Back when Simon didn’t have any business dinners, Amelia would often cook at home for him.
He was picky—about everything, especially food.
So if he had no social events, he usually just ate at home.
When they first got together, Amelia worked her tail off trying to please his demanding taste.
She used to beam for days just because he once said, “Not bad.”
It felt like her entire youth had been wrapped around him.
All her little experiments in cooking, every bit of effort—
Amelia gave them all to him.
Her crush, her tenderness, those innocent days.
Back then, just thinking about making a meal he’d like was enough to make her heart race.
Now, that version of her felt like someone from a whole different lifetime.
“What’s wrong?”
Amelia hung up the call, looking a bit off.
“I need to go.”
Yeah, she was strapped for cash.
Amelia had to admit it—she was still relying on Simon financially.
Her mom’s medical bills were a money pit.
Back when she didn’t want the baby, it was whatever.
Now, though, the idea of keeping the child meant she had to seriously think about having enough money for everything.
After parting ways with Olivia, Amelia headed straight to the market.
Simon was super picky about food—everything had to be ultra-fresh, and leftovers?
Not a chance.
Their fridge was basically a no-storage zone.
By the time Amelia got back home, the sky had already gone dark.
She spent a solid two hours in the kitchen, cooking up four dishes and a soup.
Simon had high standards when it came to meals, and Amelia didn’t dare cut corners.
Two hours in, she was starting to feel really rough.
Once dinner was done, she had to take anti-nausea meds to settle her stomach before calling Simon.
But his phone just rang and rang.
She glanced at the wall clock—already 8 p.m.
That late, he shouldn’t be in a meeting, and it was unlikely he was still working overtime.
Maybe he didn’t hear it?
Or…
maybe he just flat-out didn’t want to pick up.
Amelia stared at her phone, bit her lip, and tried calling again.
This time, he straight-up declined the call.
Staring at the screen, frustration bubbled inside her.
She exhaled slowly, then shot him a quick text:
[When are you coming back?
Dinner’s ready.]
A few moments later, her phone buzzed with a reply:
[Not coming back for dinner.]Amelia stared at the message for a long while before replying with just one word:
[Okay.]
After sending it, Amelia just sat there, eyes locked on Simon’s text.
She couldn’t even describe what she was feeling.
Probably just…
really messed up inside.
It hurt.
A lot.
When a man doesn’t love you anymore, it doesn’t matter what you do for him—he won’t care.
Her stomach flipped all of a sudden.
After throwing up, Amelia leaned on the sink, staring at her pale, tired face in the mirror, completely out of it for a moment.
Her nose stung, but no—she wasn’t going to cry.
She’d already wasted too many tears on Simon.
This kind of thing had happened before.
It was happening again.
And it probably wouldn’t be the last time.
Amelia didn’t want to keep giving him her sadness too.
She splashed some cold water on her face and pulled herself together.
Then she sat down at the dining table and started eating alone.
Thing is, Amelia’s actually a really good cook.
Over the years, she’d learned to make all kinds of dishes just for Simon.
Tonight’s spread?
All his favorites.
Amelia ate a lot.
Then threw it all up again.
After throwing up, she dumped the whole table of food into a bag and headed downstairs with it.
The stray cats and dogs downstairs came running the moment they saw her.
Amelia crouched down, setting the small bowl aside, and carefully separated the food, handing it out bit by bit to the cats and dogs.
When she was done, she didn’t leave right away.
She just crouched there in the garden, watching the animals eat.
Before she knew it, tears started falling.
Even she didn’t really know why she was crying.
There wasn’t much reason to, right?
But still, she just couldn’t hold it back.
Maybe it was just one of those pregnancy things—emotions all over the place and hard to control.
She didn’t know how long she had been there when a pair of leather shoes stopped in front of her.
Amelia didn’t look up.
She didn’t want Simon to see her like this—so messed up, so pathetic.
Simon stood there silently, not saying a word, just watching her feed the cats and dogs.
Only when the animals had finished eating and wandered off did he finally speak.
“Get up.”
His voice was low, and not exactly gentle.
Actually, he sounded kind of pissed.
Did something happen with Vivian?
Amelia had already forced her emotions back down.
She slowly looked up at Simon.”
You’re back?”
Simon squinted at her.
“Been crying?”
Amelia forced a smile.
“Nah, just a tiny bug flew into my eye.”
He didn’t really care—probably just asked out of habit.
She said it was a bug, so he nodded.
“Done feeding them?
If you are, let’s go back.”
“I’ll stay down here a bit longer.”
He glanced at her.
“You giving me attitude?”
“Nah, don’t worry, Mr.
Johnson.
I know better.”
“As long as you get it.
Don’t pick up those whiny habits, Amelia.”
She didn’t answer.
Simon stood there a moment, then asked again, “Really not coming up?”
“In a minute.”
“Whatever suits you.”
With that, he turned and left.
She stayed crouched for a while before finally standing up.
By the time she got home, Simon had already showered and was in the study.
Amelia showered too, took her meds, and went straight to bed.
She had no idea when Simon came to bed or when he left.
The only thing she was sure of was that the bed next to hers was cold the next morning.
Maybe he didn’t even come back at all last night.
Amelia took a deep breath, pushed the messy thoughts aside, and forced herself to focus.
Instead of heading to the office, she went straight to the studio.
She and Vivian had agreed to do the shoot today.
The new products were about to launch, and the promotional campaign should’ve started a while ago, but switching lead actresses had already held things up.
Then came the falling out between her and Vivian, which dragged things out even more.
They were finally getting started today, and time was tight.
But even after half a day passed, there was still no sign of Vivian.
Amelia frowned, throwing a glance at the crew nearby who were already starting to get antsy.
“I’ll go make a call to check in.”
She didn’t have Vivian’s direct number, so she tried contacting her agent.
But the call went unanswered—maybe the agent was caught up or just didn’t hear it.
Left with no choice, she dialed Simon.
He picked up, and his tone was…
not exactly pleasant.
“What is it now?”
Amelia paused for a couple of seconds.
“Could you please share Vivian’s contact info with me?
We had her booked for today’s shoot but she hasn’t shown up yet.”
Simon went quiet for a moment too.
“Forgot to mention—Vivian’s not feeling well.
Let’s just cancel the shoot.”
Amelia froze a bit.
She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible.
“Simon, organizing the shoot team hasn’t been easy, and the new collection’s about to launch.
We haven’t even started shooting yet.”
Simon’s tone was especially cool.
“So what?
Isn’t this your mess to clean up?
Why didn’t you check in with Vivian in advance to make sure she was good for today?”
Amelia took a deep breath.
“I was in touch with her agent.
We had a time set.
She just didn’t show and never gave me a heads-up.”
Simon paused.
“Right, Vivian asked me last night to let you know, but you wouldn’t come upstairs, so I kinda forgot.
My bad.”
With that, Simon hung up.