Chapter 880 Obvious Hatred Toward Her
Amelia’s hand froze, and she looked at him bewilderedly. “Left the country? Why?” she queried in puzzlement. The smile on Carter’s face appeared more like a grimace.
“Something happened to her mom. She passed away two months ago. Before she breathed her last, Jennifer’s mom held her hand and asked her not to be with me. I was also present at the time. I don’t know why things came to this point. We just finally got together,” he covered his face with his hands and said in a low voice.
Numerous possibilities crossed Amelia’s mind, but none involved Laura’s demise. Wasn’t she fine previously? Why did she die so suddenly? Moreover, with Laura’s final wish before passing away, I’m afraid that Jennifer and Carter won’t be able to get together in this lifetime.
“Wasn’t Mrs. Larson fine before, Carter? Why did she pass away so suddenly?” Amelia asked with some difficulty.
“She had previously been bitten by a dog, and despite receiving an injection, there were leftover toxins in her body, which led to her sudden illness and death. Back then, I accompanied Jennifer abroad to visit her parents, but I didn’t think it would be our final encounter. After that, she told me to return to the country while she remained overseas. I tried to look for her, but she and Mr. Larson moved, so I have no idea about her current whereabouts.” Carter ran a hand down his face and recomposed himself when he saw the waiter carrying the food over.
Amelia also did not expect such an outcome. If I didn’t allow Oscar to take revenge on Laura when she threw something at me back then, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten to this stage. In a way, I have indirectly caused her sudden demise. I thought that with Carter’s mediation, Jennifer and I could at least not be enemies even if we couldn’t clear our differences. But I guess that’s not possible anymore.
“Carter, I’m so sorry for causing you two to end up like this, but I can’t figure out why Mrs. Larson didn’t entrust Jennifer to you even before she passed away,” she uttered, feeling confused.
Even though Laura suddenly fell ill, there isn’t any mother on their deathbed who wouldn’t wish for their daughter to be happy. What’s more, Jennifer is her only daughter. She certainly wouldn’t be able to stand by and watch her daughter be miserable.
Carter’s expression turned even more bitter.
Laura’s last wish kept running through his mind. He thought that the Larsons would be ecstatic about his and Jennifer’s union. Never did he expect that when Jennifer took him abroad to see her parents, not only did they not welcome him as he had imagined, but they even said in front of him that he was not good enough for Jennifer and that he had already missed the best time to take care of her.
Since he was absent during Jennifer’s most trying time, he did not have the right to be with her, and Laura’s illness was a direct death sentence for him.
“Come. Let’s eat. It’s rare for you to come back from overseas, so let’s not talk about these depressing things.” Carter shook his head and attempted to switch the subject subtly.
Amelia picked up her fork and tried one of the dishes, finding it quite tasty.
She then thoughtfully scooped some food for Carter and told him to eat more.
After the meal, as they left the Koandrian restaurant, Carter asked with his hands in his pockets, “Would you mind going to the bar with me?”
Amelia agreed before calling Tiffany to tell her that she was going to the bar with Carter and asked the latter to pick her up around eleven at night.
“Let’s go.”
The two arrived at a bar called “Nocturne.” They went in together, ordered a lot of liquor at the counter, and sat in the corner.
The place was not very noisy, probably because it was still early, so there were not many patrons at the bar.
After the waiter brought over the alcohol, Carter opened a bottle of beer and handed it to Amelia. “Come. Let’s drink to our unluckiness in love,” he said.
Amelia took the beer and smiled bitterly. She felt like the whole world knew about her and Oscar’s divorce.
Within a year, she seemed to have become a pitiful creature in everyone’s eyes, abandoned by Oscar without any explanation.
She clinked her beer bottle with Carter’s before raising her head and taking a big gulp of beer.
“I heard that Mr. Clinton forgot all about you and got together with Isabella. Is this true?” Carter also took a big gulp of beer before bringing up the subject.
Amelia wagged her finger at him. “You’re very inconsiderate, Carter. This matter is no longer a secret within the industry. Also, Oscar didn’t forget about me but mixed up my identity with Isabella’s. In his heart, she’s the woman he loves, while I’m simply a troublesome woman. Fate loves messing with us; you and Jennifer, as well as me and Oscar. We parted ways for a variety of reasons. After that, I left the country, partly to make myself stronger and partly to escape reality. I refuse to believe that Oscar has truly forgotten every moment between us, but that’s the reality; he did forget, and I was caught off guard.”
Carter gloomily took another huge gulp of beer.
“For this reason, Amelia, we should get smashed today,” he said.
However, Amelia shook her head.
“I’ve been running away for a year now, and I don’t wish to do that anymore. We can drink a little to soothe our emotions, but there’s no need to get drunk. We’ve passed the age of drowning our sorrows in alcohol. If you truly can’t give up on Jennifer, go and win her back. Just like me. As long as Oscar is still around, I’ll be able to make him remember everything someday. I don’t believe that our time together will be so short. We still have a long way to go, so don’t you lose hope.”
Carter lowered his head and laughed gloomily.
He then drank some beer before uttering very calmly, “I used to love you, Amelia, but the moment Mrs. Larson passed away, I resented you. I wondered if today’s outcome would have been different if you had been merciful and told Mr. Clinton not to be so cruel to her. But on second thought, I realized I couldn’t hold it against you. I was the one who caused this outcome. Perhaps my children would’ve grown up by now if I hadn’t been so obstinate back then.”
His words made Amelia chuckle.
“You find this funny, right? So do I.” Carter also smiled, but it was bitter no matter how he looked at it. “I see myself as a failure. I fell in love with two women in succession, and both relationships didn’t work out. Don’t you think my love life is doomed to be unlucky?”
“If failure is what we’re talking about, I’m one too. My relationship with Oscar was tumultuous. We got together twice and broke up twice as well. What’s more, he completely forgot that I was his lover this time. I can’t even make him stay with me. All I can do is be here with you, drinking to drown our sorrows. Come. Let’s drink. Tomorrow marks a fresh start. There’ll always be new hope.” Amelia held up her beer bottle and made contact with his.
While Amelia and Carter drank their hearts out, a woman wearing a pair of sunglasses stared at him upstairs.
“Jennifer, you saw that, right? The man you can’t forget is drinking with your enemy and love rival. They’re having so much fun chatting and drinking together. It’s obvious who he’s in love with. Do you still want a man like that?” taunted a man as he hugged Jennifer from the back and kissed her neck.
The light shone on the man, revealing that he was none other than June, who had escaped for a year.
Jennifer evaded his intimate act as a look of impatience flashed across her eyes.
“Move your filthy mouth away. Don’t touch me,” she snapped in disgust.
A vicious look flitted across June’s eyes while he bit her neck as if he was punishing her.
Feeling a sharp pang of pain, Jennifer turned her head around and glared at him angrily.
“You crazy dog! Are you done fooling around?”
June raised his hand and pinched her chin. Underneath the light, his eyes glittered with menace as he gazed at her.
“Jennifer, the man you’re pining over is drinking with your enemy. I even heard that Amelia got dumped by Oscar, so the chances of them getting together have increased significantly. If you can endure this, I have nothing else to say. However, think about your mom’s miserable death. Tsk!” said June as he cracked his neck.
With a vicious expression, Jennifer glared at Amelia and Carter drinking happily.
Amelia was the culprit behind her mother’s tragic death and was even seducing her man so shamelessly now. These grudges, old and new combined, caused Jennifer’s hatred toward Amelia to grow.
She narrowed her eyes as a plan hatched in her mind.
Amelia drank till she received a call from Tiffany right before eleven. Tiffany said that Kurt had already left to pick her up and would reach in a few minutes, so she should wait outside for him.
“I’m leaving now, Carter. After drinking for two to three hours, it’s enough. We won’t be able to go to work tomorrow if we continue. It’s fine to drink a little, but there’s no need to get too drunk. Our situations aren’t so despairing that we need to drown our sorrows in alcohol. Only those who cannot endure failure and wish to escape reality would resort to drinking. People like us, on the other hand, are as resilient as cockroaches,” said Amelia cheekily as she raised the bottle of alcohol in her hand.
Placing his bottle down, Carter stood up and patted her head. “Amelia, I realized it’s actually not bad that I have given up on my obsession with you, and I’m contented with just being good friends. At least, I can’t tell you things that I can’t tell others.”
Amelia chuckled, not expecting she would one day be able to talk so calmly with Carter like this.
After Carter paid the bill, they left the bar together.
“Why don’t I send you back, Amelia?”
“It’s fine. Kurt is coming to pick me up. Tiff and I are staying at his place. You know that no one wants both of us now, so we have no choice but to stay with him temporarily.”
“If you don’t have any place to live, I have an empty condominium at Peach Estate in the city center. I’ve got someone helping me with housekeeping regularly. You can just move in with your luggage.”
“I’m just joking with you.”
As they chatted, a car drove toward them. Thinking that Kurt had come to pick her up, Amelia did not stand on guard. To her surprise, the car accelerated when it was about to reach her. Amelia’s eyes widened uncontrollably when she stared at the car zooming at her rapidly. The memories of the car accident that almost killed her a few years back kept circling her mind. For a moment, all she could do was stand there motionlessly, unable to move her limbs in time.
“Careful!” Surprised, Carter quickly pulled Amelia to the side.
When the car failed to crash into her, it suddenly swiveled around and shot toward her again. Carter dragged Amelia away with him and hid in the bar anxiously. Since it would be impossible to hit them in there, the driver quickly turned the car around and fled.
“Are you okay, Amelia?” asked Carter worriedly.
Amelia shook her head, still feeling shocked.
Right then, Kurt ran inside the bar and tugged her toward him. After inspecting her from head to toe and ensuring that she was not injured, he heaved a sigh of relief.
“Amelia, I saw a car trying to crash into you and got so scared! I wanted to chase after it, but I was worried that something might’ve happened to you. Don’t scare me like that in the future, or I might lose my mind,” said Kurt in a concerned tone.
Feeling embarrassed by how worried he was, Amelia pulled her hand back discreetly and assured with a smile, “I’m fine, Kurt. Don’t worry. It’s all thanks to Carter that I didn’t get hit by the car today. It’s really a stroke of luck that I managed to survive.”
Kurt gazed at her and let out an exasperated sigh secretly.
“Thanks for saving Amelia, Mr. Carter. Words can’t describe my gratitude. If you need my help in the future, just go ahead and ask. I’ll definitely agree,” said Kurt earnestly as he looked at Carter.
Carter stared at Kurt with an intrigued look. Although he did not know what capacity Kurt was speaking in, he could deduce that their relationship was special because she was staying at his place after returning. Even if they were not a couple, they were definitely more than friends. Otherwise, Amelia would have rebuked him.
Looks like quite a lot happened this year. Amelia would not have let Kurt stay by her side otherwise.
“Amelia, you…” Carter’s gaze flitted between the two of them.
“We’re like family,” interrupted Amelia.
A dejected look flashed across Kurt’s eyes.
As if he had expected it, Carter stopped asking further tactfully.
“You should go back. It’s getting late,” said Carter.
Amelia nodded.
After saying goodbye to Carter, Amelia and Kurt entered the car.
“Thanks for picking me up, Kurt,” said Amelia politely as she buckled her seatbelt.
Kurt turned his head and cast her a glance. His eyes glinted as an uneasy feeling surfaced within him.
“Amelia, you’ve already said that we’re like family. Isn’t it a bit distant for family members to thank each other? As long as it’s about you, I will come over no matter how busy I am,” said Kurt pointedly.
Amelia merely smiled.
“I’m tired, so I’ll take a short nap. Wake me up when we’ve arrived.” She closed her eyes after saying that. While she initially intended to avoid Kurt’s affectionate gaze, she ended up actually falling asleep.
After driving into the neighborhood and parking the car, Kurt unbuckled his seatbelt and gazed at Amelia. His heart ached when he saw the dark circles under her eyes.
“Amelia, although Boss is a nice person, he has already forgotten about you. You can consider me too. I swear that I’ll make you happy forever,” mumbled Kurt.
Amelia scrunched her nose.
He pinched her nose lovingly before moving closer to her boldly and kissing her cheek. When he was about to kiss Amelia’s lips, her eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes. Their gazes met, and Kurt could even see a look of confusion in her eyes.
Amelia woke up quickly and moved backward subconsciously. When Kurt noticed her reaction, his gaze darkened.
Knowing that her actions had hurt him, Amelia changed the topic. “We’ve reached! Let’s go. I wonder if Tony has fallen asleep. After not seeing him for the entire day, I’ve missed him a lot.” After speaking, she unbuckled her seatbelt and left the car so rapidly that it looked like she was escaping.
A grim expression appeared on Kurt’s face. Sighing, he got out of the car as well.
They then took the elevator up in silence.
“Tiff, is Tony asleep? I’ll go up and check on him. You and Kurt should go to bed as well!” said Amelia to Tiffany after entering. She rushed up the stairs afterward.
“Amelia almost got hit by a car at the bar,” mentioned Kurt with pursed lips. His instincts were telling him that the incident was intentionally planned by someone.
“What? What did you say? Why did Amelia get involved in a car accident all of a sudden? I must ask her what happened. Even though she has only returned for a few days, she almost got into a car accident! It’s obvious that someone can’t tolerate her return. There’s no doubt who the culprit is.” Tiffany was about to stomp up the stairs indignantly when Kurt stopped her and shook his head.
“I memorized the number on the car plate. We’ll find out who the person is after checking it. If the culprit dares to aim for Amelia so publicly at the bar, the person must really hate her a lot. I will never spare anyone who dares to harm Amelia,” hissed Kurt menacingly as he narrowed his eyes.
Tiffany thought about it before she said, “Check it quickly. I want to see who that bold person is.”
Kurt instructed someone to check the car plate number. Within half an hour, they received updates that the car was recently bought by a foreign man called June.
“That b*stard! What grudges does he have against Amelia? Why is he insisting on targeting her, even to the point of trying to kill her? He’d better pray that he won’t bump into me. Otherwise, I’ll break his bones and paralyze him,” spat Tiffany through gritted teeth.
Even though Amelia was trying to evade him, June was still hounding her persistently like a mad dog. He probably assumed that she was an easy target.
“I always thought that he had escaped back home, but it turns out that he’s still here. That’s good! I’ll find a way to find him and make him pay the price twenty times over,” snarled Kurt furiously as he gripped his phone.
“I support you on that. We’ll show them that even without Oscar’s protection, we aren’t so powerless that others can trample over us so easily,” said Tiffany while patting his shoulder.
A determined look surfaced on Kurt’s face as he nodded.
Working through the night, he asked everyone on his social network to look for June. Although he was only a bodyguard, he had accumulated quite a lot of connections over the past few years. A lot of influential businessmen had to show respect to him as well. Furthermore, since Oscar did not forbid his bodyguards from owning private assets, he owned quite a few companies in other places. Even though he was not as wealthy as Oscar, he was rich enough to protect Amelia.
After being on the phone for a few hours, he got people to agree to search for June extensively. However, it was uncertain whether he could be found. After all, June was not just an ordinary man. Since he was one of the heirs of the Adertons, his powers must not be underestimated.
Kurt promised them that he would offer a generous sum if they could find June.
Money could motivate anyone. Naturally, those people put in a lot more effort in finding June.
However, June was as sly as a fox. He had hired someone else to manage his company in the city. No matter what problems arose with the company’s accounts, he never showed up, and an expert would solve everything perfectly. With such a professional team supporting the company, Kurt could not do anything to it.
That frustrated Kurt. As long as he could not find June, he would constantly feel uneasy, as though there was a thorn in his heart.
Tiffany patted his shoulder and consoled, “Relax and take it slow, Kurt. If we could deal with June so easily, he wouldn’t have been able to roam around the country for so long. Don’t forget that he’s got the Adertons backing him up. Otherwise, we would’ve taught him a lesson a long time ago.”
June was a foreign businessman highly valued by the government. If anything happened to him in the country, his country would investigate it extensively, and an international conflict might arise. While this might sound like an exaggeration, the outcome would be highly possible if the Adertons pressured them. Since everything was so uncertain, Kurt and the rest must be careful.
“If we manage to report his company for smuggling drugs, he’ll naturally be evicted from the nation,” blurted Tiffany as a plan hatched in her mind.
Kurt agreed with her idea and instructed his subordinates to do just that.
On the other hand, Amelia was completely oblivious to their plans. She merely felt that Oscar was treating her colder than before when she and her colleagues went to Clinton Corporations to discuss their collaboration.
Although Oscar still dealt with them professionally, it was obvious that he was extremely distant toward her. In fact, he did not even spare her a single glance.
Amelia felt quite uneasy at his demeanor. However, since they were in a work setting, she had no choice but to suppress that uneasy feeling and continue with the meeting.
After the discussion, Oscar stood up and left directly. Seeing that, Amelia hastily ran up to him.
“Please wait, Mr. Clinton,” said Amelia.
Oscar stopped in his tracks and stared at her indifferently.
“Ms. Winters, we’ve finished discussing official matters. If it’s about something private, there’s nothing to talk about between us.” Oscar snorted coldly. “But if you’re lacking men, I can recommend a few to you.”
Amelia’s expression changed drastically as she stared at Oscar with a complicated look.
“Mr. Clinton, I don’t think that I’ve ever done anything to make you misunderstand,” she said tentatively with a strained voice.
“You should know it, right?” With that, Oscar turned around and left.
Amelia paled as she stared at his back with a hurt expression. Is it me, or is Oscar’s dislike for me growing? In fact, he might even hate me. Everything was fine yesterday, though. Did something happen recently that I don’t know about? Did Isabella do something to him again?
She could not help feeling worried. After all, Isabella seemed intimidated by her return, and she suspected that the former was secretly making moves on Oscar.
