She licked her parched lips and said with her head bowed, “Mr. Clinton, I don’t wish to create a scene with you here either, but can you at least give me a sign when you’re going to divorce me?” Oscar’s eyes swirled with mixed emotions. After a long moment of silence, he voiced, “Have you fallen in love with me?” Amelia’s heart squeezed in her chest, and she looked up at him. “If I say yes, you’d directly shut down this train of thought, wouldn’t you?” Oscar’s response was to lift his hand and caress her cheek. “Don’t overthink things. Since we’re both here, let’s have lunch together later. We haven’t eaten together for two to three days now. How’s our baby doing? Giving you any trouble?”
Amelia’s eyes reddened, and her voice carried a hint of grievance when she spoke. “So you still remember that I’m carrying your child.” Oscar was slightly at a loss. His eyes filled with tender affection when he gazed at her. “You and your wild imagination.” He was about to say something else when his phone rang. Both he and Amelia stiffened at the same time. The latter quickly reined back her emotions and remarked, “That must be Ms. Yard. She really does care about you. You’ve only been away for a while, but she’s already calling you. Ms. Yard doesn’t look like she’s fooling around. On the contrary, she seems to love you to the moon and back. She puts even me, your legal wife, to shame.”
Oscar’s face visibly darkened, but he still answered the call. “Hello.” Cassie’s voice drifted over the phone. “Oz, where are you? Aren’t you only collecting the medicine? What’s taking you so long?” Impatience flashed across the man’s features. “I’ll be back in a short while, Cassie. Don’t worry.” “Have you gone back, Oz?” Oscar toned down his temper and reassured, “No. I just ran into an acquaintance at the hospital, and we talked for a while. Stop overthinking things.” Upon hearing his explanation, alarm bells started ringing in Cassie’s head. “Is your friend a male or a female?
Which floor are you on? I’ll go look for you. I want to get to know your friend too.” Irritation swelled in Oscar’s heart. If it were a few years back, he might have found Cassie’s temperamental ways adorable and would still accommodate her. But at present, her possessive streak was bordering on crazy that even he, as a man, found it unbearable. He felt as though he was floating in the middle of the sea. Cassie’s possessiveness resembled the surging waves bashing against him, threatening to pull him under. “That’s enough, Cassie. I’ll go back after half an hour,” Oscar told her in a stern tone.
“Do you find me annoying, Oz?” Oscar raised his hand to massage his temples and lowered his voice, “Cassie, stop it, okay? Apart from taking care of you, I still have a company to manage. I’m exhausted too, you know? Can you give me some degree of personal space? I don’t like the way you watch my every single step. You know I’ve always hated being controlled by others.” Panic rose in Cassie’s heart, and she immediately softened her tone. “Oz, I’m not trying to control you. I was just worried because you didn’t come back for such a long time. I thought something happened to you.” A trace of weariness entered Oscar’s eyes, but he matched her tone. “I just met a friend. That’s it.”
After offering her a few more words of comfort, he finally hung up the call. Oscar kept his phone in his trouser pocket and glanced at Amelia, colliding gazes with her. The first thing she said was, “Are you having a hard time taking care of Ms. Yard?” Oscar rubbed his temples again as he replied, “Women are complicated creatures. Cassie used to be very innocent. Although she can get stubborn at times, deep down, she’s still a kind person.” In other words, she had become too defiant for her own good, and he was almost at his wits’ end. Amelia suggested, “Mr. Clinton, have you ever considered the fact that five years can change a person entirely?”
Oscar pressed his lips together in contemplation. Faced with his silence, Amelia added, “I’m not trying to sow discord between you and Ms. Yard. It’s just that you both were separated for five years and only recently reconciled. Are you so certain that she’s still the person you once thought she was?” Oscar shot her a fleeting glance, then caressed her cheek and mused, “Worrying about your husband already?” Disappointment flashed in Amelia’s eyes. “You should go now, Mr. Clinton, before Ms. Yard comes looking for you. Besides, it’s inappropriate of us to talk here while the Scotts are still waiting outside the operating room.” Oscar’s eyes darted to the operating room before he reminded, “Let’s have lunch together in a bit.”
Amelia didn’t give him a straight answer, saying instead, “We can talk about it when you really have the time.” Oscar cupped her face and used his thumb to gently stroke her cheek before whispering, “Don’t think too much about it.” Having said that, he turned to leave. Amelia was left rooted to the spot, but she was thrown by the glint in his eyes earlier. She was an emotional wreck because of him. He was distant and aloof one second, then warm and passionate another.
The apparent adoration in his eyes just now seemed to say that he only had eyes for her and that other women meant nothing, let alone had the ability to pose a threat. Being with him was an emotional roller coaster; that was an understatement. Amelia muttered under her breath, “You keep telling me not to think too much, but how I am supposed to do that when you keep switching between hot and cold?” She shook her head to clear her mind and returned to the operating room. The Scotts were no longer repulsed by her like before. Even Faye came forward to take her hand.
“Amelia, I’m very sorry for misunderstanding you before. You seem to have a good relationship with Mr. Clinton. I’m grateful to you for saving Carter’s life. Just come to me if you need anything in the future. I’ll help you in any way I can. I was narrow-minded before, that’s why I thought you hadn’t gotten over him.” Amelia offered her a decent smile and said, “It’s fine, Mrs. Scott. I’ve never blamed you.” In fact, she knew why Faye was suddenly being nice to her. It was partly because Carter showed signs of waking up after she spoke to him, but mostly because of Oscar.
Even though the Scotts were wealthy, the Clintons were still more superior to them. In addition, Oscar had the trust of most people in the business circle, so Faye wanted to get in his good books through Amelia. “Look at you, being all formal with me. Just call me Faye. I think I’ll take you in as my goddaughter. From now on, you can consider Carter your brother. I’ll make sure he takes good care of you,” Faye blurted out that wild idea. Amelia shot her an odd look. Jack came forward to put an arm around Faye and pulled her back slightly. “My dear, tone it down, or you might scare her. Besides, Carter is still in the operating room, so let’s focus on the problem at hand.” Only then did Faye regain her composure.
She pushed the stray strands of hair from her face and said apologetically, “I’m terribly sorry, Amelia. I just got too excited. Once Carter is all recovered and gets discharged, I’ll personally cook a feast and invite you and Mr. Clinton over. Since you’re my goddaughter, Mr. Clinton is naturally my godson.” Amelia courteously replied, “Mrs. Scott, let’s talk about all this later. The most important thing is Carter waking up. I don’t think anything else matters as much.” Faye’s expression turned slightly grim, but she quickly schooled her features and smiled. “You’re right. Once Carter wakes up, I’ll tell him to thank you properly.” “You’re too kind, Mrs. Scott. I didn’t do anything much. Carter’s condition wasn’t all that severe, to begin with.”
Faye forced a smile onto her face but didn’t say anything else. Everyone waited outside the operating room for nearly two hours before the indicator above the doors finally switched off. When several doctors and nurses exited the room, Faye immediately dashed forward to ask, “Doctors, how’s my son?” The lead doctor assured her with a smile, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Scott. Your son is out of danger. He should be able to wake up tomorrow.” Faye almost passed out from happiness and relief. “Really?” The doctor nodded in affirmation. When three nurses wheeled Carter out, Faye rushed forward again, but one of the nurses stopped her. “Madam, please calm down. Allow us to take the patient back to his ward first.”
Realizing her recklessness, Faye retreated and let them pass. As they wheeled him back to his ward, Faye trailed closely behind them with the rest of the family excitedly following along. Meanwhile, Jennifer glanced at Amelia, who stood motionless, and queried, “Aren’t you coming?” Amelia caressed her belly and shook her head. “No. I’m happy Carter’s waking up soon, but I’m not going to stick around.” Jennifer looked at her with a complicated expression. Even though she was standing tall and proud, her eyes displayed the unspeakable pain in her heart. She glanced in the direction the Scotts had left before admitting in a soft voice, “I envy you, Amelia.” Amelia’s brows raised slightly.
Jennifer shrugged in response and elaborated in a bitter tone, “In my opinion, I’m in no way inferior to you, be it in appearance, body, family background, or education. Yet, you’re the one Carter fell in love with. I can tell he loves you with everything in him. More often than none, a woman’s intuition is spot-on. That’s why I hate you so much. Even though you woke him up, that’s not going to change. I used to be very confident in myself; I was confident that no man could escape my charm. Carter is the first. To him, I’m merely a woman who doesn’t deserve a second glance.” Amelia met her gaze and stated steely, “You’re an exceptional woman.” Jennifer tossed her curly hair behind her shoulder and returned to being an insufferable snob.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Amelia was rendered speechless by the woman’s arrogance, but she couldn’t help finding her pitiful. Jennifer said in a self-assured manner, “Even though you’re the one Carter loves now, I believe that he’ll fall in love with me in the end. I’ll never give up, and I hope you’ll guard your own family well and keep from bothering him.” Amelia good-naturedly replied, “Congratulations in advance, then. Just like you’ve said, I have my own family and also a child on the way, so it’s basically impossible between Carter and I, which means I pose no threat to you.”
Jennifer lifted her chin and proposed, “You should still come to see Carter. Even though I really don’t want to see you, what choice do I have, since you’re all he ever wants to see? I’m sure you’d be the first thing he’d wanna see upon opening his eyes.” Amelia shook her head to reject that suggestion. “No, thanks. I should leave for lunch now. I don’t want my baby to go hungry.” Jennifer nodded in understanding at that.
Amelia swiveled on her heels to leave, but the woman then called out from behind, “Amelia, no matter what, you have my gratitude.” Amelia halted in her steps. “Amelia, I really hate you, but if Carter insists on seeing you, I hope you’ll come and visit him. I really do love him, and the last thing I’d wanna see is him getting hurt.”
