Chapter 16 How Narcissistic You Are

Amelia neither confirmed nor denied it. As she thought of how much time she'd been spending in the SJ Garden, she realized how isolated she's been. Even Courtney was complaining that she only ever spent time with Lucian nowadays. She also realized that she was just a fake wife so she deserved her own living space too. It's not like they were actually married.

"Mr. Lucian, can I ask you a favor?" Amelia asked seriously after some hesitation.

Lucian raised his eyes, looked at Amelia calmly and asked, "What's up?"

His voice was cold and emotionless.

As she gazed back at him, she took a deep breath before speaking. "I think we should set a deadline for our deal."

If they continued to live like this, she wouldn't have neither a future nor freedom.

Hearing that, Lucian's eyes turned dark all of a sudden. In a cold tone, he asked, "Miss Amelia, are you no longer heartbroken?"

Heartbroken? Amelia was confused upon hearing this. She didn't know what Lucian meant.

At first, Amelia only agreed to Lucian to distract her from her heartbreak. But now, since Jasper had married Yolanda, Amelia was too upset and heartbroken to be distracted by anything.

"Mr. Lucian, I don't know why you asked me to pretend to be married to you in the first place. If you just wanted to get your parents off your back then we don't need to pretend anymore. I've already met them and they didn't like me but they did say that they weren't going to interfere with your life anymore." Amelia didn't know where she found the courage to say all of that but she was relieved that she was finally able to speak her mind. They had made so many mistake already and if they continued like this, who knew what's going to happen?

"Amelia, do you think you can go back on your word so easily?" Lucian dropped what he was doing and walked toward Amelia, casting her a cold glance. He said rather harshly, "While it's true that our marriage is a fake, can't you think about your dad who's sick? Can you imagine what it would be like for him if he found out that we were only faking our marriage?"

Amelia looked up, uncertain how to respond.

The fact that this might affect her family never entered her mind. She thought she could just end it as soon as they could like he promised.

"You've made your status in the Mo family very clear. If you strip yourself of the Zhan name, where would that leave you?" Lucian's cold words hit Amelia like a truck.

"Lucian, you really are strange, aren't you? We don't have an emotional connection. Why did you ask me to marry you in the first place? This is just going to hurt the both of us!" If he wanted a marriage so much, why didn't he find someone he loved so that he didn't need have to do something like this again?

Lucian frowned and his eyes seemed to be gleaming in pain. He was able to recover and return to his usual cold demeanor though.

"Your father had a heart attack and lucky for you, I found the best cardiologist to treat him. So you have no choice but to keep the Zhan name. Until then, you're not allowed to talk about ending this deal unless I bring it up first," Lucian spoke in a way that left no room for argument. After he spoke, he turned and left leaving Amelia standing there alone.

Vernon's health had only been getting worse no matter how many medicines he took. She wanted the best treatment money could buy for her father so she had no choice but to oblige to Lucian's wishes.

Even though she once resented Vernon for how he treated her, she was still able to find it in her heart to forgive him especially after he got sick.

If Lucian could help her father then Amelia would gladly keep up the act for their fake marriage.

When Amelia went downstairs, Lucian was just about to leave. However, when he saw her coming down, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Have you decided yet? Are you going to stop now?"

He sounded spiteful as he spoke.

"As long as you keep your word." Amelia was glaring at Lucian.

Lucian couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he looked at Amelia's angry face. "You look like you just signed your death certificate," he teased.

What's the difference? Amelia was starting to think that Lucian's only purpose in life was to annoy her. Still, this was her fault. If she hadn't agreed in the first place then she wouldn't be in this situation right now.

Amelia just pretended to ignore the fact that Lucian was making fun of her. When she smelled the food, she suddenly realized how hungry she really was. Amelia looked at Lucien and said crossly, "I stayed up all night last night. I'm hungry now and I'm not really in the mood to fight with you anymore."

"That's right. You can get your energy back when you're full so you can get mad at me again." Lucian silently nodded, smiling to himself.

"Mrs. Amelia, I've cooked you some chicken soup as requested by Mr. Lucian. Please help yourself." Lily filled up a bowl of soup for her.

Amelia blushed and insisted that she could serve herself then she looked up at Lucian and thought to herself, 'He's so weird.'

Sometimes he was sweet but sometimes he would ignore her. Amel

ia didn't know which was the real him.

"It's still pretty early. If you have nothing to do, you can go out with your friends and I can pick you up around dinner time," Lucian said while they were eating their lunch.

Amelia was taken aback upon hearing this. She put down her chopsticks and asked, "Is there anything you need me to do for you?"

Lucian sneered as he said coldly, "Stop assuming I'm up to something."

"Mr. Lucian, you're a businessman. Aren't you wired that way?" Their marriage was a deal after all. They needed to discuss everything before they could agree on something.

"You're a clever woman, aren't you?" Smiling knowingly, Lucian eyed Amelia and said, "Make sure you get up early tomorrow. You have a job at the Zhan Group. You're going to be the assistant of the CEO."

"What?!" Amelia stood up in disbelief. She looked at Lucian and said reluctantly, "I'm not going to spend any of your money but I don't want to work in the Zhan Group either."

Lily was startled at the sudden movement. She said in a small voice, "Mrs. Amelia, don't get mad at Mr. Lucian. I bet he just wants the best for you."

Lily's voice was so small and gentle.

Embarrassed, Amelia said to Lily, "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Amelia wasn't able to control herself as it had slipped her mind that Lily was still standing next to her.

"Lily, you've spoken your mind quite a bit this morning." Lucian stood up and straightened the bowl that Amelia knocked out. Then he whispered to Amelia, "Mrs. Amelia, there are other people here. Please behave yourself and act how you should act."

"You!" Amelia was too angry to come up with a retort. She initially planned to fight back but when she saw that Lily was gazing back at her curiously, she had to restrain her anger. She put on a nice smile and said, "Can I really go out with my friends? I'm going to leave now!"

Although she said it with a smile, there wasn't much enthusiasm in her tone.

Lucian went along with her skit. He answered thoughtfully, "I can ask Frank to drive you."

"Who?" Amelia was surprised but she let it go and said boldly, "I can take a taxi. I don't need someone to drive me."

She really didn't want to receive any more special treatment. The amount she was getting was already way too much for her.

"Frank is my driver. I hired him to do that job. Do you want him to lose his job because there's no use for his job anyway?" he said in a calm voice.

Amelia didn't want Frank to lose his job and the only way that wasn't going to happen was if she agreed to let Frank drive her.

She really didn't want to be the cause of problems or stress to anyone else so she had no choice but to give in.

"Lucian, can you stop showing off your wealth? You're a CEO! Of course, you have a driver. But I'm not. People like me don't need drivers. We don't need it," she said matter-of-factly, glancing at Lucian.

"All right. You can take a taxi but I'll pick you up after," Lucian compromised.

Amelia didn't expect that it would work. She beamed in response.

When Lucian saw her smile, he shook his head helplessly. He picked up his briefcase, ready to leave. Glancing at Amelia, he offered, "I'm leaving. I can drop you off at the taxi stand."

Amelia nodded and followed Lucian as he went out.

'He's so tall.' Lucian was only about a step ahead of Amelia yet she had to jog a bit just to catch up with him.

"Ah!" Amelia was walking with her head down so she accidentally bumped into something.

"Give me your phone. I'll save my number." It suddenly occurred to Lucian that he didn't have her number. He turned to ask for her phone but saw that she had been walking with her head down.

"If you tell anyone, they're just going to make fun of me!" Amelia said in spit as she handed Lucian her phone.

"Mrs. Lucian, are you saying that we should act more like husband and wife?" Suddenly, Lucian reached out his hand and put his arm around Amelia's waist, his eyes gleaming. Amelia grew nervous with how intimate they were right now. She was scared of what was going to happen next.

"What... Let go of me first... " Amelia couldn't even speak clearly. She didn't want to push Lucian away so she just buried her head in his arms.

Lucian let her go and said playfully when he saw that she was blushing, "What? Am I too handsome for you?"

"You're so full of yourself!" Amelia rolled her eyes at him, walked past him and got in the car.

"Whatever. Just take me to the taxi stand." She was worried that Lucian wouldn't keep his promise. She didn't want Courtney coming up with ideas if she saw her get off an expensive car. That would just probably make things worse. Courtney might think she's showing off!

"Here we are, Mrs. Amelia." Lucian kept his promise and dropped her off at the taxi stand. Before she got off the car, he took her by the wrist and reminded her, "Remember to call me before you go home later in the evening. If you don't come home, you'll be all over the news tomorrow morning."

He was obviously threatening her.

Amelia didn't want to argue with him. She bit her lower lip and nodded meekly.