Chapter 201: Taking You to See My Love for You in the Past
Down below, Alvin watched the hot air balloon slowly rising, absolutely furious.
He had no idea how he could possibly chase after it.
Inside the hot air balloon.
As the balloon ascended, Amelia gradually saw the entire island.
And she saw the surprise York had prepared for her.
Lights across the small island formed Amelia's name.
Amelia looked down at the island below, watching it gradually recede as the hot air balloon climbed higher.
She turned around to look at York, who was controlling the balloon beside her.
He still wore his half-face mask. Having adjusted the balloon, he let it go and looked at her.
"Why go to such lengths?" Amelia said softly. "For me, is it worth it?"
He clearly knew her current state of mind, knew her worries.
The troubles she carried, if he stayed with her, they might never have children.
He could easily fall for a better, healthier woman.
He smiled and took out a pendant from a box nearby.
At the center of the pendant was a heart-shaped blue diamond.
"Because of this."
Amelia looked at the pendant as countless fragments flashed through her mind.
"Do you remember?" he said, meeting her eyes.
He slowly removed the mask from his face, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"Amelia," York looked at her and said, "I've been waiting for you for many years."
"After all these years, I can finally return it to you."
A storm erupted in her mind.
Amelia remembered what had happened many years ago.
Back then she was still young. Jasper had taken her to Solstice, wanting to show her his company there while taking her sightseeing.
Jasper was at the peak of his power then, and she, Amelia, was his only daughter. Wherever they went, they were treated with respect.
When they first arrived in Solstice, countless people came to their door with gifts, trying to build connections.
But she felt tired of it all, because the same thing happened constantly back home.
She didn't know then that a year later, Jasper would fall from a high building.
She knew these people only valued her identity as Jasper's daughter.
The temptation of Jasper's casual word that could double or even multiply someone's fortune.
So, with Jasper's permission, she took her bodyguards to the port.
"I was only a teenager then, exiled by my family to the sea to handle shipping matters. Later, I met you at the port," York began.
"My father had failed in the family power struggle."
York looked down at her and said softly, "This mess should have been my father's to handle, but he died."
"My mother had to take care of my younger siblings, so I took his place."
"Maritime affairs were already a mess. Ships sailing into unknown waters and dumping people overboard was common. I was too young, the people under me wouldn't listen at all. I could barely keep myself safe, let alone expand along the shipping routes—that was impossible."
"Until that day, when I met you."
York smiled, looking at Amelia before him.
"You gave me this, telling me that if I took it to find the Martinez family's people, I would get help."
"I took it and, following your advice, went to find the Martinez family's people. Luckily, that day I happened to meet your father, Jasper."
"I received help from you and your father."
He said, "In a year's time, I finally managed to gather my subordinates and achieve initial control. I thought, slowly, one day, I would control everything."
"News travels slowly at sea. I only learned of your father's death a year after he passed, and even then, I had no way to control everything."
"I knew that only when I became truly powerful could I investigate everything."
The hot air balloon drifted through the air.
Amelia looked at the pendant.
She had never imagined that the boy she met all those years ago was the man standing before her today.
Back then, she hadn't given it much thought.
She just figured they were from the same country, spoke the same language, and seeing him in such a miserable state, she wanted to offer what little help she could.
She reached out and gently grasped the pendant.
York looked at her and saw the sadness in her eyes.
When they first met, they were both so young.
Just a brief encounter.
What seemed like her casual charity had enabled him to truly gain power.
In those years, he had mostly regarded her and Jasper as benefactors.
He was too weak in those years.
He vowed that when he became strong, he would investigate the truth of everything.
Later, a betrayal led to their fateful reunion.
The bullet in his chest didn't kill him, but it made him fall in love with her.
"By the time I could control everything and return home, you were already with him, and later, you even married."
"These years, I've been investigating the cause of his death, but everything was confusing. Later I discovered that an invisible hand seemed to be controlling everything, preventing me from reaching the truth, so I could only wait for an opportunity."
Many people were investigating the cause of Jasper's death; he wasn't particularly conspicuous.
He couldn't let anyone notice any connection between him and the Martinez family.
Afraid of facing more obstacles.
Even this belated confession was taking place in this deserted sky.
He thought William loved her deeply.
Thought they were in love.
Thought William would treat her well.
So he kept these feelings hidden in his heart.
Now, since William had divorced her.
Then, let him step in.
He would love her well.
A tear fell on the pendant, landing at the center of the blue diamond.
Amelia looked at the heart-shaped pendant in her palm.
After Jasper's death and the Martinez family's downfall, she had almost nothing left from the past.
This was, recently, the only thing she had received, and it was one of the many gifts Jasper had given her.
"Don't cry." York reached out to remove the mask from her face, then wiped away her tears.
He cupped her face, looking into her moist eyes.
"Trust me, Amelia, we will uncover the truth and restore the Martinez family's glory."
"It's all just a matter of time."
"Amelia, trust me."
Amelia looked at him.
Her emotions churned continuously. She didn't know what to say.
Finally, she could only say, "Will you put it on for me?"
"Yes," he said.
Then he took the pendant from her hand, reached around her hair, and fastened it around her neck.
Amelia felt the jeweled necklace against her skin, the heart-shaped gem like another small heart.
"Where are we going now?" Amelia looked at York and asked softly.
"To see how I've loved you all along," he said. "To let you know, Amelia, I love you—not out of gratitude, not to prove anything, but because I truly love you."