Chapter 48 Why Don't You Care Anymore?
"Sir, who are you?" Emma asked me in confusion. "Bella, is he your new bodyguard?"
Lucas and I rarely appeared in the news, so ordinary people would have a hard time recognizing us even face-to-face.
Lucas was almost angry with embarrassment. "Do I look like a bodyguard?"
Emma opened her round little eyes wide and carefully compared Lucas's suit with Adrian's and Cole's.
I pushed Lucas aside and said to Emma, "He's just a distant relative who's staying at my place right now. He has a bad temper, so don't be scared."
Emma breathed a sigh of relief and regained her earlier energy, while Lucas, hearing my introduction of him, looked like his face was covered with a layer of frost, giving off an intimidating aura.
Emma stopped mentioning her grandson and gave me a bag packed full of fruits and vegetables, saying cheerfully, "Divorce is very common these days, and remarriage is even more common. I wish you'll soon forget that jerk and find a better one!"
"Thank you." I accepted her kind gesture. As she was leaving, she waved at Lucas, "You come here."
Lucas had wanted to leave for a while. Hearing this, he asked in confusion, "Me?"
Emma nodded with a smile.
Lucas walked over. Emma stood on her tiptoes, realized Lucas was too tall, patted his arm, and asked him to squat down.
Lucas hesitantly bent down.
I tactfully walked toward the next stall. Before long, Lucas came over with a strange expression.
I asked him curiously, "What did Emma say to you?"
"Nothing!" Lucas's denial came too quickly, making it seem suspicious.
At this moment, Adrian said, "Emma asked if Mr. Valeri was your suitor. Mr. Valeri denied it. Emma said she's experienced and could tell at a glance that Mr. Valeri cares about you very much."
"Shut up!" Lucas hadn't expected Adrian to eavesdrop.
"Don't scold my bodyguard!" I pointed at the market entrance. "If you don't want to listen, you can leave."
Lucas stopped talking. I looked at Adrian. "Go on."
Adrian glanced carefully at Lucas and lowered his voice. "Emma said no woman would like a man with a bad temper, and advised Mr. Valeri to fix his bad temper."
Lucas said, "That Emma is such a busybody!"
I ignored Lucas, promised Adrian a raise, and continued shopping.
However, I underestimated how fast gossip spreads. When I arrived at the chicken and duck shop I often visited, the owner's wife had already heard about my divorce.
I received another divorce gift.
"I always thought your husband treated you badly. Congratulations!"
Lucas was frustrated. "Was her husband really that bad?"
"Of course! When Bella was sick, he was on a business trip. When Bella was in the hospital, he was still on business trips. That kind of man is completely irresponsible. I bet he doesn't even know Bella's preferences or tastes!"
Hit the mark again.
Lucas had only recently learned that I don't eat mangoes.
The female vendor at the chicken shop pulled me to a corner to tell me something in private.
Lucas gave Alfred a look. Alfred wanted to eavesdrop but was stopped by Adrian.
A few minutes later, I walked out of the chicken shop. Lucas asked me, "How does she know so much?"
"I ran into her at the hospital once." The vendor's youngest daughter was not yet six years old and had allergies. She and her husband were willing to spend money on their child and always went to expensive hospitals.
Once they were cut in line and mocked as "lower-class trash." I helped them, and after that, every time I visited, they would give me a discount or extra chicken.
"What did she just say to you?" Lucas asked again.
"Nothing."
Although I didn't say, Lucas soon found out anyway.
When passing the spice shop, the clerk, Barbara, listed all the people in the market who wanted to set me up with someone.
To emphasize how in-demand I was, she specifically stressed that the potential matches included not just men but also women, ranging from eighteen to forty years old.
I decided right then that we were done shopping for the day!
From the spice shop to the market exit was over two hundred yards, and along this stretch we ran into several more people who had heard about my divorce and specially came to comfort me with their products.
Lucas listened as they criticized him as worthless. At first, he was angry and unwilling, but later, as if he'd heard it too much and had become numb, he grew more and more silent. Even after getting in the car, he kept frowning and spacing out, as if troubled by some problem.
I played games on my phone out of boredom. Half an hour later, Lucas suddenly asked me, "Am I really that bad to you?"
While playing my game, I answered, "If there were no feelings between us, you gave me a place to live, let me stop running away, and kept me from worrying about food and shelter—you've actually been very good to me."
But if there were feelings between us, and he used me, neglected me, and hurt me for another woman while knowing I loved him, then he was a terrible husband.
Lucas understood the other sentence I didn't say out loud. "Bella."
An abrupt phone ringtone interrupted his words.
The sweet ringtone was Amelia's special one. Lucas pressed hang up somewhat irritably. The phone was quiet for a few seconds, then rang again.
Lucas hung up again, but Amelia stubbornly kept calling, acting like she wouldn't give up.
Lucas had no choice but to answer. "You'd better have something important!"
Amelia heard that Lucas was in a bad mood and coaxed sweetly, "I miss you. Isn't that important enough?"
In the quiet car, I could hear Amelia's voice clearly.
I took out my earphones and put them on. Lucas glanced at me and said irritably, "I still have things to do."
"Wait!" Amelia said urgently. "Let's have dinner together tonight. If you want to know who saved you back then, you must come!"
I thought of what Michelle said to Amelia about "seducing Lucas" and guessed Amelia probably wanted to trick Lucas again. But if I exposed Amelia, would Lucas believe me?
Lucas took the earphones out of my right ear and said hesitantly, "Amelia wants to see me."
I nodded to show I understood.
"Don't you have anything else to say?" Lucas held onto the earphones and wouldn't give them back.
"What do you want me to say? Tell you not to go?" I asked him back.
"Don't you care?" Lucas was somewhat agitated. "Everyone says how much you love me, so why can you stop caring so quickly?"
"Lucas, we're already divorced."
"Not yet."
"It's just one last formality away." I paused. "Whether it's Amelia or someone else, I wish you well. I've let go. You should look forward too."
He was the first to walk away from this marriage, but now he kept looking back. But I was no longer waiting in the same place.
Lucas's eyes reddened. His fist clenched hard, crushing my earphone.
We parted ways in front of the villa. Lucas looked somewhat lost when he left.
I guessed he would go see Amelia, but Amelia's seduction plan would most likely fail.
There were three days until the trade show, and Elias arrived.
He hoped Roger would help treat his lung disease. That's when I learned that Elias's personal doctor, Gideon, and Roger were actually classmates.
No wonder last time on Elysara Isle, Gideon was so tolerant of Roger's bad temper. I thought it was because he had a generous personality, but it turned out he was just used to it.
After Elias, Barry was the second guest to arrive early.
As soon as he arrived, he had people surround the hotel.