Capítulo 18: Intention
"You're back,"
Amelia waited for Ethan excitedly at the door. She smiled as if she was expecting him.
Ethan looked at her and then the sparkling clean house,
"Did you do all this?"
He looked surprised and pleased.
"Yeah. You've got someone else on the job?"
She glanced at Ethan and headed for the kitchen.
Ethan followed her. He always thought that someone like her would never know how to do any housework properly. Little did he know, she started trying to do all that after knowing he was but an ordinary clerk. That was moving to him.
"Here. I got this. You need a break,"
he then went for the fridge and pulled out a salmon steak. She wanted salmon, then salmon it shall be.
As she watched him working on that piece of salmon, she felt that this man became more genuine and human. Yet his suppressive aura remained still.
"Quit watching. Go and take a break."
Amelia was stunned for a second. He knew he was supposed to cherish her, so everything was well worth it. She then rubbed on her blistered hands and went for the bedroom.
As she turned the TV set on, the news channel got her attention.
"According to our exclusive intel, Harper Group is about to cooperate with the biggest company in the city. It is said that the boss of such a company is a well-hidden millionaire and has powers unknown to this world. We will follow up on the news in the coming report."
Harper Group. Charles Harper. Cooperation. Well-hidden millionaire.
All these words jumped at Amelia.
"If they do get to grow their business, wouldn't it be harder for me to achieve my goal?
Nope. This is not happening.
But how can I stop them?
All I have is this half-stranger husband," she thought.
"Your salmon's ready. Come on down."
Amelia paced downstairs with the news filling her head. The fresh smell of braised salmon steak mixed with the sweetness of asparagus came to her, but she had lost all her appetite.
"Wanna dig in?"
She clawed a piece of her salmon off with her fork, lifted it, and put it back by the asparagus.
"I... can't."
"What's wrong? Feeling off?"
Ethan tried to reach out for her forehead to check if she had a fever. As he was about to touch her, she shrank back.
"I'm fine. It's just..." she sighed.
Ethan looked at her and gently put his fork down. She was still fine before she went upstairs. There wasn't even anyone else in the house, so it must have been that she just got some news of the Harper from the TV.
"Salmon for thoughts? This feeds you, you know."
Amelia calmed herself down, looking at him worriedly and helplessly.
"Harper Group is about to cooperate with the largest company in the city. Do you think it'll go smoothly?"
Ethan then immediately understood what was going on. It was him who decided to cooperate with them, so of course, he knew what was going on.
"Well... I guess so. What do you think?"
He replied to Amelia with all seriousness and waited for her reaction.
Amelia said nothing and sighed.
"Are you worried that they'll grow stronger, and it'll get harder for you to succeed?"
He knew exactly what she thought from her worried expression.
"And it doesn't stop there..."
Her words intrigued Ethan. He unconsciously opened his eyes wider.
"Well. What else?"
Amelia paused for a second and continued, as he was on her side anyway.
"Do you know? Bella is an of ambitious woman. She could get close to that well-hidden millionaire through their cooperation. I'd be done if they... I don't know. Then it will be nearly impossible for me to take back what's mine anymore."
Amelia got her mind stirred up by all the information.
Ethan tried wracking his brain trying to understand, but he still didn't get it.
"So you're saying their cooperation can be bad to you?"
"I mean, they might become a couple just as well. Isn't that totally reasonable?"
Ethan almost choked on his asparagus as he heard that.
"What? Doesn't that make them much more difficult to deal with? They'll have pretty much everything in the city by then."
Amelia then started stabbing on her salmon.
"So that's what you're worried about. Do you want to marry that millionaire, though?"
He then found that question funny. She already believed that he was but an ordinary clerk. She even started doing housework for him. How was she supposed to give a satisfying answer to a question like that?
Amelia looked up at him with all seriousness.
"If that's what it takes to revenge me and take back what's mine, then sure."
Ethan replied with a complicated smile.
"Nah. No millionaire will ever be fond of someone like Bella."
"How are you so sure about that? He might. You're just trying to comfort me."
Amelia mumbled to herself and dipped a piece of asparagus in the sauce as if trying to drown it.
Later that evening.
"Do you think this is gonna work?"
Bella asked with much expectation. "If this cooperation goes well, I'll surely get more chances to show up around Ethan," she thought.
Delilah came over and held her hand, "I remember you told me that he looked at you. Your photo was in that contract. If he does like you, it'll surely turn out well."
Bella looked at Delilah confusedly. She just placed her photo in the contract. Wouldn't it make it too obvious? That might work against her.
"Hey, you don't just..."
Delilah replied with a smile.
"Don't worry about it. I didn't just put your profile picture there. That would be the same as offering you as part of the contract."
"Mom..." Bella started to blush.
The next day.
As Ethan arrived at the office, his secretary came in with a pile of files.
"This is all the files Harper Group brought."
"Yeah. Just leave them here."
He toyed with the front page. The name of Harper Group in bold looked glaring.
Harper Group.
A mysterious smile appeared on his face.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder