His grip was far from gentle, and Amelia's eyes widened in surprise, her hands instinctively pressing against his chest. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, she could feel the defined contours of his muscles.
They were standing very close to each other now, their breaths entwined, creating an atmosphere of intimacy reminiscent of their countless close embraces in the past, stirring up layers of ambiguity.
Amelia's breathing and heartbeat were both in disarray, an indescribable emotion spreading within her heart, both anticipating and fearing something at the same time. In the familiar eyes of the other person, there was a desire to devour her whole.
"Enough!"
Lucas's angry shout jolted her back to reality, and Amelia broke out in a cold sweat. The next moment, her wrist was forcefully pulled, causing her to wince in pain and stumble out of the private room.
It was only after they had left the room that Lucas calmed down slightly. Noticing Amelia's furrowed brow, he quickly released her hand.
"Amelia, I'm sorry..."
A touch of guilt washed over his face as he spoke cautiously, "I didn't expect my uncle to be so outrageous. He's always been capricious. If I had known he would tease you like this, I would have..."
"What does Lucas plan to do with me?"
A deep, cold voice suddenly sounded from behind, like the whisper of a demon.
Amelia's body stiffened, and she couldn't help but look over.
Oliver stood not far away, his figure shrouded in darkness, but his eyes were terrifyingly bright, like a leopard in the jungle waiting for an opportunity to hunt.
Lucas turned pale with fear, instinctively wanting to flee, but thinking of Amelia behind him, he mustered up the courage and forced a smile, "Uncle, you are an elder to both Amelia and me. How could you tease her like that? She was just frightened by you."
"Oh? Is that so?" Oliver chuckled lowly, his eyebrows slightly raised, "I see Miss Amelia here doesn't seem very scared at all."
"Come to think of it... have I met Miss Amelia before?"
Amelia's scalp instantly went numb, and her heartbeat stuttered, fearing that Oliver would say something he shouldn't in front of Lucas.
Lucas was surprised by the words and turned to look at her.
"Uncle is joking. I'm just an ordinary person, how could I have met you?"
She tried her best to calm herself down, her tone distant and cold.
But with the past that she found hard to speak about about to be revealed, how could she possibly stay calm.
Oliver slowly lit a cigarette, with great interest, he admired Amelia's expression at the moment.
So flustered, yet still pretending to be nonchalant, she really hadn't changed at all.
"Is that so... But Miss Amelia, you really remind me of someone I used to know... an old acquaintance."
Oliver exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice slightly husky, piercing Amelia's ears and causing her heart to race wildly.
"Miss Amelia doesn't mind talking to me alone, does she? Just to catch up on behalf of that old friend."
Amelia took a deep breath, forcing herself to steady her nerves, about to refuse, when Lucas in front of her spoke up excitedly.
"Uncle, Amelia can't possibly be that old acquaintance of yours, don't make things difficult for her!"
Oliver's eyes were cold, ignoring Lucas, he just stared at her, "Miss Amelia, I want you to answer me yourself."
Amelia looked up, colliding with his dark pupils, his gaze was like a thorny vine, tightening around her, leaving her nowhere to escape.
She knew it was a silent warning.
The words of refusal were on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't say them,
"Okay..."
In the end, she agreed.
"Amelia, don't be afraid, I..."
Lucas was suddenly anxious, grabbing her hand, wanting to take her away.
Amelia held his hand, forcing a smile, comforting, "Lucas, it's okay, Uncle won't make things difficult for me, just a few words, you go back to the private room first, I'll be right back."
Lucas was still unwilling to leave, he always had a premonition that if he left at this moment, he would lose the girl in front of him forever.
"Lucas, trust me." Amelia looked at him with eyes as clear as crystal, her tone firm.
"Then... okay." Lucas finally agreed after some entanglement, quickly whispering in Amelia's ear as he passed her, "If anything happens, just shout loudly, and I'll come out right away."
Amelia's heart warmed, giving him a reassuring look.
Her gaze followed Lucas's back as he disappeared, and when she turned back, her wrist had already been grabbed, pulling her into the nearest private room.
The door slammed shut, and Amelia felt like she was being lifted up and firmly pinned against the door.
Her fingers were tightly clasped, his hot palm burning her skin.
In the darkness, his face was like a pool of ink, dark and terrifying.
"After a few years, my little Amelia has grown up..."
Amelia felt the rough pad of his thumb press on her chin, forcing her to look up and make eye contact with him.
"Now you dare to flirt with another man right in front of me?"
She saw her unsightly face in Oliver's blue pupils, just as she had been when she first met him.
She was an orphan, adopted by her adoptive parents. Her adoptive father, Zachary Hale, had been injured when he was young and couldn't have children, which was why he adopted her.
In her memory, her adoptive mother was a very gentle woman who would cook delicious meals for her and comb beautiful braids for her.
Even though her adoptive father, Zachary, had a bad temper and was addicted to alcohol and gambling, with her adoptive mother's protection, she still felt happy before she was ten years old.
But on her tenth birthday, her adoptive mother was killed by a drunk driver, and from then on, Zachary vented all his grievances on her, and verbal and physical abuse became the norm.
She could bear all this, but Zachary's gaze towards her was becoming more and more wrong, as if he was about to devour her at any time.
She lived more and more cautiously from then on, having to put scissors beside her when sleeping, and when taking a bath, she had to push the washing machine against the door.
If it weren't for her grandmother who would come to see her from time to time, she was afraid she would have been violated by that beast long ago.
Living in fear until she was eighteen, Zachary ran away after owing a huge amount of debt and sold her to Oliver.
The first time she saw Oliver, she was so scared that she could only hide behind the door, being picked up like this by him and forced to make eye contact with him.
He seemed to be teasing a pet, chuckling hoarsely in her ear, "Little Amelia, from today on, I will raise you, call me uncle."
He was the first person in her eighteen years of life to treat her so gently.
She dedicated herself to him.
He had a smile on the corner of his lips, rubbing her earlobe, his voice hoarse and thick with desire, "Little Amelia, you think it over, once you become mine, you can only make love with me from now on..."
The overwhelming memories almost overwhelmed her, and Amelia fiercely bit her lower lip, forcing herself to calm down.
But Oliver's strong invasive aura surrounded her, making her feel a strong sense of suffocation.
"Let me go! Lucas is my boyfriend! You are his uncle, you can't treat me like this!" she shouted in anger and frustration, trying to break free from his shackles.