Chapter 4

Five days later, Cleo returned with Amelia.

As soon as they stepped into the house, Cecil's eyes were immediately blinded by the dazzling necklace around Amelia’s neck.

She snuck a glance at it before looking away.

Her hunch was right; the necklace was meant for Amelia.

In that case, what was it that Cleo was trying to say last time before his sentence got cut off?

Whenever Cleo was around, Amelia had always been very warm and friendly with Cecil. This time, she went right up to Cecil and took her hand.

“Cecil, you must have been so bored at home these last few days! Look, I bought a bunch of things. Come and see if there is anything that you like!"

With that, she took off her coat and dragged over a large box.

Cecil shook her head a few times to refuse the offer.

Amelia reacted by casting a strange look at her.

“Come on, don’t be shy! Just think of it as a gift from your future aunt, alright?” Amelia said in a tone that was hard to read.

The sheer mention of the word ‘aunt’ made Cecil look up subconsciously.

She immediately felt something jolt inside her when she caught a glimpse of the red marks on Amelia’s neck.

Amelia had sent a lot of pictures, and one of them was a shot of the bed inside the hotel room.

At the time, Cecil could not figure out why Amelia had sent that particular picture.

It was easy to form the connection now that she had spotted the marks Cleo had left on her.

Cecil kept her head down and stayed silent.

While they were unpacking, Amelia began to talk about the banquet that was happening tonight.

“Cleo, let's bring Cecil with us to Miss Maya’s twenty-first birthday banquet! Those two are around the same age and should get along very well.”

Cecil did a double take upon hearing the mention of a banquet.

Ever since her parents passed away and she moved into the Emerson house, Cleo had never brought her to attend any parties with him.

She did not think much of it, but she was aware that there were some people making comments about her being a parasite.

Just like every other time, Cleo shook his head and dismissed the suggestion entirely.

Amelia wrapped herself around his arm and tried to persuade him in a sultry voice.

She claimed it would be boring without Cecil around.

With that, Cleo gave in and agreed to the suggestion, mainly out of affection for Amelia.

Upon observing the display of intimacy between the couple, Cecil kept her head down to hide a faint smile forming on her lips.

Amelia was truly one of a kind for Cleo to willingly set aside his principles for her.

It looked like he was very fond of Amelia.

That was all Cecil needed to know.

She had the strength to leave Cleo, knowing that he could find happiness, even if Cecil was not the one to give him that happiness.

It was a very lively banquet with many people interacting in quick succession with one another.

Cecil stood by herself in the corner and watched as Cleo drank to countless toasts for Amelia.

Meanwhile, Cecil quietly sipped from a glass of fruit juice.

At one point, several chattering girls passed by and accidentally spilled a drink on her.

They were very apologetic, and Cecil was, in turn, very gracious.

She did not seem very bothered and proceeded to head to the washroom to clean herself.

Before excusing herself to the washroom, she handed her bag and phone to Cleo.

When she returned ten minutes later, Cleo regarded her with a frown and spoke in a tone that was hard to place.

“Your aunt, Dianne, just called and asked me if you were available to talk. She says she’ll call again later when I told her you’re busy.”

Cecil tensed up at the mention of Dianne.

She managed to relax when she realized Dianne had not mentioned anything about her going abroad to live with her.

Cleo was very perceptive and noticed the subtle change in her demeanor. He could not stop himself from probing.

“When did you get in touch with Dianne?”

“About two weeks ago. She just asked me to send some old pictures of my grandparents.”

The lie she made up on the spot seemed to put Cleo at ease.

He no longer suspected her of anything and proceeded to turn around to help Amelia fix her hair.

After Cecil retrieved her phone and handbag, she turned around and prepared to head back to her corner.

It all happened very quickly.

Someone had accidentally knocked over a nearby tower of champagne glasses, which came crashing down in Cecil and Amelia’s general direction.

“Careful!”

Cleo was the closest to them.

He instinctively reached for Amelia and pulled her into his arms in one swift movement.

Bang!

The champagne tower collapsed and produced a thunderous crash. Cecil barely had time to react and was thrown to the floor.

There were broken shards of glass everywhere, and she had landed on top of them.

There was blood everywhere, and her white gown had turned red.

It was a horrifying sight to behold.

Everyone present at the venue was equally shocked by the sudden commotion. Even though Amelia was unscathed, she burst out crying from shock.

Cleo looked at Cecil, who was covered in blood and lying on the ground, then at Amelia, who was crying in his arms.

He hesitated for a moment before turning to his bodyguard.

“Take her to the hospital.”

After issuing the order, he carried Amelia away from the venue.

When the pair disappeared, Cecil stumbled to her feet.

She could feel countless pairs of sympathizing glances cast in her direction.

It was an hour past midnight by the time she got home after dressing her wounds.

The doctor had given her more than a dozen stitches and made arrangements for her to be hospitalized. However, she refused hospitalization and insisted on going home after collecting the medicine.

Cleo was not home yet.

She switched off the lights and lay on the bed, then she stared transfixed at the ceiling, drowned in darkness.

Her body was screaming all over from the searing pain, it was difficult to sleep at all.

By the time she finally felt like she was about to drift off to sleep, it was three o’clock.

Suddenly, the lights in the living room came on.

Cleo staggered into the house and went upstairs.

He reeked of alcohol.

Instead of heading to his bedroom, he went to the last room down the corridor that used to be his former study.

He gently opened the door.

Cecil tended to move around when she slept, and when she turned to the side, she was irritated by the contact against her countless cuts and coughed faintly in her sleep.

Cleo was alerted by the faint voice she made.

He followed the direction of the voice and went to the head of the bed. In one swift gesture, he pulled the figure in bed into his arms.

With one hand, he pulled apart her shirt so he could press his hand against the soft of her waist.

With the other hand, he cupped her chin and proceeded to kiss her.