Since She Met Lucian

Chapter 22 Is It A Banter

"Come with me!" Lucian grabbed Amelia by the wrist and pulled her back to her office.

When Lucian slammed the door shut, she behaved in fear that if she got on Lucian's nerves, he'd threaten her again.

"Lucian, we're at work. Could you please... Could you please be a little more professional?" Amelia's voice trailed off.

Still, Lucian was as cold as ever. His actions touched Amelia though. As soon as she looked away, he put a cup of ice cubes in front of her.

"Why'd you put ice cubes here?" Amelia asked in surprise. She didn't see it coming so she was taken aback.

"This is the Zhan Group. You can find whatever you want here." Lucian was busy packing the ice cubes so he could press it against Amelia's swollen face.

In fact, before his meeting, he had already asked Eric to bring some ice cubes to the office. He thought that Amelia would be back from the lady's room then but she wasn't. Amelia was even grumbling.

However, upon giving it more thought, he realized that maybe Amelia had the right to be angry because it was his fault for any of this happened anyway.

"I can do it myself..." When he put the ice on her face, she took it uneasily and then lowered her eyes in embarrassment.

She was supposed to be the wronged one but for some reason, she felt as if it was she who had done something wrong.

"Apply some ointment on your face. You can't have a swollen face. It's going to affect the image of the Zhan Group." He purposely ridiculed Amelia because he still needed to go back to the meeting. He could only do that if he got on Amelia's nerves.

"The image of the Zhan Group has nothing to do with me!" She couldn't believe that he was concerned about that right now!

Lucian chuckled. He handed her a glass of water when he noticed that she was sulking. He said politely, "You went through a lot today. I'll be back in half an hour. Wait for me. I just have to wrap up the meeting."

Amelia grew nervous any time Lucian spoke to her like this—soft and gentle. She felt her face flushing.

This feeling... Could it be...

Amelia lowered her head quickly in embarrassment.

When Lucian left, she couldn't calm herself down. He was acting like the perfect gentleman and she didn't know what to make of it.

Amelia put the ice on her swollen face and smiled as she got lost in her thoughts.

Lucian was indeed back in half an hour. When he went back, he said, "Let me see."

Lucian leaned over to her, closing in the distance between them, and his peppermint scent filling her nose.

Amelia blushed at once. She lowered her head shyly and said, "Thank you for your concern. I'm much better now."

"What happened?" Lucian asked curiously when he saw the strange look on her face.

Amelia blinked several times as she tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. She looked embarrassed as she spoke in a nervous tone, "Nothing. Is it lunch time now?"

Her eyes were averting his gaze.

"Looks like you're hungry. Let's go out for lunch." With a smile on his face, Lucian gave the ice cubes to Amelia and reminded her, "Apply it to your face while we're walking so it won't swell tomorrow."

Amelia wasn't even hungry. She just said she wanted to eat because she couldn't stand being stared at by Lucian like that. Initially, she assumed that Lucian was only joking with her but he seemed serious so she said,

"I think I should just stay here. I mean, look at my face..."

"Amelia, do you really think that you can affect the image of the Zhan Group?" Lucian joked.

Amelia bit her lip and shook her head.

"Well, I don't have anything else to do this afternoon. Let me drive you home." Seeing her swollen face, Lucian felt a little sorry.

'Has he really changed today? Why is he being so nice?'

Amelia was in deep thought when she heard Lucian speak, "Don't be so touched. I just didn't want to feel guilty. Besides, it was my mother who hit you. You'll still get your salary for the entire day and I'm also going to cover the medical fees. Do you think that's enough?"

"Okay!" Amelia agreed. She felt much better now that he put it this way.

After leaving the office, Amelia was first taken to the hospital for outpatient care. She was prescribed some painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Before leaving, Lucian asked the doctor whether Amelia

needed to be hospitalized. Upon hearing this, Amelia glared at him. To her, Lucian was just making a fuss out of nothing.

"Have you ever been sick? If I get hospitalized for such a trivial thing, can you imagine how many hospitals they're going to have to build around the country?" Amelia said as soon as they got in the car.

"Amelia, I was only concerned about you. Just don't be so defiant next time," Lucian warned as he glanced at Amelia. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Oh my God! This man!

Shaking her head in disapproval, Amelia turned to the other side to ignore him.

"Your phone's ringing," Lucian suddenly said, his tone icy as ever.

Amelia turned to find her phone only to realize that she'd left it at the office earlier. Lucky for her, Lucian was considerate enough to bring it with him.

"Thank you," Amelia said in a low voice. When she checked her phone, she found that it was her father calling. She hesitated for a moment before answering, "Hello, dad."

"Amelia, can you go back to the Mo mansion now?" Vernon's voice was husky and he sounded stressed.

"Dad, what happened?" she asked nervously, noticing the difference in his voice.

Looking over at Amelia, Lucian pulled over the car to wait for her to finish the call.

"Hello, dad?" Vernon had hung up the call. Amelia grasped Lucian's arm and said anxiously, "Can you please bring me to the Mo mansion?"

Lucian didn't press for more. He merely made a U-turn and drove towards the Mo mansion.

'I thought he's recovered? Why did he sound so weak over the phone? And why did he hang up?'

She looked very anxious. Letting Lucian drive as quickly as he could, she clenched her hands into fists, not knowing what to do.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine," Lucian comforted her.

"Thank you," she responded sincerely.

When they arrived at the Mo mansion, Amelia rushed in. Standing by the door, she saw Vernon sitting in the center of the living room, gasping for breath with one hand on his heart.

"Dad, what's wrong?" She knelt in front of him, at a loss.

"Don't worry. Your father's probably having a heart attack. Go get his medicine," Lucian said as he hurriedly helped Vernon up.

"Okay." Amelia was shaking all over. She handed the medicine to Lucian and said nervously, "I'll get some water."

As soon as Lucian put the pill into Vernon's mouth, Amelia let out a groan. Even though the sound was small, Lucian heard it.

"Here you are!" The back of Amelia's hand was still sore but she still handed the glass of water to Lucian.

After taking the pills, Vernon looked much better. He said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry for making you worried."

Lucian shook his head and said to Amelia, "Wash your hands with cold water."

He didn't sound exactly sweet but his concern made her feel warm in her heart.

"Dad, why are you home alone? Where's Sophia?" Amelia checked all the other rooms in the house but she didn't see neither Sophia nor the only maid in the house.

Vernon coughed several times before saying, his voice hoarse, "Yolanda's pregnant. Your mother and Susan are taking care of her."

"She's not my mother!" Amelia protested vehemently.

In response, Lucian looked at Amelia in surprise.

Not once in the past ten years did she call Sophia her mom. She wouldn't even call her aunt! So she absolutely resented it when Vernon referred to her as that.

Why would she suddenly forgive Sophia after everything she'd done to her?

Iris had always been even-tempered. Even after she found out about Vernon's affair with Sophia, she didn't cry or scream. Instead, they had a good talk about it like adults thinking that they would still be able to fix their marriage. However, when Vernon didn't come one night, they all knew that he was with Sophia then. That's when Iris knew that her marriage was failing...

Looking back, that was probably what triggered Iris to commit suicide because she was depressed and confused. And that was why she gave up on herself and even Amelia easily.

At the thought of this, tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Amelia, I know you feel wronged and you feel resentful. I regret everything even though ten years have passed. We just have to let it go and move on. There's no point in hurting yourself over the past." Vernon's words were followed by a series of coughs.

"I can understand Sophia wanting to take care of Yolanda but Susan should be here to look after you! You have a heart condition and she knows that. Why would she leave you here all alone?" Amelia said as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"It's because I've been feeling better. I've been recovering. It was just the stress over the business that stressed me out. I'm getting pretty old too." Vernon shifted the topic to work, successfully avoiding answering her question directly.