Chapter 130: Let Him Love Her
Amelia looked at the coffee in York's hand.
Steam rose from the coffee. Her gaze moved upward, looking at him through the rising steam.
"Why?" Amelia asked.
York didn't seem upset that she wouldn't take it. He just placed the coffee in front of her, then poured himself a cup.
"I admire you."
He looked at her seriously and said, "And I like you."
Amelia wasn't moved by these words.
Having just struggled free from a failed marriage, she wasn't going to jump into another one just because someone liked her.
"I don't understand," Amelia said, looking at York. "You could find other women. I'm not that special."
"No, you are special," York said.
Amelia didn't know how to respond.
It all felt strange.
"Sorry, I don't want to think about this right now," Amelia finally said.
She looked at the coffee cup on the table.
And who proposes marriage like this anyway?
Just holding a cup of coffee.
She'd only just gotten divorced and wanted to catch her breath first.
As for whether she'd marry again in the future, and to whom, that was a matter for later.
She still had Briar.
She couldn't just think about herself.
Besides, she had many things to do, like the finals of The Sound of Heaven.
Like taking this divorce agreement to a lawyer and figuring out how to get back the Martinez family's old connections.
York looked at Amelia. His expression didn't change, showing no anger. He still had that gentle manner that made people feel comfortable.
"If you don't want to get married, then how about considering a partnership?" York continued.
Amelia raised her eyebrows slightly. "What?"
"Amelia, you're divorced, but your identity is still William's ex-wife." York's voice was steady and persuasive. "In fact, I see that he wants to remarry you after Isabella dies. What will you do then?"
"Maybe you want to help Jeffrey succeed, you want to help him rise to power, but Amelia, that takes time."
"Beck and Zaid aren't easy to deal with either."
"You know how powerful the Brown Group is. Jeffrey right now can't compete with them."
"And you yourself—I know you're excellent, but you have to admit, one person can't fight against a corporation."
"Even if you want to stall, how long can you hold out?"
York calmly stated these facts.
He knew that proposing marriage so suddenly would be offensive, but there were too many people around her who liked her and wanted her. He was already far behind, so he had to be bold about his intentions.
"I'm sorry," York continued. "Proposing marriage so suddenly just now was too hasty of me."
"But I think you need this kind of protective status right now."
"Not marriage—it could be an engagement, or just being rumored boyfriend and girlfriend."
Amelia had been silent all this time, just quietly looking at the cup on the table.
She knew York had a point.
"Three months," he said. "Meet at least once a week, twelve times total, so we can get to know each other. I'm not forcing you to like me, but at least during this time, whether it's rumors or news of our engagement after three months, it can save you a lot of trouble."
"Of course, if after three months you still don't want to, then we'll just pretend none of this happened."
Amelia looked at York as he calmly laid all this out.
The room was filled with the scent of tea. She looked at his handsome features.
It was indeed a tempting proposal.
"But why?" Amelia didn't understand. "Just because you 'like' me?"
She didn't even know what he liked about her.
"If I need to add another reason," York smiled and said, "just think of it as me not wanting to see William and the Brown Group have things so easy."
"Amelia, you know what?"
York paused slightly and said, "I'm jealous of him."
"Not jealous of him having the Brown Group, or his career achievements."
"But jealous that he has someone who can trust him completely, someone willing to risk everything for him, even her life."
Amelia lowered her eyes slightly.
Someone willing to risk everything, even her life?
Wasn't that just stupid?
Look at these past seven years—what had it gotten her?
"Let me think about it," she said. "I can't give you an answer right away."
She was tired now.
These seven years had exhausted her too much.
It was hard for her to enter into a relationship again in the short term.
She even doubted whether she still had the ability to love someone again.
And could she really enter another marriage without love?
"Excuse me," Amelia said, bowing slightly, then stood up and left.
Leaving York sitting there alone.
He looked at the untouched coffee in front of her and smiled peacefully.
He understood what she was thinking.
If she no longer had the ability to love someone else, then what if he loved her?
...
After Amelia left the tea house and got back in her car, she breathed a sigh of relief.
At least York wasn't there to cause trouble. She'd think about the rest later.
Also, she'd successfully gotten divorced. She should be happy about that.
...
Meanwhile, William had already driven back to the Brown Group.
He'd originally had Rhys cancel all of today's schedule.
So when Rhys saw him, he was a bit surprised.
"Mr. Brown, why did you come in?" Rhys asked.
Rhys looked William up and down, worried. "Mr. Brown, you don't look so good. Should I call a doctor?"
William waved his hand, indicating it wasn't necessary.
"Continue with the meetings from before," William said.
Rhys wanted to ask if something had gone wrong with the divorce, but seeing William like this, he knew he shouldn't say anything.
"Yes, sir." Rhys immediately passed along the message.
So all morning, William held countless meetings.
No one dared to provoke him.
They only whispered in corners after the meetings ended.
"What's wrong with Mr. Brown? Didn't the secretaries say Mr. Brown's schedule was cleared for today? He looks so scary!"
"I don't know. Usually Mr. Brown is very put-together, but look at him today—he's got stubble showing. He doesn't look good."
"Did he fight with Isabella?"
"Who knows? Anyway, if it were Amelia by Mr. Brown's side, she'd never let him look like this."
"What are you talking about?" Rhys came over and interrupted them. "Don't gossip about Mr. Brown!"
The employees immediately apologized and dispersed.
On the other side, where the employees couldn't see, William pressed his lips together lightly.
A moment later, he turned and left.
William had been busy all morning.
Having not slept all night, he felt exhausted.
When he was leaning back in his office chair with his eyes closed, suddenly the office door was pushed open, and someone came to his side.
"William," a voice said.
William opened his eyes and saw Isabella looking at him with a smile.
"Let's go get our marriage license," Isabella said.