Since She Met Lucian

The expression on Sophia's face shifted however she knew she couldn't get mad at Amelia because Lucian was there. In a sour
tone, she said, "Yes, Vernon's your father and I'm just your stepmother. It doesn't matter if I'm here or not."
Amelia was just about to tell her that what she said was true when she suddenly heard Yolanda's voice. "Mom, why did you ask
us to come back? Jasper and I seldom have enough time to sleep. How annoying!"
Amelia was surprised upon hearing this.
She realized what Sophia just said was indeed an excuse. Sophia talked to them as if they weren't expected guests. Yolanda
chiming in like that only embarrassed her.
"This is the first day of the new year. You shouldn't be developing bad habits such as sleeping in. Besides, you're pregnant. You
should be walking out and keeping yourself healthy." Embarrassed, Sophia walked up to Yolanda and held her arms, her face
gleaming. She said in joy, "My friends are so envious of me. They're jealous that I have a grandson whom I can take care of!"
"Hi, Yolanda. Where is Jasper? Didn't you come with him?" Vernon asked as he stood up.
As soon as Yolanda entered the living room, she caught a glimpse of the gifts on the table. Suddenly, her eyes lit up with
excitement. Pointing at the gifts, she asked, "Lucian, did you buy them for me?"
Amelia couldn't help but look away. She just picked up her cup of tea and pretended to take a sip.
Yolanda just ignored Vernon's question.
"Dad's asking you," Lucian said in a low voice instead of answering her question.
"Uh..." Embarrassed, Yolanda stole a glance at Amelia before answering her father's question, "Dad, Jasper's out getting some
noodles from my favorite shop for me since I'm craving."
After she spoke, she shot Amelia a glance to watch her reaction to what she had just said.
While Amelia really was feeling strangely, it wasn't anything like what she felt before. She just couldn't stand Yolanda purposely
showing off Jasper to her. It was obvious that Yolanda was just trying to get a rise out of Amelia.
"Jasper is good to you. You shouldn't be so bossy around him. He needs to be respected too," Sophia suddenly said sharply.
She purposely raised her voice so that Amelia would hear.

"Mom, why do you think that I don't treat Jasper well? I'm carrying his baby. I can't possibly go out. It might risk my pregnancy,"
Yolanda said robotically. It was as if she was reading lines out of a script.
Both Lucian and Amelia remained calm. Only Vernon seemed serious.
It was as if he was too shocked to say anything.
In the past few years, Vernon had always acted as the cushion between Sophia and Amelia. As much as possible, he tried to
make sure that no one was getting unequal treatment. However, Yolanda and Sophia were too overbearing that Amelia suffered
as a result.
"Yolanda, just sit down." Vernon's voice was stern. It seemed as if he was at a loss.
Yolanda noticed that Lucian and Amelia were just minding their own business, sipping their tea, and basically, just ignoring her.
She sat down and began to look through the gifts on the table that Lucian had brought.
"Lucian's the talk of the town since Amelia's married to him and he's the most powerful man in the city. I felt so honored because
Amelia's my daughter," Sophia suddenly said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Amelia didn't mind her. She knew Sophia never saw her as family and the feeling was mutual. She just decided to ignore Sophia.
"Yeah. She has always been a sweet girl," Vernon echoed, smiling kindly.
The expression on Sophia's face changed. She obviously didn't want Vernon to be praising Amelia so she shifted the topic.
"Amelia, you're just 25 years old. This is the perfect time to have a child. Don't you plan on having one?"
As Amelia sipped her tea, she didn't know what if she should swallow it or spit it out as she was so taken aback by this sudden
invasive question.
Lucian, who had been silent this all time, suddenly spoke, "Well, Amelia and I aren't the type to follow tradition. We'd like to
spend this time nurturing our relationship at least for the next two years. Only then will we think about having a baby."
As an experienced businessman, he was always calm and collected even in the face of adversity.
Amelia and Lucian first got married before getting into a real relationship. The ring that Lucian had given her last night made
everything official. As time passed by, their relationship only grew for the better.

"You're right but a woman is only young once. You might find it difficult to get pregnant if you wait until Amelia's a little bit older,"
Sophia spoke as if she knew everything. She then turned to the pregnant Yolanda and said proudly, "Yolanda's only a year older
than Amelia and she was smart enough to take advantage of her age to get pregnant while she's still healthy."
So did she only say all of that so she could praise Yolanda in the end?
"Yes, she just surprised us all with this, huh," Amelia sneered with disdain.
Yolanda and Jasper got married after Yolanda got pregnant. That was what Amelia meant and it was not lost on Sophia.
All the color on Yolanda's face drained, her brows furrowed together. She looked at Sophia expectantly as if she was longing for
help.
"Amelia, are you talking about Yolanda?" Sophia was quick to rush to her daughter's defense. Her once smiling face was
replaced with a scowl.
"Following your logic then you're being just as mean to me." Amelia stood up and walked to Lucian. "Lucian, we're done visiting
dad, we can leave now."
She didn't want to stay here anymore and spend another second with Yolanda and Sophia.
Lucian quickly stood up and responded, "Okay."
Vernon wanted to convince them to stay however upon hearing that Lucian had agreed, he kept his mouth shut.
On the way back, Amelia looked out of the window, still in low spirits.
"Mrs. Amelia, if you want to go anywhere, I'll chauffeur you for free. I'm all yours." Lucian tried to cheer Amelia up by teasing her.
Amelia couldn't help but laugh. When she turned, she found that Lucian was grinning.
"Can we go to the Imperial Middle School?" she suddenly suggested.
She had both a lot of happy and sad memories in that place.
She really wasn't in the mood to go anywhere but the first place that came to her mind was the Imperial Middle School.

Hearing this, Lucian's face darkened. There was a strange look in his eyes. After a while, he finally said, "Can we go some place
else?"
Amelia froze. She couldn't figure out why Lucian wouldn't want to go there. Still, she nodded and answered casually, "Okay, we
can go wherever you want."
Sensing the disappointment in her tone, Lucian grew confused. As much as he wanted to abide by her request, all his memories
there were just too painful.
As everything fell into a thick silence, Amelia's phone suddenly started ringing. She grabbed her phone and found that it was
Jonny calling.
She looked at Lucian and answered the phone awkwardly.
"Happy new year, Amelia." The voice at the other end of the line was very gentle.
Amelia greeted him back politely. Jonny specifically requested that they keep their friendship a secret so Amelia did just that.
"Where are you now?"
"Uh..." Amelia glanced at Lucian and said shyly, "Lucian and I are driving out. What's up?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to greet you a happy new year. I hope you have a great year."
"Thank you," Amelia replied bashfully, glancing at Lucian uneasily.
After hanging up the phone, Lucian suddenly said, "Let's go to the Imperial Middle School."
"What?" Amelia was taken aback. She didn't know why Lucian suddenly changed his mind.
The cold wind was blowing hard. Yellow leaves fell from the trees along both sides of the road. No one had cleaned them up yet
as it was the new year's holiday. They could hear the crunching on the leaves as they walked along the road.
"Is this your alma mater?" Lucian asked in a low voice, sounding upset.
"Yes, both middle school and high school," Amelia answered simply.
Lucian didn't say anything. He looked up at the building not far away, seemingly deep in thought.

"The school was rebuilt later on and we didn't have anything left from its original foundation," Amelia said wistfully as she gazed
at the building.
"You must have a lot of happy memories here. Why else would you want to constantly go back here?" Lucian said lightly as he
turned to look at the face of Amelia.
Her face suddenly turned pale and for a moment, she didn't know how to answer this question.
Happy memories? How? That wasn't exactly true.
"It's all in the past now." She smiled as she stood under a tree, quiet and beautiful.
Lucian nodded in agreement and smoothed her hair that was a bit messy around her forehead. In concern, he asked, "Are you
cold?"
Amelia couldn't help but be moved. She shook her head with a smile.
They stood under the tree, enjoying each other's quiet presence.
Amelia then looked up and saw Jonny walking towards them.
She was so shocked that her mouth fell open, her eyes filled with surprise.
Upon noticing this sudden shift on Amelia, Lucian turned his head and spotted Jonny approaching them.
"Lucian, Amelia, what a coincidence!" Jonny was dressed casually. He looked cold but he still had an easy smile on his face.