Shelly was still in the hospital. Apparently, Edmund was the culprit behind the spread of the rumor that
she committed suicide because of love. He was trying to destroy Lucian's reputation, which would, in
turn, have a bad influence on the reputation of the Zhan Group.
"But I don't want to see them!" Shelly said pointedly, grabbing Lucian's white shirt and pointing at
Emma and Jonny.
"Mom, I've already hired someone to take care of her. Now, since she doesn't want to accept our
kindness, you don't have to stay here and waste your time," Jonny said to Emma, feeling guilty. After
that, he turned to look at Lucian and said, "Lucian, come with me."
Shelly's face suddenly turned pale. With much urgency, she grabbed Lucian's clothes and wouldn't let
him go. "Lucian," she said, her tone desperate. "I'm... I'm feeling a sharp pain in the back of my head.
Please stay here with me." Using her incredible acting skills, she was able to shed convincing tears.
Lucian forcefully shook Shelly's grip off of him. "I have something else to deal with. I'll come back to
see you after work." His voice was deep but it was devoid of any kind of emotion.
The expression on Shelly's face changed dramatically. With Lucian evidently not caring about her and
her welfare, she broke down and cried, "I don't care! I'm hurt because of you! You must stay with me!"
"Really, Shelly? Are you really doing this right now?" Jonny said, his voice imbued with annoyance.
"You're an embarrassment!" He came over and grabbed Shelly's wrist tightly, also trying to force her to
let go of Lucian's coat.
Shelly saw that and instantly recognized the opportunity it was presenting. She took hold of Jonny's
arm and pulled herself out of balance. With a loud thud, she fell to the ground, to the surprise of
everyone.
"Shelly!" Emma shouted as she rushed over to Shelly. She held her in her arms and said anxiously,
"Jonny, call the doctor!"
Shelly didn't expect that she would hit her head on the floor that hard. All she wanted to do was to
pretend to fall, but now, she was unconscious.
Lucian, despite his demeanor earlier, quickly came to Shelly's aid as what happened worried him so
much. Gently, he carried her and put her on the bed.
As doctors arrived and tests were conducted, Shelly's condition became clear: she was in a coma
because of the fall.
Because of that, Lucian had no choice but to stay by her side at the hospital. Emma stayed with him
and brought him food, but Jonny had to return to the An Group because he had to take care of various
things.
In a villa in the south of the city, Amelia was in deep thought as she looked out the window.
"Amelia, it's time to eat." Courtney seldom cooked, but after she found out that Amelia was not in a
good mood, she took it upon herself to prepare food. When everything was ready, she immediately
called Amelia.
She tried her best to look as jolly as possible for her friend.
Amelia gave Courtney a puzzled stare the moment the smell of the food hit her nose. It made it clear
that Courtney wasn't really someone who regularly cooked.
"I think this is my apology..." Courtney started, scratching her head. "I am so sorry for disappearing for
so many days." Her lips contorted into a weird smile, which was confusing and endearing at the same
time.
"Did you poison these?" Amelia asked, as she looked at everything that was laid out on the table. They
were all burned. There was only one thing that seemed edible—tomato soup, nonetheless it looked
highly unappetizing.
"Okay, girl," Courtney replied, sounding defensive. "You know that I am not a good cook. Kent has
always cooked for me and whenever I'm alone, I only eat ready-to-eat products!" At the mention of
Kent, her face flushed red and a shy smile appeared on her lips. It seemed that her hate for the man
had already vanished.
Amelia found this strange and looked at Courtney with a curious expression on her face. "Okay. Did
you go on a trip or something?" she asked.
Courtney's family was rich, and as with all rich families, it was normal for them to travel around the
world all the time. What Amelia could not understand was why she had to lie to her about being always
in the shop.
Courtney's face froze. It seemed that Amelia had already found her out. With a quiet, embarrassed
voice she explained, "I... I have made up with Kent."
Amelia was stunned beyond comprehension. "What? What did you say?" she asked, her eyes wide.
She didn't expect that they would ever get back together! Her surprise quickly simmered down when
she saw how, despite being gravely embarrassed, happy Courtney was. With a calm tone she asked,
"Is that true?"
She remembered how Courtney told her that Melissa was pregnant with Kent's child and that even if
they were still in love with each other, the reality was that they couldn't be together. They were two
parallel rivers that weren't bound to meet.
"It happened so fast, Amelia," Courtney explained, her cheeks becoming redder and redder. "I am still
shocked by myself." Despite her embarrassment, the twinkle in her eyes could not hide how happy she
felt.
For Amelia, this was a good development. She and Courtney had been friends for the longest time, and
if Kent was the one who would make Courtney happy, Amelia would support it.
"Now I understand why you always hid when you were talking to me on the phone. Maybe you were
with Kent!" Amelia playfully said, laughing. During moments like these, she felt that her sadness was
alleviated, albeit by just a bit. She then started eating, but the moment she put the spoon inside her
mouth, she could not help but spit out what she was trying to ingest. "What is this, Courtney! Are you
trying to kill me and my child?" she shrieked.
"No, I'm not!" Courtney responded defensively. "You should blame it on Kent! He's spoiled me rotten!"
At the thought of Kent cooking, cleaning, and just taking good care of her, Courtney couldn't help but
blush even more.
Amelia then said, "The chicken soup I made would be enough for the both of us. I will get that. I think
I'd also cook some vegetables."
"Wait, what? Is the food really that bad?" Courtney couldn't believe the way Amelia reacted and so she
herself decided to try the food. While she admitted that they weren't the best, it could not be that
unbearable. However, upon having her first spoonful, she found herself unable to swallow anything
solely based on the food's taste. She cried out, "I thought these are alright! These are all terrible!"
Courtney's reaction amused Amelia so much. She wanted to tease her more, but she decided that she
needed to heat their food already so that they would be able to eat. Quickly, she made her way to the
kitchen, reheated the soup, and made another vegetable dish. Soon, she put everything on the table
and they started eating. "Since you and Kent have already made up," Amelia started, her tone playful.
"I think it would be great if we hang out with him. Maybe we could go on a holiday trip together?"
She wanted to leave this place, but she couldn't reveal her true motivations. Courtney's happiness was
something she needed to take advantage of.
Unexpectedly, Courtney replied, "Sure! After this week, let's celebrate!"
However, upon hearing that, the smile on Amelia's face immediately disappeared. Somehow, it seemed
like she was annoyed at this development.
"By the way, Lucian has done so many things for you. Remember One Meter Sunshine? He paid a lot
of money for that," Courtney revealed. "You know what? From now on, you should manage that shop
yourself!" The reason why Courtney told Amelia the truth was that she hoped Amelia would stop
misunderstanding Lucian. She was also hoping that through what she said, she would be able to help
mend the relationship between the two.
"What did you say?" Amelia asked. As she did, she tried to recall the events that happened after she
went to One Meter Sunshine. 'I knew that something was odd at that place. It couldn't just be
coincidental, ' she thought, her eyebrows now furrowed.
'I knew that there was a reason why Carlotta wanted to sell me One Meter Sunshine and why she
agreed to transfer it to me so quickly!' Everything was really starting to make sense to Amelia now.
"Please don't get me wrong," Courtney begged. "I'm not just accepting Lucian's generous offer. He
really, really cares about you. That's why I'm willing to stick my neck out for him." The look on
Courtney's face was genuine. Amelia's, on the other hand, was becoming colder and colder.
She wasn't angry with Courtney because she understood that what she was doing was out of her
genuine care for her. However, every time she remembered the relationship she and Lucian had, she
couldn't help but feel incredibly uncomfortable. She didn't want to come between his and Shelly's
happiness.
"Maybe I shouldn't give birth to this baby," she suddenly whispered after a few moments of silence. A
wave of sadness hit her, and she felt like she was drowning.
If she hadn't gotten pregnant, Lucian wouldn't be chasing after her like this.
"Bullshit!" Courtney shouted, her face now contorted with surprise, disbelief, and anger. She knew that
Amelia was not making any sense, and so she tried to reason with her. "Look here, Amelia. I know for a
fact that even if you don't have this baby, Lucian still wouldn't leave you. He loves you! Besides, I know
that you won't kill your own child because you are far from being a heartless monster!"
Right after hearing that, Amelia's consciousness came back to her. She felt her heart tremble, and she
began to regret all the words she had just said.
She rubbed her belly and apologized in her heart.
"Don't let him down," Courtney said. "Just stay here for as long as he wanted. When everything's
settled, we can leave." Her face was serious. She was not going to let Amelia say no to her.
With tears in her eyes, Amelia agreed.
She had no idea that Lucian had done a lot of things for her in secret. She remembered all the times
she treated him badly, and she felt incredibly guilty.
The more she wanted to distance herself from him, the more he insisted on being close to her.
Eerie silence blanketed the hospital as night fell.
"Lucian, go home and get some rest. I'll be taking care of Shelly," Emma said, feeling bad for Lucian as
he had been by Shelly's side the whole day.
Lucian looked out of the window. It was already dark outside.
It had been an incredibly long day. Before he left, he thanked Emma and reminded her of some
important things. Emma said she understood and patted him on the back, as if to say that everything
would be alright. He then put on his coat and walked out of Shelly's room.
A crowd of reporters were already waiting for him outside the in-patient department. Since it was
already so late in the night, he didn't expect that they would be there. The flashes of their cameras
blinded him and so he decided to retreat for the time being.
Frowning, he took out his mobile phone and called his assistant, Eric, to ask him to come to the
hospital as soon as possible.
"Mr. Lucian, there's a rumor going around that Miss Shelly tried to commit suicide because you were
neglecting her. Is that true?"
"Mr. Lucian, you look so tired. Is that because you have been taking care of Miss Shelly the whole
day?"
"Mr. Lucian, do you know about the changes that has happened in the An Group?"
"Mr. Lucian, I heard that you still love your ex-wife, Amelia. How true is that?"
Chaos ensued in the lobby. Every reporter wanted to ask every question, and they all wanted answers
from Lucian. Lucian debated on staying silent, but the questions were too personal to ignore.
His expression became noticeably more hostile than usual, and with his sexy thin lips, he said coldly,
"It's not appropriate for me to answer any of your personal questions."
"How is Miss Shelly now?" one reporter asked eagerly.
"Miss Shelly is safe and is in a stable condition. Thank you for your concern." While Lucian was
handsome and charismatic, his aura had always been cold. That was why people always had trouble
approaching him.
Soon, Eric, along with four bodyguards, arrived at the hospital to fetch Lucian. He was used to this kind
of media frenzy, but it seemed that this time around, an unprecedented number of reporters flocked the
hospital.
It was particularly impressive because it was already late in the night. Slowly, he, the bodyguards, and
Lucian made their way through the crowd of reporters and into the car outside the hospital.
"Mr. Lucian, the reporters have been ordered to go home. They also promised not to write any reports
about you tomorrow," Eric reported respectfully after they all got in the car.
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