Chapter 323 She Felt Bewitched By A Spell
After they left the neighborhood, Oscar and Julian settled on a fancy restaurant. There, they ordered several dishes and scarfed the food down in a frenzy. Since both men were starving, they enjoyed the food to their heart’s content.
Aside from breakfast, they had only had a small snack for lunch before hurrying back to wait in front of the unit. In the end, they still returned empty-handed.
After Julian finished his steak, he felt like his stomach was close to bursting. “Didn’t you say that we were going to drink?”
Oscar shook his head. “I changed my mind. Let’s book a flight back after dinner.”
Julian diverted his focus to Oscar. Although Oscar wasn’t someone who would give up easily, it looked like he had lost his motivation to continue this search.
“Are you all right?” Julian questioned.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look like someone who’s fine.”
Seeing Oscar’s sullen mood, he quickly changed the topic. “Oscar, don’t you think that the woman earlier looks like Amelia? At first glance, I even mistook her for Amelia. I only realized the truth after we walked closer. Judging from their similar appearances, do you think she might have something to do with Amelia?”
Oscar spared him a brief glance. “Cassie and Amelia are pretty similar too. Do you think that they have a special relationship with each other?”
Immediately, Julian fell silent. His joke isn’t even remotely funny!
After they finished dinner, Oscar booked two flight tickets that would depart at midnight.
Along the way to the airport, Julian couldn’t help but blurt, “Oscar, I have a feeling that Amelia is in Beshya. Should we get more people to search this area?”
Oscar glanced out of the car window as he spoke. “I’ve already used all of the connections I have in Beshya. Yet, there is no news about her at all. Even I don’t have a single clue about Amelia’s whereabouts.”
“Don’t be so disappointed. You’ve always managed to achieve anything you wanted. This was just a slight mistake.” Julian patted Oscar on the shoulder to comfort him. “If we double our efforts and utilize our connections, we will be able to find Amelia and Tony in no time.”
Yet, Oscar was still disheartened. All this time, he’d kept his frustrations to himself. Unable to hold it back anymore, Oscar asked, “Julian, do you think she’s hiding on purpose?”
“Of course, she’s hiding from you. Why else would she have left? Oh, I didn’t mean it that way.” Julian quickly backtracked when he realized what he had said. “Oscar, I meant that Amelia must have wanted a change of environment. Don’t overthink it, all right?”
Oscar smiled wryly and said nothing else.
Once they arrived at the airport, Oscar strode in with his hands in his pockets. On the other hand, Julian went to print out their tickets.
As they waited in the departure lounge, Julian nudged Oscar. “Oscar, stop being so moody. This isn’t the end of our search. Are you really so miserable that you can’t even talk to me? Cheer up!”
“I’m just trying to think of the places where Amelia could have gone. Julian, where do you think she will go? I even sent my men to patrol Saspiuburg, but they don’t have any news about her. It means that she must still be in Saspiuburg. Where on earth could she be?” Oscar mumbled under his breath.
He’d already contacted everyone he knew to help with Amelia’s search. Despite exhausting all of his resources, it was as if she had vanished into thin air.
“If she wanted to disappear, she must have either escaped into the wilderness or rural villages. There’s a possibility that Amelia fled overseas too. Maybe she is hiding in some villas. Nevertheless, I don’t think we should comb through the wealthy districts, right?”
Julian’s off-handed remark cleared up Oscar’s mind.
Immediately, his eyes lit up with joy. “Julian, you’ve finally contributed something useful to this search!” Oscar exclaimed excitedly.
When Julian heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched. What does he mean? I’ve always been helping him with this investigation!
“What came to your mind?” Julian asked.
“Before this, I only paid attention to trains, airplanes, and boats. The idea of searching through the wealthy districts totally slipped my mind. It’s all thanks to you that I remember it!” It was as if the stormy clouds around Oscar had cleared up. This new revelation had brightened his mood.
“I wasn’t being serious about it. Are you sure you want to go through with this plan?”
“No, your words make sense. Both Amelia and Tiffany aren’t ordinary citizens. Furthermore, Kurt has tagged along with them. After working for me in the past few years, I’m sure Kurt has saved up a small fortune. They can afford to purchase a villa in one of the wealthy districts. I should start investigating these districts right away. I’m sure I’ll find a solid lead!” Even if Amelia abandoned me, she would never do anything to make Tony suffer. It means that she wouldn’t bring Tony to a place that wouldn’t guarantee his safety, such as rural villages. I know her like the back of my hand. She would never put Tony at such a risk!
“Oscar, are you being serious?” Julian gaped at him in disbelief.
Oscar nodded in response.
“Do you know how big Chanaea is? This country is made up of countless provinces. Moreover, Chanaea has a large population of wealthy citizens. How long is it going take for you to search every single province?” Julian asked.
“No matter how long it takes, I’ll never give up. If I don’t have enough men to conduct this search, I will request help from the police department. As long as I pay them, they will do anything for me. I am sure I’ll find Amelia one day. Even if it takes years, I’m willing to continue looking for her.” A look of determination flitted across Oscar’s gaze as he spoke.
Julian glanced at Oscar in admiration. I don’t think I could ever be as determined as him. His undying love for Amelia is beyond my understanding.
Since they both came from wealthy families, Julian had grown up with Oscar. There was no denying Oscar’s fearsome capability as a businessman. Yet, he was very cold. Julian and his friends used to joke that Oscar’s love life would be non-existent unless he had a soulmate. After all, Oscar prioritized work above everything else. Much to everyone’s surprise, the workaholic started having a relationship with Cassie. Unfortunately, she merely used him for her own benefit before she backed out from the wedding. In the blink of an eye, Oscar ended up marrying Amelia, who he only met a handful of times. Their sudden marriage was a topic of hot debate amongst the elites. Many people assumed that they would get a divorce soon. However, Oscar and Amelia’s marriage lasted for five years. In this period of time, Julian had witnessed Oscar’s gradual change as he began to fall in love with Amelia.
None of them had expected the stoic Oscar Clinton to have developed such a deep infatuation with his wife.
Such devotion was so astonishing that they felt embarrassed.
After all, people like them loved to fathom Oscar’s love life and dying to make fun of him. However, his dedication to Amelia had proved them wrong.
Julian gave Oscar a thumbs up. “You have my respect. Remember when we used to tease you by saying that you’d be the last person in our group to marry? We even joked that you would only enter a marriage of convenience. Yet, you ended up marrying a woman with ordinary family background and stayed together with her for five whole years. Even after everything that has happened, you have not given up on her. I’m afraid I can never live up to your devotion and determination.”
“Don’t phrase it that way.”
Now that Oscar’s mood had lightened, they amiably chatted until it was time to board the plane. As Oscar shut down his phone, he missed a call from an unknown number. Even after the plane had landed, he ignored the call, thinking that the caller must have gotten the wrong number. Because of this, Oscar had missed Amelia’s call. She had called him at the break of dawn. Although she didn’t have his contact saved, she had memorized his number. When her call went to voicemail without ringing, a look of utter disappointment crossed her face.
“Oscar, I just wanted to hear your voice…” she mumbled as she cradled the phone close to her chest. “Why did you turn off your phone? Did you know how much courage I had to muster to call you?”
When Tiffany awoke, Amelia’s dazed look caught her by surprise, even more so when she noticed the phone in Amelia’s grip. “Babe, what’s the matter? Why do you have your phone with you? Are you planning to call someone?”
Amelia finally returned to her senses. “I’m fine. I just had trouble sleeping. Did I disturb you?” she rambled in panic.
Upon seeing the look of alarm on her friend’s face, Tiffany felt an inkling of suspicion. “Babe, let me keep your phone. It’s late and you should try to get some sleep.”
After a moment of hesitation, Amelia handed over her phone. When Tiffany glanced at the screen, she caught sight of the contact name “Oscar.” Immediately, she glanced at Amelia thoughtfully. Nonetheless, Tiffany did not bring it up.
Tiffany placed the phone on the shelf and said to Amelia, “You should sleep. Don’t forget your appointment with Mr. Jackman tomorrow. Your state of health has improved after receiving his treatment. You have also stopped waking up so frequently at midnight. If this continues, the blood clots in your brain will begin to disperse. It won’t take long for you to regain your eyesight!”
Amelia, who was still disappointed that Oscar hadn’t picked up her call, merely nodded her head half-heartedly in response.
“Go to sleep. Don’t overthink it, all right? Even if you are suffering now, things are taking a better turn.” Amelia didn’t press her for any more details.
Without another word, Amelia laid on the bed and closed her eyes. Yet, she felt as if she had been bewitched by a spell. Even after Amelia shut her eyes, Oscar’s images continued to plague her mind. Although they’d divorced, and she even abandoned him without an explanation, she still couldn’t forget him. Amelia once assumed that Oscar would fade away from her memories. On the contrary, her memory of him remained crystal clear. She even dreamt of Oscar every night. In her dreams, he would treat her with warmth and tenderness. Then, he would eventually interrogate her in a cold voice. Why did you take Tony away? How could you deprive me of the right to see my child?
Eventually, Amelia would wake up drenched in cold sweat. Following the nightmares, she often had great difficulty falling asleep again.
Dreaming about him is like a drug. Once I’ve got a taste of it, I can’t help but get addicted to it.
As Oscar continued to haunt her dreams, Amelia found herself longing for him even more. Despite the painful memories, she could not stop herself from missing him. Furthermore, she could not bring herself to forget about him at all. Deep down, she still yearned to hear Oscar’s voice.
It felt as if someone had cast her under a magic spell and bewitched her to miss him.
