Since She Met Lucian

Chapter 33 I Heard You Were Sleeping In Separate Rooms

"And... Mrs. Fannie went here today too..." Lily was so nervous that her whole body was shaking.

"I see. You may leave now." Lucian looked no different than usual. He turned and nonchalantly asked Amelia, "Do you want to go to the Zhan mansion with me?"

She couldn't turn him down since he had asked.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure what happened last time won't happen again," Lucian added.

Lucian's words drew Amelia's attention. A hint of astonishment flashed in her eyes. Suddenly, the image of Fannie slapping her across the face flashed in her mind.

Knowing what he meant, Amelia smiled, "Don't worry. I'll try my best not to piss your mother off."

While Amelia seemed perfectly agreeable, her tone sounded distant as if she was trying to prove a point to Lucian.

They arrived at the Zhan mansion when evening came. All the lights were turned on but there was nothing but silence.

It was Darren who came out to welcome Lucian and Amelia as the rest of the other servants were busy inside the mansion. Nicholas was sitting on the sofa, having a cup of tea. Upon seeing the two arrive, he said simply, "You're here."

This was Amelia's third time meeting Nicholas. While they didn't talk much, she felt as if he was much easier to get along with than Fannie. He hadn't fully accepted her yet but at the very least, he didn't sneer at her or glare at her the way Fannie did.

In response, Amelia gave a polite salute to him.

Nicholas beckoned for them to have a seat. Initially, Amelia wanted Lucian to sit down first before she did but to her surprise, Lucian grabbed her hand and led her to the sofa, saying, "Sit."

She suddenly froze. The warmth of Lucian's hands enveloped hers making her feel all tingly inside.

"Lucian, I heard the Zhan Group's acquired a couple of big projects. I've checked the numbers and it seems you've done a good job. I'm very satisfied with how you're running things." Nicholas looked up. He glanced at Amelia at first then fixed his gentle eyes on Lucian last.

Lucian nodded slightly and did not answer. He just knew that Nicholas hadn't asked him to come here just to say that.

Just as Amelia was wondering where Fannie was, she suddenly heard the voice. "Is Lucian here? Did he bring that woman with him?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was referring to Amelia.

Amelia suddenly sat up straight. Her eyes sharpened and her stomach twisted in knots in nervousness.

Suddenly, she felt a hand move behind her and grasp her waist.

She turned to look at Lucian who was calm as ever. 'I wish Lucian would let go of me,' she thought to herself. However, at that moment, Fannie was walking toward them, her face unreadable. She wore an elegant dress that made her look gorgeous.

"Lucian, I went to the SJ Garden today but you weren't home. I thought you were busy so I didn't call you." After that, she looked at Amelia and said coldly, "Looks like we have a problem here!"

Amelia averted her gaze.

"Mom, I know what you want to say," Lucian said in an icy tone, tightening his grip on Amelia. He then turned to look at her dotingly and smiled. "We love each other and we want to spend the rest of our lives together."

Amelia quivered in shock, giving Lucian a look of disbelief, eyes wide open.

Despite knowing that Lucian was only saying this to put up an act, she still found herself longing for his words to be real.

He shouldn't have said that! Fannie turned her gaze to Amelia and asked, "I heard that you two are sleeping in two separate bedrooms?"

Amelia was startled.

It seems as if Fannie had gotten her facts right—Amelia and Lucian were sleeping in two separate bedrooms.

"Well, why don't you go and tell the police about it? You have such good observational skills!" With a snort, Lucian asked coldly, "Did you see the portrait of Amelia's mother?"

Amelia was too scared to look at Fannie.

It was a well-known fact that rich and powerful families such as the Zhan family strictly followed certain rules and traditions. With that, they believed that displaying a portrait such as Iris's would bring bad luck to their family.

"It's good that you brought that up because I was just about to mention it." Fannie continued, directing her question to Amelia this time, "Did you purposely bring that portrait of your mother to bring bad luck to our family?"

Without a doubt, Fannie believed that Iris's portrait hanging in their villa at the SJ Garden was a symbol of bad luck and misfortune.

Amelia was frozen in place. She could feel her chest tightening in anxiety.

"Mom, you can't talk to her like that. She's a member of the family now. And besides, it was I who decided to hang that portrait in the SJ Garden." Lucian further tightened his grip on Amelia's small waist.

"I don't care whose idea it was. I already threw the portrait away anyway!" Fannie snapped.

"What did you just say?" Amelia stood in shock and asked incredulously, "You threw the portrait away?"

"Yes, I threw it away," Fannie answered with a cold smile.

All of a sudden, Amelia turned pale. She felt her heart ache. Her mother's portrait was now gone.

"Amelia?" Lucian called softly.

Amelia was able to gather herself. "Are you happy now?" she asked, sobbing.

With that, she stood up and left.

"Lucian, stop!" Fannie called. She had blocked Lucian who was just about to run after Amelia.

Lucian's eyes were filled with anger. Unable to hold back his rage, he roared, "You've gone way too far this time!"

Then he pushed Fannie away.

Fortunately, she fell on the sofa and not on the ground.

Nicholas sat on the sofa, merely watching the entire scene unfold. He didn't even call for a servant to help Fannie up. Sighing, he said, "Fannie, Fiona entrusted Lucian to you because she trusted you to raise him with care and love and not to interfere in his life. You're meddling in his life and you're not supposed to be. It's none of your business."

Looking dejected, Fannie slumped on the floor. Tears streaming down her face.

"Amelia..." Lucian ran out to catch up with Amelia. As he spoke, he sounded worried and the pity in his voice was undeniable.

Lucian suddenly pulled her into his arms from behind and said remorsefully, "I'm sorry, I didn't know..." He thought he was finally going to be able to protect her. This was the last thing he wanted.

There were two things he rarely did: apologize and make promises. Amelia was the first person to get him to break this principle of his.

His words enveloped her broken heart in warmth and care.

"It's not your fault. It's mine. I thought if I brought my mother's portrait to SJ Garden, she could finally have a quiet life. I just didn't..." Amelia's voice trailed off. Then she said tearfully, "Would you let go of me? I need to look for the portrait. My mother didn't have taken many photos when she was alive. We don't even have a photo together..."

Amelia choked as she sobbed, her eyebrows knitted together, eyes gleaming in tears.

Lucian let go of her, his heart aching at the sight of this. He then turned to Darren who had followed them and said firmly, "Tell my mother that if she doesn't find Iris's portrait, I'll never show my face in the Zhan mansion ever again."

His tone was resolute, eyebrows deeply furrowed together. There was no denying his wrath.

Darren was so frightened that his face turned pale. He immediately nodded in agreement.

"Amelia, I'm sorry. If I had checked before we came here, you wouldn't have had to find out that way." Lucian couldn't stand seeing Amelia crying. Needless to say, he was at a loss.

When Amelia heard what Lucian had told Darren, her first thought was that it wasn't his fault at all. If anything, he'd saved her. He'd saved her from the Mo family and he saved her now too.

She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down then she said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you."

"It's okay. Don't worry. We'll get that portrait back," Lucian said in a determined tone as he wiped off the tears on Amelia's face.

Around a few minutes later, Darren arrived carrying what seemed to be an item covered in black cloth. He said urgently, "Mr. Lucian, Mr. Nicholas asked me to give this to you."

Lucian immediately took it and uncovered it only to find in relief that it was Iris's portrait.

"Amelia, look!" Lucian handed her the photo with a bright smile on his face.

Amelia gazed at the photo, tears streaming down her face again.

"Mom, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I almost lost you." Holding Iris's portrait in her arms, she clutched it tightly as if she was afraid she was going to lose it again.

"Mr. Lucian and Mrs. Amelia, Mr. Nicholas is waiting for you in his study." Darren didn't have the heart to interrupt Amelia who seemed to be having a moment with her mother. In a small voice, he said, "It was Mr. Nicholas who found the portrait. He asked to talk to you two inside."

Putting on an icy cold look, Lucian said rather harshly, "Kindly thank my father for me but this doesn't mean that I forgive my mother." This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Lucian always stood by what he thought was wrong and right. In this situation, his mother was wrong and she hadn't even apologized yet which meant there was no way he was going to forgive her for doing such an atrocious thing.

"Mrs. Amelia, please don't be upset. Mr. Nicholas has no problems with you. He didn't mean to offend you. He just wants to talk to you," Darren added upon realizing that he couldn't persuade Lucian. He figured maybe Amelia was easier to convince.