Too Much to Bear, My Love
Chapter 102

“Don't worry. I won't do such an unnecessary thing. Amelia already hasher own family and children,” Tiffany said

"Good to hear that."

After Carter left the car, Tiffany drove off.

Shakily, Carter went upstairs. After entering his house, instead ofheading to the bathroom, he fell asleep on the couch.

It was a silent night.

The next morning at ten, Tiffany called Amelia, saying, “Babe, are youawake?”

“lam.”

"The weather seems good today, so let's shop. You should take morestrolls while your stomach isn't that big yet. It'll be good for you.”

“All right.”

“Let's meet at Pearl Plaza at eleven. We'll have lunch before we shop.”"Sure."

Around eleven, the two met up at Pearl Plaza.

Giving Amelia a huge hug, Tiffany chuckled, "Babe, did the littlesweetheart in your tummy annoy you last night?”

Amelia shook her head.

After giving Amelia a once-over and realizing she seemed well and in agood mood, Tiffany teased, “Babe, be honest with me. Did somethinggood happen to you last night? Look at how happy you look. You lookas if love has entered your life.”

Tapping her forehead, Amelia laughed, “You must have written toomany novels for you to think that.”

Tiffany laughed along with her.

“Babe, what do you want to eat today?”

“Let's have stew. I've been craving to have it today.”

“Look at you and your meager requests. All right, since your sweetheartbaby wants it too, we'll have stew today.”

Tiffany booked the reservation for them before they headed toward therestaurant.

Right as the two sat down, Amelia's phone rang. It was a call from anunfamiliar number.

Noticing her hesitation, Tiffany asked, “Who is it?"

Amelia shook her head. “I don't know. I don't recognize the number.”In the end, Tiffany decided for her by taking her phone and ending thecall. “Since you don’t know the number, don't pick it up. It'll save yourtime if it turns out to be a telemarketer on the other end of the line.”Amelia nodded.

Amelia's phone rang again when the two were ordering, and shereached out toward the other woman. “Tiff, hand me my phone. I'mthinking that someone I know should be trying to call me withsomeone else's phone.”

Taking the phone back from Tiffany, Amelia then accepted the call.“Hello, may I know who this is?"

“Amelia, right? I'm Carter's mother. We've met several times a few yearsago. Do you remember me?”

Amelia's face turned ashen, and her grip on her phone tightened. Shenever thought that she would receive a call from Faye nearly five yearslater. Faye's voice was a reminder of the nightmare she once had.

The wily woman, who had an elegant exterior, was the reason shebecame the supposed traitor of her company — they accused her ofhaving conducted corporate espionage. Back then, she was nearlyimprisoned. All of her pain back then was due to Faye, which was whyshe was frightened to hear her voice again.

Only after Amelia took in a deep breath, then could she tamp down thefear growing in her heart. Calmly, she uttered, “Hello, Mrs. Scott. May Iknow why you're calling me?”

Upon hearing that form of address, Tiffany widened her eyes as shestared at Amelia’s phone. Then, she gritted out, “Amelia, hand me thephone.”

However, Amelia waved her hand and gave her a look, signaling her tostay silent. She then said, “Mrs. Scott, is there something I can help youwith?”

“Are you free now? I'd like to invite you to a meal; I have some things totalk to you about,” Faye replied.

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Scott. I'm eating with my friend right now. I don't think Ican accept your invitation,” Amelia rejected.

Her trauma was still fresh in her mind, so she did not want to see theother woman.

“It's fine. I can eat with you and your friend. Just tell me your address,and I'll come to you,” Faye insisted.

Amelia frowned before opening her mouth, about to reject again. “Mrs.Scott, I'm afraid my friend won't feel comfortable with you around whilewe eat. What about this instead? I'll be free tomorrow at noon, andwe'll arrange to meet at another time. What do you think?”

Faye insisted, “I can eat with your friend. Although I'm much older thanyou, I can still chat merrily with young people.”

If Amelia were to continue rejecting Faye, it would seem rude.

Hence, she gave her the address before ending the call.

Tiffany asked, “She's coming here?”

Amelia nodded.

Promptly furious, Tiffany seethed, “Can't she feel a little more shamefulabout what she’s doing? She's the reason for your suffering, and nowshe's still calling you so shamelessly.”

Amelia consoled, “Tiff, don’t be angry. It's been a long while since then.I'll only be making life difficult for me if I were to still hold themaccountable for this.”

Smacking the menu onto the table, Tiffany fumed, “What's wrong withme getting angry? The Scotts were crossing the line back then! Theynearly forced us to a dead end. If you didn't meet Oscar and had acontractual marriage with him, you might now be in jail. I've never seensuch a lowly, despicable person like her. I wish I could spit on each andevery one of them. What kind of wealthy people are they? They'reworse than thugs. Even thugs’ misdeeds are done in broad daylight!”“Hey, don't get mad.” Amelia patted her hand and consoled. “Since youknow how terrible they are, why are you still wasting your strengthgetting mad at them? It's not worth it. We won't come into contact withthem as frequently in the future, so don't worry. We're just having lunchwith them.”

“I'll lose my appetite just by looking at their freaking faces. I have noidea how you've got such great patience for them to have agreed forher to join us for the meal. What's going on in that head of yours?” Atthat very moment, Tiffany wished she could pry open Amelia’s skull toexamine whether her brain was shaped differently from everyone

else. Why else would she be able to have lunch with the Scotts as ifnothing's wrong?

“She's irrelevant, so it's meaningless for me to feel angry at her.Moreover, they won't know that I'm mad at them, so why should 12”Tiffany could only glare at her friend, who always came up with all sortsof excuses that she could not refute.

"Tiff, don't be mad anymore. It isn't worth it to feel angry for someoneunimported,” Amelia coaxed.

Tiffany's response to that was to furiously order dozens of dishes.

It did not take Faye long to come. Soon, she entered with her brandedbag slung on her shoulder.

Striding toward Amelia and Tiffany's table, she sat down withoutneeding any prompting from either of them. “Why did you feel likeeating stew? The smell here in this restaurant is pungent. Even if you'rehungry, you should be going to a higher-end restaurant.”

Tiffany scoffed, “We're ordinary people, and we're no rich lady like Mrs.Scott. If you can't stomach this, the exit is right there.”

Looking toward Tiffany, Faye hesitantly uttered, “And you are...? Youlook familiar, but I can't recall where I've met you.”

“Mrs. Scott, your memory isn't that best, is it? My life was affected bywhat you've done back then, too,” Tiffany mocked. “But it's fine. Mrs.Scott seems familiar with doing those unsightly things anyway.”

After pretending to mull over her words, Faye voiced, “Oh, now Iremember. You're Sienna Winters, right?”

“I'm really sorry, but I'm Tiffany Winters, not Sienna Winters. I hope Mrs.Scott doesn't have the tendency to change other people's names.”Faye let out a fake chuckle.

“Mrs. Scott, may I know why you're looking for me?” Amelia asked,returning to the original topic.

With a fake, vague smile, Faye replied, “Nothing much, really. I justheard from Carter that you're now working in his company, so I'vecome to meet you. After all, it's been almost five years since we lastmet."

At that, Amelia responded, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Scott. I've left Mr. Scott'scompany, and we rarely contact each other. Moreover, I'm married, andI have a kid, so it's impossible for Mr. Scott and I to still be in contact.Rest assure.”

Faye let out another feigned chuckle. “Amelia, I think you must havemisunderstood me. I'm just here to have a look at you. I hope I'm notdisrupting you.”

Hearing those words from Faye, a disgusted look crept upon Tiffany'sface, and she suddenly lost her appetite for the stew that was justserved.

“Mrs. Scott, speak your mind. You look so unconvincing, and I'm losingmy appetite just by hearing your voice.” Tiffany mocked.

Faye's expression darkened as she said, “I didn't think that Ms. Winterswould become snippier after not meeting for a few years.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Mrs. Scott, but I'd like to let you knowthat I'm only snippy toward people I don't really like. My brain turns onthat mode by itself whenever I'm looking at someone I dislike.”

Faye's expression darkened even more.

Meanwhile, Amelia stayed silent and stirred the stew, she asked, “Mrs.Scott, would you like me to leave the cilantro in?”

As she pulled her bowl closer to herself, Faye responded, “No thanks.”Amelia nodded and scooped a spoonful of stew for Faye, avoiding thecilantro. “Mrs. Scott, please help yourself to it. Since you still rememberme, I hope you'll have a happy lunch today.”

As she stirred her bowl, Faye asked, “Amelia, your stomach still looksquite flat. How many months pregnant are you now?”

“Around six to seven.”

“Soon, then. Have you checked whether it's a boy?” Faye queried,seemingly caring. No one would have thought a woman like her hadbeen the one to have done such terrible things to Amelia back then.“No. I'll like my baby regardless of whether it's a boy or a girl.”

“That's what you say, but the Clintons only have Oscar. I'm sure theyhope his first child would be a son. Why don’t you have a checkup? Iknow some people in the hospital. Would you like me to makearrangements?” Faye offered maliciously.

Before Amelia could say anything, Tiffany put down her spoon with aloud noise and glared at her. “Mrs. Scott, what do you mean by this?”Instead of turning aggressive, Faye feigned a smile. “Ms. Winters, don'tbe mistaken. I'm just concerned. After all, if Amelia gives birth to a sonfor her first child, it would make her status rise among the Clintons. AmI not right?”

The corner of Tiffany's lips curled as she jeered, “I'm sure that's theScotts’ tradition. Do you abort the baby if it's a girl? I do not doubt thatyou, Mrs. Scott, are more than capable of doing a horrendous thing likethis.”

Faye's facial features twisted in fury.

“Is this how Ms. Winters speaks to someone senior to her?”

“Not really. It's dependent on who I'm talking to. This is how I usuallytalk to the bad people,” Tiffany retorted.

Taking out a clean handkerchief to wipe her mouth, Faye uttered,“Amelia, don't you think that your friend here is a little too sharp-tongued? At the end of the day, I'm still Carter's mother. Is this how youtreat a friend's mother?”

As she continued to eat, Amelia muttered, “I'm sorry. Mrs. Scott, if youcan't take the way my friend speaks, I'll apologize to you on her behalf.”