Chapter 98: Discovered by Mia
She said out loud what James was about to say.
Amelia had always been good at reading people.
Usually James was good at hiding his emotions, and she couldn't figure him out. But today, when he woke up, he was completely panicked.
No time to hide his feelings.
All his thoughts were written on his face.
From the moment James woke up, watching all his reactions.
From the initial shock and disbelief, to having no choice but to believe it.
After spending the night with her, James really didn't have the joy of getting what he wanted, not at all.
All he had was endless regret.
A man who had loved her for so long had gotten her.
Even if he was a man with a strong sense of morality and responsibility, he shouldn't have reacted this way.
A person's first reaction represents their truest feelings.
Any man, whether single or married, after getting the woman he loves.
The first reaction should be joy and excitement.
As for morality and responsibility, those come later when facing choices.
But not James.
When he woke up, his initial lack of excitement and happiness could be understood as not knowing it was her.
But when she spoke up, when he clearly knew that the woman who spent the night with him was her, the woman he'd loved for years but couldn't have.
His first reaction was actually regret.
Whether in his expression or his behavior, everything showed he was full of regret.
Regret about everything that happened last night.
Regret about sleeping with her.
He actually regretted it?
This realization almost made Amelia break down.
All her plans shattered against his regret.
She knew all too well what his regret meant.
She was still one step too late.
She never imagined that Mia held such an important place in James's heart.
So important that she had clearly surpassed her.
After James didn't know how to face it and went into the bathroom to calm down, her nails nearly dug the flesh of her palms raw.
But soon, she made herself calm down.
She was Amelia, after all.
How could she allow herself to lose?
And lose to a woman like Mia, no less.
She had lived in James's heart for so many years. A Mia who came out of nowhere, a woman who wasn't even worthy of comparison to a strand of her hair.
As long as she wanted, she could definitely win James back.
Whether his heart or his body.
They could only be hers.
James looked deeply at Amelia at these words.
Although his memory after getting drunk last night was completely blank, he clearly remembered that before passing out, he had instructed the private room staff to send him back to Luxe Haven after he passed out.
Yet when he woke up, he was at Silver Oak Manor.
Even without investigating, he could guess seventy to eighty percent of what happened.
Seeing him stay silent, seeing him become that inscrutable James again, Amelia could only continue along her previous reasoning, saying softly: "I'm serious, I won't force you to take responsibility, to divorce Mia and be with me."
"Okay." James looked away, saying nothing more about last night.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Before Amelia could react, she saw James walk over and open the door.
Standing at the door was a delivery person, holding breakfast from a famous breakfast place across from her apartment complex.
James took it and closed the door.
Amelia, who had followed him out, saw it and couldn't help but smile.
"You bought this for me?"
This thoughtfulness actually improved Amelia's mood quite a bit.
After all her scheming, it wasn't without results.
"Yes." James placed the breakfast on the table.
Amelia walked over with a sweet expression, about to sit down when she noticed there was only one portion of breakfast. She paused slightly, "Why did you only order one portion? Aren't you going to eat something too?"
James didn't respond, but reached out to hook one of the small paper bags, took out a box of medicine from inside, and pushed it in front of Amelia.
After Amelia saw clearly what it was, her expression could no longer hold.
She was too shocked to speak.
James looked quietly at Amelia, opened the medicine, and handed it to her, "Amelia, I'm sorry."
The mistake had already happened.
He wouldn't allow another mistake to exist.
Amelia nearly ground her teeth to pieces.
What angered her wasn't that taking the medicine meant no chance of getting pregnant, since originally...
What angered her was his attitude.
He really was guarding against her so thoroughly, he really cared so much about Mia, afraid of leaving behind complications, afraid of her clinging to him?
But the words had already been spoken, so she could only reach out to take the medicine and, under his watchful gaze, swallow it.
Seeing her take the medicine, James apologized again, then left Amelia's home.
……
On winter mornings, it gets light very late.
James drove away from Amelia's apartment complex.
He rolled down the car window, and cold wind blew in.
Cold wind should make a person more awake and calm.
But today's cold wind completely shattered the calm he had pretended to have at Amelia's place.
Amelia—he had handled that.
But what about Mia?
Just thinking about Mia, how she reacted strongly even to normal physical contact between him and female friends.
Let alone the fact that he actually slept with Amelia.
He had betrayed her.
Given Mia's personality, she would absolutely never forgive him.
James's mind was in chaos.
Sitting in the bathroom, he hadn't dared to think about what would happen if Mia found out.
The only thing he could think through rationally was how last night happened.
And how he should handle this mistake.
He had called for a designated driver, but was taken home by Amelia instead.
Deep down, he knew this wasn't an accident—she had done it on purpose.
But her intention was also because during these days of cold war with Mia, he hadn't refused firmly enough, hadn't been clear enough in his attitude.
If he hadn't failed to truly keep things professional, proud as Amelia was, she wouldn't have done such a thing.
She must have thought that after sleeping together, he would divorce Mia and be with her, so she took the gamble.
In the end, it was still his fault. If he hadn't given the wrong signals, if he hadn't gotten drunk, Amelia wouldn't have had the opportunity.
After figuring all this out, he went out planning to have an open talk with Amelia.
But Amelia was a smart woman.
After losing, she smartly retreated back to the position of friend.
So he decided not to pursue the matter further.
The car sped along, and when he came to his senses, the car had already entered Luxe Haven and stopped downstairs.
At this time, the sky wasn't completely light yet.
He hadn't thought of a solution. The only option was to hide it from Mia first.
No matter what, before he figured out a solution, he couldn't let Mia know.
James pushed open the car door and got out, quickly heading upstairs.
Planning to shower downstairs before Mia woke up, to first cover up his overnight absence.
Lost in thought, James's steps grew faster and faster.
Standing outside the door, he carefully opened it and tiptoed into the entrance.
Not bothering to change shoes, he took them off directly and walked in barefoot.
James walked while taking off his clothes, wanting only to quickly destroy the evidence. His mind was full of cleaning himself up, as if this could erase everything that happened last night.
He moved quickly—jacket, shirt, rapidly stripped off and draped over his arm.
Upper body clothes removed, he reached to take off his pants.
Just as he unbuckled his belt, James sensed something was wrong, and his undressing motion instantly froze.
The dawn light had just broken through the darkness, slowly rising.
In the dim and unclear living room, visibility gradually became clear.
Standing in the middle of the living room, when James realized whose gaze was behind him, all the blood in his body instantly went cold.
He slowly turned his head and met Mia's eyes.