Since She Met Lucian novel Chapter 74

"I'm telling you now, Kent. If you so much as dare make a decision without my knowledge, you'll face consequences!" Melissa's words were still ringing in Kent's ears when she hurried to the elevator.

And although the words were not addressed to her, it was Amelia who felt the sting of those words as soon as the elevator doors closed.

"It's almost five," Amelia said. "I need to talk to you. Do you have time after work?" Amelia never thought of the office as the proper place to be asking colleagues about personal affairs, so she thought it best to talk to Kent elsewhere.

"I know that you and Courtney are good friends," Kent began, facing Amelia. "Before you reached out, I was actually thinking of talking to you." Amelia could see that Kent was struggling to turn his frown into a relaxed smile.

"You didn't change your number, did you? I'll call you after work." Deep down, Amelia knew that she was angry, but one look at Kent's worried expression seemed to vanish her feelings of hate.

"I'll call you later," Kent repeated before he himself entered the elevator.

Amelia realized that she'd been out for too long. She quickly turned back to head to her desk, her face contorted into an expression of confusion, anger, and hurt. She forced a smile when she saw Lucian looking at her. "Sorry," she meekly said, "I left my post without permission."

"I'll ask Frank to drive you home." Lucian's reply was cool but quick. He got up, adjusted his coat, and grabbed his suitcase, reaching for the door.

"So, are you doing anything tonight?" Amelia hesitantly asked. She knew the answer to her question. She had already heard the conversation between Sasha and him, but she couldn't keep herself from asking.

"Yes," Lucian replied curtly before looking at Amelia with the gentlest of eyes. "I'll head out soon. I just have a few more things to attend to."

He didn't say much and Amelia didn't want to press.

"Okay," she said. "I'm sorry, it's nothing. Go, finish up." Turning her head back to her desk, she realized that it was five minutes to five and she was supposed to meet up with Kent after work.

Lucian left Amelia to her thoughts. She was packing her things up when her phone began to ring. She picked it up and answered, "Yes?"

"I'll meet you downstairs." It was Kent. Amelia shoved her things inside her bag and hurried to the elevator.

Stepping out of the Zhan Group building, it was Frank who first caught Amelia's attention. He was waiting by the car as instructed. The man smiled at her. "Mrs. Amelia, Mr. Lucian asked me to drive you home," he politely said.

Amelia realized that she forgot to inform Frank of her plans for the night. "I'm sorry, Frank. There's, uh, something I have to deal with right now. I'll just take a cab home."

"But Mr. Lucian made strict orders for me to drive for you," Frank protested. "I have to inform him once you're home." Frank looked worried.

"I'll explain everything to Lucian," Amelia reassured Frank. "Don't worry."

"Well, if you say so." Frank looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself midway. Instead, he bid Amelia goodbye and drove off.

Kent watched the car go before approaching Amelia.

"There's a coffee shop across the street," Amelia said. "Let's talk there." "Did you call Courtney?" Amelia asked. She walked ahead of him towards the cafe.

"Yes, she's on her way here," Kent replied. He couldn't look at Amelia as both of them headed towards the shop.

Entering the cafe, Amelia scanned the room for an empty seat. She quickly found one and waved for coffee. There was a moment of silence between the two until Amelia spoke. "As for Courtney..." she began. "Don't you love her?"

She was scared of the answer, but she was determined to know the whole truth. She knew she had to ask questions point blank.

"I do. I still love her." Kent looked earnest, and Amelia thought she saw love in his eyes.

"Then, how would you define your relationship with Melissa?" Amelia asked. She withdrew her eyes from Kent and looked down instead on the cup of coffee the waiter placed in front of her.

It was difficult to understand. If Kent loved Courtney, how did he get involved with another woman?

Kent covered his face in shame. "Amelia," his voice cracked, "I'm a bastard! You can't imagine how sorry I am for what I did." Kent knew for a fact that he was truly in love with Courtney, so it was hard for him to put his mind around the fact that it was he who caused her pain. It broke his heart to acknowledge it.

"Please," Amelia said, reaching for Kent's hands. "Tell me what happened." Anyone watching would see that Kent's expressions were the complete opposite of Amelia's. While Kent was distraught, Amelia was quiet and collected.

A slow jazz music was playing in the coffee shop, but not even its melody could soothe Kent's anguish.

Kent didn't have the courage to confess everything to Courtney. He thought for a long time before finally exclaiming in resignation, "I've done what I've done. There's no point in talking about it anymore. We're over."

Amelia couldn't understand how Kent could have thought this, and his expression didn't convey much.

"Do you really want to see Courtney cry? Do you want her to beg you for answers down on her knees? Is that what you want?" Amelia asked. Courtney was never one to leave without all of the answers. Amelia knew that Courtney wouldn't stop until she'd learned everything.

In Courtney's own words, she would die if she must, but she would get the whole picture. Amelia knew what her friend was like, and yet she believed that Kent knew Courtney better than she did.

"I will only hurt her if I tell her the truth." Amelia could tell that Kent felt hopeless and that he didn't want to drag out the pain by having to explain himself.

"No one knows what would happen if you explained your side! It's not over yet," Amelia protested. "Things could still turn around." Amelia tried to cheer Kent up, but even she doubted the words which came out of her mouth in a murmur.

She was going to speak again when a familiar figure appeared beside them.

"Courtney!" Kent leapt out of his seat and reached out to hold Courtney, but the latter was quick to push him away.

Fortunately for Amelia, Courtney had not gone too far. She caught up and seized her by the arm before allowing herself to catch her breath.

That's when she saw that for all her anger and threats, Courtney's eyes were red from crying. Amelia couldn't think of anything to say for she was overcome with emotions herself. "Amelia," Courtney said, choking back tears. "Didn't you say that Kent and I were meant to be together? Why did we just break up?"

Amelia didn't know how to respond. She remembered saying those words to her friend, but even she found it difficult to make sense of it in light of everything that had happened. She held Courtney in her arms, but this gesture only prompted Courtney to sob louder.

"Answer me!" Courtney cried. "Do you think I'm pathetic?" The words out of her mouth strengthened Courtney's resolve. She picked herself up from Amelia's embrace and tried to laugh bitterly. "It's fine. I'm fine. It's good that he's gone. It's better this way, because I'm tired of holding on to him."

Courtney wiped the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand, but Amelia knew that deep down, Courtney's heart was breaking.

She felt nothing but empathy for her friend. Who would want to show their weak and vulnerable side to others?

"Let's go!" Amelia dragged Courtney by the arm. "Let's have dinner. You must be hungry." Amelia scanned the area for the nearest restaurant. She wanted to take Courtney's mind off of what happened. Maybe food would do the trick.

Courtney shook her head and forced a smile. "Mom and Dad were so happy to see me back. They're probably waiting for me."

Amelia didn't want to force Courtney to do something she didn't want, so she agreed, "All right. I'll drive you home."

"You don't have to. I have a driver waiting for me." Courtney gestured to the luxury car parked a few steps back.

Amelia walked Courtney to the car and helped her in. She watched the car drive off before walking away, relieved that she no longer had to watch her friend deal with the pain of a broken heart.

But she couldn't take her mind off of what happened. Her thoughts were still with Courtney, so much so that she couldn't feel hunger even though it had been hours since she last ate anything.

Walking aimlessly, she turned a corner and stopped in front of a small flower shop. She didn't even realize but her gaze was transfixed on a white lily.

She had never been one to buy flowers, but she found herself walking away with a bouquet.

The faint fragrance of the lily made her heart swell. Feeling a little better, she prayed to God for Courtney to feel better soon.

Amelia made her way back to SJ Garden in a taxi. She was recollecting herself when she realized that Lucian wouldn't be at home. She remembered the conversation between him and Sasha. She replayed the conversation over and over in her head and the more her thoughts dwelled on them, the more upset she grew. She kept on thinking about their meeting and imagining the things they were talking about.

When she finally arrived at SJ Garden, Lily smiled at her and motioned for her to come to the dining room. "Mrs. Amelia, I had just finished setting the table for dinner. Come and have some food."

Amelia realized that it was already past seven, which was an hour later than when Lily would usually serve dinner. But although it was a little different from what she'd used to, she didn't bother asking about it. It was probably nothing.

Amelia smiled back at Lily as she deposited the flowers she just bought into a vase and filled it with water. The sorrow that she felt moments earlier was lifted. She was inexplicably happy; she was smiling ear to ear.