Chapter 57 Amelia Announces Her Engagement
Was it me who saved Lucas back then?
I thought carefully. During the time Lucas was in Silverpine Town, I was actually there too.
There was a period when fierce conflicts broke out at the border. The number of patients I treated every day surged dramatically, and I was so busy I could barely think straight. If Lucas were one of those wounded, I probably wouldn't remember him.
But Lucas was so strikingly handsome - if I'd seen him, I shouldn't have had any memory of it at all.
A finger pressed against the space between my eyebrows. I came back to my senses as Lucas smoothed out the furrow in my brow and asked me, "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing." I asked him back, "Was it really that Miracle Surgeon who saved you? Does Amelia have proof?"
"No." Lucas shook his head. "She said when she found me, she vaguely saw a man leaving. The man wasn't old, his back looked young, so she guessed it should be the Miracle Surgeon."
So it was just a wild guess!
I rolled my eyes at Amelia in my mind.
"Even though she said that, I think," Lucas looked at me deeply, his eyes filled with emotions hard to read, and he said, "the Miracle Surgeon might be a woman, or maybe the person who saved me was a young girl, but not the Miracle Surgeon."
Just as I was about to ask why he thought so, Roger excitedly came over, "You also think the Miracle Surgeon isn't a man?"
Lucas frowned. Roger explained, "No, I'm not insulting the Miracle Surgeon. I mean, I also think the Miracle Surgeon should be a woman!"
"Why?" Lucas asked with interest.
Roger immediately repeated his previous theory, and Lucas, for some reason, agreed completely.
After that, customers came in waves, and I didn't find a chance to ask Lucas more about being saved back then.
Over the next few days, the expo went very smoothly. Although Jonas would pay me a large venue rental fee, when I mentally calculated his earnings over these days, I dreamed of calling my brothers together to rob him.
While selling Doyle's notes, I received many business cards, and people tested Roger with all kinds of strange medical cases.
I figured after the expo ended, Roger would be too busy to rest, so during the last few days of the expo, I pretended not to notice, no matter how much Roger slacked off.
Earlier, when I had "delivered" the casualties to various families, I'd half-forced them to buy invitation letters. Karen told me that those who didn't buy were full of regret after hearing about the expo's success.
There was a gang called "Night Wolves" that operated year-round at the border between the Chaotic Zone and Government District, usually doing petty theft.
That day, although Night Wolves also participated in the blockade against me, they had very few weapons and were quickly scared off by Marcus's counter-encirclement.
They were reluctant to spend money on invitation letters. On the first day of the expo, they all mobilized, probably planning to freeload. Supposedly, they all went hungry the night before, planning to eat their money's worth.
After arriving, they discovered that the expo Jonas and I held together was completely different from what they'd imagined!
The Night Wolves' leader gritted his teeth, scraped together money to buy a batch of weapons, and in just a few days, their territory expanded twofold.
Two other small groups had similar situations to Night Wolves. One group's invitation letter wasn't even bought from me - someone else had wanted to throw it away, and they picked it up.
When the person who threw away the invitation finally realized what they'd discarded, they rushed over to demand it back, only to be thrown out.
Some people bought invitation letters and tore them up on the spot to vent their anger, then deeply regretted it within days, begging everywhere to buy another one.
Similar incidents kept happening during the expo. Karen and Jonathan shared them with me as jokes.
As the people and events they mentioned kept increasing, I knew their intelligence work was going smoothly.
Before the expo ended, the Night Wolves' leader asked Karen to pass me a message - they were willing to pledge loyalty to me.
Night Wolves wasn't the only gang to surrender. By the time the expo ended, I had quietly swallowed up half the territory in the Chaotic Zone.
I didn't make a big deal of it, calmly and naturally following the schedule, dressed up beautifully to appear at the celebration party.
The celebration was held at noon.
Although it was an internal hotel celebration, Lucas and Jonas were also invited.
The speech segment was unavoidable. I'd prepared a speech in advance. Just before going on stage, I suddenly received a message from the Soldato monitoring Amelia and Michelle - Michelle had returned from Dawnharbor.
Last time, after I exposed that the Velo Nutrient she and Amelia bought was fake, Michelle rushed back to Dawnharbor overnight and stayed until today.
James quietly urged me, "It's time to go on stage."
"Okay," I replied to the person monitoring them, telling him to continue surveillance, then lifted my dress hem and walked onto the stage gracefully and confidently.
Gale and Brian sat below the stage, looking at me with relief.
Lucas and Jonas, for once not fighting, competed instead over who could clap louder.
I was satisfied with my speech, but after walking off stage, I sensed something unusual in the atmosphere.
"What happened?" I asked James.
James looked at me worriedly and said hesitantly, "Five minutes ago, Amelia and Lucas announced their engagement."
I looked at him in undisguised shock. "What did you say?"
What kind of joke was this!
How could Lucas possibly announce an engagement with Amelia? Were all those days of him pursuing me just an act?
I instinctively searched the banquet hall for Lucas, only to find he'd disappeared at some point.
I walked into the lounge and took out my phone to check the news.
"Kingpin of the North Divorced, About to Marry His True Love!"
"Let's Talk About Lucas's Ex-Wife and First Love."
"Three Years of Fake Marriage - How Did Isabella Fool Everyone?"
I quickly scrolled through the news - the descriptions of me were all negative.
The secret that Lucas and I had a contract marriage had been exposed.
Lucas's whereabouts over the past three years were revealed, with numerous photos online of him going in and out of Amelia's home.
Then there was Amelia's interview. She stood in a luxurious room, showing the camera precious gifts one by one, boasting to the camera with an excited, affectionate expression, "Lucas gave me all of these!"
Reporter: "It seems Lucas loves you very much."
Amelia showed a shy expression, "Yes, he loves me very much, and I love him too. He had no choice but to marry Isabella. Fortunately, they're divorced now. I've waited for him for three years, and can finally marry him."
The lounge door opened, and Gale and Brian burst in together.
"Bella! Are you okay?"
"Those two damn bastards! Have Marcus throw them both in the ocean to feed the sharks!"
Brian sat down beside me, put his arm around my shoulders, and carefully comforted me, "Bella, don't be sad over people who aren't worth it."
"I know." I smiled bitterly. "I just can't help it."
"Bella!" Lucas's voice came from outside the door.
Gale shouted angrily, "Stop him!"
"Bella! Don't believe the news!" Lucas forcefully pushed against those blocking him. "Amelia did this on her own, it wasn't me! I'll handle it."
"You bastard who deceived Bella's feelings!" Gale couldn't hold back and rushed up to punch Lucas hard.
Brian also rushed up. Lucas awkwardly dodged between Gale and Brian while urgently trying to explain to me.
They turned the lounge into a complete mess.
The mirror shattered, cosmetics were scattered all over the floor, and the voices of Gale, Brian, and Lucas arguing gave me a headache.
"Enough!" I slammed my palm on the table and stood up abruptly.
I got up too quickly, and my vision went black.
Before passing out, I heard them urgently calling my name.