Chapter 211 Untying the Knot
Amelia fell silent for a moment.
She had never looked at things from that angle before.
Byron's words opened her eyes.
She had always feared Samuel might turn like Finn—betraying her in the end to get what he wanted.
That fear had become a mental block born of Finn's betrayal.
But she had forgotten that Samuel already had everything he could want.
Although the Shadow Operations Division was powerful, the Crawford Group was no slouch either.
Samuel's feelings for her were genuine—personal,, without ulterior motives.
Her feelings for Samuel, by contrast, were tangled; she overthought everything.
Amelia felt her heart race.
She heard Byron continue, "Ordinary people can't protect you, but Mr. Crawford can. I'm genuinely happy you can be with him. He was lucky too—you're not just any woman."
"I know Jeremy," he went on. "If Mr. Crawford had character flaws, Jeremy wouldn't follow him so loyally—even after Mr. Crawford saved him when he was near death."
Amelia didn't know what to say: she was grateful that Byron had reminded her.
"Thank you, Byron," she said.
"Thank me for what? Anyone with eyes could see it," Byron replied.
She had been blind, or rather, couldn't see the forest for the trees. Or perhaps, after being hurt once, she had been afraid of facing the same pain again.
Seeing her so quiet, Byron snapped, "Amelia, what's wrong? Don't you trust Mr. Crawford?"
This question cut straight to Amelia's heart.
"I don't know," she admitted.
"Emotionally, I trust him—II really like him," she said. "But there's another voice in my head telling me I can't let my guard down completely. Byron, am I being dramatic?"
"No." Byron said with a frown, "Amelia, I'm going to say something—please don't get mad."
"Go ahead," she said.
"You might not be completely over Finn yet," he said.
Amelia was stunned for a moment, then shook her head. "That's impossible. When I think of him now, I don't feel anything."
Byron explained seriously,
"What I mean is, you haven't gotten over how badly he hurt you. It's not necessarily about him as a person."
"You're showing something like PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder."
He paused. "Actually, it's partly my fault. After you discovered the betrayal, you had an emotional breakdown... so I found a hypnotist for you."
"As a result, you forgot those sad, painful emotions. But those are things people need to work through after betrayal."
"Without those memories, you're not in pain—but you also can't loosen the knot in your heart."
Byron's eyes flickered when he mentioned the hypnotist.
Amelia didn't notice.
Her attention stayed fixed on Byron's words..
After thinking it over, Amelia realized Byron made a lot of sense.
She understood the logic but didn't know how to fix it.
"So what should I do to untie this knot?" she asked.
Byron said, "Maybe you need to have a good talk with Finn—clear the air about the past. That might loosen the knot."
Amelia shook her head immediately, rejecting the suggestion.
"I won't see him again," she said.
Seeing Byron's look, she explained, "It's not that I haven't moved on. We both have our own loved ones now. Meeting again would hurt us both. Especially on Finn's side—last time I already confronted Scarlett. If she found out I met with Finn again, she'd go crazy."
Byron didn't seem to care.
"She was the one who stole Finn back then. If she loses it now, she deserves it," Byron said.
Amelia shook her head, saying, "She didn't steal him. What was mine, no one could take away; what others took never belonged to me. Finn intended to use people to climb—if not Scarlett, it would have been someone else. Why blame Scarlett?"
If Scarlett hadn't tried to frame her through Anthony back then, she wouldn't have made that plan against Scarlett either.
Although Anthony still covered for Scarlett in the end, she was certain their relationship wasn't as close as before.
They were even now.
So as long as Scarlett didn't provoke her again, she wouldn't pursue her.
She didn't love Finn anymore—why would she hate Scarlett?
Hate comes from love.
"I don't get it." Byron said.
Amelia replied, "You don't need to understand—just remember I won't meet Finn privately."
"Yes," he said.
"Why don't you help me find that hypnotist again? Maybe if I recover those memories, everything will be solved."
Byron's expression flickered when he heard this.
He knew that, during that period, besides Finn, another terrible memory lingered.
But now—since Amelia and Samuel were together—maybe that memory wouldn't be so terrible anymore.
Byron hesitated.
Thinking he'd see Samuel soon, he decided to raise the matter with him privately.
For Amelia, this was still a significant trauma.
He didn't know much more than that. The only reliable evidence was the video he had "seized" from Samuel.
Only then did he dare to confirm the man who'd had a one-night stand with Amelia was Samuel.
Otherwise, Samuel had no reason to go to such lengths to retrieve that footage from Crystal Springs Resort.
At the time, Byron had even started secretly planning to kill Samuel.
But the more he investigated, the more he suspected that Samuel had been forced into it.
Moreover, after learning about Samuel's character from Jeremy, he abandoned the idea—at least for now.
He continued the investigation in secret.
So far, he had found nothing.
Now that Amelia and Samuel were together, he decided to ask Samuel directly about what exactly happened that time.
"What are you thinking about?" Amelia saw him spacing out and frowned. "Focus on driving—don't daydream," she reminded.
Byron snapped back to attention.
"Yes," he said, but he didn't answer what he had been thinking about.
Fortunately, Amelia also had concerns and didn't press himfurther.
Amelia was thinking about what Leo and Francis were really up to.
She had thought that after meeting her, they would make some move, but she hadn't expected only a 'hero-saves-the-beauty' stunt.
Francis's first two attempts were telling: one targeted Adrian—using Kurt. If she hadn't gotten Maeve's warning, she might have really fallen for it.
The second was when Steven forced her to race.
She had been lucky and careful enough to escape that disaster.
Both plans had been meticulous—ordinary people couldn't have escaped.
It felt like kids playing house.
Amelia was completely confused.
Throughout the journey, she kept thinking about it but couldn't figure it out.
Soon they arrived at the agreed-upon hotel.
Tonight's dinner was Samuel's treat, at the same place as last time—Royal Stirling Racecourse.
This was his first time hosting Byron, and because Byron was Jeremy's younger brother, he made it quite grand.
The hotel had been completely renovated after it had been burned down previously.
Dinner was set up by the pool behind the hotel.
The pool water shimmered like silk, rippling in the breeze.
Several people sat at a long white table draped in linen; silverware gleamed in the candlelight and water reflections.
Waiters poured champagne into crystal glasses for everyone.
Amelia wasn't good with alcohol, so she had juice.
She sat on one side with Byron; Samuel sat across, with Jeremy and York at his side.
It was York's first time meeting Byron; he kept looking him up and down.
York observed, "You two are alike—and not alike."
The similarity showed in in their features, especially the nose and lips—both very proper-looking.
The difference lay in their temperaments—though hairstyle played a part.
Jeremy's hair was the standard slicked-back lookfor men, very elite-feeling.
Byron, on the other hand, had a weird perm.
He hadn't expected such a grand occasion today.
No wonder Amelia had insisted he wear a suit.
But Byron wasn't intimidated. He met York's examining gaze and said, "Is it because Jeremy looks like a rich kid, while I look like I work construction?"
York shook his head.
"No—you don't look like you work construction. You look like you work on an assembly line, screwing in bolts."
Samuel was about to scold York when Byron turned his teasing on Jeremy.
"Jeremy, he's bullying me. Help me beat him up!"
Jeremy jabbed York with an elbow.
York clutched his chest and looked injured, but indignant.
"What? I wasn't finished! I was going to say, Byron, come out with me tomorrow and I'll make you look more like a rich kid than Jeremy!"
Byron looked at Jeremy.
Jeremy said, "Go with him. Don't come back until you've emptied his wallet."
"Okay!" Byron replied.
The atmosphere lightened, and Samuel breathed a small sigh of relief.
Although the evening had started fine, it had still a bit tense.
York's joking relaxed everyone.
Byron saw that York was blunt but harmless, and that York and Jeremy were close, which reassured him.
He had worried that, since Jeremy and York were both Samuel's right-hand men, they'd inevitably compete.
He hadn't expected their relationship to be this good.
He felt relieved for Jeremy and more at ease about Samuel.
Being able to coordinate those relationships so well showed he treated them both well.
A boss's character influences subordinates; like a father and son, if the father behaves badly, the son can pick up bad habits.
Samuel had good character, so his people picked up good traits.
Partway through the meal, people left the table for different reasons.
Amelia went to the restroom, while Jeremy and York went to the wine cellar to select a few more bottles.
Byron thought it was coincidence, but then Samuel spoke up, "You've been watching me—do you have something to say? I've already sent everyone away; you can speak now."