Amelie turned around to see Elyse sitting in a wheelchair with a smile on her face. Someone was pushing her up the hill. Elyse was dressed in a long, white dress that perfectly covered her leg that was in a cast. She had natural-looking makeup on her face that made her seem especially mesmerizing.
Amelie snapped back to reality—as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her—when she saw Elyse. What’s wrong with me? Leo and Elyse are about to start a new family. Wouldn’t I cause more problems for Leo if I brought up the past? He might have caused me problems by forgetting about me, but what would I gain from causing him problems now?
“You guys should enjoy yourselves.” Amelie excused herself and headed down the hill without any hesitation. Amelie figured that Elyse’s presence would bring her a lot of unnecessary issues, so Amelie decided not to head back with the rest of the group. She hailed a cab for herself instead.
Amelie wheeled Bria over to the side of the road before she used an application on her phone to book a cab. The nursing home was in a rather secluded area, so it was hard for her to get a cab there. She requested one but didn’t get an offer for a long while. Right then, a seven-seater Cayenne pulled up in front of them.
The man inside the car lowered his window to reveal his icy face. “Get in,” the familiar-looking man said to Amelie. She let out a scoff when she saw who it was. “It’s fine.” She rejected him in a polite tone. Leo knitted his brows together upon hearing her words.
“There’s no need to be polite with us, Miss Dillon. Let’s head off together.” Another person stuck her head out of the car window in the back. It was Elyse, and she was wearing a huge and innocent-looking smile on her face. If Amelie hadn’t seen Elyse’s true colors, she might have thought that Elyse was genuinely a nice person.
“It’s hard to get a cab here, and you might have to wait for a long while. You might be fine with waiting, but I’m not sure about Bria,” Elyse uttered. Amelie stared at Elyse silently. Bria and I wouldn’t have to be in this tough situation if you hadn’t shown up, Amelie thought to herself. There were other families who were heading down the hill after planting their trees, and things would get worse if those families passed by and saw Amelie standing around with Elyse in the car.
Amelie finally nodded before lifting Bria into her arms. “Let’s take Daddy’s car home.” Leo’s driver rushed out of the car to help store the wheelchair in the boot. Amelie initially wanted to take the driver’s seat so that she wouldn’t have to see the couple in action, but she couldn’t do so as Bria was too young to sit in front. Amelie was contemplating her next move when Leo got out of the car.
“You should sit in front, Leony. I hope you don’t mind,” Elyse uttered from inside the car. She gave him an apologetic look after that. Amelie eyed both of them speechlessly. This wasn’t the first time Amelie witnessed how obedient Leo was to Elyse, but Amelie still felt disgusted every time she saw the way they interacted.
Amelie tried her best to keep herself invisible throughout the car ride. Bria didn’t seem to be in a good mood either—she kept quiet throughout the whole ride, with her hands clinging onto her mother’s arms and her head buried in her mother’s chest. Bria pouted the entire time. It was obvious that Bria was hurt by Elyse’s sudden appearance.
Amelie felt sorry for her daughter, so she patted Bria’s back gently to comfort her. Bria pulled one of her hands away from Amelie to press it against her own belly, creating a barrier between herself and Amelie. This was one of Bria’s signature moves—she often did this when she was feeling down or insecure. Amelie felt rather sad for Bria, so she lowered her head to press her cheek against Bria’s hair. I tried so hard to make sure that Bria wouldn’t be hurt by me and Leo’s divorce, but things still turned out like this.
The car was silent throughout their one-hour drive back to Amelie’s housing area. Bria was fast asleep by the time they arrived, and Amelie tried to carry Bria out of the car without waking her up. “Please help me get the wheelchair,” Amelie whispered to the driver.
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