Amelie raised her head and noticed a woman running toward them, holding a child in one hand and a shopping bag in the other.
When she reached them, she tossed the shopping bag aside and hugged the little girl, her eyes flushed.
The woman was obviously here to shop.
It appeared that she couldn't chase down the little girl earlier because she had too many things with her, which led to what had just happened.
After reprimanding the little girl, the woman repeatedly thanked Amelie and gave her two apples before leaving.
Amelie was lost for words as she looked at the two apples.
She originally refused to accept them, but the woman insisted.
Thus, she had no choice but to walk back to the bridal store with the apples in her hands.
Just as she was about to reach the store, someone ran past Amelie and slammed her shoulder forcefully, rendering her unstable. The apples in her hands fell to the ground.
Amelie wanted to rebuke the person who had knocked her, but when she turned around, she saw a beautiful woman wearing heavy makeup with a pregnant belly.
Noticing that she was pregnant, Amelie couldn't bring herself to lecture her.
Hence, she waited for the woman to walk past her before bending down to pick up the apples.
"I'm pregnant, Mr. Alston." She heard someone say at this point.
Amelie raised her head and noticed a car parked along the road.
The pregnant woman earlier stood by the car door, touched her large belly, and continued, "It's yours."
Although Amelie's vision was blocked by the woman, she still saw the bright leather shoes stepping out of the car, and it was followed by a pair of extremely long legs.
The next moment, the person stepped on the ground with both feet and stood upright.
He was much taller than the woman, hence his attractive face and solemn expression were revealed to Amelie.
It's Leo!
Leo's sudden appearance caught Amelie by surprise, causing her hands, which were picking the apples, to stop halfway.
She hadn't seen him in over two years, but he showed no signs of aging at all. His face remained fair and flawless, and there wasn't a single wrinkle in sight.
Leo, on the other hand, lowered his indifferent gaze, his lips folding into a line as he looked at the pregnant woman in front of him.
His gaze was completely emotionless. There was no happiness, no rage, nothing.
When the woman saw this, she nervously shrank her body and wrapped her arms around her belly. Cautiousness appeared in her eyes. "I'm already seven months along. The baby will be born soon."
Leo did not say anything in response. Instead, he retracted his gaze and raised his right hand abruptly.
The woman immediately assumed that he was about to do something to her. She was so terrified that her expression changed as she quickly took a big step backward and yelled, "Mr. Alston, I left an important piece of evidence with a friend before I came here. If you dare to hurt me or my child, my friend will immediately expose the evidence. I have no control over what happens next!"
Even though she was threatening him, her body was trembling.
If she was rational enough, she should have known that Leo had a thousand ways to deal with her.
It would be easy for him to let her disappear without anyone knowing it.
But it was human nature to be willing to take risks, even though the chance of getting what one desired was slim.
And it was precisely this mindset that drove the woman to look for Leo today.
However, at this instant, she was terrified.
I'm still young, and I have a long way to go. What if I lose my life just because of this moment of greed…
"Give her 1.5 million." Just as the woman was about to back down, she heard Leo's cold voice saying so.
"What?" She couldn't believe her ears.
When she regained her senses, a check was already in front of her.
It was handed to her by an unfamiliar face, which was most likely Leo's assistant. "Take care of the baby, miss," he advised.
"You… Are you saying that you want me and the child?" The woman accepted the check and looked at Leo, surprised at how smoothly everything had gone.
Is Lady Luck smiling upon me?
"I want the child, but not you," Leo replied coldly. He didn't even raise his head to look the woman in the eyes, instead focusing on tidying his collar.
His tone and expression were indifferent as if he were simply having a casual conversation about the weather.
That rendered the woman speechless.
"How could you be so cruel to me?" the woman screamed angrily, her tears streaming down her cheeks. "Mr. Alston, we used to be so close. You can't treat me this way..."
Since the 1.5 million was too easy to obtain, the woman's greed grew as her previous thoughts arose.
I want to marry Leo!
She hugged Leo after speaking and said, "Mr. Alston, I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave the baby behind either..."
Leo, however, completely ignored her and only gave the bodyguard a sidelong glance.
The bodyguard immediately approached them and pulled the woman away.
"Send her somewhere where the baby will be safe." The man's cold voice sounded again.
He then buttoned his left cuff and his right. Following that, he slipped his hands into his pockets and walked away, brushing past the woman.
"You can't treat me like this, Leo Alston! If you dare to do so, I will make my pregnancy public!" the woman yelled as if she was losing control.
Seeing this, the assistant approached her and said, "You are not the first woman to threaten Mr. Alston with the child, and Mr. Alston treats everyone who does this equally. Take the 1.5 million, give birth to the child, and leave, or expose everything with nothing to gain. Choose wisely."
"I…" The woman's hysterical expression quickly changed as her fingers clutched the check tightly.
The assistant understood her decision and nodded to the bodyguard.
The woman said nothing more and simply followed the bodyguard into the car as well.
Amelie, on the other hand, had been squatting on the ground the entire time, witnessing everything. No one noticed her because she was obscured by the nearby flower beds.
She only stood up when she saw the car driving away and Leo entering the supermarket.
When she heard Julia talking about Leo's personal life previously, she couldn't bring herself to believe it. However, now that she had witnessed it for herself, she finally realized that Leo had indeed changed.
He now played with all kinds of women, did not take preventive measures properly, and when things went wrong, he only wanted the child, not the mother.
Amelie couldn't make any connections between the Leo she had just seen and the man she remembered.
When she returned to the bridal store, Julia had already chosen the gown that she liked and was discussing with the manager the modifications that needed to be made.
Seeing Amelie walk in, Julia blinked and asked, "Where have you been? I've only been in for a short while, but you were nowhere to be found when I came out."
"I didn't go anywhere," Amelie answered vaguely. She did not tell Julia about what had happened earlier.
Julia was so focused on the gown that she didn't notice anything different about Amelie.
After exiting the store, Julia took Amelie's arm and said, "I'm suddenly nervous about getting married."
She then patted her chest as if she were incredibly feeling nervous. "Let's have some fun before I get married."
The wedding was scheduled for three days later, so they didn't have much time.
Samuel was the one who wanted the wedding to be held as soon as possible.
After all, they had been dragging their relationship for so long, and he couldn't wait to marry Julia now.
"Have some fun? What do you have in mind?" Amelie did not want to entertain Julia's insane idea and instead pinched her cheek. "You'll get a lecture from Samuel if he finds out!"
Samuel was the only person who could lecture Julia.
Julia, being a person with a wild temperament, became submissive whenever she was with him.
Remembering Samuel's way of lecturing her all this time, Julia blushed, and her ears became red.
However, she insisted and said, "That won't happen. He's been extremely busy recently and has no time for me."
Then, without even considering Amelie's willingness, Julia dragged her to a bar.
She even chose a vivacious bar to go to. When they both walked in, they were immediately overwhelmed by loud rock music.
Many young men and women were dancing enthusiastically on stage.
Given Julia's identity and the fact that she was about to get married, Amelie insisted on dragging Julia to a private room.
The room was far from the stage, and they could only see it through an open window.
"It's not interesting at all to just watch them but not join." Julia sighed, placing her chin in her palm.
"You should be content with this," Amelie said after hearing Julia's whine, her head lowered as she fiddled with her phone.
"Look! There's a hottie over there!" Julia suddenly grabbed Amelie's arm and exclaimed in exaggeration.
Amelie nearly dropped her phone due to Julia's actions, so she had no choice but to raise her head and look in that direction as well.
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