So much sugar—why not just glue your mouth shut?
Whatever.
She needed his help, so she’d suck it up.
Forcing a smile, Amelia spoke as sweetly as she could, “It’s been a while since I cooked, I’m a bit rusty.
Next time I’ll be more careful.”
Eric’s expression eased up a bit, just as she expected.
She jumped at the chance, “Mr.
Reeves, just like getting married, a divorce should also be on an auspicious date.
Look, the reason our marriage fizzled out might be ’cause we picked the wrong timing for our license.
So, if we pick the right day to split, maybe we’ll both move on easier.
I checked—21st, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 31st of this month are all lucky.
You up for choosing one together?”
Eric let out a sarcastic laugh, “So basically, every day that’s not a weekend is a lucky day, huh?”
Her little scheme was way too obvious to him.
Amelia, thick-skinned as always, smiled through it.
“There just happen to be a lot of lucky dates this month.”
Eric didn’t bother replying.
Amelia wasn’t about to give up that easily.
“Mr.
Reeves, which day works best for you?”
Eric finally had enough of her buzzing around like a housefly.
His face darkened.
“Say one more word and you can deliver this crap yourself.”
Her gentle tone had hit its limit.
Frustrated, she snapped, “Eric, this is a totally different matter!
I’ve done what you asked, you’ve got no right to back out now!”
The moment she dropped her soft act, showing her claws like a cornered cat, Eric’s brows actually relaxed.
He tapped his fork against the take-out box.
“So let me get this straight — you wanna get a divorce while still keeping your dad, Victor, in the dark, and maintain your ties with the Reeves family.
You think life’s really that generous?”
That shut her up.
Truth be told, she hadn’t planned on spilling the divorce news to Victor any time soon.
Even before Grace’s accident, Victor’s marriage was already shaky.
Not long after her coma, he was already considering divorce.
But Grace had built the company’s key upper management, and held almost half the shares herself.
If he had gone through with the divorce back then, it would’ve caused chaos.
His lawyer talked him out of it.
Three years after Grace’s accident, he had slowly regained control over most of the shares and brought in his own people.
That’s when he revisited the divorce idea.
But then, out of nowhere, Eric picked Amelia.
When the Reeves came knocking with a marriage proposal, Victor was floored.
Of course he said yes without thinking.
To get Amelia to agree, he even sweetened the pot—he’d stay married to Grace for ten more years.
If she was still unconscious by then, he’d officially cut ties and cash out her shares to cover her long-term medical costs.
But now, only three years in, Amelia was already looking to bail.
If Victor got wind of it, he’d definitely pull the plug on Grace’s treatment.
With the little money she had, there’s no way she’d keep Grace on life support.
Her whole plan—divorcing, buying a place, and caring for Grace—depended on getting her share of the assets and a stable income.
Now the voice-over gig for “Mythic Legends” that was almost hers got snatched away, and on top of that, she had turned down tons of other roles before—she never thought she’d actually divorce Eric.
That left a bunch of production teams with the impression she was a pain to work with, so now hardly any major projects were knocking on her door.
Money?
Not coming in fast anymore.
Yeah, this was definitely not the time for Victor to find out she was splitting up.
And no way Eric was gonna keep pretending to play along in front of the cameras once they were divorced.
Amelia felt a wave of frustration wash over her.
Was…
not divorcing actually the smarter move?
If so, then all those bold words she threw at Eric before…
what was that, just a comedy act?
Did she completely lose her self-respect?
And seriously—he’d already cheated on her blatantly.
If she kept dragging it out, what next?
Some kid showing up, calling him “Dad” out loud in public?
Yeah, no thanks—that would be the day the whole of River City laughs her off the stage.
This divorce had to happen.
With that in mind, she shifted gears and put on a different face.
“Mr.
Reeves, come on.
You know, a divorce is a big move for Jeson.
No heads-up, just boom—we’re done?
That wouldn’t be great for the company, or the stock price, right?”
Eric glanced at her, indifferent.
“Cut to the chase.”
“I mean, how about we keep it under wraps for a year after the divorce?
Just to keep things stable…”
Eric gave her a hard stare, lips tight.
Amelia’s confidence wavered a bit.
She lowered her voice, “Or…
maybe eight months if a year’s too long?”
His eyes were ice-cold now.
“Alright, fine… New chapters come out on g.com first.
six months?
I know it’s tight, but it’ll work…”
Eric snapped, jaw clenched.
“Amelia, say one more word and I’ll throw you out of here myself.”
She shut right up.
But just a minute later, she whispered, “So…
can we get it done this month?”
A few minutes later, she was getting escorted out of Eric’s office by security.
She stomped all the way out, cursing him under her breath.
That jerk—deliberately wasting her time.
Playing games.
And all the food she brought him?
Might as well’ve fed it to a dog.
The elevator doors slid open and bam—there stood Natalie.
“What are you doing here?” Natalie’s face scrunched up instantly, clearly not thrilled.
“Who let you in?”
Amelia didn’t bother being polite either.
“My husband works here.
Why wouldn’t I come?”
Natalie sneered.
“Still clinging to the delusion you’re a part of this family?
You think marrying my brother gets you a share of Jeson?
Please, know your place.”
Amelia gave a crooked smile.
“Not sure what my ‘place’ is.
Maybe go pee in a mirror and tell me what you see.”
Natalie froze, clearly not expecting that kind of sass from the once-docile Amelia.
But her smile didn’t last long; her face turned dark.
“So the real you finally shows up?
Trash will always be trash—can’t fake class.”
Amelia’s face cooled.
“Natalie, I’m warning you.
Don’t push me.”
Natalie snorted.
“Or what?
Gonna tell my brother?
As if he’d take your side?”
Amelia stared her down.
“He might—once he knows what happened on my wedding night.”
Natalie’s expression instantly changed.
Amelia leaned in.
“And those other little skeletons you hide?
Keep that mouth shut, or I’ll lay it all out.
Our grandma cares way too much about the family name—you really wanna test how she’ll react?”