Chapter 17 Friendship (2/2)

”Don't worry about me, Courtney. I know what I'm doing it.” While she was grateful that Courtney was concerned about her, it's not like she could do something about it. She'd already agreed to be in a fake marriage with Lucian and until Lucian decided it was

over, she was helpless. Besides being a little bossy, Lucian was good to her. He didn't hurt her or anything like that. As she thought of this, she couldn't help but smile and blurt out, ”You know I only came to see you because he asked me to. He just didn't want me to get bored at home.”

Amelia knew that there was a chance that what she said wouldn't sit well with Courtney. However, she knew that she had to say something to defend Lucian to at least get Courtney off her back.

”Oh, Mrs. Amelia, are you truly happy?” Courtney said disdainfully, pursing her lips.

Amelia smiled and pouted as if she was a spoiled child. ”All right, all right. I know you're just worried about me since you're my best friend but you don't really have to, I'm fine,” she said.

”Well, if I wasn't late that night then maybe...” Courtney said in a guilty tone, eyebrows knitted together.

”It's not your fault! This has nothing to do with you. Besides, Lucian is good to me. He didn't hurt me...” Amelia said, her voice trailing off.

”You mean... He didn't take advantage of you?” Courtney said in disbelief.

”Courtney, what were you thinking?” Amelia finally understood why Courtney was so hostile to Lucian. No wonder she was so concerned about Amelia.

Courtney still seemed to be in disbelief. She asked, ”Why did you agree to marry him if he didn't do anything to you? Don't tell it was love at first sight! Or did you marry him for his wealth and power?”

Courtney's words hit her hard. They'd known each other since middle school. That was more than ten years of friendship. If anyone knew her, it was Courtney.

”I...” Amelia stuttered. She didn't know how to answer.

”Are you using Lucian to get over Jasper?” Courtney guessed hesitantly, gazing back at Amelia who was already flushing in embarrassment.

Besides the photos that Lucian had of her, it was true that she agreed to the deal because she wanted to move on from Jasper and forget the hurt that he had caused her.

Amelia had no choice but to nod her head in response to Courtney's question.

”Oh please!” Courtney was visibly irritated. She raised her voice, ”Jasper's a bastard! I can't imagine how he stands Yolanda!”

”Enough, Courtney. Yolanda's already married to Jasper with a child on the way. We should just let them be. We know their marriage is going to be a loveless one. You should congratulate me for escaping that,” Amelia said simply, flashing an easy smile.

Courtney stared at Amelia for a while before asking carefully, ”What about Lucian? Is Lucian your true love?”

That was a sharp question.

Amelia opened her mouth wide and answered, ”Well, we'll see.”

She thought this answer would finally shut Courtney up but to her surprise, Courtney gritted her teeth and said angrily, ”When are you ever going to be more careful? After getting mistreated by your stepmother and being cheated on by Jasper, you should be smarter than this! Haven't you learned anything? Don't you come crying to me about Lucian!”

It was reasonable for Courtney to worry about her. She had witnessed how Amelia was treated by the Mo family over the years and sometimes, she'd even defend her.

But Amelia was tired of crying because she didn't want to get hurt by anyone anymore. So when she found out about Yolanda and Jasper, she was definitely hurt but she was quickly able to get over it. Even to her, that was a surprise.

”By the way, how are things going between you and Kent?” Kent was a classmate of theirs back in junior high. When they graduated, Kent began pursuing Courtney and they did get along quite well. Kent was a good match to Courtney's tendency to go wayward.

”What about it?” Courtney mumbled mindlessly. She really didn't like talking about Kent.

Looking at her face, Amelia asked in concern, ”Don't tell me you broke up with him.”

”What the hell are you talking about?” Courtney said defensively then she continued to explain, ”We're fine but we've been fighting a lot lately. The night you asked me out to drink, I was in a bad mood. I was going to wait for you in the bar after hanging up the phone but I didn't expect that Kent would show up...”

”Did you two have a fight?” It wasn't like them to fight like that. Courtney would start a fight and by the end of the day, Kent would apologize to Courtney. It had been almost a week since that night at the bar.

Amelia trembled at the thought of this. She and Lucian had gotten married within a week of meeting each other.

”If we could fight, that would be way better!” Courtney sighed as she continued, ”It's all my father's fault. He doesn't approve of my relationship with Kent. He says Kent doesn't come from a rich family and if I end up with him, I'm just going to have a hard life. He also said that if I married Kent, he would ban me from ever coming home...”

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Amelia sighed to herself upon hearing this.