Chapter 15 If You Lose, Apologize to Amelia
"You bastard!" Marcus raised his fist and lunged at Lucas. I grabbed Marcus.
"I got it wrong," I said.
"Bella?" Marcus looked at me in disbelief. "You're backing down because of Lucas?"
I shook my head. "I just noticed that except for the sapphire in the middle, all the other stones on her necklace are fake."
Amelia's expression suddenly froze. "That's impossible!"
Marcus blinked. "The necklace Mom gave you couldn't have fake stones."
"So I guess we got it wrong." I said to Amelia mockingly.
Where did the real stones go?
They were probably taken off and sold by Amelia's mother long ago.
Amelia must have guessed it too. Her face turned bright red, her eyes full of shame and resentment, her chest heaving violently like a volcano about to erupt.
Lucas glanced at the necklace with some surprise, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Lucas," I asked. "How much longer are you going to drag out this divorce?"
Lucas's face darkened. "I'm not deliberately dragging it out!"
"Let's have a competition, a horse race. First one to the finish line wins. If I win, we'll meet at the courthouse tomorrow morning at ten." I proposed calmly.
"Horse racing?" Lucas frowned. "You can ride?"
Marcus snorted. "You don't know Bella at all! Bella's been riding since she was seven."
"I want to get divorced quickly," I said. "Normal people have to wait a month after filing for divorce, but with Gale and Brian's status, even the Northern District judge should be willing to show some respect."
Marcus muttered gloomily, "Bella, I'm pretty good too."
I smiled at Marcus, walked into the stable, and whistled. The chestnut horse standing under the tree lazily swishing its tail immediately ran toward me happily.
Lucas's black horse, affected by this, also ran over.
I mounted the horse and looked down at Lucas. "Do you dare compete with me??"
Before Lucas could speak, Ashley and Arthur anxiously stopped him. "No!"
"Lucas, do you really want to divorce Bella?"
"You'll regret it!"
Amelia scolded them unhappily. "This is adult business, stay out of it!"
"You're the one who should shut up! You homewrecker!" Ashley shouted at her.
Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose and reprimanded in a low voice, "Ashley, where are your manners?"
"Am I wrong?" Ashley stomped her foot. "She is a homewrecker!"
"You bitch!" Amelia raised her hand to slap Ashley's face.
Ashley instinctively ducked and closed her eyes. Lucas, standing in front of Amelia, didn't notice her movement, and Marcus was standing several steps away from Ashley.
Seeing that they couldn't stop her in time, I didn't hesitate to raise my riding crop and struck Amelia's hand hard.
Amelia screamed.
Lucas quickly grabbed Amelia's hand to check the injury. "Does it hurt badly?"
The concern in his eyes stung mine.
"It hurts so much!" Amelia complained pitifully, looking like she wanted to pounce on me and bite me.
"Lucas! She was going to hit me!" Ashley was furious.
"You wanted to hit Ashley?" Lucas asked coldly. Amelia's tears flowed like water from a faucet. "It's only because she called me a homewrecker!"
"Even so, you shouldn't have tried to hit her!" Lucas said these reproachful words, but took out a small jar of ointment from his pocket and carefully applied it to the back of Amelia's hand.
Blood beads seeped from the wound, looking quite serious.
Lucas frowned and comforted her gently, "This ointment stops bleeding and pain. Don't worry, it won't leave a scar."
I couldn't help but laugh coldly.
Alfred wanted to say something but hesitated, stealing careful glances at me. Obviously, he hadn't told Lucas that I had made the ointment myself.
After treating Amelia's wound, Lucas looked at me and said seriously, "If I win, you have to apologize to Amelia."
"I won't lose." I controlled the horse's head and walked toward the starting point of the track.
Marcus pulled Ashley and Arthur behind him, his gaze cold as he watched Lucas and Amelia. "A disgusting man and a bitch, perfect match."
Lucas instructed Alfred to take care of Amelia and rode his black horse to catch up with me.
"I'm asking you to apologize not because you hit her, but because you and Marcus were wrong about the necklace," Lucas explained.
"I won't apologize."
Actually, with Lucas's position, he only needed to say a word to the judge and we could get the divorce decree within a day.
I didn't know why Lucas was hesitating, but I didn't want to wait anymore.
I still had hope for Lucas in my heart, which was why I kept getting disappointed.
Now I wanted to personally snuff out that hope.
"Amelia hasn't done anything wrong to you." Lucas's knuckles gripping the reins turned white with force, saying irritably and helplessly, "Bella, Amelia is my savior. She saved my life!"
I tightened the reins and stopped the horse, my voice carrying the coolness of sea breeze. "You're saying she's important to you. I get it. Can we race now?"
Love slowly wears away with each disappointment.
But hatred grows in disappointment.
There's no limit to hate, only more hate.
Alfred fired a blank shot into the air. I kicked my heels into the horse's belly, and the horse beneath me shot out like an arrow.
Lucas followed closely, riding alongside me.
The hooves thundered across the grass, startling doves, the sound weaving into an urgent drumbeat on the track.
Near the bend by the raspberry grove, a crisp gunshot suddenly rang out from the shooting range—probably an instructor testing a new target position—but it spooked my horse.
Because the range was nearby, horses at the stable were trained wearing earplugs to prevent being startled. The chestnut horse suddenly reared up, its front hooves flailing in the air, the tremendous force nearly throwing me off.
"Bella!" Lucas shouted my name, his voice clearly panicked.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Lucas sharply rein in his black horse and reach out trying to grab my reins.
I had no time to look back. I lowered my body, my left hand tightly gripping the reins and channeling the force to my waist and abdomen, while my right hand found the earplug that had fallen out of the horse's ear and was dangling beside it, stuffing it back in.
"Don't be afraid! It's okay!" I calmly soothed the horse.
My knees pressed against the horse's belly could feel the trembling of its muscles. Under my guidance, it quickly adjusted its posture along the curve of the bend. The hooves landed on the rough ground and charged forward again.
Lucas's hand missed my lowered shoulder.
The chestnut horse was so much like my Ruby. A flash of fierceness and nostalgia crossed my eyes. I pressed my palm harder against the side of its neck and lightly kicked its belly again with my heels. It immediately understood my intention and didn't slow down even through the turn, its limbs powerfully striking the ground, its mane brushing my cheek, carrying the scent of grass.
I lay flat on the horse's back, wind roaring past my ears, Lucas's figure in my peripheral vision falling farther and farther behind.
A few minutes later, I crossed the finish line first.
"Good job, good boy." The chestnut horse snorted and shook its head. I gently patted its head.
Lucas reached the finish line 3 seconds behind me. His tone carried lingering fear and many complex emotions. "You won."
I unhurriedly adjusted the saddle and said calmly, "I used to really look forward to coming here with you to relax, to see the blue sky and ocean, to ride horses in the wind and chat, to pick wild morning glories in summer and berries in fall, but you were always too busy. I always came alone."
Lucas frowned.
"I never thought it would actually happen after the divorce." But it was nothing like the scene I'd imagined.
I laughed lightly, the smile quickly fading.
I tossed the riding crop into Lucas's arms and turned to leave decisively. "Ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't be late."