"I thought I'm here to celebrate and relax, not to fight. What's going on?" The man who spoke was Josiah Sekke. He was older than Ashton and Leo, so he was more mature than them. His style was similar to Leo's but not as aloof. He was the only one in their group who had left his family and had been working abroad for a long time with good results.
Ashton angrily withdrew his fist and walked into the bar. Amelie sneered at Ashton, thinking that had Josiah not intervened, she would have punched Ashton. She was more than capable of handling a rich young man like Ashton who could only talk big and was useless at everything else.
"Amelie." Josiah didn't go after Ashton but instead greeted her politely. Although Amelie knew Josiah was Leo's friend, she had only met him once or twice during events at the Alston Residence. He never stayed for more than five minutes and always seemed very busy. So, she didn't have much interaction with Josiah and didn't know much about him.
"Mr. Sekke." Since Josiah took the initiative to greet her, Amelie responded politely.
"Can we talk?" Josiah asked unexpectedly. Amelie's eyes narrowed slightly in surprise as she didn't understand why Josiah would want to talk to her. The others quickly gave them space and went into the bar first. Subsequently, Josiah gestured toward a tree.
"It's too noisy here; can we talk outside?"
Although Amelie didn't know what he wanted to talk about, she followed him outside. Josiah stopped under the tree where there was a bench. He then took out a handkerchief and wiped the bench clean before gesturing for her to sit down. Amelie hesitated for a moment as she was not used to Leo's friends being overly polite to her. In the end, she remained standing.
"Mr. Sekke, just say what you want to say."
Josiah smiled and nodded. "Let me get straight to the point, Amelie. When I came back this time, all I heard about was you. Everyone said you've changed, and you really have changed a lot."
Amelie didn't reply.
"Although I've only met you twice, and it was just for a brief moment each time, you were clearly not as sharp and confident as you are now," Josiah continued, giving Amelie a thumbs-up. Amelie smiled faintly in response to Josiah's unexpected interest in her back then.
"I also heard that Leo has changed." Josiah suddenly changed the topic. "He used to be cold and never showed weakness to anyone. But lately, he has done a lot of embarrassing things while pursuing you."
As Josiah said this, he ran his finger through his hair, which was styled with wax, and looked at Amelie meaningfully. "Honestly, when I heard those descriptions of him, I couldn't believe it was the same Leo I grew up with. Even during the most difficult times in Genesis, he never showed any weakness to anyone. Even with Elyse, it never got to this point. Amelie, I can tell that he truly loves you."
"So, Mr. Sekke, do you think that as long as he has genuine feelings for me, I should just accept him?" Amelie remained calm and saw through Josiah's intentions.
She continued, "Don't you think that it makes me look like a dog, Mr. Sekke? Should I wait obediently for my master's affection? When he decides to pamper me, should I run to him immediately?"
To put it bluntly, it meant being at someone's beck and call. She used to do that, but even if she acted like a dog, Leo never looked at her once. Looking back at her past subservience, Amelie realized how foolish she was.
Josiah was taken aback by her blunt words but still said, "Leo is a faithful man; as long as he falls in love with you, he will always treat you well. You also have a child together, so if you two can be together, that's obviously the best outcome."
Amelie looked silently at Josiah as her lips curled with a hint of speechlessness. Even elites like him couldn't escape the shackles of society.
"Mr. Sekke, you rarely live here, so you may have forgotten that marriage between a man and a woman in this country is not only related to the couple but related to the families of both sides as well. When I divorced Mr. Alston, it wasn't just because I was completely disappointed with him, but also because my child was constantly living within his family's hostility. Mr. Sekke, you think that I should reconcile with Mr. Alston because of my child, but I think that because of my child, I should not go back there."
Josiah's well-intentioned advice was turned down by Amelie, leaving him at a loss for words.
Amelie smiled faintly and said, "If you're willing to help me, Mr. Sekke, I hope you can do me a favor and persuade Mr. Alston to give up on those useless obsessions of his and let me and Bria go."
With that, she bowed politely before leaving.
Behind her, Josiah watched Amelie walk away as he pinched his chin with his long fingers. It seemed like he was convinced by her words. Well, it seems that Leo's pursuit of Amelie is bound to be a bumpy one.
Although Josiah had intended to speak well of Leo, he was not at all sorry for failing to help Leo. Instead, he decided to call Leo and put him down a bit. He was curious to see if Leo, who was more resilient than him since childhood, could be discouraged by these words.
At the Alston Residence, Melissa paced anxiously in the room. She had been waiting for the result of Michelle's meeting with Leo. Michelle had volunteered and said she liked Leo, so she wanted to go on a blind date with him. For Melissa, this was great news. Although the Walsh Family was in the midst of a family feud, they were still well-known and influential. Alfred had always favored Leo, and if Michelle married Leo, Alfred would definitely favor Scott when distributing the family's wealth and resources. This was a real top-notch alliance. With such an alliance, all the resources in Clouson City would belong to the Alston Family, and with Leo's abilities, he would not only become the trailblazer of Clouson City but also potentially the leader of the whole country.
Melissa loved reading about foreign political gossip, especially about the first ladies. They might not be involved in politics, but it was great being a woman from such a family. The more Melissa thought about it, the more excited she became, and the more she hoped that her son and Michelle would succeed in their blind date. Since Michelle hadn't called yet, it made her feel even more convinced that this was going to happen!
Unable to contain her excitement, she called out to Miss Potts, "Bring out the bottle of red wine I've been saving."
Miss Potts was surprised when she heard that Melissa wanted to drink the rare wine that was worth more than gold. In fact, Melissa had told her that the wine was too expensive to drink and had been kept in the wine cellar for many years.
"Do you have good news, Mrs. Alston?" Miss Potts couldn't help but ask.
"Of course!" Melissa was overjoyed as she expected Michelle and Leo to be having sex at this moment. If Michelle got pregnant with a child, marriage would be a sure thing.
"Hurry up!" she urged.
Miss Potts hurriedly went to get the wine, but just as she poured it for Melissa, the door was pushed open with a bang.
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