Too Much to Bear, My Love
Chapter 91

Oscar suddenly stood up. Apprehensively, Amelia asked, “Mr. Clinton,are you leaving?”

Oscar walked over. He leaned over Amelia, almost pinning her onto thebed. The tips of their noses brushed against each other.

Enthralled, Amelia had no way of reining in her wildly beating heart. Hereyes darted from side to side, desperately avoiding Oscar's intent gaze.“What do you feel like eating? I'll go and get it,” he said.

That was the last thing Amelia had expected to hear from Oscar at thatmoment.

“Now that you're having a baby, you should eat a little more than usualTell me what you're craving; I'll buy it for you.” Oscar's cool tone beliedhis apparent discomfort.

Amelia couldn't believe her ears. This was Oscar's first time showingconcern for her baby.

“Mr. Clinton, are you actually concerned about me?” Amelia asked indisbelief.

“Enough of that. Tell me, quickly, what you want to eat,” Oscar insisted.Amelia found the situation hilarious. Oscar seemed a lot more humannow in comparison to the guarded, defensive man he usually was."Since you've offered, I can't possibly say no. All right then. On accountof Mr. Clinton's generosity, I'd like to order a pasta arrabbiata, stewedbeef, and mango sorbet to top it all off... I'm spoilt for choice! How canI decide?” Amelia asked in exaggerated despair.

Seeing that Oscar had let her off the hook for the matter with thephotographs, the sudden feeling of liberation dared Amelia to joke withOscar, something she seldom did.

Oscar only glared at her. “Amelia, don't go overboard.”

“Don't be so petty, Mr. Clinton. Can't you even bear to buy these forme?" Amelia wheedled, pouting.

Oscar realized that he rather liked seeing this feminine side of Amelia.“Wait and see; I'll buy it all for you. Anything else?” he queried.

“I want you. Can I have that?” Amelia asked playfully.

Oscar's face once again assumed a sober look. “You're only allowed tosay such things to me in the future. I forbid you from flirting with anyother man like that.”

Flirting?

Amelia thought she had merely been casually teasing Oscar. She wasrather distressed that it had been seen as flirtatious. It seemed thateveryone perceived things rather differently indeed.

“Since you object, Mr. Clinton, I won't say things like that anymore,”Amelia said, sulking.

Oscar grit his teeth in frustration. “You...”

Amelia held her belly and opened her eyes wide, beseeching Oscar in acutesy tone, “Mr. Clinton, I'm hungry.”

“All right, hang on. Ill go and buy it for you now,” Oscar replied as heheaded towards the door.

“Mr. Clinton,” Amelia’s cry stopped Oscar in his tracks.

Turning around, he asked, “What is it?"

“Mr. Clinton, I'm bored. I didn’t bring my phone with me to the hospital.Can I borrow yours to play with?” Amelia pleaded.

Oscar hesitated for a moment, then handed his phone to Amelia. “Thepassword's your birthdate.”

Surprised, Amelia looked at him. She refused to believe that that washis chosen password.

Oscar cleared his throat awkwardly, then said, “There are a couple ofgames inside. You can take a look if you're bored. I'll be off, then.” Heturned quickly on his heels and left the room.

Amelia was still looking at his phone in shock. She muttered to herself,“Oscar, if you truly didn't care for me, then why did you use mybirthdate as your password? Don't you know what kind of hope thatraises in me? What if I can't bear to let you go when it's time for thedivorce?”

Amelia's emotions were in complete turmoil. On the one hand, shedidn’t want to get a divorce. On the other, Amelia was afraid that theyeventually would, and Oscar would take her baby away regardless ofwhat he had promised her.

Oscar, I think I've really fallen for you. If I could, I would want to dependon you for the rest of my life. I want a real relationship with you, notjust a transactional one.

Amelia gingerly looked at Oscar's phone, then opened his photo albumAs she scrolled through it, she realized to her surprise that it containedmany photos of her, most of them taken when she was sleeping. In afew, a single blanket covered her bare body; in others, she had fallenasleep fully clothed. The photos of Amelia numbered more than athousand in sheer variety. It was completely unlike the Oscar she knewto have so many photos of Amelia.

Amelia took to examining them. Oscar had taken some from behind heras she walked ahead. Amelia could barely even recall when thesemoments had taken place, let alone presented any opportunities inwhich Oscar had taken such flattering photographs of her.

Amelia's eyes grew moist. She'd always believed that Oscar liked hersolely for her body. If he had absolutely no other feelings for her,however, then what could explain this stash of Amelia's photos?Amelia was willing to bet anything she had that a man who had noaffection whatsoever for her would not possess so many photos of her.It was like a carefully curated gallery of art.

As Amelia went through each photo, she realized with a start that therewere barely ten photos of Cassie. Besides a few snapshots of sceneryscattered here and there, the rest of Oscar's photo album waspractically a shrine to Amelia.

Amelia felt incredibly perturbed. As she weighed Oscar's phone in herhand, she mumbled, “Oscar, all the photos you have are of me. Doesn'tthat mean that you don't hate me too much? Why can't we spend therest of our lives together, then?

Just then, an incoming call jolted Amelia out of her brief reverie.Cassie's name flashed across the screen. Upon seeing it, Amelia's heartimmediately plummeted.

She hesitated for a while, then picked up. Cassie's excited chatterfloated across the line. “Oz, I went for a check-up with your secretarytoday. The doctor said that the baby's very healthy.” A note of betrayalcrept into her voice. “You promised that you'd come with me, butyou're always so occupied with work! I said that I'd be a model wife so Iwon't blame you this time. Oz, the baby and I both miss you so much!Will you be coming over tonight?”

Amelia's hand clutched the blanket. She bit her lip with such fury that italmost drew blood. With what strength she could muster, Amelia saidevenly, “Sorry, Ms. Yard, it's Amelia. Oz, as you call him, has gone out tobuy food for me. I'm afraid he just missed your entire speech.”

Cassie was silent for a moment. Then she retorted, “Why are youanswering my call, Amelia? Where's Oz?"

“He went to buy food for me,” Amelia answered sweetly.

“Amelia, you have no shame at all! After your blatant cheating affair atyour company, which was even documented in a few photographs, howcan you be so shameless as to stay with Oz?" Cassie said disdainfully.Amelia paled. Shakily, she asked, “How did you know about thephotos?”

Cassie sniggered. “How do you think I got to know about it? Of course,Oz was the one who told me. Oz said you are, by far, the most filthyand disgusting woman he’s met. It's not for me to judge a gold-digger,but going for two men at the same time? That's remarkably greedy,even by your standards.”

Amelia grew even paler. Her grip on the blanket tightened. “Ms. Yard, Idon't think it's your place to comment on the kind of woman I am. Evenif I'm cheating on Oscar, it's up to him to decide if he wants to divorceme. You're nothing more than an outsider.”

Cassie snickered. Keep lying to yourself, Amelia. I'll be Oz's wife soon.No matter what, you're the one who'll eventually be the outsider here.”Despite herself, Amelia stood her ground valiantly. “So what? At leastI'm still Oscar's wife now. You're the mistress he’s ashamed of. Whenword gets out, I don't think the Yards will be too proud of you.”

Cassie snorted and said, “Don't be too pleased with yourself either,Amelia. Do you know what Oscar told me this morning? He said thatyou were filthy and made him sick, and he hasn't divorced you onlybecause you're pregnant. He didn't think you'd be bold enough to havean affair in your condition. Cheating was a real low move from you.”Amelia clenched her jaw. “Ms. Yard, if you have nothing else to say tome, I'll be hanging up.”

Without waiting for a reply, Amelia immediately ended the call.

When Oscar returned with a few bags full of food, Amelia was facingaway from the door with the blanket over her. He didn't know if shewas asleep.

Still holding on to his bags, Oscar approached Amelia only to begreeted by her tear-stained face. Taken aback, Oscar hurriedly set downhis bags and pulled a chair over. He sat down and reached over to dabthe tears from her cheeks. "Why are you crying?” he asked tenderly.Amelia sat up, brushing aside Oscar's gesture of intimacy. She thenasked, “Mr. Clinton, have you bought the food yet? I'm hungry.”

Oscar frowned, feeling as if a gulf had once again opened betweenhimself and Amelia. However, he pushed aside the nagging feeling thatsomething was amiss and starting laying out the food on the table.“Everything you listed is right here. Eat up.”

Amelia picked up a spoon and focused entirely on the spread that laybefore her. She refused to even glance at Oscar, much less playfullyfeed him as she used to do.

The frown deepened on Oscar's brow. Looking at Amelia, heannounced, “I'm hungry.”

Amelia raised her head and looked at him questioningly. “You're hungrytoo? There's another set of utensils here. Help yourself.”

Oscar stared at her. He asked in slight frustration, “Aren’t you going tofeed me?”

If this had happened before that fateful conversation with Cassie,Amelia would have immediately played along with the greatest zest.However, Amelia wasn't in the mood at present. She only replied dully,“Please help yourself, Mr. Clinton.”

Oscar looked at her, probing. “Are you upset?”

Amelia's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. “I'm perfectly happy, Mr.Clinton.”

Oscar fumed. “Don’t smile if you don't want to. You look hideous.”

The smile on Amelia's face vanished. She resumed eating but foundthat she had lost her appetite completely.

Oscar put down his utensils. “What in the world is wrong with you?”Wordlessly, Amelia brought another spoonful of rice to her mouth.However, Oscar stopped her by grabbing her wrist. “Don't eat if youdon't want to,” he said roughly.

Amelia looked at him in bewilderment. Her eyes slowly brimmed withtears. They spilled over, seemingly without her realizing.

Ever since she had gotten pregnant, Amelia felt as if she had become alot weaker. She cried a lot more, and often.

Oscar's heart was wrung at this sight. He reached forward and wipedher tears, then took her into his arms all at once. In a low voice, heasked, “Why are you crying?”

Amelia wrapped her arms tightly around Oscar's waist. At that moment,Oscar seemed to be her only refuge in the world. Amelia permitted hersorrow to course unrestrained through her, emerging as tears that ranonto Oscar's shirt.

After letting Amelia cry for a minute or so, Oscar turned her to face him.Once again, he wiped away the tears on her face and repeated, “Whyare you crying?”

Amelia looked at him with swollen eyes. “Mr. Clinton, do you reallythink of me as a filthy woman?”

Oscar's eyes grew dark. He tilted her jaw, forcing Amelia to look him inthe eye while demanding, “Did anyone say anything of that sort toyou?"

Amelia looked away and mumbled, “No.”

“Don't you lie to me.”

Amelia shook her head, once again directing her interest towards thefood. “Mr. Clinton, let's eat. I'm hungry.”

Oscar's eyes remained steadfastly fixed on Amelia.