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.
During the meeting, she had all the needed
it ended quickly without any issue, especially considering that the last conference they
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
stepped out to meet Amelia's gaze. She was wearing a
would always wear thin
this. Nothing you say would change anything."
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
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
mouth took Sasha by surprise. Without waiting for Sasha to respond, Amelia walked out and headed back to
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
put
looking troubled." He reached for a
talk to you about something that's not related to work?" She
Lucian said. "I'd much rather hear you
smile on, she continued albeit shyly, "It's Courtney. She just
him and Amelia, Lucian continued, "That depends. Will you give me something in
the coldest regards, and yet when he was teasing, he looked like
and she knew it. Nevertheless, she asked naively, "What do
was, pure and
but she did as she
Lucian asked her to close her eyes when she felt it. Lucian held her cheek in his hand
was beating loudly in
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
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,"
from the heat of her passionate encounter with Lucian, and yet she couldn't
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
could see that Amelia was feeling bad about leaving early despite her clear concern for her
he said so she'd
you be following me?" Amelia asked. She was trying her best to read Lucian's expression. The latter kept his eyes
thoughts went back to the last time Lucian asked to see her home. It felt like he was keeping watch on her
door behind
waved as she
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