Chapter 169 Can't Help but Want to Kiss You
Amelia looked at him.
"What idea?"
Samuel said, "I have a very important island project overseas. But the situation there is even more complicated than here. Multiple forces are blocking it, and my island project hasn't been able to break ground."
Amelia guessed what he meant.
"You want him to go overseas to help you?"
Samuel nodded. "If he succeeds, he'll be the project manager for the island, in charge of all the forces there. If he fails, he probably won't make it back."
Amelia thought it over carefully and felt this could work.
"I'll go back and ask him."
"Okay."
Just then, Yosef came over.
"Everyone's gone. What's our plan now?"
"Lunch?" Samuel looked at Amelia, asking for her opinion.
Amelia didn't refuse. "Today's on me. You guys pick the place."
Yosef had helped her a lot today, too, so she should treat them.
"Let's go to All Seasons Table then," Samuel said. "It's not too far from here, half an hour away."
Going downtown would take at least an hour and a half.
But the nearest All Seasons Table was near the airport, very close by.
Amelia was about to nod when she heard Yosef complain, "Oh great, not even married yet and already worried about Amelia's wallet?"
Amelia didn't understand.
Yosef said, "All Seasons Table is a chain restaurant my family owns."
Amelia got it.
She'd said she'd treat, but if they went to All Seasons Table, she definitely wouldn't have to pay.
"Should we go somewhere else?" Amelia asked.
Yosef smiled and said, "Amelia, I'm joking. How could I really let you pay? This meal's on me."
Yosef took out his phone and called the All Seasons Table front desk.
All Seasons Table - the name said it all.
The restaurant offered four-season themed cuisine.
"They have seasonal menus here - spring, summer, fall, and winter. Which one speaks to you, Amelia?" Yosef said.
On the way, Yosef had been calling Amelia by her name affectionately.
"Summer sounds perfect."
"We'll go with the summer menu, please," Yosef told the server.
"Yes, sir."
Soon, the food arrived.
It was already fall, but the table was filled with fresh summer vegetables, the really tender kind, not cold-stored ones.
There weren't many meat dishes, just two, and even those were stir-fried with vegetables.
City people, used to rich foods, loved eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
So those who came to All Seasons Table were all wealthy people.
It wasn't that ordinary people couldn't afford it; they just wouldn't spend dozens of dollars on something as simple as roasted asparagus.
Amelia looked thoughtful. "So if I chose spring, we'd only get spring vegetables?"
Yosef snapped his fingers. "Exactly! You're quick, Amelia!"
Amelia laughed softly.
That wasn't exactly being smart...
But Yosef really knew how to talk.
Samuel watched Amelia smile at Yosef and said expressionlessly, "All Seasons Table is his brainchild - strictly seasonal vegetables. Honestly, I think 'The Monastery' would be a more fitting name."
Amelia couldn't help but laugh.
She tried a bite of roasted eggplant with tomatoes. The seasoning was just right, refreshing and delicious.
"It's actually quite good."
"Then you should have more, Amelia."
Halfway through the meal, Amelia went to the restroom.
They were in a private room on the second floor, and the restroom was only downstairs.
But when Amelia came out of the restroom, she ran into someone familiar.
"Stella?"
"Miracle Physician?"
The two looked at each other, both surprised.
Stella was Philip's wife.
"I was just looking for you!" Stella grabbed her hand excitedly. "I couldn't reach you in Thornfield. But the last time we met, you said you were returning to Goldenvale, so I came here to try my luck, to see if I could find you. I didn't expect to run into you just two days after arriving!"
Amelia had contacted Stella through the Shadow Operations Division forum.
Now that the Shadow Operations Division was "disbanded," the forum had naturally shut down too.
"Can we find a quiet place to talk?" Stella asked.
Amelia nodded.
The two entered an empty private room on the first floor.
"What did you need me for?" Amelia asked. "Did the medicine I gave you not work?"
Stella bit her lip. "It's not that it didn't work - it worked too fast, and he noticed. Recently, he won't eat anything anyone gives him, only makes his own food, and he's seeing doctors too..."
Amelia frowned. "That shouldn't be. With the medicine I gave you, it should take at least a year before there are obvious effects."
Stella's eyes reddened. "I wanted him dead so badly that I doubled the dose every time."
Amelia replied, "You were too impatient. Not only will you fail to achieve your goal, but you could easily harm yourself."
Stella's eyes grew even redder.
"But I really can't take it anymore... He's already moved that man into the house!"
Amelia's expression was a bit awkward.
She'd been cheated on before, but never with a male homewrecker.
"So what do you want to do now?"
"I don't know either..."
Amelia was silent for a moment, then asked, "Have you heard of social death?"
"I have."
"Perhaps publicly exposing the details of Philip's affair and the things he said would make him suffer more than killing him. What do you think?"
"It's impossible. No media would dare expose him. Even if I posted all the evidence online, it would all disappear within an hour."
That was the Dobbins family, closely connected to the previous government.
Amelia smiled slightly. "You might not be able to expose him, but I can. Don't forget how you contacted me."
"You're with Shadow Operations Division... but hasn't Shadow Operations Division already..."
"You don't need to worry about that. Just collect the evidence and send it to my email."
Stella was silent for a moment, then asked, "Would just doing this let him off too easily?"
"Don't worry. Phoenicia isn't that open-minded, especially among rich kids. The impact of Philip's exposure will be much bigger than you imagine."
Stella bit her lip, then suddenly bowed to Amelia.
"Ms. Miracle Physician! Thank you! My dead son and I both thank you!"
The aborted fetus had been formed enough to tell the gender.
But Philip wouldn't even pay for the burial, saying that something not yet born didn't count as human and didn't need a funeral.
In the end, Stella had her family bury the child.
She felt extreme hatred toward Philip and that male homewrecker.
That's why she hadn't listened to Amelia and doubled the dosage.
Hatred had made her lose her reason.
But not anymore. She would do everything exactly as Amelia said.
She bowed to Amelia again.
Amelia stopped her.
"You don't need to thank me. I'm doing this to help someone else, too."
"Who?"
Amelia repeated, "You don't need to worry about that. Go back early, don't make your husband suspicious. Remember to destroy all the remaining medicine, don't leave any traces."
"Okay."
Stella didn't waste more words. After leaving All Seasons Table, she went straight to the airport.
And Amelia returned upstairs.
She owed Yosef a favor, and now it was time to repay it.
Philip, as the future heir of the Dobbins family, was constantly suppressing Yosef.
She'd picked up on this from Yosef and Samuel's conversation during the meal.
Since Yosef wanted to get rid of Philip, she'd help him.
Consider it a way to repay the favor Yosef did today for her and Brady.
And helping Yosef this once would make it easier to get the Dobbins family on the Porter family's side in the future.
Killing three birds with one stone.
After the meal, Samuel personally drove her home.
"The Armstrong family might come looking for you in the next couple of days. If they're really not afraid to die and come find you, call me."
Amelia nodded.
She then casually asked about Yosef's situation.
"Does he not get along with his brother?"
Samuel was a bit jealous.
"You seem very interested in him."
Amelia glanced at him. "Are you jealous?"
Samuel didn't hide his jealousy at all.
"Can't I be jealous?"
"No."
"Don't forget, you're still in the trial period. We're not together yet. I can freely interact with any man I want right now."
Samuel's expression darkened further.
The car sped up a bit, too.
Amelia worried that driving with emotions might be dangerous, so she compromised.
"I'm joking. I have no interest in Yosef. I'm just grateful he helped me today, nothing more."
Samuel's jawline didn't relax.
"I've helped you too, more than once."
"Fine, you're my great benefactor."
Samuel raised an eyebrow, finally satisfied.
But Amelia felt something was off.
Samuel was pursuing her, not the other way around. Why was she coaxing him?
Just as she was about to speak, Samuel had already started answering her original question.
"He and his brother don't exactly have a bad relationship."
Amelia's heart skipped a beat.
Had she made a mistake helping Stella?
The next second, she heard Samuel continue, "It's just that... every time Yosef does something wrong behind his family's back, Philip's parents somehow find out immediately. And when they punish Yosef, Philip stands up to speak for him. His father doesn't allow anyone to interfere when he's angry, so every time Philip says something, his father beats Yosef even harder."
"And whenever Philip does something wrong, he frames Yosef. Over time, their parents came to believe that Yosef was a good-for-nothing waste, and stopped seriously investing in him."
Amelia clenched her fists in anger.
"Don't Yosef's parents investigate the truth?"
Samuel said flatly, "Between an eldest son who never makes mistakes and excels in everything, and a younger son who constantly messes up and has the worst grades - who would you believe?"
"Philip is two-faced!"
"Exactly. Before meeting me, Yosef hadn't even realized that his parents' dislike came entirely from Philip's constant manipulation."
Amelia's brow furrowed.
But thinking about what she'd asked Stella to do, her brow relaxed, and she even smiled a little.
Samuel caught it from the corner of his eye.
He said, "Don't smile."
Amelia was confused.
"You're too beautiful when you smile. I won't be able to resist kissing you."