Since She Met Lucian

This was Amelia's first day of work. Needless to say, she was both nervous and excited when her first customer came in.
She was told that she could give pastries to customers if she wasn't busy so she decided to make a tiramisu. When she served it
to her customer who seemed like a foreigner, the foreigner seemed surprised. The foreigner then smiled and gave her a thumbs
up.
"This is my first day of work here and you're my first ever customer. I hope I served you well today!" Amelia said shyly.
"Your tiramisu is very delicious. I'll be sure to remember you." The foreigner kept complimenting the tiramisu Amelia made.
"Thank you so much for your patronage. We hope you come back soon," Amelia said politely.
She wasn't as nervous anymore now that she was able to serve a customer well. When evening rolled in, several couples came
in. Thankfully, their orders were her specialties so she didn't panic and didn't keep the customers waiting.
It was a weekday so she had about less than ten customers that day.
Around ten, Amelia had just finished cleaning and was getting ready to leave. The minute she locked the door, her phone
buzzed.
It was a message from an unsaved number. The message however did introduce Shelly as the sender. Shelly was asking if she
was free the following day and if she could meet up with Amelia.
Amelia wanted to come home first before she replied. However, just as she was crossing the road, her phone started ringing.
Although she hesitated for a while, she still answered the call. She braced herself for the worst—whenever Shelly called, it
always seemed to be an unpleasant experience for her.
"Come on, sister-in-law. Why do you do that? Why aren't you replying to my message?" Shelly complained on the other end of
the line.
Amelia felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing Shelly refer to her as sister-in-law. After a pause, she replied, "I was on my
way home so I didn't notice that someone had messaged me."
"Oh, I see. I thought you were just a coward." Shelly raised her voice. Then she continued, "Lucian and I have fixed things. He
was very gentle with me last night. I'm calling to thank you for what you said to me last time. Since then, his attitude towards me
has changed."

Shelly was trying to sound as if she was just grateful for Amelia but the haughty tone in her voice was difficult to miss.
Amelia froze upon hearing this. She stood at a corner, feeling as if her heart had just been ripped out of her chest.
Heartbroken, she took a deep breath before replying in a calm voice, "That's great. Congratulations."
"Thank you! But why do you sound so angry?" Shelly said casually on the phone.
"Miss Shelly, I do not sound angry. I'm completely calm. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up the phone now." Despite the pain in
her heart, she still spoke as calmly as she could. The bus had long left at this point and she thought it would be a waste to take a
cab. She was finding it difficult to breathe now.
"I don't care whether you love Lucian or not. I just want to remind you that I'm his wife now and it's absolutely wrong to destroy a
marriage," Shelly said harshly. Then without waiting for Amelia to respond, she added, "It won't be long before Lucian and I start
a family. Once the baby is born, Lucian and I will live happily ever after. So you better stay far away. My elder brother may be a
little boring but he's very good to women. I hope you two get married soon. “
Amelia opened her mouth but nothing came out.
It wasn't until Shelly hung up that she got on her knees, her chest heaving as she couldn't breathe.
She thought that as time went by, she would eventually get used to life without Lucian and accept that Lucian was with Shelly
now. But after hearing what Shelly said, she felt as if her heart was twisting in pain.
Putting a hand over her stomach, she couldn't help but feel upset especially when Shelly mentioned that she and Lucian were
starting a family soon.
As much as she didn't want to cry, tears kept falling from her eyes and she couldn't help it.
After letting herself crying for a while, she eventually got up, ready to go home. However, suddenly, she felt a pair of hands lift
her up from behind—a sense of warmth coming over her.
Before she could raise her head to see who it was, she heard a soothing, male voice. "You're a mother now. You shouldn't be
crying. It's not good for the baby."
It was Jonny...
Amelia then burst into tears. "Jonny... I... Can I lean against your shoulders?"

As soon as she stood up, she felt dizzy. After crying for a long time, she didn't have the strength to be sad anymore.
"Okay." Jonny wanted to say yes and comfort her but when he remembered the deal that he had made with Lucian, he had to
restrain the joy that he felt in his heart.
They were sitting in a rattan chair by the roadside. A gust of cold wind blew over. Amelia didn't even feel cold—she felt numb as
all she could feel was the sensation of the wind blowing over her tear-stained face.
"What about your new job?" Jonny asked in a low voice.
Amelia moved her head away from Jonny's shoulder, sniffed, and said calmly, "I like my new job but with the seasons changing, I
don't know. I find myself upset all the time. Anyway, it's good to have a cry every now and then."
Although she tried to hide her true emotions, she was right. It was indeed nice to have a good cry every now and then.
"Jonny, why are you here?" It wasn't until Amelia had stopped crying that it came to her mind—what was Jonny doing here in the
first place?
"I wanted to make sure you were safe and to be honest, I didn't like what I saw." Jonny didn't hide his concern for Amelia. He felt
sorry for her when he saw her walking alone in the dark street.
Although he had promised Lucian that he would return Amelia unharmed and that he would just keep his love for her a secret, he
couldn't help but show his concern for her right now especially when she was so vulnerable.
Amelia flashed him an awkward grin. She recalled how she told Jonny last night that she was excited for her new job and here
she was, crying her eyes out.
"Oh, I almost forgot. My first customer today was a foreigner! He was very polite and spoke Chinese very well." 'I should tell him
about my new foreign friend,' Amelia thought.
Jonny knew that she was just trying to change the topic so he asked, "Did he like the milk tea that you made him?"
"Of course!" Amelia nodded and said proudly, "He said he would remember me. I bet he'll be a regular from now on!"
If Amelia continued to establish rapport with her customers, she would definitely have more regulars.

Jonny immediately frowned and asked in confusion, "Why did he say that he remembered you?" It was reasonable to say that he
would remember the drink...
"Jonny, don't take it the wrong way. He said the drinks and cakes are delicious!" Amelia corrected him right away. She didn't want
Jonny to misunderstand the whole thing.
Seeing her innocent smile, Jonny figured he was probably overreacting. He then flashed her a smile and said, "Let's go. I'll drive
you back home."
Amelia didn't refuse. When they arrived home, she walked to the yard, turned, and waved farewell to Jonny. "It's getting late.
Drive slowly."
"Amelia, it's good that you're working but it's too late to be getting off work now. You should be asleep by now. This isn't good for
the baby, you know." Jonny was concerned because not only did he promise Lucian that he'd take care of Amelia but also he
also was genuinely worried for her.
When he first returned to China, he already knew he was going to look for her but what he didn't expect was to find her already
married to Lucian. It was like fate–he couldn't penetrate her world no matter how hard he tried.
"Don't worry, Jonny. I have no trouble sleeping anyway. I can still get eight hours of sleep so the baby will be fine. Besides, I don't
even get tired at work. Making drinks isn't that hard, you know," she answered, smiling. She was quite satisfied with her work
now.
"That's good. If anything happens, remember to call me." With that, Jonny drove away.
Standing at the gate of the yard, Amelia was in a daze. The dim light fell on her face as she felt the chill of the night. She took a
deep breath and looked up at the dark sky. For a moment, she had forgotten about that horrible phone call with Shelly.
After getting ready for bed, Amelia checked her phone then she checked the calendar and noticed the date—it was Vernon's
50th birthday tomorrow.
Ever since the divorce from Lucian, Amelia hadn't been able to talk to Vernon much. Once, she thought of calling him to ask him
how he was but eventually, she decided against it.
The next morning, Amelia went to the pastry room and ordered a birthday cake. Despite her hesitance, she knew that it was still
her responsibility as a daughter to visit her father on his birthday.

If she took a taxi, it would be quite expensive so she decided to take a bus instead. It was going to take her 40 minutes but she
felt uneasy as she had so many things on her mind.
When she got off at the bus stop, she hailed a taxi to the Mo mansion.
Amelia wanted to go back to work before 2 pm so she made sure to hurry—she arrived at the Mo mansion at 9:30 in the
morning.
Lucian had hired a servant for the Mo family. When Amelia arrived, the servant was busy cleaning the house. As soon as she
caught sight of Amelia, she rushed towards her and said in a cheerful voice, "Miss Amelia, it's been a while since we last saw
you! Come in, come in!"
Amelia smiled in response. When she walked past the garden, she couldn't help but notice how beautiful the flowers had
blossomed into—they danced gracefully along with the wind.