Chapter 165 Risk The Lair
After locking eyes with Samuel, Amelia felt her inner anxiety somehow ease a bit.
But holding hands...
Amelia was still hesitating whether to pull away when Samuel leaned closer and said in a low voice, "I'll tell everyone you're here as my guest. No one will question why you're here."
Amelia froze for a moment.
He'd guessed what she came here to do.
In the past, she would have hated having her thoughts read like this, but now, being seen through by Samuel made her feel relaxed and at ease.
It saved a lot of explaining.
She had to admit, Amelia liked smart people.
Talking with smart people saved so much trouble.
She didn't pull her hand away from Samuel's and followed him openly into the main building.
In the lobby of the main building, Amelia saw several familiar faces.
Among them were Marlon and Janet, whom she'd met once at Luminance Art Gallery.
That time at Luminance Art Gallery, Janet had threatened her using her father's influence, and she'd responded with a two-faced performance of her own.
Not only had she exposed Janet's true colors, but she'd also forced Marlon to withdraw from judging Quinton's case.
That's what led to Frank's transfer to Goldenvale.
By chance, she'd actually helped the Richardson family.
But Amelia hadn't seen Janet since then.
She'd expected Janet to give her the cold shoulder this time, but surprisingly, Janet walked over with a smile and greeted her first.
"Ms. Richardson, long time no see. You look even prettier than before."
Amelia smiled back.
"Ms. Rojas looks so cool in riding clothes."
What she was thinking was that Janet wasn't a complete fool—she knew how to learn from her mistakes.
Then Janet turned to look at Samuel.
"Mr. Crawford, I'm sorry you had to witness that scene last time. I've spent a month at home reflecting, and I've come to my senses now. We weren't meant to be, and I won't force it anymore."
Samuel didn't like talking much with women other than Amelia.
He hummed in acknowledgement, then took Amelia's hand and introduced her to the other distinguished guests present.
Janet's expression stiffened for a brief moment, but quickly returned to normal.
She hadn't lied—she really had let go of Samuel.
As Marlon's daughter, she had her own pride.
Her pride wouldn't let her keep chasing a man who only gave her the cold shoulder.
She was just waiting.
Waiting for the right moment, Marlon had mentioned.
When that moment came, she wouldn't need to use any tricks—the Richardson family would collapse on its own.
The timing Marlon mentioned depended on Thornfield and the Hays family.
So she wasn't in a hurry.
As for Samuel, whether he'd fall depended on what choices he made.
If he made the wrong choice, then Samuel's status wouldn't be worthy of her anymore anyway.
The Crawford family would decline, too.
So she planned to do nothing, just wait quietly.
A hunter needs plenty of patience.
She'd been burned by Amelia once and wouldn't let it happen again.
Amelia was a woman who'd throw away her dignity to achieve her goals. Janet was of noble birth and wouldn't stoop to Amelia's level.
Amelia was led around by Samuel to meet many people.
Several of them had traveled all the way from Thornfield.
Meeting these people could only benefit Amelia.
As for the harmful ones, like Marlon's group, Samuel didn't take her to greet them—he just went over to chat with them briefly before returning.
From this, Amelia knew which people she could stay in touch with going forward and which were enemies.
After everyone finished exchanging pleasantries, Amelia had several new contacts in her phone.
"Come on, we older folks will go up to the second-floor viewing area and watch the younger generation play," Marlon said with a laugh, as if he didn't hold a grudge about what happened with Samuel and Amelia that day.
So the elders headed up to the second-floor viewing area.
The young people went to the stables to choose their favorite horses.
That's when Niamh approached Amelia.
Amelia caught a faint scent of perfume.
She recognized it—the perfume Yasmin often wore.
Yasmin still had the mood to wear perfume, so apparently, she was living quite well here.
A murderer didn't deserve such a good life.
Niamh said, "Ms. Richardson, since you've already changed into riding clothes, don't waste them. Let me take you to pick a horse. How about we race? If you win, maybe I'll tell you something you want to know."
Amelia acted like her curiosity was piqued.
"What do you want to tell me?"
"I'll only tell you if you beat me."
Amelia's brow furrowed slightly, as if she was torn.
Niamh added, "I can promise you, what I have to say will definitely surprise you."
Amelia agreed.
"Alright, you better keep your word."
"I won't go back on my promise, but only if you beat me."
Her eyes were full of challenge.
Amelia smiled and said, "Don't forget, I grew up in the countryside. My village had lots of horses. You might not be a match for me."
"Whether I'm your match or not, we'll know after we race."
"Then wait a moment, I need to tell Samuel."
"Hurry up. I'll wait for you at the exit."
Amelia nodded and went to find Samuel.
Samuel was talking with Niamh's father.
Floyd Armstrong had a fawning manner in front of Samuel, but Amelia caught a glimpse of impatience in Samuel's eyes.
When she walked over, Samuel finally found an excuse.
"I need to have a private word with my fiancée."
Floyd nodded repeatedly and left tactfully.
Amelia got straight to the point: "Niamh invited me to race horses with her."
Samuel's brow furrowed. "Don't go. You might fall into their trap. That father and daughter are both fools, and fools do foolish things. Even after getting burned once, they don't learn."
Amelia smiled. "I'm not afraid of traps."
Samuel looked at her deeply.
"You already know what she's planning?"
Amelia nodded. "I've guessed the general idea."
Samuel didn't insist further.
"Then go ahead, but be safe."
Amelia said, "I'll be safe, but I'm afraid I'll cause you trouble."
Samuel's lips curved slightly. "I love cleaning up messes."
"You have unique hobbies."
"Only for you."
His gaze was intense, and Amelia actually blushed a little.
She cleared her throat and said, "I'm going then. Get ready to clean up the mess."
But Samuel called her back.
"I'll have Yosef go with you. He can help if you need it."
Yosef had a bad reputation, and with the Dobbins family now under Philip's control, not many people paid much attention to him.
Amelia nodded in agreement.
Passing by Brady, she glanced at him.
On the way to the viewing building, she'd already told Brady what he needed to do.
Brady understood and quietly left.
Amelia didn't rush to catch up with Niamh. Instead, she sent Liam a message.
After getting a reply, she turned back and followed Niamh.
Niamh was getting a bit impatient waiting, but thinking of her plan, she suppressed her irritation.
Fortunately, Amelia arrived quickly.
But Yosef was following behind her.
Niamh worried the situation might change, but she had no excuse to keep Yosef from coming along, so she could only suppress her displeasure and head to the stables.
Just as Yosef had said, these were all fine horses.
So even though Amelia and Niamh arrived a bit late, there was no shortage of good horses.
"This horse is good," Niamh pointed to a white horse. "It's competed in many races and has a good temperament. Don't say I deliberately picked a bad horse for you. You're just not my match."
Amelia looked unconvinced and turned to look at Yosef.
Yosef walked over, observed for two minutes, compared it with other horses, and finally nodded. "This horse is indeed good."
"Then I'll take this one."
"I told you, I wouldn't deliberately pick a bad horse for you." As Niamh spoke, she also chose a black horse for herself.
It looked impressive, though not as tall as the white horse.
"Ms. Armstrong," Amelia suddenly spoke up. "I have something to say to Yosef. Could you wait outside for me?"
Niamh frowned.
"Are you scared?"
"Of course not. It's just that there are too many people at the main building, and I can't be seen too close to Yosef. Just do me this favor."
Niamh already suspected Amelia was involved with Yosef, and hearing this, the contempt on her face became even more obvious.
Because of this, she didn't doubt what Amelia said.
She sneered, "You really aren't afraid of Samuel finding out."
"Before I'm married, I have the right to interact with any man, don't I?"
Niamh cursed "no shame" in her mind.
But she still suppressed her contempt and said, "Hurry up. I don't have much patience."
"Got it."
Niamh went outside.
Yosef asked Amelia, confused, "What do you want to tell me?"
"Just say anything, don't stop talking."
Yosef looked bewildered but did as told.
While he talked beside her, Amelia pulled out a thick silver needle from her bag.
About five minutes later, Amelia and Yosef walked out of the stables one after the other.
Both were leading horses. The one Yosef was leading was the black horse Niamh had chosen.
He handed the black horse to Niamh and smiled slightly at her. "Here you go, thanks for your help."
Niamh cursed "no shame" again in her mind.
She replied, "Thank you."
The two quickly arrived at the riding arena.
Several people were riding horses in the arena, including some who weren't very good at it, like Janet.
She was being led around the arena slowly by a staff member.
When others heard that Niamh was going to race Amelia, they all stopped and cleared the field for them.
The Armstrong family was one of the shareholders of Royal Stirring Racecourse, and Amelia was Samuel's publicly announced fiancée.
Everyone naturally wanted to watch these two compete.
Janet also dismounted.
She smiled at Amelia and said, "Ms. Richardson, good luck."
Amelia smiled back. "Thanks, I'll do my best."
Niamh stared at Amelia, sneering inwardly.
She thought, 'Laugh all you want. You won't be laughing soon.'
A staff member from the arena approached and cautioned them both.
"The inner track has jumping obstacles set up for racing. It's not very safe for girls to run the inner track, so you should run the outer track."
Both nodded, then mounted their horses together.
Amelia glanced toward the viewing area.
The distance was far, but she still spotted Samuel right away.
Samuel, ignoring everyone else's gaze, raised his hand and waved at her.
Samuel was usually composed—it was rare to see him make such a big gesture.
Others immediately looked at Amelia with envious eyes.