Since She Met Lucian
Chapter 42 Stay With Me

With a wine glass in his hand, Edmund looked at Amelia and Jonny in surprise. As far as he was concerned, they were uninvited guests. He would never call them inside. Nicholas smiled pleasantly and said, "It's Amelia. Come and sit here."

"Father..." Amelia greeted Nicholas with an awkward smile and pointed at the door. "I thought Lucian was here. I'll leave now."

When she saw everyone's unpleasant expressions, she lowered her head. She had no intention of annoying the rest of them.

"What did you call him?" Fannie stared at Amelia in disgust and said, "You seduced Lucian, and now you're eyeing his father too? How can you be so shameless? You don't belong to our family. Did you even consider your status before calling him father?" "Stop talking, Fannie!" Nicholas interrupted Fannie and glared at her. Her words were too mean! He turned to Amelia, who was standing at the door and said, "Amelia, Lucian was looking for you a while ago. You might replace him downstairs. Go and take a look." "Okay." Amelia nodded, keeping her face straight.

She was good at hiding her emotions. Even if someone wronged her, she would not show it on her face, but hid bitterness in her heart.

Amelia was brought out of her thoughts by an angry voice. "Jonny, why are you standing there? Come and propose a toast to your uncle!" Edmund scolded Jonny and gazed at him with a stern face.

Jonny ignored his father and turned to greet Nicholas with a polite smile.

"Edmund, he is a grownup now. Stop ordering as a commander, and leave him alone." Nicholas gulped the wine and smiled at Jonny. "Your design work is too good. I appreciate your hard-work."

Anyone would be happy after receiving appreciation, and Jonny wasn't a stranger to these feelings. Stepping forward, he raised his glass and said happily, "Thank you, Uncle Nicholas. Now I feel that I made the right choice."

"I'm sure you will have a bright future if you seize this opportunity." Nicholas placed his hand on Jonny's shoulder and looked at him in appreciation. Patting on the shoulder, Nicholas said with a smile, "I've seen you and Lucian grow, Jonny." Jonny's lips stretched to form a pleasant smile. "After work, I will go to the Zhan mansion to play chess with you." Jonny was thankful to Nicholas for the latter's kind words.

Nicholas said nothing but nodded his head repeatedly.

Their conversation made the atmosphere warmer. Unfortunately, Edmund decided to bring the temperature down to the freezing point.

"Nicholas, I have always been against his work. But look at you! Instead of supporting me, you do just the opposite!" Edmund's tone was filled with hostility. That was when Amelia realized that the relationship between Edmund and his son wasn't good. Jonny stiffened for a moment, but he managed to flash a smile on his lips. "Today is Shelly's birthday party. For her sake, let's not dwell on the topics that can ruin the party." Turning to look at the elegant woman sitting beside Edmund, Jonny grinned and asked, "Mom, how are you doing?"

The corners of the woman's lips curved up to form a satisfying smile. She looked at Jonny and said kindly, "Pretty good."

Being afraid as if she would break something with her voice, she didn't dare to speak in a rash tone.

Jonny nodded. "Be careful when you head out. I wouldn't want you to catch a fever."

A trace of warmth spread across the room again, but Edmund seemed unhappy. He glanced at Amelia standing behind Jonny, and his face turned dark. "Why are you two together?" He was determined to stir things up.

Everyone was intrigued after looking at Amelia. Fannie snorted and muttered unhappily, "She must pretend to be a lost lamb trying to attract men's attention."

Being annoyed by Fannie's words, Nicholas pulled a long face and shot a sharp glanced at her.

Even though Amelia had gotten used to Fannie's malice, she was guilty because of Jonny's involvement.

Jonny smiled calmly. "Yes, she was lost, but I found her, thankfully. Did I do something wrong?" His fearless eyes stared at Fannie for a long time.

Fannie looked away in embarrassment and continued, "It's normal for a woman like her to get lost."

Ignoring Fannie, Jonny turned to face Amelia and asked, "Lucian isn't here. Let's go downstairs, okay?"

Before Amelia could open her mouth, Shelly stood up and shouted in a high-pitched tone, "Jonny, I'm your sister! Why do you side with a woman who stole Lucian from me?" Shelly had wanted to lash out at someone, and when seeing Jonny and Amelia, she couldn't help it. How could he talk to that woman in such a pleasing voice? Amelia felt as if the room was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

"Shelly, I don't want to get involved in your relationship. I'm just helping a lost person." Jonny didn't give her a second glance and whispered to Amelia, "Let's go." Bowing respectfully, Amelia turned around to open the door only to be utterly shocked by what she saw.

She could see a familiar man before her who was about to push the door open, and the next second, her stiff body was hugged by the man. It was none other than Lucian.

"Where have you been?" Lucian tightened his arms around her waist, and said worriedly, "I had checked the entire house, but I still couldn't replace you. I was so close to calling the police."

Her frozen body melted after hearing his words, and loving warmth spread in her heart.

His worried face made her feel blissful.

"Hey, Lucian, when did you become so... tired?" Jonny stood aside and coughed intentionally.

Hearing Jonny's cough, Amelia jerked and struggled out of Lucian's arms. She lowered her head to hide her blushing face.

With a faint smile on his face, Lucian placed his arm around Amelia's shoulder. "You already know why I'm tired."

Jonny covered his eyes and said with a hint of sarcasm, "A blind person like me can't see you two acting all lovey-dovey like this."

Lucian grinned and playfully punched on Jonny's chest, teasing him deliberately, "You can also show off!"

The two of them conversed happily, ignoring the curious eyes of guests in the room. Three very familiar people had dark expressions on their faces. Except for Jonny's mother and Nicholas, everyone seemed either intrigued or irritated. Fannie's eyes were especially darker than usual as she stared at Amelia fiercely.

"Lucian, Shelly should be the center of attention today. Don't dare steal her thunder," said Fannie suppressing her anger.

The smile on Lucian's face disappeared, and he turned to throw a sharp glance at his mother. "You're right. I'll leave with Amelia to make things easy for you."

Lucian had been annoyed after listening to Edmund's clumsy speech. As a junior, Lucian had already showed his respect by curbing the urge to walk out of the door at the beginning of the banquet.

A flush of guilt washed over his face when he thought of how Amelia was left alone in such a strange place because he wanted to show respect to Edmund.

"You're leaving so early?" Walking over hastily, Shelly held Lucian's arm and sobbed. "Lucian, today is my coming-of-age ceremony, and you're leaving? Why can't you be here with me, at least today?"

Her voice trembled, and she glanced at him with moistened eyes.

Lucian glanced at her coldly before sneering at her expressions. "Shelly, you are mature now, who shouldn't behave like this on trivial matters. You should be more sensible from now on." He pulled himself out of Shelly's grip and held Amelia's hand tightly. His eyes softened and said, "I hope you can be friendly to my wife, Amelia."

Shelly's face turned pale, and her legs wobbled. The strength in her knees drained away in an instant. She couldn't accept it! Shelly said in an urging tone, "Lucian, I have seen you as a husband for years! God, don't you know how long I waited for this day to become your wife? But I never expected it to be my wishful thinking."

What Shelly said broke Amelia's heart.

Amelia had thought that Shelly was making trouble on purpose with her harsh words. But now, the situation seemed even more severe. Shelly hadn't been aware of the fact that everything had changed. The blow to her heart had to be hefty.

"Shelly, you will meet your Mr. Right." With a warm smile, Lucian squeezed Amelia's hand and walked out of the private room.

When Amelia stepped out of the house, she shivered because of the cold wind that blew on her face.

She hastily rushed inside the car, where warmth spread across her limbs, but her heart was still being pierced bit-by-bit after thinking of Shelly.

"Whose coat is it?" Lucian frowned when his eyes swept on an unknown coat Amelia was wearing.

Amelia absentmindedly stared at the window before she heard Lucian, and her eyes darted at the coat. How could she forget to give it back to Jonny?

Noticing that Lucian was staring at the coat with an aggressive look on his face, Amelia's face turned red in embarrassment. How could she tell him the truth? But if she wouldn't say anything, he might get it all wrong. "A passer-by gave it to me out of kindness." Jonny especially requested her not to tell Lucian about their relationship. She had to bit her tongue to stop herself from speaking the name "Jonny" in front of Lucian.

"A kind-hearted passer-by?" He stared at the priceless coat in disbelief and said, "Why don't you give me his phone number to thank him for his generosity?"

Amelia's heartbeat sped after hearing his tone. She took repeated breaths to calm her heart. "I didn't even ask his name. How would I know his number?" Seeing that she did not wish to answer truthfully, Lucian had to suppress his doubts.000000000☐☐☐☐☐☐☐