Chapter 8 No Need to Fulfill Your Dying Wish
William got involved too.
"Do they know it's me?" Amelia asked one more question.
Amelia didn't say it explicitly, but she was asking whether Isabella knew that "Quiana" was actually her, Amelia. But she knew Jeffrey understood what she meant.
"No." Jeffrey answered immediately. "I'm certain of that."
Amelia fell silent.
Cars came and went beside her. She watched the clouds slowly moving across the sky, and then she made a decision.
Amelia first called the doctor to confirm she could postpone the appointment to the afternoon.
Then she told Jeffrey she was coming over right now.
"Okay, come as soon as you can."
After hanging up, Amelia turned her car around, went to buy some things first, then drove quickly to the Adams Group.
After parking, putting on a hat, sunglasses and mask, Amelia walked into the Adams Group.
As the elevator doors opened.
Amelia walked into the office in her low heels.
"Quiana, you're here." Jeffrey was the first to see Amelia.
Noticing her new look, Jeffrey raised his eyebrows slightly but kept his composure, simply helping her in and seating her on the other side of the long table.
Sitting across the table were William and Isabella.
Seeing her walk in, Isabella immediately stood up.
"Hello Quiana, I'm Isabella. I don't know if you've heard of me." Isabella smiled weakly, looking pitiful.
She said, "I really want to buy your song. I hope you can sell it to me."
Amelia didn't answer right away, but glanced at William.
William didn't even look at her. All his attention was on Isabella.
Jeffrey sat beside Amelia. Hearing Isabella say this, he spoke first.
"Ms. Taylor, Quiana doesn't plan to sell this song. I've told you this before." Jeffrey said.
But Isabella ignored Jeffrey and looked at Amelia with reddened eyes.
"But Quiana, I really love this song of yours." She said, then suddenly frowned, as if enduring some kind of pain.
William beside her frowned, his eyes full of concern.
But Isabella just shook her head "bravely" and continued looking at Amelia.
"Quiana, I only have six months left to live, so I hope you can part with it, just consider it fulfilling my dying wish, okay?"
Amelia heard this and let out a soft laugh.
Another "dying wish."
When William asked for a divorce, he said Isabella's dying wish was to get that marriage certificate with William.
Now there was another item added to the dying wish.
She, Amelia, respected other people's illness and respected that life and death were serious matters, but the person who had to pay the price was her, Amelia.
And she didn't want to respect the third party who interfered in her marriage.
Was she being bullied for not having an illness that would kill her in six months?
"What if I say I'm not willing?" Thinking this, Amelia lowered and roughened her voice.
Isabella was stunned.
"Ms. Taylor, I've heard about your situation." Amelia continued in a lowered voice. "You've caused quite a stir online these past few days, but whether to sell the song or not is my business. I have no obligation to fulfill your 'dying wish,' and I also don't understand what you want to use this song for."
Amelia paused slightly, then continued three seconds later: "Are you going to put it on your account, or... use it as your funeral march?"
"You!" Isabella was so angry she started coughing violently.
William patted Isabella's back to help her breathe while looking at Amelia with displeasure.
This was the first time William had looked at Amelia since she entered.
"Quiana, don't you think you're being too much?" William said coldly with a frown.
His brows were tightly knit, his eyes sharp.
His lips pressed into a straight line, that familiar face showing his dissatisfaction with her.
Amelia looked at William.
He had changed his clothes, not wearing yesterday's outfit.
It looked like one of the sets she had helped him put together in the walk-in closet at the villa.
So he had been back to their marital home.
He must also know she had moved out.
He just didn't care at all.
That's fine.
Amelia collected herself, her gaze behind the sunglasses dropping slightly, not meeting William's eyes directly.
"I think forced buying and selling is worse." She said. "If you're going to do this, you should be prepared to accept harsh words from others."
William frowned even more, looking at her with greater displeasure.
"William, let me talk." Before William could speak again, Isabella spoke up considerately.
The office lighting was warm, but Isabella's white Celine suit still made her look pale.
"Quiana, I really love this song."
Isabella said, looking at William beside her.
"This song really resonates with me."
"It expresses so much of my feelings about falling in love with that person in my heart—passionate, secret, with a bit of insecurity."
"The giving in a relationship, the joy received, and..."
Isabella's eyes dimmed slightly. She said: "That deep despair of knowing your days are numbered."
"Despair that goes deep into your bones."
"Quiana, this kind of despair once tortured me deeply, making me wish I were dead."
"But what moves me most about this song is the letting go at the end."
"Just like me now, accepting everything, letting go of it all, living peacefully through my final days."
Isabella spoke softly, her voice sometimes trembling, sometimes open-minded, as if she had been through great trials, making people feel sorry for her.
William sitting beside her proved this point.
Amelia saw that when Isabella talked about that desperate time, there was clear heartache in William's eyes.
This was something she had never seen in his eyes before.
Her seven years with Amelia couldn't compare to Isabella's less than one year by his side.
Amelia looked at them, like watching a loving couple who had been through pain together.
Too bad she was the legal wife.
Unable to be moved.
Really inappropriate timing.
"Quiana, this song perfectly expresses all my recent experiences. I really understand how you felt writing this song. I think you'd also want someone who understands you to buy this song, right?"
Isabella continued.
She seemed to think that having said all this, Amelia would surely agree to sell her the song.
After all, if the song was going to be sold anyway, selling it to someone who understood it would indeed be best.
Too bad...
Amelia suddenly felt like laughing.
Because this song was about her loving the wrong person, about her experiencing betrayal in love.
It was about her falling in love with William, the joy after their marriage.
The despair of discovering his affair, the letting go after the pain.
The touching love story Isabella was trying to use to convince her was built on the pain of this song.
How ironic.
Thinking this, Amelia couldn't help but laugh out loud.
William's eyes narrowed.
"Quiana, the fact that Isabella could see this song means you originally intended to sell it."
His voice was cold and calm, like the countless proposals he had handled, striking at the heart of the matter.
"Now you're unwilling to sell, which means either you're not satisfied with the buyer, or you're not satisfied with the price."
William looked directly at Amelia's eyes, but all he could see were the dark sunglasses.
"Famous songwriters charge hundreds of thousands of dollars, and celebrity copyright earnings can reach tens of millions of dollars a year."
"Ten million dollars." William said. "I think you should be satisfied with this figure."
But Amelia just laughed.
Ten million dollars was really flattering her.
With "Quiana's" current almost unknown reputation, a few hundred thousand dollars would already be a high asking price.
William offered ten million dollars for Isabella's sake.
Amelia laughed so hard tears were about to fall.
Isabella found it baffling and got a bit angry too.
"Quiana, this is already a very high price." She said. "There's a music variety show called 'Voice of Heaven' recently that I think you should know about. I'm planning to use it on that show as my main song. I think..."
Isabella was still talking when Jeffrey beside them couldn't take it anymore.
He slammed the table and stood up: "We said we're not willing to sell. William, don't go too far!"
William remained seated. He looked coldly at Jeffrey. Though sitting, his presence overwhelmed Jeffrey.
Amelia wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and tugged at Jeffrey's sleeve.
"I'll sell." Amelia said.
"Voice of Heaven" was the very show Amelia was about to participate in.