Chapter 17

Amelia hung up after saying just a few words.

I was stunned for quite a while, then I removed Thomas from the blacklist and gave him a call.

As soon as I sent the call, I regretted it. I thought he wouldn’t pick up in the middle of the night, but just as I was about to hang up, his voice came through.

There was no hint of sleepiness, unusually alert.

“Bella?”

I took a deep breath and said, “What did you do to Amelia?”

“She reached out to you?”

“Yes.”

I heard the sound of a lighter from Thomas’s end.

He said, “I met with her parents.”

I was surprised.

Because according to Amelia, her parents were very controlling. Perhaps they had relaxed a bit after she became an adult, but sometimes when she and I went shopping, she would tense up whenever she received a call from home.

“What did you talk about?”

“Nothing much.” Thomas paused, “I just hoped she wouldn’t bother you.”

“Do you know she hasn’t been to work for a month?”

“Is that so.”

His tone was indifferent, as if he had expected it.

I didn’t know what to say, feeling a bit like ending the call.

But Thomas stopped me.

“Bella, I’m not magnanimous.”

I understood what he meant.

Amelia was the reason Thomas and I reached this point, and he couldn’t possibly remain indifferent.

Holding the phone, I said, “I think Amelia’s mental state isn’t very stable.”

“Yes.”

“You know?”

“During our senior year internship, the company arranged a business trip for us. I shared a dorm room with Alex, and two other girls from our department were with us. During our downtime, those two girls came to our room to play cards. Amelia found out and went into a rage over the phone, throwing and breaking things around her, demanding I kick the girls out, or she’d go find another man to spend the night with. At that time, there were four people in the room, Alex included… Tell me, does that sound normal?”

This was the first time I heard about Amelia’s past from Thomas, and I was completely stunned.

In a daze, I only remembered his voice sounding distant.

“Bella, a relationship full of holes, once let go, is no longer worth longing for.”

…

The next day, as soon as I arrived at the firm, a colleague beside me winked at me, “Amelia’s back.”

I was startled, “Where?”

“In the boss’s office.”

The colleague whispered, “Her parents brought her here, they’re probably waiting in the conference room now.”

I turned to look and saw Amelia coming out of the office.

We both froze.

Amelia looked much more haggard, without makeup, and her dark circles were prominent.

Following her, a middle-aged couple emerged from the conference room, and sensing something, they glanced over at me.

They must be Amelia’s parents.

Amelia said something to them, and they frowned, arguing quietly with her before leaving.

As Amelia’s mother passed by me, she quickly sized me up.

I frowned uncomfortably, and Amelia walked over to me.

“Bella, let’s talk.”