"Amelia, you're the one I love..." He stopped and said in a low and deep voice. His voice seeped with emotion.
Amelia trembled and looked at Lucian in disbelief. She shook her head and said, "No, we won't. We just..."
Lucian covered her mouth with his again but only briefly. He released her and said seriously, "We're not in a fake marriage anymore. We're in a real relationship. We're husband and wife."
"But.. But what about Sasha?" As much as she didn't want to meddle into their relationship, she had to. She too had feelings for Lucian and his confession both terrified her and made her happy.
Why did Lucian say he loved her? Everything felt so dream-like.
"Sasha and I are just friends. I can't explain to you why and how we got here but I was afraid you were too oblivious to figure out what's going on with us. I knew it was a risk but I had to tell you." This was his first time confessing his love to a woman and much to his disappointment, it wasn't received well.
Women crawled after him and this was the first time that he actually reciprocated the feelings and affection. He actually cared about her.
Only Amelia and the girl from his childhood had made him feel this way.
At this moment, all he wanted was to forget about their deal and just be in a real relationship with Amelia.
"Lucian, you had a lot of wine tonight. Why..." Amelia couldn't believe her ears. She reached out her hand to touch Lucian's forehead. Noticing that his temperature was normal, she asked in confusion, "Did you have a fight with Sasha?"
Lucian grabbed Amelia's hand and said softly, "We can do this. We can be in a real relationship. You probably need time to process all of this and you can do that. When you get home, you can think about it. But I laid out my cards tonight. I meant every word and it came from the bottom of my heart."
Then he pressed his lips against Amelia's hand. With that, he turned on the car engine and started driving again.
As he was driving, Amelia turned to look at him–his eyes were gleaming as if they were stars in the night sky.
She was still having trouble processing all of this. She couldn't believe that Lucian had actually fallen in love with her.
When they arrived at the SJ Garden, Amelia rushed upstairs and locked the door.
Finally, she was alone. After what felt like a million years of holding her breath, she rubbed her chest and took a deep breath. Thinking of the kiss still made her feel all tingly inside.
Before Lily could say anything, Amelia had already rushed upstairs.
Watching Amelia rush upstairs made Lucian grin.
"Mr. Lucian, what happened to Mrs. Amelia?" Quizzically, Lily turned her head and looked at Lucian.
Suddenly, the smile disappeared on his face and he said coldly, "If Fannie comes back, tell me right away and don't allow her to go upstairs."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lucian. I promise it won't happen again," Lily apologized.
Amelia was in such a rush that she had forgotten to take Iris's portrait with her.
After returning the portrait to its altar, Lucian made a small bow and solemnly said, "Mom, I promise to make Amelia happy."
The following morning, Amelia got up anxiously the minute her alarm rang. She quickly washed up and finished preparing in about ten minutes. When she came downstairs, she saw Lucian sitting on the sofa and leisurely drinking his coffee. She wondered if he was just as relaxed when he was working. 'I really don't understand the life of the rich.'
"Mrs. Amelia, where are you going?" Lily was confused when she saw that Amelia, with her hair tied up in a pony tail, was wearing her work clothes.
"I'm going to work!" Amelia tried her best to ignore both Lily and Lucian's gazes.
"Amelia, I practically bared my soul to you last night. What are you so nervous about?" Lucian said as he put down his coffee cup, stood up, and walked over to Amelia, a meaningful smile on his face.
With that, Amelia's face flushed again. She lowered her head and pretended she didn't hear him, focusing her attention on what she was doing—putting on her shoes.
"Sweetie, it's the weekend," Lucian said playfully.
Amelia froze upon hearing this. How embarrassing...
To save herself from the embarrassment, she raised her head. "Since it's the weekend, can I go out and relax?"
she posed decisively.
Lucian raised his eyebrows and nodded with a smile. "Of course, you can. But are you sure you want to wear those clothes?"
It wasn't until he mentioned it that she realized that she was wearing her work clothes, leaving her speechless.
'Ugh. I can't believe I did that!'
Amelia ran upstairs angrily and quickly changed her clothes. She opted for a red wool coat, a white turtleneck sweat, some black pants, and a pair of booties.
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