"Today is a good day. We can get what we want. Our hearts open up and we love each other... "
"Ding Dong, Ding Dong..."
A happy song played on Amelia's iPod that reflected her exact state of mind. Just then, the doorbell rang. Amelia Mo turned around towards the door with a complacent smile. She was so excited that her heart was beating against her chest. Amelia Mo thought it was her love on the other side of the door. Who else could it be? He had come here to celebrate her 25th birthday.
It must be her boyfriend, Jasper Gu. Amelia's heart welled up with joy as she thought that Jasper had come back home early to make her feel special on her birthday. Amelia Mo pulled the new shirt she was wearing to make it prim and proper before she rushed to answer the door. Her face broke into a hearty smile, her cheeks adorned by the two sweet dimples. She unlocked the door and swung it open. Her happy face turned into a disappointed expression to find the person who was standing outside the door. Her beautiful smile gave away to a disgruntled frown as she asked, "What makes you come here?"
"I have come here to give you the wedding invitation in person," Yolanda Mo said in a cold tone. She looked at Amelia Mo through the corner of her skillfully made-up eyes and false eyelashes.
"There was no need for it because I won't come to the wedding," Amelia Mo reverted with equal indifference and coldness which matched that of Yolanda's way. After saying that, Amelia was about to close the door on Yolanda's face.
Just as Amelia was about to close the door, Yolanda Mo leaned against the door and forcefully popped the red wedding invitation card inside the room through the crack of the door. Amelia was left aghast at this intruding gesture while Yolanda sported a triumphant smile and said, "Amelia, please be there. It's time for you to face reality."
"What's wrong with you?" Amelia Mo remarked as she found Yolanda Mo turn around and rush out of her sight. If Yolanda Mo didn't run as fast as she could, Amelia Mo would definitely have had a big fight with her.
Amelia was least bothered about Yolanda's marriage.
"For a fickle-minded girl like Yolanda who changed her boyfriend faster than changing her clothes, the very idea of getting married sounded like a joke. How ridiculous!"
Amelia casually threw the marriage invitation card away. Then her eyes fell upon the big bunch of lilies that were gracing the tabletop. Immediately, the sparkle in Amelia's eyes returned and her face broke into a smile once again. Jasper's words reverberated in her mind to make her smile again and again. He said Amelia was just as pure and beautiful as a lily, so he bought a big bunch of lily flowers for her birthday. Nothing could be more romantic than this for Amelia. She held the lilies closed to her bosom and caressed them fondly as she could feel Jasper's touch in them.
An hour passed, but Jasper still didn't show up. With every passing moment, Amelia was growing more and more impatient. Then came a time when she couldn't wait any longer. She picked up her phone and dialed the number she had memorized.
The call got connected, but no one answered it. That was surprising for her. Amelia Mo felt like a century had passed. She waited with bated breath to hear Jasper's voice from the other side.
"What is he doing? Why doesn't he answer my phone?" After a while and a few more attempts to contact Jasper, Amelia threw away her cell phone angrily. Accidentally, she caught a glimpse of the wedding invitation card on the table. Feeling bored, she looked through it.
At first, Amelia just took a casual glance at it. Her eyes moved through the design and color of the card in a very nonchalant and unwilling manner. For sure, she had nothing to do with the details mentioned in the card.
Amelia was least interested in the content or text part of it. However, one thing that caught her eyes was the photo of the bridegroom-to-be that was beautifully framed with that of the bride-to-be on the left side of the invitation card.
Amelia stared at the card in disbelief. Gazing at the happy and smiling faces of the soon-to-be wedded couple, she could feel her heart sinking.
Amelia held the wedding invitation card tightly in her hand, squeezed her eyes shut for one and opened it to see it clearly.
Then she moved her eyes to read the invitation message to reconfirm the information. Yes, it was the same invitation card that Yolanda had given to Amelia this morning to invite her to Yolanda's wedding. But what was unnerving for Amelia was that the groom's name as it was mentioned in the card and also the photo was that of Amelia's boyfriend, Jasper Gu's.
Amelia felt as if she was in a trance. It was her 25th birthday. She was just waiting for Jasper Gu to spend a beautiful day full of love.
How could this be? Last night, Jasper Gu had promised to propose to her on her birthday. How is it possible that now he was getting married to Yolanda Mo? Amelia held the wedding invitation card as her eyes became blurred and her heart throbbed painfully. Suddenly, Amelia straightened her spine and took a deep breath. She needed an explanation for this. There must be some mistake somewhere! This could not be true!
Amelia dialed Jasper's number again, but he didn't answer. Frustrated, she kept calling repeatedly until a sweet voice said, "Sorry, the number you are dialing is switched off."
Amelia almost freaked out. She turned around and saw the bunch of beautiful lilies on the table. Her eyes were sore. She grabbed her handbag and rushed out.
No matter what the truth was, she must see it with her own eyes.
What could this wedding invitation mean? Yolanda always liked to make fun of her. Amelia tried to control herself as she paced ahead to the bus stop. The sharp nip in the air as the winter wind blew over, made Amelia shiver as she stepped out of her house.
Amelia felt fatigued and covered her mouth with her cold hands and yawned. As soon as she got into the bus, her phone rang. She thought it must be Jasper. Without even looking at the screen, she called out cheerfully, "Dear". However, her enthusiastic voice was met with a laugh coming from the other side of the phone. "You don't have to say that, Amelia. Oh! You are so obsessed with your love! But sadly, I'm not your boyfriend. I'm just calling to say happy birthday to you!"
"Oh! It's you, Courtney," Amelia could not help feeling disappointed as she said in a low voice. "Thank you!"
"What's wrong?" Courtney Lin asked concernedly as she could feel the pain in Amelia's voice.
"Courtney, I'm in a hurry. I need to reach somewhere urgently. Let's talk later!" By the time Amelia finished saying this, she almost reached her destination. After hanging up the phone, she rushed out of the bus and headed straight to Jasper's home.
Jasper lived in a villa district in the west suburb of A City. Amelia often came here to clean up his house, so the bodyguard recognized her the moment he saw her. However, unlike earlier, he did not greet her with a smile. Rather, he had an awkward look on his face as he approached her and asked Amelia why she came here today. Amelia was not in the mood to notice anything at the moment. So she remained silent and entered Jasper's villa.
At that very moment, inside the high-end villa, a woman was lying over a man on a big and luxurious bed. The man lying under her was roaring. The extreme sex sounded ambiguous as both their voices got mixed.
Amelia thought Jasper was not at home. Unexpectedly, when she stood at the door, she found the door was half-open. She took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. Amelia had to find out the truth so that she would not fall prey to Yolanda's bully once again. Otherwise, she would be the biggest loser.
Just as she reached out to push the door open, a coquettish voice came from inside the room. "Jasper, come on! My waist is sore!"
'Jasper? The waist is sore? What the hell is going on over here?'
"Don't you like this pose? Tired already? Or do you want me to come here? I promise you will love me forever!" Jasper rasped as he said in a suppressed voice, but with a strong sense of tease, which could be heard clearly. Amelia's pink cheeks instantly turned red.
"Shut up!" The woman let out a coquettish s
mile, followed by a resounding gasp.
Amelia froze to the spot she was standing. This voice, so soft and captivating was familiar to her. The man's voice that came from inside the room was that of Jasper's. It was none other than Jasper inside that room. Amelia stood there feeling indecisive about what to do next. In the meantime, a string of delicate gasps kept coming from inside the room that would make people blush and raise their heartbeat. By this time, Amelia started shaking with anger. She could not take it anymore. She clenched her fist tightly trying to contain the soaring rage in her heart. The very next moment she kicked open the half-open door with her foot.
"Who is that ?" Jasper, who was having fun, screamed at the very first sight of Amelia entering the room, immediately followed by Yolanda's scream.
"Yolanda, it's you!" Amelia exclaimed. On her way to Jasper's villa, Amelia's heart was full of doubts. She did not believe what she saw in the invitation card. All this while, she believed that it was yet another harsh trick played by Yolanda. Amelia had come here to prove it wrong. She wanted to ask Jasper about it. However, before she could ask anything to anyone, all her doubts were clear. The truth laid naked right in front of her eyes.
Both Jasper and Yolanda who were experiencing ecstasy just a moment ago were now panicked. Without a speck of cloth on their bodies, they were caught red-handed and had no clue about where to hide their faces. Especially, for Jasper - he was so shocked that his eyeballs almost fell to the ground at the sight of Amelia. Because they had just been in a passionate act, their clothes were even scattered on the floor. Feeling embarrassed, Yolanda asked him to help her pick up the clothes from the carpet.
Amelia's eyes were fixed on Jasper as he got off the bed naked. She dared not to open her mouth, lest she regretted the words she uttered later on. Her eyes were filled with anger. Amelia endured the pain and refrained from yelling at him.
After putting on his clothes, Jasper walked to Amelia with a frightened face. He asked in surprise, "Amelia, why have you come here?"
Amelia thought he would be sorry for his adulterous behavior. Instead, he asked her in an unwelcome tone.
Amelia was left aghast. Then she raised her head to look straight into his eyes and asked angrily, "Are you blaming me for ruining your game?"
Jasper licked his lips and glanced at Yolanda who had curled up on the bed. With fear written all over his face, Jasper cleared his throat once, and said, "Amelia, now, since you've seen it, I'll tell you the truth. I've been with her for a long time. I didn't know how to tell you about this. After all, she is your sister... "
Clap! A hard slap landed on Jasper's face. Somehow, Amelia dared to slap him on the face with all her strength.
How could she stand to accept his sympathy at this moment? "Jasper, I've been with you for so many years. You are such a jerk!"
Jasper stood there silently without a single trace of remorse on his face. Surprisingly, from his attitude, it seemed that he had never been in love with Amelia. Not knowing why, the man in front of her was very strange, as if they had never been in love for five years.
Amelia and Jasper had been in a committed relationship for the last five years. The man Amelia had cherished the most had betrayed her so easily.
"Amelia, you are an uneducated illegitimate daughter!" Yolanda, who had been curling up on the bed, blurted out angrily.
Yolanda's words had burned up all Amelia's reason. She could bear any insults, but the words 'illegitimate daughter' pierced her heart and soul like a sharp knife.
"Yolanda, how dare you lie about the fact!" Amelia's mother, Iris Liu, was the wife of her father Vernon Mo. Everything went on well till Yolanda's mother, Sophia Che came into their life. Thereafter, Iris was forced to commit suicide by consuming sleeping pills!
"Oh?" Yolanda rolled out of the bed with her lace nightgown exposed. She glared at Amelia with disgust and said, "It's my bad luck that your mother has a dumb daughter like you. Since you don't know how to behave, let me tell you the truth."
"Yolanda, today is Amelia's birthday. Don't tell her all this," Jasper intervened to stop Yolanda. A look of deep regret appeared on his face when he looked at Amelia.
Jasper still remembered that it was Amelia's birthday. But sadly, it seemed to be too late to take care of her mood now.
"I don't care whether it's her birthday or not. Unless you still have feelings for her, you won't care about what she's feeling right now," Yolanda snorted at Jasper and then looked at his pale face discontentedly. She then turned towards Amelia and continued to mock her, "Amelia Mo, it's high time you accept the reality. Had it not been for my mother's generosity in the past few years, you couldn't even be a servant in the Mo family. What's more, father promised in person that I will be engaged to Jasper. You have been bossing Jasper around for so many years. He has already got sick of you!"
"Yolanda, how could you say that? Please stop it." With an embarrassed look on his face, Jasper kept clenching Yolanda's arm and begged her not to say anything unpleasant.
Amelia felt light-headed. She struggled to keep calm on her face and snorted softly, "Well, I doubt about that. Only Jasper knew the truth. No matter how I behave, I won't climb into a man's bed so easily unlike someone who just used such a dirty trick to win over a man!"
Although Amelia had no idea why Jasper chose to be with Yolanda, she was sure that Jasper was not the kind of man who would date two women at the same time unless he had some compelling reason. The man she loved deeply failed her in the end.
Yolanda was so angry that her face turned pale. She raised her hand and was about to slap Amelia in the face. Just in time, Jasper held her hand and stopped her. He begged anxiously, "Yolanda, you are pregnant now. Don't hurt the baby!"
Indeed, she was pregnant!
Amelia smiled coldly and looked at Jasper with sharp eyes. Although her eyes were red, she felt relieved soon.
"Jasper, you've told me that even a thousand Amelia-s put together can't take my baby's place in your heart. So, what are you waiting for? Get her out of here!" Pointing a finger at Amelia's face, Yolanda said furiously.
"Amelia..." Jasper pleaded with his brows knitted tightly.
Somehow, Amelia was not so sad all of a sudden. After what she saw in front of her was enough to disappoint her. Since she was not reconciled in the heart, she could easily put it down.
"Don't bother, Mr. Gu. My hands and feet are fine. But you, since Yolanda is pregnant, you should also know to control your desire. If you have impotence at such a young age, it will only be a disgrace for you," Amelia said seriously with a faint smile on her face.
Jasper was horrified to hear that. He couldn't believe it. In his mind, Amelia was a traditional woman. They had been together for five years and the two of them had never been intimate except for holding hands and kissing occasionally. As a result, under the influence of hormones, he ended up having sex with Yolanda. And after that she became pregnant. Now, it has become his obligation to marry her.
Ignoring the surprised look on Jasper's face, Amelia turned to angry Yolanda with a sweet smile. She pressed her lips and advised, "And you, pregnant, don't do any hard work in bed. If you accidentally miscarried, even even a thousand Amelia-s could not afford it!"
Yolanda was rendered speechless by her words. In the end, she yelled angrily, "I know you're upset about being crossed in love, so I allow you to make fun of me. But Amelia, next Monday I am getting married to Jasper. As my bridesmaid, you must attend the wedding!"
The invitation was nothing but an order. Yolanda had always been bossy with everyone, so the servants would do as she said. However, Amelia was no match for her half-sister Yolanda in the Mo family, although she was the biological daughter of Vernon Mo.
"I must attend the wedding?" Amelia sneered and looked at Yolanda with her brows arched. Then she refused scornfully, "No. I can't attend your wedding!"
Thereafter, Amelia turned around and walked out of Jasper's villa.