It didn’t take long before Amelia received the agent’s reply.
“Ms. Harlow! I talked to the owner. He said he’s willing to rent it to you at 20 percent off the market price!
“But he has one condition. He hopes you can help take care of the flowers in the yard.”
The request sounded strange, and the discount was so big that it made her uneasy.
“Amelia … ” Amanda whispered, “Let’s look somewhere else. Who gives a random 20-percent discount like that? You’d save more than ten thousand dollars a year. What if there’s something wrong with the place? Or what if the owner is some kind of weirdo and he’s using the price to trap people?”
Amanda wasn’t wrong.
Once Amelia calmed down, she also felt something was strange.
She told the agent, “Thank you. We’d like to think about it. I’ll give you my answer later.”
…
While Amelia was still unsure about the location for her studio, Ethan also heard she was looking for a new place.
He knew Amelia was still upset about the birthday party.
He couldn’t bring himself to apologize, but he also couldn’t stand how she was completely ignoring him.
Now that she wanted to expand her studio, he saw a chance to help her.
So he told Kevin to list one of his empty villas with the agency and made sure the agent would take Amelia there.
But Ethan forgot that other members of the Rowe family also lived in that upscale community.
After Amelia turned down the Maplewood Estate offer, the agent quickly took her to the villa Ethan arranged.
This one was even more impressive than the last – large property, private entrance, and luxurious interior.
Amelia followed the agent to the front door. She hadn’t even stepped inside when she ran straight into Ethan’s aunt, Caroline Rowe.
“Caroline.” Amelia stopped and greeted her politely.
Caroline’s sharp eyes scanned her from head to toe. Then she looked at the agent behind her and gave a fake smile. “Amelia, what are you doing here?”
The confused agent answered before Amelia could speak. “Ms. Harlow is here to see the house. She wants to rent a place for her studio.”
“Looking at a house?” Caroline let out a slow, meaningful laugh. “Oh, you and Ethan are really something.
“If you want one of his houses, why don’t you just ask him? Why go through the agent and pretend you’re just checking places? What are you trying to do?”
Amelia’s face turned cold.
But Caroline didn’t stop. She went on with a mocking tone, “Didn’t you always say you weren’t after the Rowe family’s money? That you just wanted to be Ethan’s quiet little wife? What changed? Did you suddenly grow a career ambition? Or did you sense some competition at home, so you want to grab something valuable for yourself?”
So this villa belonged to Ethan.
Everything that happened was just Ethan’s “kindness” and his unwanted arrangement.
Amelia’s heart turned cold.
If she really chose this place, then every move she made would be watched by the Rowe family.
And no matter how well her studio did or how much money she earned, they would only see it as something she built because of Ethan, nothing of her own.
Thinking about that, the weird plant-care request at Maplewood Estate and the too-good-to-be-true discount suddenly felt much better.
Amelia lifted her eyes and looked calmly at Caroline.
“I didn’t know this place belonged to Ethan,” she said flatly.
She didn’t bother with Caroline’s suspicious
No Sex for Six Years Because of Her? I’m Done!stare. Instead, she turned to the agent and said, “Alright. We don’t need to see this place. Let’s move forward with the other one.”
At the same time, Ethan also heard that Amelia didn’t even step through his villa’s door before rejecting it.
His expression grew darker and darker. He was furious.
Amelia is really determined to stay mad at me. Is she doing this on purpose to embarrass me?
How ungrateful. How unreasonable!
For the next few days, the two of them sank into an even deeper cold war.
Amelia threw herself fully into preparing the new studio. She was busy nonstop.
That afternoon, Amanda reminded her that she needed her personal seal for the business registration update.
Amelia finally remembered it was still in the bedroom at home, so she drove back to the villa.
Ethan wasn’t home. In the living room, Hannah and Isla were watching cartoons. Snacks and fruit filled the coffee table.
When Hannah heard the door open, she turned around. When she saw Amelia, she stood up warmly. “Hello, Ms. Harlow.”
Her tone made it sound like she was the lady of the house, and Amelia was just a guest who dropped by.
Amelia ignored the obvious provocation. She went upstairs, found the seal in her desk drawer, put it in her bag, and got ready to leave.
She had just reached the stairs when Hannah walked out of the kitchen holding a glass of bright orange juice.
“Ms. Harlow,” Hannah said with the perfect amount of fake helplessness, “can you please take this juice to Isla? She said she was thirsty. I’m preparing her medicine, and it’s almost ready, so I really can’t step away.”
Amelia frowned. “Aren’t there any maids in the house?”
“It’s usually just me and Isla here,” Hannah said gently. “We don’t need a maid watching us all day. So I told them not to come during the day. I don’t want too many people in the house and disturb Isla’s rest.”
Right after that, Isla started whining loudly from the living room. “Mommy, I’m so thirsty! I want juice!”
Amelia looked at the mango juice in Hannah’s hand and felt a strange discomfort.
But with Isla’s cries getting louder, if she refused, she knew Hannah would make a scene.
She didn’t want to waste time on something this childish.
So Amelia finally took the glass and brought it into the living room. She gave it to Isla, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch.
She didn’t want to stay one second longer.
But when she reached the door, a sharp sound exploded behind her.
The sound of a glass shattering on the floor.
Amelia spun around. Isla’s pale little face had turned bright red. Her hands were squeezing her own throat, and her mouth was open wide – she looked like she couldn’t breathe at all.
“What happened?” Amelia’s expression changed as she rushed toward the couch.
“Oh my God, Isla!”
Hannah burst out of the kitchen and shoved Amelia hard out of the way.
“Isla! What’s wrong?”
Amelia was caught off guard. Her lower back slammed into the corner of the coffee table. Pain shot through her, making her gasp.
But she didn’t care. Seeing Isla’s lips turn purple, she grabbed her phone and called an ambulance.
The paramedics arrived quickly and rushed Isla to the hospital.
Ethan arrived soon after. He ran to the emergency room doors and looked at Hannah, who was shaking and crying hard.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.