Since She Met Lucian

Chapter 41 Long Time No See

"Oh my God! What is he doing?" the girl behind asked anxiously. Her screaming only affirmed Amelia's suspicions.

The atmosphere was thick with tension. Edmund had dropped a bomb. Needless to say, Amelia was utterly shocked out of her wits. As she directed her gaze to the stage, her mind went to what had just happened earlier...

On the stage, Nicholas and Lucian were visibly shocked. They looked at Edmund in surprise. NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

"Nicholas, Lucian, I decided this without consulting either of you. No need to blame me. This had to happen sooner or later." Edmund gave an apologetic look to Lucian and then said to all the guests, "Have a good night!"

After a warm round of applause from the audience, the waiter asked Amelia to head to the dining room upstairs.

After hesitating for a while, Amelia smiled bashfully as she let herself be led by the waiter upstairs.

The waiter began serving food much to Amelia's disinterest as Edmund's words were still ringing in her head.

When she first met with Lucian's parents, she had found out that Lucian and Shelly were engaged. At that time, she didn't think much of it.

She felt as if she had destroyed an engagement when she found out about this.

"Hello, are you Miss Amelia?" All of a sudden, a man in a black suit stood in front of her and asked her politely.

Quickly gathering herself, she nodded and said, "Yes, I'm Amelia."

"I'm Mr. An's assistant. Mr. An would like to meet you." Mr. An.. Edmund An?

She then followed the man out of the dining area.

The man led Amelia to the end of the corridor. He stopped in front of what seemed like a private room and knocked on the door.

"Come in, please." A male voice came from inside the room. It wasn't Edmund so it had to be someone else.

The door was opened. Amelia looked up and was stunned when she saw the man inside the room.

He looked very familiar yet she couldn't quite figure out yet why.

The man was wearing a knitted sweater over a white shirt. He looked about the same age as Lucian. He grinned when he saw Amelia.

It was a warm smile.

Amelia couldn't shake off the feeling that she knew who this man was but she just couldn't remember his name.

"Hey, long time no see, Amelia," the man said with much ease as he pulled out a chair. "Please have a seat."

Amelia was both surprised and confused.

It seemed that they were quite familiar with each other. But why couldn't she remember him?

"You're probably wondering who I am." The man sat across from Amelia and looked at her with a mysterious smile on his face.

As she gazed back at him, she tried to rack her mind but she came up with nothing—she still couldn't figure out who he was.

Then, out of curiosity, Amelia asked, "Are you sure you know me? Because I don't think I know you."

Her eyes were filled with innocence as the man seemed upset.

However, he was quickly able to recover and immediately put on a smile. "Jonny An," he explained, "Your senior and your pen pal. I've been writing you letters for about three years now."

"Jonny..." Amelia repeated. "Yes, I remember! You used to give me advice and you even helped me move on after my mother died..."

Upon seeing her excitement, his face lit up.

"I'm sorry. I disturbed you in the middle of your dinner. Well, we can eat now," Jonny said with a smile as he helped Amelia put some food in her bowl.

She was a little embarrassed. "I can do it myself, Jonny."

She grabbed her bowl, a stiff smile on her face.

Jonny paused for the slightest second before smiling in response. "You're right. You're probably used to Lucian helping you anyway."

Amelia's hands, which were holding her chopsticks, suddenly trembled upon the mention of Lucian's name. Grief filled her eyes at once.

Upon noticing her silence, something seemed to click in his head. He smiled and said, "Amelia, are you uncomfortable because of what my dad just announced?"

Amelia was stunned—how did he know what she was thinking? Was it that obvious?

"No, it's not that." Her face was slightly red out of guilt.

"Amelia. Even though we only communicated via letters, I still believe that I know you pretty well." Jonny smiled and looked at her. He sighed, "How time flies! It's been ten years and you've grown into such a beautiful woman."

Amelia nodded in agreement but the compliment embarrassed her.

"When I just saw you, I couldn't shake off the feeling that you were familiar. I just couldn't figure out your name," Amelia said apologetically.

"It's not your fault. I only gave you one photo, how could you remember?" Jonny said dismissively then he added, "It seems like you and Lucian are a perfect match."

This made Amelia a little confused. She asked, "Why do you say that?" She'd only met Lucian less than a month ago. How could he say that they were perfect together?

"Well... Look at me. I don't even know what to say to you." Jonny suddenly became stiff and seemingly uncomfortable. He then blurted out, "You're probably hungry. Eat. Help yourself to the food."

Amelia decided to let it go and just continue eating in silence.

After a while, Jonny asked tentatively, "Amelia, are you happy with your marriage to Lucian?"

Happiness... She and Lucian had just talked about it earlier. Without giving it much thought, she said with a smile, "He's good."

Her simple response was enough to show what she really felt.

A look of disappointment flashed through Jonny's eyes. Then he said with a smile, "Please don't tell Lucian about our relationship, okay?"

"What?" Amelia asked in confusion then she quickly agreed, "Okay."

"If you're going through anything, you're free to call me. Here. That has my number on it." Jonny then handed Amelia his business card.

Amelia politely took the business card. It read, "Reporter of Buddha City Evening Paper, Jonny An."

Amelia was only 15 years old when she met Jonny. Iris had just died and Amelia fell into a deep depression to the point that she had considered committing suicide. She would stand by the river and stare at it blankly. Her classmates started being concerned about her that news about it soon spread throughout their school. By then, everyone practically knew her. Some made fun of her while some sympathized with her by writing her letters as a way to comfort her. Jonny was one of the people who would write her letters.

"By the way, I remember that you didn't know my name then. You kept calling me elf..." As she recalled this, her face flushed a pink hue.

Jonny's face shifted for the slightest second but as usual, he was quickly able to recover. Putting on a relaxed smile, he said, "Yes, that's what I... used to call you."

"Then why do you call me Amelia now? And how do you know that was me?" Amelia pressed.

It seemed that Amelia was still a bit suspicious. Jonny answered easily, "You sent me a photo, remember? I immediately recognized you when you were all over the news because you married Lucian. I knew it was you."

"Oh, so that was it..." Amelia finally figured out what had happened. She then said as a way to tease herself, "It seems that I haven't changed in all the years that have gone by."

"You've become a beautiful woman." Jonny gazed at her as if he was mesmerized.

After the meal, Amelia was a little restless, "Jonny, I'm full. Could you..."

She was worried that Lucian wouldn't be able to find her.

Jonny already knew what she meant. He teased, "Well, you're married now after all. Your top concern is Lucian."

Amelia blushed as she explained, "I didn't see him before I went up here so I wasn't able to tell him. I just don't want him to..."

She didn't know why she was so nervous. Was she worried about Lucian? Or was she just afraid of him?

"Let's go. I'll help you look for him." Jonny stood up and put his coat over Amelia's shoulder. He said thoughtfully, "It must suck for you girls to attend parties like this. It gets cold so just wear it."

"Jonny, I thought you didn't want him to know about you? If you come with me, he'll definitely ask about you," Amelia said.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you and make sure that Lucian doesn't misunderstand anything," Jonny replied, grinning.

In reality, she didn't really mean it that way. She just figured she could go downstairs by herself to look for Lucian.

When they left the private room, Jonny led Amelia to another private room which was more crowded than the one they had just been in.

Inside the room, Nicholas was giving a toast to Edmund while Fannie chatted with Shelly. Shelly's mother was sitting by the side looking rather uncomfortable.

More importantly, Lucian was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, I thought it's someone else," Fannie snorted as she cast an evil glance toward Amelia upon the latter entering the room.

Amelia was used to it. With an awkward smile on her face, she bowed to everyone and apologized, "Sorry to interrupt you. I'm leaving now."

The moment Amelia came in, Shelly was immediately seething.

It seemed that she didn't want to say anything bad in front of Edmund and Nicholas so she just merely glared at Amelia.