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6.33% Marry My Billionaire Second Husband / Chapter 19: Charity

บท 19: Charity

Giovanni gulped at the dark look in Matteo's eyes. There was no way he could say no and offend him. But there was also no way he could offend the Walton and Friesent families as well.

Amelia spotted his hesitation, and she decided to lend a helping hand.

"Mr. Montgomery, may I say a word?" Amelia asked cautiously.

"What is it, Amelia?" Matteo asked, turning to gaze at her. 

Giovanni couldn't miss how his eyes softened as he looked at this Amelia person. To his knowledge, Matteo Montgomery had never looked at any guest he brought with such tenderness. 

"They are unrelated to the issue at hand," Amelia said, looking at the flute as a gentle reminder. "Banning them out of nowhere would merely cause issues for the charity."

"But they are also not allowed to harass people at will," Matteo said severely. "Mr. Giovanni?"

"Yes?" Giovanni leapt up. 

"As the host of the event, you ought to keep an eye out on what is happening at your auctions," Matteo coldly said. "Caleb Walton and Kelsie Friesent have been harassing my assistant here the entire night. They have caused damages to her personal property and attempted to publicly slander her. What might you think is punishment enough?"

There.

It was unrelated to the flute, but this was another issue the charity event was responsible for. As the host, they should've ensured that none of the guests would harass another, and for what Amelia had faced the entire night, they had turned a complete blind eye despite the plentiful servers and staff present.

"Please forgive us, Mr. Montgomery, that was our oversight," Giovanni immediately said, bowing his head. "I…"

At this point, Giovanni's forehead was completely beaded with sweat. He had ignored certain reports of a ruckus between a couple of guests, but he hadn't thought that it would bring him so much trouble just for turning a blind eye to the squabbles of the elite circle.

"How about this," Matteo said, coldly glaring at Giovanni. "In the future, if there is anything the Montgomerys wish to bid for, Kelsie Friesent and Caleb Walton will be barred from offering a counter."

Giovanni stilled. It wasn't a complete ban, but he would surely still hear complaints. Yet, that was infinitely better than outright barring them from attending future events.

"Yes, Mr. Montgomery! Crystal clear!" Giovanni exclaimed in relief. 

This wasn't the best, but it was still much better than the previous sentence Matteo Montgomery handed out! It was difficult to say no outright to this man, even if it meant offending two of the wealthiest families in Solara. Without this suggestion, Mr. Giovanni would've been caught in between a rock and a hard place.

He gave Matteo a bow and then turned to Amelia and gave her one too. Now, this woman was his savior, and he would go home every night and send her a prayer of thanks.

Amelia bowed back with more awkwardness.

"Thank you, Miss Amelia," Giovanni said fervently, reaching out to grab her hands in a tight hold. "I will never forget today. If you have anything you need from me, please just ask."

"Oh, you're welcome," Amelia said in bemusement, unsure of his sudden enthusiasm with her. Beside her, Matteo cleared his throat in warning, and Giovanni quickly pulled his hands back, as though he were burnt. 

He had to be careful now! This woman was definitely his lover, or if she wasn't yet, she soon would be. The title of assistant must be a mask in fear of media backlash― Giovanni made a mental note to hide this secret well for them.

Giovanni took a more careful look at her, making sure to memorize her face. Her face looked vaguely familiar to him, as though he had seen it a few decades ago. She seemed like she would shine beautifully on camera as a late 1950s Hollywood actress. 

There was a stunning nostalgia in her features, with hauntingly soft baby-blue eyes, soft cheeks, and a plump lower lip. Paired with her blonde curls and champagne gold dress, she was an angelic movie starlet straight from the big screen.

Perhaps that was what captivated a man like Matteo, who already had the world at his fingertips and a bevy of women to choose from. Giovanni would have to stay on her good side in the future, just in case she became Matteo Montgomery's wife. 

"As for the flute," Matteo's gaze lazily turned to the girl on the floor, "make sure to investigate this case fully without slacking off." Matteo warned, "If I find out that palms were greased in this investigation, there will be hell to pay." 

"Yes, of course! I'll hound the police department every day even if it kills me!" Giovanni promised eagerly. 

"Come on Amelia, it's time to go," Matteo said, and she nodded, eager to leave this place. 

"Let me escort you―"

"No need. Keep an eye on our suspect," Matteo instructed, and Giovanni's face fell. But he followed them out of the room and gave them a polite bow. Only when he saw the last of their backs along the corridor did he turn back and glare venomously at Gina, who had cried herself to exhaustion.

"You stupid bitch! You're lucky that we're not closed down!" He raged, grabbing her collar to drag her up. 

He shook her, as though she was an errant puppy. 

"What were you thinking, stealing that flute? You might as well make off with the lion statue while you're at it! Or how about my auctioneer's license!" 

Gina choked and gasped, her face wet with silent tears. She shook her head, and Giovanni threw her back down in disgust. Of course, her coworkers and the security guards did not help her up. She should have spoken earlier, but that man was too terrifying, and all her words were stuck in her throat. 

"I… She promised…" Gina began weakly, "I didn't mean to…"

"Who promised? Who on earth had the guts to promise you something so big that you would dare steal from me?! Let me know and I'll tear them to shreds!" Giovanni gnashed his teeth. 

If one of his employees was responsible, he would rip off their limbs and send them one by one to the police station. 

"...It's Kelsie Friesent, Mr. Giovanni," Gina wept. "She promised me 10 million if I would steal it!"


บท 20: Confessions

Amelia and Matteo walked back to the main hall quietly, unaware of the confession in the room. Matteo had handed the flute to Amelia to hold, and she decided to examine it closely, slowly twirling it in her hands to look for the supposed defects. 

There were some bumps and scratches, but Amelia knew that those were caused by her childhood self when she tried to use it as a conductor baton. It had nothing to do with the poor girl stuffing it into a locker. 

"Mr. Montgomery, actually… this flute isn't really damaged," Amelia said sheepishly. "I don't know how to tell you this, but the bumps and scratches were already there." 

He didn't need to scare the living daylights out of Mr. Giovanni.

"Is that so?" Matteo replied with a raised eyebrow. "And how would you know this?" 

Amelia froze, but then she sighed. What was the point of keeping this secret from her boss? 

He had already seen her with wine in her hair on her knees in front of Caleb. He could not think that she was any more pathetic to begin with.

"This used to be my mother's," Amelia said, caressing the flute. 

The stone was cold, much like her mother's hand when she held it for the last time before she was laid to rest. Tears began to well up in Amelia's eyes. 

"Back then, I sold it because I needed the money for Caleb― and I've regretted it ever since. I was such a fool. This was her favorite and I sold it for a measly five hundred dollars and―" 

And Caleb was loaded; he could spend one million dollars on this flute, but he never bothered to redeem it back for her, and after, it was gone.

She scrubbed at her eyes, trying not to burst into tears, but Matteo grabbed onto her hand tightly. 

"I should have him banned, charity be damned," Matteo said, his voice seething with anger. 

"Mr. Montgomery?" Amelia asked, gazing up at him weakly, her heart thudding a mile a minute. 

His bare skin was touching hers, and it felt like she was about to vibrate out of her skin at the sudden contact. This close, his eyes were like the waves that rolled onto the shore after a storm out at sea― peaceful and calming. It had the power to pull her in and it took her nearly all the strength left in her to blink out of it.

 "What are you doing?" she whispered. 

"I―" As though a spell had been broken, Matteo shook his head, letting out a small cough. He immediately let go of her wrist. "I'm sorry for startling you. It's just― it's bad to rub your eyes." 

"What?" Amelia felt like she was on a rollercoaster thanks to all the turns this conversation was taking. 

An embarrassed flush crawled up Matteo's neck. "My mother used to say that it would lead to blindness."

The unexpected response startled a laugh from Amelia. "Your mother sounds like a woman with a sense of humor. I would like to meet her." 

"So would I," Matteo said, and Amelia recognized the emotion in his eyes.

It was grief.

He too, had lost his mother. Amelia bit her tongue, cursing herself for opening old wounds. 

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. It happened when I was very young," Matteo said. "And why should you apologize? You were not responsible for her death." 

"I'm still sorry," Amelia said. She was curious to know how Matteo's mother passed, but not enough to court death to ask. Some wounds were still too deep for the passage of time to heal.

"My condolences. If it's any consolation, I'm sure she would be proud of you." Amelia meant every word of it. Matteo Montgomery was successful by every metric of society, and he even had a good heart underneath it all. 

"Thank you. It means a lot," Matteo said, his voice thick. He cleared his throat. "It's getting late. I'll send you back first," he suggested. 

"You don't have to―"

"I asked you to come here. It would be remiss of me not to send you back, especially when it's so late," Matteo said, in a tone that brooked no argument. 

Amelia could only nod and thank him again; it wasn't as though she had enough money to spare on a cab at such a late hour, and taking the train in such a fancy outfit would attract the wrong sort of attention. 

They entered his car, and Amelia expected a peaceful drive home. At such a late hour, traffic should have been nearly negligible. There were hardly any cars on the road, and most did not follow the same route― Amelia could only spot a nondescript black car behind them.

Matteo's eyes darted to the rearview mirror, spotting the car. His expression darkened.

"Amelia, are you still staying at your father's house?" Matteo asked. He had her address from when he picked her up for the event. 

"Of course, where else would you be taking me?" Amelia asked, nonplussed. "Are we going back to the office?" Was her boss such a workaholic? 

"I'm afraid it might not be safe for you to return," Matteo said, his eyes darting back to the car behind them. "We have unwanted company."

Amelia's face paled as she realized the implications of Matteo's words. Instinctively, she whirled around to stare at the car, who maintained a uniform distance from their vehicle all this while.

It was simply too regular― either the driver was a complete stickler for rules, or they were utterly determined to keep Matteo within their sights. Amelia hoped that it was the former. 

"You mean… how can you be sure?" Amelia asked, "Maybe the driver is just going the same way."

Matteo's voice was grim. "Only one way to find out." 

Then, he stomped on the accelerator, and Amelia had to hang on for dear life. But the black car did not fall by the wayside, as she had predicted, instead, it sped up accordingly, and followed Matteo's driving faithfully as though it was a homing missile intent on striking its target. Every single change of lane was followed, and Amelia felt nausea growing in her gut. 

"Is that enough proof for you?" Matteo asked. Another man would have sounded smug to be proven right, but Matteo merely sounded curious. 

"Yes. But what are we going to do? Are you going to the police?" 

"No, the police won't be able to help with this," Matteo said, the furrow between his eyebrows deepening. "We're going straight to my house."


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