Chapter 74 Courtney's Love

"I'm telling you now, Kent. If you so much as dare make a decision without my knowledge, you'll face consequences!" Melissa's words were still ringing in Kent's ears when she hurried to the elevator.

And although the words were not addressed to her, it was Amelia who felt the sting of those words as soon as the elevator doors closed.

"It's almost five," Amelia said. "I need to talk to you. Do you have time after work?" Amelia never thought of the office as the proper place to be asking colleagues about personal affairs, so she thought it best to talk to Kent elsewhere.

"I know that you and Courtney are good friends," Kent began, facing Amelia. "Before you reached out, I was actually thinking of talking to you." Amelia could see that Kent was struggling to turn his frown into a relaxed smile.

"You didn't change your number, did you? I'll call you after work." Deep down, Amelia knew that she was angry, but one look at Kent's worried expression seemed to vanish her feelings of hate.

"I'll call you later," Kent repeated before he himself entered the elevator.

Amelia realized that she'd been out for too long. She quickly turned back to head to her desk, her face contorted into an expression of confusion, anger, and hurt. She forced a smile when she saw Lucian looking at her. "Sorry," she meekly said, "I left my post without permission."

"I'll ask Frank to drive you home." Lucian's reply was cool but quick. He got up, adjusted his coat, and grabbed his suitcase, reaching for the door.

"So, are you doing anything tonight?" Amelia hesitantly asked. She knew the answer to her question. She had already heard the conversation between Sasha and him, but she couldn't keep herself from asking.

"Yes," Lucian replied curtly before looking at Amelia with the gentlest of eyes. "I'll head out soon. I just have a few more things to attend to."

He didn't say much and Amelia didn't want to press.

"Okay," she said. "I'm sorry, it's nothing. Go, finish up." Turning her head back to her desk, she realized that

force Courtney to do something she didn't want, so she agreed, "All right. I'll drive you home."

"You don't have to. I have a driver waiting for me." Courtney gestured to the luxury car parked a few steps back.

Amelia walked Courtney to the car and helped her in. She watched the car drive off before walking away, relieved that she no longer had to watch her friend deal with the pain of a broken heart.

But she couldn't take her mind off of what happened. Her thoughts were still with Courtney, so much so that she couldn't feel hunger even though it had been hours since she last ate anything.

Walking aimlessly, she turned a corner and stopped in front of a small flower shop. She didn't even realize but her gaze was transfixed on a white lily.

She had never been one to buy flowers, but she found herself walking away with a bouquet.

The faint fragrance of the lily made her heart swell. Feeling a little better, she prayed to God for Courtney to feel better soon.

Amelia made her way back to SJ Garden in a taxi. She was recollecting herself when she realized that Lucian wouldn't be at home. She remembered the conversation between him and Sasha. She replayed the conversation over and over in her head and the more her thoughts dwelled on them, the more upset she grew. She kept on thinking about their meeting and imagining the things they were talking about.

When she finally arrived at SJ Garden, Lily smiled at her and motioned for her to come to the dining room. "Mrs. Amelia, I had just finished setting the table for dinner. Come and have some food."

Amelia realized that it was already past seven, which was an hour later than when Lily would usually serve dinner. But although it was a little different from what she'd used to, she didn't bother asking about it. It was probably nothing.

Amelia smiled back at Lily as she deposited the flowers she just bought into a vase and filled it with water. The sorrow that she felt moments earlier was lifted. She was inexplicably happy; she was smiling ear to ear.