A Matter of Wife and Love
Chapter 216

Leo massaged his forehead, upset. "You sought her out?" he interrogated.

Melissa caught his tone, and she was furious. She almost wanted to stuff more Heparin into her mouth.

But before she could say anything, Leo warned, "I told you to never seek her out."

Melissa gripped her bag tightly and held down her frustration. Then she tried to advise her son. "You think I wanted to do that? I was just worried about you. You're not getting any younger. You should start thinking about settling down. Leo, listen to me. Just get along with Carol, will you?"

"That's the conclusion you came to? After you saw Amelie?" A small smile tugged at Leo's lips. I knew it. My own mother can never do anything good for me.

"What do you mean? Carol is a lot better than Amelie. A lot better educated too. She's the best choice for you." All Amelie has is her looks.

Leo kept quiet again. He was a man of few words, especially to his mother. But he wasn't like that. He used to trust and respect his mother. No matter what she asked of him, he would do his best.

Yet at some point, all of that changed, and both of them knew when that happened. It happened ever since his mother abandoned the blind young Leo in Quinn Town and never came to see him. Ever since she pretended to be a loving mother to his adopted brother.

Leo's silence was unnerving Melissa, yet she didn't want to stop just like that, so she forced a few drops of tears. "I know you're angry at me for leaving you in Quinn Town, but I had no choice. Your father had just died, and those goblins were trying to steal the company. I had to spend all my time keeping things in check. Couldn't even sleep, so I... I neglected you."

Despite her attempts at making herself sound like the victim, Leo still said nothing. Melissa looked at him, but he was drinking his coffee and going through his documents, silent as a gargoyle. It felt like she was talking to a wall. Then she saw the ring he was wearing. That's the ring he bought back when he married Amelie! She looked like she had seen a ghost, and her bag fell. "What is the meaning of this?" She left her bag and darted to her son to hold up his finger. "You still want to be with that woman?"

When she sought Amelie out, Melissa believed Amelie was the one hounding her son, but when she saw this ring, her faith was starting to waver.

Leo looked at the ring. It was a simple, almost perfunctory ring. He was in a foul mood when he was forced to marry Amelie. Weddings or ceremonies were not on his mind. And he only bought this ring just to go through the motions. He didn't care about the price or style. The retail assistant also asked him to buy another one, since this one was too simple. In other words, she said the ring was cheap. But he didn't care. He wanted to use that ring to humiliate Amelie.

Yet Amelie wasn't unhappy. Instead, she grinned like an idiot when she saw the ring. Even when the retail assistants were mocking her due to Leo's lack of love for her, she didn't mind. That memory came flooding back, and it pained Leo's heart. He only wore this ring to tell all the women out there that he was married, so they would back off. But when his mother asked him those questions, he didn't want to deny them. All he could think of was Amelie.

Melissa took his silence as confirmation, and her chest heaved. She wanted to dissuade him but knew he wouldn't listen to him. What to do? What to do? Oh, wait, here's an idea. "You might still love her, but she lost her love to you. When I talked to her, she wanted me to tell you to never disturb her again."

Melissa then looked at Leo in silence. Her son had stopped moving, his grip on the coffee cup tightening. Good, that worked. Melissa heaved a sigh of relief. "Leo, we're a famous family here. You don't want the public to say you can't let go of your ex-wife. Besides, Amelie is a useless bum. She's just playing hard to get so you can get back together with her. So, she can spend our money. We can't fall for that."

Despite how Amelie expressed her disinterest in Leo, Melissa still thought that was just her ploy. She pushed her hair back arrogantly. "She refused my six hundred grand, and I'll make her regret it. When she comes to me again, I won't give her a single cent, and I'm taking Bria's custody." She was still annoyed by how Amelie tossed the checks in her face. "That woman is unreasonable. Useless and arrogant. Why, she even tossed empty checks at me in an attempt to insult me. What a joke."

Every word Melissa uttered angered Leo even further, and his face fell. When she was done talking, Leo harrumphed, as if he was mocking someone.

Thinking that he was mocking Amelie, Melissa was delighted. Good. That works. The more he despises Amelie, the better.

"You tried to buy her out? And you think she was just putting up an act?" Leo asked.

Melissa nodded matter-of-factly. "Of course."

Leo stood up and approached his mother. Then he gave her a document. "Look at this."

Melissa skimmed through the document. "Wow. Foxy's revenue. So, you're going to start a livestreaming business now?"

Foxy was a famous influencer. Some of Melissa's friends were fans of hers, and Melissa had watched a few of her streams as well. Foxy was an interesting woman. Unlike most influencers who would talk in ar overly cute way to attract attention, Foxy built her fame on her own skills. Melissa admired her a little as well.

Even though she knew Foxy's fans soared a lot after her comeback, the sum of her revenue still shocked Melissa. "She makes six figures in one day?" That's enough for me to buy a whole year of makeup products. And that's just from donations. Not including the products she's selling. This is crazy. And to make things even more shocking, Leo said, "She's Amelie."

Melissa froze, her eyes wide, and her jaw dropped. "What?" A moment later, she snapped out of it. That's a joke. He's trying to change the topic. "Foxy is Amelie," added Leo.

Amelie thought her jaw would be dislocated. Impossible. That listless, lazy, useless, timid, worthless Amelie is Foxy? She wanted to know if Leo was kidding, but she knew better than anyone that he was always serious. He's not lying.

"She doesn't need anyone's help to live the best life she can. You tried to buy her out? No wonder she humiliated you." Leo couldn't even begin to feel any sympathy for his biological mother. Not when her arrogance got the better of her.

Melissa felt her cheeks burn, and humiliation rained down on her.