But the food Lily cooked is also very delicious," she meekly replied. Amelia initially thought that he was
referring to the taste of the dishes, but she realized that he was enjoying the scenario more.
She smiled as she placed her hands inside the big pockets of her pink apron. Lucian had carefully
picked it for her because he wanted her to wear it for as long as she stayed there. And he hoped in his
heart that Amelia would stay there for good.
Lucian bought that villa a couple of years ago. At the time, he merely thought that the area looked
peaceful and the air was quite pleasant. He considered it as a good place to live in, but then things had
changed. He saw that the villa could be more than just a house. It could be the home where he would
live with Amelia and their baby.
"Aren't you hungry? What were you thinking of?" Amelia was putting more food into his plate when she
realized what she had just said and bit her tongue.
Lucian snapped out of his daydream, and looked at Amelia with worry in his eyes.
"Thank you..." he trailed off. These words moved Amelia but she took control not to show it in her
expression.
In his mind, Lucian wanted to call Amelia honey. But he also had to restrain himself. He decided to
save it for when he had finally restored her title as Mrs.
Dinner time was over in the blink of an eye. Lucian volunteered to wash the dishes but Amelia didn't
want to bother him with it. But after hearing him jokingly boast of his superb talent in dish washing,
Amelia was only too happy to take him on his offer. She wanted to see what he was talking about.
Leaning against the door frame, Amelia contentedly watched as Lucian took over the sink.
Lucian watched her from the corner of his eyes. Wanting to make Amelia laugh, he tried to make a
show out of dish washing by playing with the plates, pretending to toss them into the air to perform
tricks.
Amelia was elated to see Lucian's smile, but she also feared for herself. She didn't know how much
more she could take before her true feelings for him were revealed.
"Have you seen this? This is dish washing at its finest. I'm not just a pro at cleaning plates; I'm the
master!" Lucian exaggerated.
Amelia was about to laugh, but she chose to roll her eyes instead.
"I guess that's enough of that," Lucian said while putting the plates down to save himself from further
embarrassment. "Actually, I can make a living out of just my handsome looks, but what I really want to
do is serve the love of my life, so here I am, washing dishes for her. Am I not the sweetest?"
He had gone up to her and had closed the gap between them.
Amelia's instinct was to panic. She quickly took a few steps back to maintain some distance from
Lucian.
Seeing this reaction, an expression of despair crossed Lucian's face. With all seriousness, he said
softly, "I'll be leaving you now. Take care of yourself during the next couple of days." Once he'd finally
settled everything, he could bring her back to his side and he desperately looked forward to it.
"I will," Amelia said with mixed feelings, but she made the effort to smile at him.
After seeing Lucian off, Amelia felt just how big and empty the villa was. She felt all of the happiness
that Lucian made her feel a few moments ago drain from her heart, leaving her lonely and hurt.
She hadn't settled everything with Lucian, but Amelia agreed to stay in the villa as arranged by her ex-
husband. She was initially hesitant to stay there alone, but the interiors of the house were very inviting
and beautiful. When she wanted to stretch her legs, she would walk around the vast garden and smell
the flowers. She particularly enjoyed the pavilion where she would stay for hours to listen at the soft
gurgling sound from the fountain.
Lucian didn't visit her for the next three days. Bored and alone, Amelia was sitting in the living room
surfing TV channels, when a particular bit of news caught her attention. It was a report about Lucian.
The news anchor mentioned that it was the hottest news all over the city.
It seemed that Zhan Group CEO Lucian was seen keeping in touch with his former wife, causing his
current wife, Shelly of the An family, to attempt suicide...
Amelia's hands trembled so terribly that she dropped the remote control.
Reading the headline at the bottom of the screen made the image even clearer in Amelia's mind.
Shock spread all over her body as she thought about Shelly and the repercussions of her own actions.
It was her fault that Shelly tried to kill herself.
Without so much as thinking, she rushed downstairs, crossed the big hall, and went straight to the door.
The two tall guards stationed at the gates saw her dashing out and reached out to stop her. "What's the
matter, Miss Amelia?" one of the men asked politely. Amelia had been happily staying in that villa for
three days. The two men thought it strange for her to be suddenly rushing out of the house.
"I have to go. There's something urgent I need to deal with," Amelia said directly. Anxiety made her
voice shake as she spoke.
"Miss Amelia, Mr. Lucian gave instructions that you weren't allowed to leave the villa," one of the men
replied.
Amelia was already going through the pain and guilt of possibly having hurt Shelly. When she heard the
guard deny her pleas, her worry turned to fury.
"And what if I insist on going out?" she said firmly, raising her voice.
She didn't want to cause trouble for the guards who were only doing their job and following Lucian's
orders, but she hated the fact that they wouldn't let her out no matter what.
Amelia felt hopeless yet she tried to push back.
"Answer me!" Her words only made the two men look at each other blankly. Not knowing what to do,
they decided to call their master.
Amelia said nothing as she waited for Lucian to finish giving instructions to the guards.
If he wouldn't let her out, she thought that she'd have to look for another way.
"Miss Amelia, Mr. Lucian said that you are to wait for his arrival," the man who had been on the phone
with Lucian said.
Amelia scowled and shouted, "I don't care if he's coming or not. Let me out or I'll call the police!"
She thought that threatening them would work, but neither of them reacted. Instead of worrying, they
only felt embarrassed for her.
Amelia didn't like causing trouble for others. She wouldn't have said those words under any other
circumstance. Moreover, in her heart, Amelia wanted nothing more than to stay and wait for Lucian.
But she felt terribly guilty about the things she heard on TV. She felt that she had to go to the hospital
to see Shelly and explain herself.
"Please let me out?" She had no choice but to beg them for she didn't have access to the gate.
Opening it required their thumbprints on the scanner.
Lucian held a certain influence over the city. Amelia knew that even if she tried calling the police, he
could easily talk them into thinking that there had just been a simple misunderstanding. The police
would not be able to help her, and seeing that the guards remained unflinching despite her pleas, she
gave up and turned back to the house.
"We're sorry, Miss Amelia. Please understand, we're just following orders," the taller of the two men
called out to her.
Amelia only nodded at him politely. She couldn't blame them after all. There was nothing left for her to
do but head back to the house.
Reaching her room, Amelia took out her phone and dialed Lucian's number.
The phone was ringing but there was no answer at the end of the line. This was the first time she had
to wait for him to answer his phone. He usually picked it up during the first couple of rings. Amelia was
fuming.
She tried calling him over and over, but after more than five attempts, she had to accept that he didn't
want to answer.
Amelia's blood was boiling in her veins. She wanted to vent her anger, but it had never been in her
nature to be violent. She only fumed until tears burst out of her eyes and her heart ached.
She looked at everything there was in the room and felt lonely. What she once saw as a luxurious villa
instantly turned into a cold and gray prison.
Considering how the news had blown up over the city, Amelia thought that it was impossible for Lucian
to not know about it. She wondered whether it was why Lucian refused to take her call.
Amelia wasn't worried about being judged by everyone as a third party to Lucian and Shelly's marriage.
She only thought about Shelly and how she didn't want there to be a misunderstanding between them.
Amelia had always known that Shelly's feelings for Lucian were deep. And although her love for him
had often times been cruel and selfish, it had also always been true.
Her decision to commit suicide out of what she may have seen as betrayal on his part was enough
proof of how deep her love was.
Amelia was sick with anxiety. She thought that if it was only a minor injury, Shelly's attempt would not
make it to the news. She worried that the report may have kept other important details.
After some thought, she decided to call Jonny. After all, he was Shelly's brother. She thought that she
would learn everything from him.
She dialed his number and to her relief, Jonny quickly answered her call. Before Amelia could say
anything, he immediately said, "It's not true what they said in the news, Amelia. Shelly just sustained a
minor head injury. She didn't try to kill herself. Someone was making things up, probably trying to
damage Lucian's reputation and stir up trouble for Zhan Group."
Jonny's words put Amelia's mind at ease. But she still worried over Shelly so she asked, "How's Shelly
now? Lucian... Did Mr. Lucian visit her?"
Amelia felt it was ridiculous to ask as soon as the words were out of her mouth.
She had never thought of getting in between Lucian and Shelly, but it seemed as if there was always
this unexplainable connection between her and Lucian.
"Don't worry about her. Mom's taking care of Shelly in the hospital. She'll be discharged in a few days
or so," Jonny answered quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Jonny. Were you busy?" she asked after detecting impatience in his voice.
"Yeah. I'm in the middle of an important meeting. I need to hang up now, Amelia, but I'll call you when
it's done," Jonny said.
"Okay. I just wanted to ask about Shelly. That's it. Thank you," Amelia said before hanging up the
phone.
She was no longer as worried as she was before, but the guilt for having hurt Shelly remained in her
heart.
Courtney called her late in the afternoon and announced happily that she was back from her trip. But
Amelia didn't want to ask about her vacation. She casually asked, "Didn't you say that you'd be coming
back after a week? Why are you back so early?"
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