3
I peeked into the tea room, ready to play the part of the jealous lover.
Levias saw me and beckoned me inside. “From now on, Amelia will be staying at the Serenity Garden. Arrange a room for her. She is my honored guest. See to it that her needs are well taken care of.”
The Serenity Garden was a magnificent, traditional–style estate. Old money families all had their ancestral homes, their main residences. The Ser- enity Garden was Levias’s, the seat of his self–made dynasty. He spent most of his time here.
A sour feeling churned in my stomach. So this was the power of the white moonlight. She could just waltz in and take up residence.
Oh well. I’d just have to use Levias’s card to buy myself a new bag to cheer myself up.
1 smiled, the picture of a gracious and understanding partner. “Of course, darling.”
Levias took a sip of his tea, his expression coolly indifferent. “Go on, then.”
I took Amelia to her room. She struck up a conversation. “It’s been over a decade. Levias is a real powerhouse now. You never saw him at eighte- en. He was the only scholarship student at our elite private school. He was so plain and poor, and so gloomy. Carter Hayes and his gang of rich kids used to bully him relentlessly. They beat him so badly he went deaf in one ear. If I hadn’t paid for the surgery to fix his hearing, how could a
deaf boy have ever become the CEO he is today?”
So she was here to cash in on that old debt, to live off him for free. When he was poor, she looked down on him. Now that he was successful, she
was back, trying to snatch him up?
We were walking across a small bridge in the garden.
Suddenly, Amelia shoved me into the lake.
“Help! Someone fell in the water!”
After shouting, Amelia jumped in too. She grabbed my hair, her eyes filled with malice. “Tell me, do you think this ice–cold water is enough to make
you miscarry?”
She pushed my head under the water.
A terrible memory flooded my mind…
A winter day. My father shoves my head into a water barrel crusted with ice. “I work my ass off all day, and you can’t even make a hot meal! What‘
s the point of a girl getting an education? You’re eighteen now. I’ve already settled the bride price with the Lowell family. You’re getting married!”
Amelia kept my head submerged, not letting me breathe. I reached my limit, gasping in a mouthful of water. Rage consumed me. I struggled, broke the surface, and punched her square in the face.
My strength was fading. I doggy–paddled to the shore.
Just then, Levias and the others arrived.
I was shivering violently. I looked at Levias. He took off his coat, knelt down, and wrapped it tightly around me. I huddled in his arms, already plott- ing my revenge against Amelia. This was our first real fight. I had to show her what I was made of.
“Levias… save me!” Amelia thrashed in the water, crying for help.
Levias said to one of his men, “Pull her out.”
Once on shore, Amelia burst into tears. “She slipped and fell in. I was trying to save her. But when she got to the edge, she punched me in the face! That’s why I almost drowned…”
The bruise on Amelia’s face was a blatant piece of evidence. Her friends immediately chimed in. “Lily Hill! You’re so vicious!”
“Our kind Amelia risked her life to save you, and you tried to kill her!”
I clutched my stomach and let out a heart–wrenching wail. “Levias, our baby… it’s gone!”
The guests gasped. A moment ago, they had been looking at me with disgust, as if I were the evil villainess. Now, their faces were filled with sym- pathy. They turned on Amelia and her friends.
“Just shut up. She just lost a child. Don’t provoke her.”
“She must have been terrified. That’s why she hit Amelia by mistake.”
“You just got a punch. She lost a baby.”
“If you’re so kind, then just drop it.”
Levias swept me into his arms and strode quickly toward the bedroom.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and shot Amelia a triumphant look over his shoulder. She stood frozen, her face a mask of resentment and
jealousy.
In the bathroom, Levias pressed me against the cold tiles.
He had seen through my lie back when I first confronted the lackey.
“Let go of me! Levias… you didn’t use protection!”
“Don’t you want a baby? I’ll give you one right now!”
I glanced at our reflection in the mirror. Levias was kissing my neck, urgent and fierce. My own expression was a mixture of dark satisfaction and
triumph.
Five years. I didn’t know if he had ever truly had feelings for me. But he was definitely physically attracted to me.
I picked up his cigarette case and lit one.
He looked up at me. “Pay attention.”
I blew a puff of smoke in his face. “This is too exciting. I need a cigarette to calm down.”
