Why did Ethan insist on forcing her back to work at the company?
Why did he stick around to eat dinner with her and abruptly show up with flowers to be nice?
Turns out, all of it was just an act.
A show for all the hidden eyes watching him.
He needed his legal wife beside him to make everything look normal and quiet down the rumors about him and Hannah.
He was using her.
Amelia lowered her gaze, emotions churning inside.
Just as she’d suspected all along.
Seeing her stay quiet, Lily got even more fired up. “What are you going to do now?”
When Amelia looked up again, her face had returned to its usual cool and distant look, but her voice was colder than the night air. “What can I do? There are still more than 20 days left in the divorce waiting period. If I confront him now and he finds out he was tricked into signing those divorce papers … with his pride, this divorce might never happen.”
She couldn’t take that risk.
“You’re right…” Lily rubbed her head in frustration, but then her eyes lit up with an idea. “The divorce won’t be official for a while, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make some moves! If Ethan can flirt around outside, so why don’t you fight fire with fire?”
Amelia looked confused. “What do you mean?”
Lily poked her head, teasing her for being slow. “I mean, you find someone to flirt with and drive him crazy! So what if he finds out and questions you? His hands aren’t clean either, so it’s fair game. Nobody gets to complain about the other.”
Lily had a point.
But Amelia just shook her head helplessly. “Look around me. Other than you, do you see any men? After I married Ethan, my social life vanished. I don’t even have anyone to flirt with.”
“Says who?” Lily gave her a sly wink. “Mason’s coming back soon, right? And there’s no bad blood between you two.”
“Lily…” Amelia cut her off right away, her voice carrying a hint of panic even she didn’t notice. “Stop giving me dumb ideas like that.”
“Okay, okay. No more bad ideas.” Seeing her freak out, Lily quickly changed the topic. “So do you want to go back, grab your bag, and leave? I’ll take you to a bar to chill out.”
Amelia refused. All she wanted now was to work – only work could calm her down.
“Forget it. I need to go back to my studio and finish my old orders.”
Lily looked at her, sighed heavily, and put on a distressed expression. “Amelia, seriously! You’re not just a punching bag for a rich family, you’re also a non-stop workhorse for your own studio. I’m so worried about you!”
Amelia and Lily talked for a bit more in the corner. Mostly, Lily was angrily helping her plan revenge, while Amelia just listened quietly.
Just then, Ethan, who realized she had been gone for too long, called her.
Amelia picked up. Ethan’s annoyed voice came through immediately, like he was questioning her, “Where are you? How much longer are you going to be out there?”
Amelia’s heart sank. Her voice turned cold as she said, “I ran into a friend. We’re catching up.”
No Sex for Six Years Because of Her? I’m Done!
As soon as she finished, she suddenly heard Isla’s voice on the phone. “Mommy, is that man with the camera taking pictures of us?”
Right after that, Ethan’s voice shot up in anger. “Amelia, get back here now!”
He didn’t even give her a chance to respond before he hung up.
Amelia stood there with her phone in hand. The night breeze blew, and she felt cold all over.
The paparazzi had spotted them, and Ethan freaked out.
So he needed his legal wife back by his side – to be the perfect human shield.
She gave Lily a helpless smile. “Looks like I have to go. Rain check.”
But when Amelia pushed open the heavy door to the private room, she didn’t see Ethan’s worried or fake face. Instead, she saw a messy room with no one inside.
The princess-theme cake on the table had only been cut once, most of it still untouched, like a party suddenly cut short.
Ethan, Hannah, and Isla were gone.
The bouquet of bluebells he gave her was now lying on the cold floor.
The petals had been stepped on and no longer looked delicate. On the stem, she could see two footprints – one big, one small.
Her phone lit up again. It was a message from Ethan.
“Something urgent came up. We left first. Just take a taxi back yourself.”
When there was a risk of being exposed, he didn’t hesitate. He chose to leave quickly with Hannah and Isla, leaving Amelia behind.
Not long ago, she’d stupidly thought he wasn’t completely hopeless, all because of a bunch of flowers.
But he clearly never had a place for her in his heart.
From the beginning, all he ever did was use her.
Amelia looked at the crushed flowers on the floor and let out a bitter laugh.
She slowly walked over, bent down, picked up the ruined bouquet, and tossed it into the trash can at the end of the hallway without a second thought.
After that, she pulled out her phone and called Lily. “I think your idea wasn’t bad. Let’s go get a drink.”
At the bar, after listening to Amelia’s story, Lily yelled in anger, “Ethan is the biggest scumbag of the century! Using you and then dumping you – how could he do that?!”
Amelia didn’t join in on criticizing him. She just sat there quietly, drinking one glass after another.
She got tipsy pretty quickly. The spinning lights in front of her stretched into long, blurry trails.
Just then, someone sat down next to her, carrying a strong scent of cologne.
“Hey, gorgeous, mind if I join you?” It was a young, handsome man with a nice voice.
Amelia lifted her blurry eyes and rested her cheek on her hand as she looked at him.
The lighting was dim, so she couldn’t see his face clearly. But his short hair, straight nose, and the way he looked in a white shirt had a weird similarity to Ethan.
Amelia was grossed out.
She forced a distant smile and shook her head. “No. You’re not really my type.”
The man clearly didn’t expect to get rejected. He froze for a second, then walked away, annoyed.
Amelia had two more drinks and felt her stomach churn. She staggered toward the restroom.
After splashing cold water on her face to clear her head a bit, she came out and found her path blocked.
It was that same man again.
This time, his smile wasn’t polite. There was something sleazy about it. “Come on, don’t be like that. Maybe I’m not your type, but … I might have other things you’ll like.”
Seeing how unsteady she was, clearly drunk, he boldly tried to put an arm around her waist, even tried to kiss her.
The smell of alcohol on him made Amelia frown. She pushed his hand away impatiently and mumbled a warning, “Don’t… Don’t try to grope me. I hit pretty hard.”
“Oh yeah? I’d like to see how hard.” Her drunk look making him itch. He didn’t believe her and moved closer again.
Right when the guy’s hand was about to touch Amelia’s shoulder, someone suddenly grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
He yelped in pain and turned around angrily, only to meet a pair of extremely cold eyes.
A tall man with an intimidating presence had appeared behind him at some point, looking down at him like he was trash. His thin lips parted, and the words that came out were cold as ice, “Get lost. Don’t touch her.”
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.