Ch. 161..165: My Sugar And Your Spice Chapter 161-165
Chapter 161
When Amelie had steadied herself, she got out of Toby’s embrace. Then, she turned around and saw Jodie standing not far away. She wore a mini dress while looking at Amelie in disdain.
To be honest, Amelie didn’t mind Jodie’s words. To her, Jodie was talking nonsense since she was a brainless woman. However, she couldn’t ignore Leo, who was standing beside Jodie. His gaze was cold and filled with emotions, seemingly as if accusing her of her actions.
I was going to fall. As Amelie thought about it, she felt upset and discouraged. After all, she realized that she wasn’t able to ignore Leo’s emotions, even after they had gotten a divorce.
In the meantime, Toby saw them and greeted them. “Hello, Jodie and Leo.” He looked calm and righteous, seemingly as if Jodie’s words did not affect him.
Leo lowered his eyes the whole time, making him look cold and stern. He had an intimidating presence around him as he stared at Amelie.
In the morning, he had a bad feeling in his stomach, so he rushed from Quinn Town to Clouson City. Only then did he discover that Melissa had sued Amelie and tried to take Bria’s custody. When he saw Amelie, he was going to explain, but he couldn’t make himself do so when he saw her and Toby hugging together. Hence, he smiled and said harshly, “It looks like Bria isn’t that important to you either!”
When Amelie heard his words, she was stunned.
Although he did not say whom he was implying, it was clear that he was talking about her! Obviously, he had misunderstood her being lovey-dovey with Toby and didn’t care about the lawsuit. How ironic of him to think. that she would not care if the Alston Family took Bria’s custody!
At that moment, her face turned cold, and she had an icy smirk spread against her lips.
It was he who caused this mess. Thus, how can he stand on the righteous side and criticize her?
“Bria is important to me. Moreover, I don’t think you will know how important she is to me if we talk about this in such a short time. If you are curious, you’ll see it when we are at the court!” Amelie said coldly with a stubborn look on her face. Then, she lost interest in looking at Leo’s stern expression and turned to Toby. “I’ll be going, then. I have some things to deal with.” Finally, she turned around and left.
As Leo looked at her figure, his face darkened.
She is nice to Toby, yet she treats me like I am her rivall
“Why are you with Amelie, Toby? It’s bad for you to hang out with such an ill-mannered woman.” Jodie walked toward Toby and criticized Amelie.
Toby had a smile cnread against hic line when he heard her words. However his face looked far from hannu
When Jodie saw that Toby was ignoring her, she felt upset and blamed it on Amelie. “She is such a sl’t! She’s always hooking up with so many men!” Then, she stormed off.
During the entire debacle, Leo kept silent. Only when Jodie left did he approach Toby. “You can’t be with Amelie, Toby!”
“Why can’t I?” Toby retorted as he crossed his arms in amusement. He had a thoughtful expression while he graced Leo with a mirthless smile. “Why do you mind if I want to be with her? Could it be that you have fallen
in love with her?”
“Are you kidding me? How could I have fallen in love with her?” Leo spat coldly.
Toby narrowed his eyes at his not-so-immediate refusal, and his smile deepened.
You hesitated for a moment there, Leony. I’m sure you don’t even know that you harbor feelings for her, either.
At that moment, he was suddenly interested in this topic and asked, “How are you going to deal with this. lawsuit, Leony? Are you going to stop your mother?”
When Leo heard his words, he pursed his lips and stared at Toby with a gloomy gaze. He was never one to talk
about his feelings to others.
After Toby stared at him for a moment, he stuffed his hands in his pocket and lowered his head. “I advise you to keep fighting for it.”
As soon as Leo heard his words, he frowned and was quite surprised that Toby would say such things. After all, considering how Toby cared for Amelie, he would have thought that Toby would tell him to stop.
Toby looked at Leo’s questioning gaze with a calm expression. Although Leo’s gaze was so oppressive that it made a person feel rather suffocated, Toby wasn’t affected at all. “Since you don’t like her, I would advise you to keep going. Only that way will she be disappointed with you. Isn’t that what you wanted? Still, I’m sure that you will regret it one day.”
At that moment, Leo frowned and stared at Toby intently. After all, Toby’s words were full of contradictions.
Unfortunately, Toby wasn’t interested in pursuing this matter further as he bid Leo farewell. “I’m leaving. I still have something to do.”
When Leo returned home, Melissa walked the lawyer to the door. When the trio encountered each other, Melissa’s face went stark white. On the other hand, Leo was staring at them while an intimidating presence radiated off him.
The lawyer felt that something was off and quickly left the scene.
Leo’s presence was so intimidating that even Melissa, his own mother, was afraid. She was even scared that he would ask about the lawyer. Regardless, she knew that worrying about things that might never happen would increase their chances of happening.
“Mom, are you hiring a lawyer to take over Bria’s custody from Amelie?” Leo asked straightforwardly.
When Melissa heard his words, she felt her heart sink. Although she felt guilty, she quickly regained her composure. After all, since Leo had known about it, she didn’t feel the need to hide it anymore. Thus, she nodded and said, “Yes. I know you are unwilling to take Bria’s custody, but I think it’s better if we took her under our wings.”
Leo had always known what was on Melissa’s mind, so he didn’t have to repeat those hurtful words.
Hence, he pursed his lips and said, “As Bria’s father, I have the right to interfere in this matter. Please fire the lawyer, Mom.” Then, he walked up the stairs.
Behind him, Melissa was enraged. After Leo disappeared from sight, she quickly dialed Jodie’s number. “What is going on, Jodie? Didn’t you bring Leo to meet up with Toby and Amelie? Why is he still the same as before?”
After Leo had left for a moment, Elyse knew he had returned. Hence, she called Melissa early in the morning,
which awakened her from her beauty sleep. Melissa was worried that Leo would know about this. Fortunately,
she had hired someone to stalk Amelie, so she knew that Amelie had met up with Toby. Hence, she told Jodie to find Leo and took him to their meetup by faking like she was trying to have a meal with him.
“I did take him to meet up with them. Moreover, I even hired someone to push Amelie into Toby’s embrace. Leo saw it with his own two eyes. I remembered that he was in a bad mood after watching the scene,” Jodie replied
pitifully.
Melissa’s frown became deeper after hearing Jodie’s words.
Leo had seen it with his own eyes, yet he still insisted on Amelie caring for Bria. Does he not care for Bria, or does he have feelings for Amelie? I know him. Although he has a cold personality, he won’t neglect Bria. That
leaves the latter.
When Melissa thought about it, she felt like she was being slapped across the face and felt she was about to
lose consciousness.
“No! This isn’t happening!” She wouldn’t accept if Amelie returned, especially when she had put in such efforts into ridding her of the Alston Residence. After all, she was of the mind that only a woman of high
status was
fit to become Leo’s wife!
As Melissa thought of Amelie, who had nothing good going for her, returning to the Alston Family once more, she felt the last string of her sanity about to snap. Eventually, she began pacing back and forth in the living room, trying to devise a way to stop this from ever happening.
On the other hand, Jodie didn’t hear her words and hung up the phone since she was not in the mood to chat.
person might help me solve this mess!
Chapter 162
When Leo walked up the stairs, he didn’t immediately rest but only stared at the wall. He put his hands in his pocket and slightly bent down. He furrowed his eyebrows, seemingly to be in thought.
Toby’s words flashed in his mind, asking him if he had fallen in love with Amelie.
As he thought about what happened after he and Amelie had gotten a divorce, he realized that there was no reason for him to be in love with her other than being surprised. However, he realized that she had a special place in his heart for god knew how long. Sometimes, he would even instinctively pay close attention to her and even want to get to know her.
Is this love? But it is impossible to love someone without reason! I would have trusted this if it had happened to someone else. I also know that I am a person with a goal to achieve. After Elyse dumped me, I would never get close to someone else or get to know them without a valid reason. Yet, Amelie is the exception to this rule! Still, I can’t believe I will fall in love with her. I think it is because she is Bria’s mother, and I feel sorry for Bria.
As Leo thought about it, he shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Then, he dialed a number and said, “Keep an eye close on Mrs. Alston these days.”
“Mrs. Alston?” The person was startled since he had never expected Leo to have such an order.
“Yes.” Leo didn’t explain anything and hung up the phone.
He felt something was going on since Jodie had asked to meet up for lunch. After all, she was afraid of him and had always avoided him. There was definitely something going on behind the scenes since they had encountered Toby and Amelie on their way to lunch.
The next day, Leo went to Star Kindergarten. When he arrived, the teacher recognized him and approached him. “Are you Bria’s father? You’re just in time. Bria has been unhappy these two days due to unknown reasons. She wouldn’t tell me even if I asked her. Why don’t you talk to her about it?”
The teacher had been in a conflict with Amelie prior to this. So, she was afraid that Amelie would want an explanation now that Bria was unhappy. Initially, she was going to tell this matter to Amelie. Unfortunately. she had not seen her for the past two days. Hence, when she saw Leo, she felt he was a lifesaver.
When Leo heard that Bria was unhappy, he was startled. Then, he immediately stepped into the school and entered the classroom under the teacher’s lead.
In the classroom, the kids were playing a game. Everyone was excited except for Bria. She seemed to be uninterested in even joining.
“Bria has always been the top student in our class. No matter what she does, she always strives for perfection. But I’ve never seen her act like this before,” the teacher said hastily.
When Leo looked at Bria, he realized she was indeed in a bad mood. Leo felt like his heart had been stabbed
At that moment, Bria stiffened when she felt she had fallen into someone’s embrace. When she saw it was Leo, she blinked and opened her mouth. She wanted to call him ‘Daddy” but held it back and quickly lowered her
head.
When Leo saw her sad expression and hunched shoulders, he rubbed her shoulder and said, “What’s wrong? The teacher says you are unhappy.”
When the kids saw Bria being hugged by a handsome man, they all looked at her curiously.
Since Leo didn’t want to interrupt the class, he nodded toward the teacher and carried Bria out of the classroom. Finally, they left the school with the teacher’s permission, and Leo bought ice cream for Bria, just
like last time.
Bria looked at the ice cream with clear want. Nonetheless, she only licked her lips but didn’t take it from Leo. Instead, she turned to look at him and said, “Are you taking me back to the Alston Residence?”
As Leo heard her bell-like voice, his heart softened.
At that moment, Leo realized that a child’s voice could soothe a person’s heart. Nevertheless, he was pretty surprised by her question. “Why do you think I’m here to bring you back?”
“When I was talking with Ma, I heard you found a professional lawyer to take me back home. Mommy hasn’t returned home for two days and has been thinking of a solution to prevent you guys from taking me away.” Bria looked at him with her big doe eyes.
Amelie was more considerate than Julia. She would avoid others when talking on the phone and would make sure that Bria wouldn’t hear her before answering the call. Although Julia had also taken similar precautions, she couldn’t prevent the possibility of someone barging into her room and talking about this. Hence, even if Julia had covered the speaker, which muffled the voices on the other end of the line, Bria could still hear it.
Then, she reached out and fumbled with Leo’s collar as she spoke, “Can you not bring me back? I want to be with Mommy. Don’t worry. When you are old, I will take care of you as I do with Mommy,” she said seriously.
Leo felt his heart pang as he looked at her serious expression.
“I heard that Mommy was going to beg for you to stop, but you didn’t pick up her calls. So, is it alright if I beg for your leniency instead, Daddy?”
“Beg?” At that moment, Leo was startled.
Then, he remembered that night when Elyse had taken away his phone. He saw that the last digit number was nine. Now that he thought about it, Amelie’s last digit of the phone number was nine! If that’s the case, Elyse wasn’t going to spend the night with me by snatching away my phone, but to avoid Amelie from contacting me?
As he thought about it, he felt chills run down his spine.
As he thought about it, his phone rang, and it was Laura. “Mr. Alston, Elyse had called and said to return your phone. Should I keep it for you?”
He only took his private phone when he left, while Laura had his work phone. Then, Elyse placed his phone in the security safe at the hotel. When he returned, he didn’t ask Elyse about his phone and only went to retrieve his work phone from the company.
“No need, I’ll find her myself,” he replied coldly. Then, he hung up the phone and handed the ice cream to Bria. “I promise I won’t take you away from Mommy, Bria.” He stared straight into Bria’s eyes as he spoke.
At that moment, Bria’s eyes brightened. “You promise?” she asked.
“Yes.” He nodded sincerely.
Bria was overjoyed by his promise and hugged him tightly. “You are the best, Daddy!” She snuggled her face in the crook of his neck. The warmth of her soft cheeks made Leo’s heart soften.
At that moment, Leo realized that he had been neglecting Bria for too long.
After he briefly chatted with Bria, he sent her back to school and drove to Elyse’s home.
When Elyse, who was wearing a beautiful dress, saw him, she pouted and ran toward him. “Why are you back all of a sudden without telling me? You made me worried. I only knew that you had returned to Clouson City after giving Laura a call.”
“I still have to go back.” Leo wore a dispassionate expression as he spoke. He took the phone that she had put on the charger stand.
“Return? Did you forget something?” Elyse was surprised.
“I have forgotten something important,” he replied.
Elyse merely hummed weakly in response and said, “If you are going alone, please be careful.”
“Not me, but us.”
When Elyse heard his words, she was confused. “Are you telling me you are going on vacation with me again, Leony?”
“Your so-called vacation is only trying to keep me from knowing that you and my mom had been trying to take Bria’s custody from Ameliel” Leo exposed her without hesitation.
When she was caught red-handed, she immediately froze in place and couldn’t do anything but stand there dumbly. At that moment, she knew that she was doomed.
Inst as she was terrified she heard his words “Don’t worry though I won’t do anything about this ”
sigh of relief, Leo’s next words dumbfounded her.
Chapter 163
“However, I have to confirm whether you are Big Eyes.”
At that moment, Elyse felt something snap in her. She was so horrified that she felt that the world was spinning! She tried to think hard about when she had exposed herself, but no thoughts came to mind. Then, she sneaked a glance at Leo.
Alas, Leo was just standing there calmly with an expressionless face. It was as if he was asking her about the
weather!
What does he know? The calmer Leo was, the more horrified Elyse became!
“Leony…” She tried hard to suppress the terror within her and acted baffled while looking at him with wide eyes. “Why are you bringing this up again? Didn’t we meet Ms. Albert last time?”
Leo merely stayed silent and stared at her.
Initially, he had trusted Ms. Albert’s explanation. However, as he recalled her words after the fact, he felt that there were many loopholes.
At this moment, Elyse was so overwhelmed with guilt that she felt her head throbbing. It felt like she was being pushed to the edge and was going to fall to her death! As she thought about it, chills ran down her spine! She wanted to maintain the peace as it was now.
Suddenly, Elyse went mad and said, “This is just an excuse, isn’t it? If you don’t want to take responsibility for me and your words, you could have just said so! You are the worst, Leony!” she exclaimed miserably while tears rolled down her cheeks, making her look pitiful.
Leo would have gone soft-hearted at this point if it was the past. But this time, he only kept quiet with a calm expression and didn’t move an inch. It was clear that he was persistent in finding out her identity.
Elyse felt terrified in the face of his stubbornness. On the other hand, Leo didn’t pressure her and just opened the door as he stood there, waiting for her in silence. It was as if he would keep waiting until she was willing to
go with him.
Nonetheless, Elyse couldn’t follow him. She dug her nails into her skin as her eyes were filled with sadness and anger. “I’m not going! It’s up to you who you think Big Eyes is! As long as I’m not guilty, I won’t care what you do! Leave! Get out of my house!” Then, she wiped her tears and ran inside.
When Leo heard her words, he turned around and left.
Although Elyse was walking into the house, she was secretly eyeing Leo. When she saw that he was leaving without a backward glance, she became terrified and even dropped the act. At that moment, she rushed toward him and hugged him from behind. “I admit that I’m not Big Eyes, Leo!”
off him! Leo furrowed his eyebrows deeply as he tried to suppress the violent reaction he had after hearing her
words.
Although Leo had guessed the truth, his heart still felt like it had been torn to pieces when he heard her admitting that she was not Big Eyes!
He could feel her tears dampening his shirt, but he didn’t feel guilty. Instead, he thought that it was disgusting! After a long time, he lowered his head and silently pulled her hands away.
This time, Elyse was genuinely sobbing. After all, she had felt the strength of Leo’s hands and his icy attitude toward her. She knew deep down that it would be over for them as soon as she released him. Thus, she shook her head vigorously while the tears kept flowing.
“I know you are angry, Leony. I also know that it is shameful of me to pretend to he Big Eyes! But this is all your fault!TM
Her words had made Leo pause in his actions. Then, he turned around and looked at her suspiciously.
Although his gaze was normal, Elyse could tell he was not looking at her!
At that moment, her tears rolled down, and she said, “You never mentioned Big Eyes to me. When we first met, you treated me nicely, and I have always thought my personality attracted you. Everything changed when we went to Quinn Town. It was at that moment I realized that I was just a replacement!”
As she spoke, she was indeed hurt by what had happened. “Do you know how terrible the truth was to me? It was as if my dignity had been smeared into the mud! At that moment, I couldn’t face the truth and even wanted to expose everything! However, you said that we could start over. I know I hurt you four years ago and have been trying to make it up to you by loving you. That is why I accepted this identity.”
She pressed her head against Leo’s back tighter. “You should have known that I was always an unreasonable and free-spirited woman who had never cared about others’ feelings. Regardless, I threw my dignity away for you! Do you know how stressful it is for me? If you were to tell me sooner that you had mistaken me for someone else, I would have left right there and then. None of these would have happened, and I will never have had high hopes for you! But you didn’t say anything and exposed the truth when I fell in love with you! So, tell me, what should I do?” Elyse’s words were mixed with truth and lies. While she was blaming herself, she was also blaming Leo.
At this moment, Leo had softened the grip on her hands.
He had never talked about it because he wanted to keep his promise and let both of them forget the pain. Alas, he never thought that he would find the wrong person. It is the same voice, though
Although Elyse had blamed him, it was the truth. Her words were like needles piercing into his heart.
After some time, he said softly. “I don’t blame you. I’m sorry that I have made you go through this.”
Yet, Leo still pulled her hands away from him. “If one hundred million isn’t enough, I can give you more. From now onwards, let’s stop seeing each other.” His voice was cold, and he had no emotions on his face. As soon as he was done talking, he left.
As Elyse watched him leave, her knees weakened, and she fell to the ground.
At this moment, a figure suddenly rushed inside and helped her up. “Why are you sitting on the ground, Elyse?”
When Elyse looked at the person, she saw it was Ashton wearing a black suit.
Ashton had bought an apartment just above her. At this moment, he was just walking past and visiting her. Never would he expect to see her sitting on the ground.
“I just saw Leo leave. What did he do to you? I’ll find him for you!” As Ashton spoke, he intended to leave.
“Don’t go! It’s useless.” Elyse’s voice was cold as she spoke. “It’s over between us. He won’t want to see me.”
“Over?” Ashton was in disbelief. “Why? How can he dump you?”
At that moment, Elyse gave him a brief talk about the truth,
When Ashton heard that Elyse had pretended to be Big Eyes, he felt like he had listened to a joke. If Elyse weren’t the one who told him about this, he would think that the person was making this up and would get into a fight with them.
“Elyse, how could you…” Ashton’s voice was filled with disbelief.
In his heart, Elyse was always the definition of perfection. At that moment, Ashton could hear the trust he had for her collapsing.
On the other hand, Elyse looked at him while tears streamed down her face, making her look pitiful. “Now you know how a person I am. You’re definitely disgusted by me. Just go away. I have enough of those looks.”
When Ashton heard her words and saw her tears, he couldn’t force himself to walk away. Although he was dumbfounded by her lies, he was even more heartbroken by the miserable state she was in. Moreover, he felt that Elyse had trusted him enough to tell him such a truth.
So, Ashton thought that she had placed a lot of trust in him and proclaimed, “Don’t you worry, Elyse. I am not like Leo. I will never abandon you!”
Elyse was still crying after hearing his words, but she was inwardly happy. After all, this was what she wanted. She could go along with her plan now that she had Ashton’s support.
Chapter 164
Ashton had no idea what was in Elyse’s mind at that moment as he hugged her tenderly in his arms.
After leaning onto him softly, she started sobbing while hugging him. At the same time, he gently patted her back to comfort her.
With something on her mind, she didn’t dare to cry for too long. So, she stopped crying after about 10 minutes.
“Have some water.” Although he had never served anyone before, he still clumsily poured some water for her.
Without stopping her snivel, she lowered her head and took the glass. From time to time, she would rub her eyes, making them red and swollen.
When he saw her red and swollen eyes, he felt sorry for her. “Why did you tell Leo about this? He’ll just be suspicious at best. So, as long as you firmly deny it, he can’t do anything to you.” Elyse had told him this herself, so he couldn’t understand how she could make this mistake.
As she took a deep breath, a contemptuous feeling for Ashton arose. He’s really stupid, indeed! How can he not understand such simple logic? Yet, she still spoke politely. “Although I pretended to be Big Eyes because I cared too much about Leo, it’s still unethical. I simply couldn’t get over my conscience. So, I feel better after telling him. Moreover, even if I didn’t tell him, he could investigate it himself, too. Do you want me to wait until he finds out everything and then expose me? I don’t want that!”
When he heard that, Ashton gritted his teeth. Although he wasn’t smart, he understood what she meant. Being exposed after Leo found out himself would be 100 times more embarrassing than admitting it herself. Yet, he still felt bad, so he kicked the leg of a chair. “It’s all Leo’s fault. He’s the one
who made you feel wronged and humiliated. He should take responsibility! How dare he even mention breaking up?! He should be marrying
you!”
At this moment, Elyse secretly scoffed in her mind. This man only knows what etiquette, integrity, justice, and fairness mean when talking about others. He has also done so many things and played so many women. He’s
far worse than Leo.
Not only was he incapable, but he was also frivolous and liked to stand on moral high ground to criticize others, thinking that he was always right. This was also the main reason why she wasn’t willing to bother him when he clearly cared more about her than Leo.
Suddenly, she feigned a sigh and said, “Clearly, I’m not worthy of him, so I don’t blame him for not marrying me. What I’m worried about now is that, with his personality, he’ll definitely try to find out who Big Eyes is. Given our relationship, we’ll have to meet every day. If he brings Big Eyes back, isn’t that going to humiliate me to death?” As she spoke, tears rolled down her face again.
Ashton became even angrier upon hearing these words. “Damn it! He’s the one who got the wrong person, but be made you suffer humiliation? What is this?l”
person is already married and has a family, but if not, who can resist his charm?”
Ashton didn’t think that Leo had such great charm. He was always serious and boring, going about his days in a routine and talking about business. Just looking at him was tiring.
However, which woman in this world could reject money? That Big Eyes woman is probably going to divorce her husband once Leo finds her, even if she’s already married.
“This won’t do!” He slammed his fist on the table. “There’s only one solution to this-we need to make sure they don’t meet!”
“I’m afraid it’s too late. I see how urgently Leo left. He’s probably going to find that woman throughout the night.” Elyse frowned and looked outside worriedly.
After Ashton kept his fist to himself, he straightened his clothes. “I’ll figure out a way to stop him now! Wait for my good news!” He then left in a hurry.
With squinted eyes, she looked in the direction where he had gone. Only after he disappeared in the elevator did she quickly close the door.
Then, she picked up her phone off the table and dialed a number. “Give Ashton some guidance. Let him know what he should do and try to buy time.” This fool will only make things worse if not guided.
The moment she hung up the phone, a sharp and vicious gleam appeared in her calm eyes.
It was not that the Big Eyes matter couldn’t be hidden from Leo, but the reason she admitted to it was that she wanted to leave a good last impression on him so that they wouldn’t be awkward when they met in the future. However, there was also another more important reason. It was to prevent him from actually bringing her to verify the truth. If he were to do so, he might find out who the real Big Eyes was from Ms. Albert.
Amelie ruined my life. Who does she think she is to win Leo’s heart?
With this delay, she could do a lot of things.
On the other hand, Leo did plan to go to Quinn Town overnight, but he didn’t take action right away. Instead, he sat in the car, smoking,
He had made a mistake for ten years, so he couldn’t face himself, let alone faced Big Eyes.
Did she look for me as promised back then? Was she disappointed because I ignored her? Did she leave me because of Elyse? Does she still hate me now? Whenever these questions arose, he felt a sharp pain in his
chest.
Several years in the business world had made him think he had built up a heart of stone, but at this moment,
As he held his chest, he tried to smoke. The smoke entering his lungs intensified the pain, but he didn’t stop as he took this as a punishment for his carelessness back then.
It wasn’t until he had thrown numerous cigarette butts onto the ground that he rubbed his brow and contacted a driver to come and drive him. Although his eye had recovered, he had replaced his cornea after all, so it couldn’t be compared to a completely normal eye. The dim light at night wasn’t enough for him to drive.
Within minutes, the driver arrived, and he started the car right away. After 10 minutes had passed, they were already on the highway.
The whole time, Leo looked out the window and remained silent, making the atmosphere in the car dull. When the driver sensed that Leo wasn’t in a good mood, he didn’t even dare breathe too fast as he tried to minimize
his presence.
Suddenly, a phone rang, loud and clear, breaking the silence in the car.
Shocked, the driver glanced at Leo before frantically searching for his phone. In the end, he realized it was not his phone ringing but Leo’s.
Seeing that Leo still hadn’t answered his phone after a long time, the driver cautiously reminded him, “Mr. Alston, someone’s calling you.”
Only then did Leo come back to his senses and pick up the phone. “Hello?”
“Mr. Alston, you asked me to compensate Elyse earlier. How much money do you think will be appropriate?” Laura’s voice came from the other side of the phone.
When Leo asked her to find him a driver, he casually mentioned the compensation when he gave her the order. However, she couldn’t decide on the amount, so she had to ask.
With his brows furrowed, he said, “Ask her how much she wants.”
“Elyse says that she doesn’t want any compensation,” she responded in a low voice.
In fact, Laura was quite surprised that Elyse and Leo would end up being like that.
In her eyes, Leo had always been very indulgent toward Elyse. Even when she was caught cheating by the media, he never went against her. After that, when she went abroad, he even visited her several times. Now that he suddenly wanted to break up, she couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. However, she knew very well where she stood now, so she wouldn’t ask too many questions.
While rubbing his forehead, Leo said, “Give her 50 million, then.”
“Are you sure about that?” Even though Laura had seen so much in her life, she still gasped in surprise as
she rarely saw such a large sum of money. By right, Leo and Elyse were just dating, so it would already be very generous of him to give her more than a million in compensation.
While they were still talking, his phone rang with a new incoming call notification. He couldn’t help but take the phone down from his ear to take a look.
The moment he saw that the flashing number on the screen was Amelie’s, he instinctively ended the call with Laura and answered Amelie’s call.
As soon as the call was connected, Amelie’s voice came through. “Seriously, Leo. What do you want?”
Chapter 165
Confused by Amelie’s words, Leo was stunned. “What do you mean what do I want?”
“Bria is sick!” she exclaimed from the other side of the phone. “Did you do something? I just contacted the teacher, and I was told you were the only one who visited her during the day!”
When he heard that Bria was sick, his expression changed at once. “Turn around!” he yelled, instructing the
driver.
Since they were on a highway, the driver couldn’t turn around, so he had to drive all the way to the nearest
exit.
Although Leo was anxious, he couldn’t say much. In the end, he told Amelie, “I’m coming back now. We’ll talk
later.”
After the driver turned around, he headed straight to the hospital.
While sitting in the car, Leo could see Amelie standing at the hospital entrance, even from a distance. She had. a slender and delicate body. Since the lighting wasn’t bright enough, she seemed to have blended into the darkness. However, for some reason, he could recognize her at a glance. Her hands were clasped tightly together, and he could feel her tension even through the car window.
Then, he ordered the driver to flash the high beams to alert her.
Her eyes, which were staring into space, finally focused, and her gaze landed on his car under the guidance of the headlights. She strode toward him after seeing him in the car.
“How’s Bria?” He quickly got out of the car as well to meet her.
Originally, her face was filled with anxiety, but when she saw him, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed. “Leo Alston! Can’t we just fight in court openly and fairly? Why do you have to resort to these dirty tricks? What good does it do if you gain Bria’s custody by defaming me? She’ll hate you forever when she finds out the truth!” Her words came out in one breath. She had said it in a fierce tone with a serious expression.
With a frown, he spoke in a low voice, “Can you first tell me what happened to Bria?” She came at him with accusations right off the bat, confusing him, but at that moment, he was genuinely worried about Bria.
When she heard his question about Bria, Amelie realized she had been too agitated. So, she controlled her temper before explaining. “Bria suddenly felt discomfort in her stomach, and the doctor said it was caused by mild food poisoning. She had lunch at school today, but if the school’s food was the issue, she shouldn’t be the only one with this condition. I asked the teacher, and she said you went to see her during the day and stayed with her for a long time. What did you do to her?”
Amelie had been busy all day today, and with the lawsuit, she reached home very late. Only when she reached home did she find out that Bria had waited for her without having anything for dinner. So, she went upstairs to
Immediately, she and Steven rushed Bria to the hospital, and they found out she had food poisoning after the
doctor’s examination.
How could she not have any suspicions? When she started suspecting, her suspicions naturally fell on Leo.
He understood what she meant and couldn’t help but rub his eyebrows in frustration, but the main thing he was concerned about at this moment was still Bria’s condition. “How is she now? Did the doctor say that she’s in
danger?”
“The doctor gave her an IV drip. She’s feeling better now,” Amelie replied in an awkward tone.
Relieved to hear that Bria felt better, Leo lowered his head to look at her and answered her previous question seriously, “I did visit her today, but I only bought her an ice cream. There’s surveillance at the ice cream shop. You could check to see if I added anything to it.”
When she heard that there was surveillance, she immediately made a call to have someone check it.
Seeing her make the call, Leo knitted his brows tightly. When did I become such a villain in her eyes? Annoyance arose at this thought. Then, he reminded her, “Bria is also my daughter. I have no reason to harm
her. Besides, she had the ice cream in the afternoon, which was five hours ago.”
Although Amelie knew about that, she still didn’t believe him. The Alstons want to gain Bria’s custody so badly that they even used that eels’ incident against me. What is there that they can’t do? Besides, if he really wants to harm her, it’s not impossible to get medication that needs five hours to take effect.
“Trading a small poisoning incident for the judge’s doubt about my ability to protect my child, coupled with the accusation of mental instability, gives you guys an upper hand in the fight for Bria’s custody.
This isn’t a bad deal for you and your family!” Her eyes were cold the whole time, and her voice was stiff. Meanwhile, the words she said were filled with sarcasm.
“I am Bria’s father. I could never do such a thing. Even if it’s just mild poisoning, it isn’t something a father should do.” When Leo felt that he had such a bad image in her mind, his chest felt stuffy and uncomfortable.
At the same time, Amelie just looked at him while still doubting him.
“Also, I don’t plan to compete with you for Bria’s custody. I have already had my mother withdraw the lawsuit.”
However, she had not received any notification of the lawsuit being withdrawn, and with what happened to Bria, she couldn’t believe him at all. His words only provoked more obvious sarcasm from her. “I actually miss the old you, Leo. You used to show your likes and dislikes on your face clearly and never played dirty tricks.” This implied that he had become hypocritical now. After that, she ignored him and turned around to walk
away.
Just as Leo took a step forward and was about to chase after her, a voice came from the side. “Leo? What brings you here?”
“Mom?” He raised his eyebrows, and his voice filled with a hint of surprise.
At this moment, Melissa walked over with a yellow and white bag in her hand, stopping in front of him. “Are you also here for Amelie? This woman doesn’t even care about Bria at all. She didn’t even know that her child was poisoned! This is a serious matter, Leo. We can’t just let it go. No matter what, we have to keep Bria by our
side!”
“So, you didn’t withdraw the lawsuit?” His voice turned cold at once.
She was momentarily stunned and looked embarrassed by his exposure, but she quickly spoke up again, “With such a big incident happening to Bria, how could I withdraw the lawsuit? She’s your biological daughter, Leo! You can’t just put her aside and only care for Amelie’s feelings!” She adopted a superior manner as though she was educating him.
As he rubbed his forehead, he suddenly understood why Amelie would doubt him and even think he was hypocritical. Did Mom come to criticize her already? “Mom, are you in it for what happened to Bria?” he asked.
When she heard that, her youthful face froze instantly before she showed a hutt expression. “Is that really what you think of me, Leo? I’m Bria’s grandmother. There’s no way I could have done something like that.”
In fact, he knew what kind of person Melissa was. Although she was selfish, she had a big ego, so she wouldn’t stoop to such things.
my decision At this thought, his expression softened a little, but he made it clear again. “I’ve already made about Bria’s custody. I hope you won’t meddle in this matter anymore to avoid causing yourself any further embarrassment in the future.”
Melissa trembled with rage when she saw her son still refusing to take custody of Bria, even at this point. However, realizing that he was determined and knowing that he wouldn’t change his decision, she could only give up for the time being. So, she suddenly changed the topic. “I can let this matter go, but what about the other matter? How do you explain it?”