Amelia picked up her phone and called Olivia.
“Tell Simon to take you to the hospital right now!
I’m heading there too,” Olivia said anxiously.
“He’s not here.
I’ll just get a cab,” Amelia replied.
“Where’d he go?
Didn’t he just finish?” Olivia pressed.
Amelia paused.
“No idea.
He left right after.”
Olivia cursed loudly, “Damn it, I swear I could just wring his neck right now!”
She shoved the ultrasound result toward Amelia.
“It’s a threatened miscarriage.
“This jerk, seriously, would it kill him to skip sex just once?”
Amelia lay back on the bed, eyes closed, trying to calm herself.
Olivia sighed in frustration.
“Maybe you really should just tell him.”
Amelia opened her eyes slowly, quiet for a beat.
Maybe…
maybe it was time to tell Simon.
Otherwise, if this went on, the baby wouldn’t make it.
Granted, even if she told him, odds were the same.
But since she couldn’t bring herself to make the call, maybe he could do it for her.
“I’ll think about how to say it.”
“You sure about this?” Olivia looked at her seriously.
Amelia gave a faint smile.
“Can’t just keep dragging it out like this.”
Olivia nodded.
“Yeah, better to rip it off quick.
Once it’s done, kick his sorry self to the curb and go live your best solo life.”
Amelia swallowed down the bitter taste.
“I still need to make money for Mom’s medical bills.
Who has the time to live it up?”
Olivia clicked her tongue, concern etched on her face.
“How’s Grace doing lately?
Any better?”
Amelia shook her head.
“Same as before.
No change.”
Just as Olivia opened her mouth to say something, a shout cut through the air.
“Amelia!”
She turned, spotting Richard standing not far away.
His face was so swollen it was barely recognizable, and both hands were wrapped in thick bandages.
“You vindictive witch, did you send someone to beat me up?!”
Richard roared at her, voice full of rage.
Amelia’s gaze was icy.
“If it were me, I would’ve made sure you didn’t walk away from it.”
“You damn—”
“Richard!
What do you want now?!” Olivia stepped in front of Amelia quickly, eyes sharp.
“You make one more move and I’m calling security!”
Richard let out a cold laugh but kept staring daggers at Amelia.
“You just wait!”
With a furious turn, he stormed off.
Olivia frowned, glancing at Amelia.
“What was that about?”
Amelia briefly explained what had happened with Richard.
Olivia couldn’t help but curse under her breath.
Then she looked back at Amelia.
“Seriously though, why are you always surrounded by trash like him?”
Amelia let out a dry laugh.
“Guess I just have an unhealthy magnet for losers.”
Olivia shot her a glare.
“Can’t believe you can still laugh.”
“What else am I supposed to do?
Cry?”
Crying never changed anything.
Richard had taught her that early on.
Then Simon just came along and proved it again.
Tears were useless.
“But seriously, you sure you didn’t send someone after Richard?”
“Nope.”
“Then who did?”
Amelia shook her head.
She really didn’t know.
But come on, with all the people Richard owed money to out there, who knows which one finally lost it and gave him a beating?
She didn’t dwell on it too much and just went ahead and called Simon.
The phone rang twice, then he hung up on her.
She stared at the screen, then tried again.
She’d finally gathered the courage to talk to him.
If she missed this moment, she probably wouldn’t have the guts again tomorrow.
But Simon never picked up.
…
By the time the IV was done, it was already 2 a.m.
Olivia had to work the next day, so she just brought Amelia along back to her dorm at the hospital.
When they walked in, a few coworkers were still up, talking in hushed voices.
“What are y’all gossiping about this late?” Olivia asked.
One of the female doctors curled her lips in a sarcastic smirk.
“I just treated Vivian!
Ugh, you wouldn’t believe the attitude on her…”
Olivia immediately glanced over at Amelia.
Amelia acted like she hadn’t even heard the name.
Olivia looked back at the doctor, casually asking, “Oh?
When did Vivian get back?”
“Apparently just tonight,” the doctor replied.
“Got pulled around a bit by fans at the airport—nothing serious, not even a bruise on her arm.
But you know how it is, she’s a big-time celeb.
One tiny hair out of place and it’s like a crisis compared to us regular folks losing a whole limb…”
She paused for a second mid-rant.
“But the guy who came in with her, now he was something else.
Not just good-looking—he had serious presence.”
“For real, way better than any of those soft little pop stars.
I’m telling you, probably her boyfriend or something, who else would show up at a hospital with her in the middle of the night?”
“Has to be, right?
What kind of guy sticks around otherwise?”
As the two doctors drifted off into their gossip, Olivia didn’t press further.
Instead, she turned back to look at Amelia.
Amelia gave a faint smile, calm and indifferent.
“I should just head home.”
Amelia knew better than anyone else how things really stood between her and Vivian Collins.
Technically, Vivian was her half-sister.
But the reality?
Amelia was only born half an hour earlier.
Even so, their lives couldn’t have been more different.
Grace Perry, Amelia’s mom, was someone William Collins picked up off the street.
When he found her, she’d looked totally wrecked—barely remembering anything except her own name.
But even though she’d lost her memory, the luxury jewelry she wore said it all—this wasn’t some random woman.
No one knew if William took her in out of lust or just couldn’t take his eyes off those flashy pieces—but either way, he kept her.
He even sweet-talked her with promises of marriage.
But time went on, and even when she found out she was pregnant, he still didn’t mention anything about a wedding.
When Grace finally confronted him, he dropped the act.
Turned out, while Grace thought they had something, William had moved on to the daughter of some small-time pharma boss—and guess what?
She was pregnant too.
He was already planning a wedding with her.
Afraid Grace would mess things up, he tried to force her into terminating the pregnancy.
But Grace wasn’t having it.
She ran from the hospital to protect her baby.
After giving birth, she spent almost a decade dragging herself and the kid from place to place before finally making it back to Velmira.
Amelia had been laying low with her mom all those years too, hiding wherever they could.
It wasn’t until Grace married Richard that their lives started to feel a bit more stable.
Truth be told, Richard was pretty decent to them at the beginning.
Otherwise, Grace wouldn’t have changed Amelia’s name to take his surname so casually.
Grace got hurt during childbirth and couldn’t have more children, so she revised Amelia’s name and told her to treat Richard as her real father.
And in the early days, Richard did act like a real dad.
That lasted…
until William’s wife Helen Grant found out the truth about Amelia’s background.
Helen made life hell for them, and Richard kept getting fired from his jobs over and over again.
That’s when his temper began to spiral.
Losing jobs left and right, he started drinking.
And not long after, he began getting violent toward both Grace and Amelia.
This nightmare dragged on until Amelia turned seventeen.
On her seventeenth birthday, William Collins suddenly took her to the seaside—no idea what got into him.
Amelia thought Helen would pull something shady, but strangely enough, she didn’t.
All she did was give Amelia a condition.
She said, she could stop messing with their family.
Amelia wasn’t allowed to show up around Vivian anymore.
She couldn’t tell anyone that William Collins was her father.
And definitely couldn’t mention that her old name used to be Vivienne Collins.
Honestly, she never cared much to hang around them anyway, and “Vivienne” wasn’t a name she liked.
As long as they left her alone, she was more than happy to disappear from their lives forever.
But three years ago, when her mom got into a car accident and needed urgent surgery, she had no choice but to go to William Collins for help.
That was the day she finally saw just how cold-blooded he really was.
Since then, she completely cut ties with that side of the family.
Sometimes, though, she’d still see Vivian’s name pop up on TV or trending on social media.
Vivian had made her debut overseas four years ago.
Even though she hadn’t been back to the country since, she still had quite a bit of fame.
With her beauty, people had even dubbed her the nation’s “first love.”
When Amelia got home, she went straight to bed.
In her dreams, she found herself back on that beach again.
It was winter—the wind biting and harsh.
The windows of the seaside villa creaked and whined under the gusts.
Vivian was yelling at her over a missing bracelet, demanding that she go find it.
Amelia remembered that bracelet.
She’d seen it before.
The bracelet sparkled with those finely set diamonds, “Vivi” delicately engraved on it.
A birthday gift from William Collins to Vivian.
Vivian had flaunted it in a bunch of selfies.
Yeah, losing it was a shame.
But Amelia didn’t bother to help her look for it.
It was pitch black and the wind was howling out there—going out meant risking her life.
Vivian’s shouting echoed through the entire villa.
William called Amelia into the study.
“Heard your mom just found herself a decent job recently?”
Back then, Amelia might’ve been young and naive, but she still immediately picked up the undertone in his words.
She stared at him and asked, “You called me here today to celebrate my birthday, or to throw me under the bus?”
William’s face instantly darkened.
Amelia didn’t bother dragging things out.
She went straight downstairs and headed toward the beach.
Richard was always drunk, and her mom carried all the financial weight at home.
Plus, Helen Grant would often make things harder for her mom.
It was only recently that her mom finally landed a job that wasn’t totally hopeless.
Amelia didn’t want to see her mom lose that, so in the end, she gave in.
She just didn’t expect she’d bump into that same boy again at the beach.
She wanted to ask him—why didn’t he seek her out?
She wanted to know—did he still remember her?
But the look in his eyes, that distant, indifferent stare—pretty much said it all.
That day, she swallowed every word she wanted to say.
Even after being together for three years, Amelia never brought it up again.
*
The next morning, her phone was completely quiet.
No missed calls, no unread messages—Simon never called her back.
As soon as she stepped into the office, Lily dashed over, all secretive and excited.
“What now?
More workplace gossip?” Their office was basically a rumor factory.
Amelia gave a faint smile as she looked at her.
Lily nodded eagerly.
“Boss, have you heard who just showed up?
Ever seen Simon’s ex before?”
Amelia blinked in surprise.
She hadn’t expected the whole thing about Simon’s first love coming back would spread at lightning speed.
“Huh?” She pretended not to get it.
“His first love, duh!
It’s all over the office.
Heard she just came back from overseas.”
Amelia forced out a weak smile.
“Oh?
So who exactly is she?”
Lily shook her head.
“No idea.
Mr.
Johnson’s been super protective.
I just saw it on Twitter this morning—someone posted that his first love is back in town, and he escorted her home late last night, like, billionaire-style.
But then, poof, those posts disappeared.
Must’ve been taken down.
Still, a lot of people saw it, and the gossip’s already buzzing around the office.”
So Simon was called away last night…
by her?
A sharp ache tightened in Amelia’s chest.
Her hand drifted unconsciously to her lower belly.
If his first love really came back…
maybe it was time for her to step back too.
Maybe this was her chance—to walk away quietly, and have the baby on her own.
She stared down at her belly, totally zoned out.
Lily was still talking, but Amelia didn’t register a single word.
Her mind was a mess.
“Boss?”
Snapping back to reality, Amelia forced a smile and adjusted her expression.
“Work time, no more gossip.
If Mr.
Johnson catches you spreading this stuff, you’re in trouble.”
Lily stuck her tongue out playfully and scurried back to her desk.
Amelia forced herself to focus on her tasks.
She managed it all the way till noon before Lily knocked on her door again.
“Boss, Mr.
Johnson asked you to come over.”
*
The door to Simon’s office was slightly open.
Just as she got to the doorway, his voice floated out.
He was on a call—and his tone was unusually soft.
Amelia was caught off guard.
She’d never heard him sound like that before.
The senior secretary appeared.
“Ms.
Clarke, Mr.
Johnson said you can go right in.”
Amelia took a deep breath, gathered herself, and pushed the door open.
“If you’re tired, just take a break.
Quit running around.
That’s all, got stuff to do.
Bye.”
Simon ended the call, tugged at his tie, and glanced casually in her direction.
He dropped his phone to the side, dark eyes settling on her.
“You called me last night.
Something up?”
Meeting his gaze, Amelia hesitated.
She’d changed her mind.
She wasn’t going to tell him anymore.
Once he got back with his ex, she would leave.
And when that time came, she’d raise the baby on her own.
“Just not feeling great.”
Simon let out a short laugh, “Thought maybe you couldn’t bear for me to leave.”
Amelia paused before saying calmly, “I know where the line is.”
“Glad to hear that, Miss Clarke.
Makes me feel better.” Then he added, “What’s bothering you?”
“Just some stomach pain.
I went to the hospital last night.”
He frowned.
“Stomach again?”
His expression tightened when he noticed how pale she looked.
He reached out and gently pulled her into his arms, resting one broad hand on her stomach.
“Still hurts?
Want me to call a doctor, have you checked out properly?”
Amelia shook her head lightly.
“No need, it’s fine now.
If there’s nothing else, Mr.
Johnson, I’ll head back.”
Simon let go of her.
“No rush.
Stay and have lunch with me, then come with me this afternoon.”
Right after he spoke, the secretary knocked and came in, holding takeout from that private kitchen Simon always liked.
Amelia didn’t even lift her eyes.
“I’m not feeling too well.
Maybe someone else can go with you instead.”
She had just had a scare last night, and things still weren’t stable.
Full rest was off the table, but she needed to avoid moving around too much.
Simon narrowed his eyes a little.
“Amelia, were you under the impression I was asking you?”
“I seriously don’t feel good.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll get a doctor to check on you.” He paused for a second.
“Please remember, Miss Clarke, to take your job a bit more seriously.”