Chapter 216 Pressing the Waist
"You're going to Liam's engagement party with him?"
"Yes." Amelia nodded.
Natalie didn't approve.
She carefully explained what the Young family had done to Liam over the years.
"Those people are all bad news! They invited Liam to use him, to cover up their ungrateful true colors."
If it had been the old Liam, they could have succeeded,’ Amelia said firmly. ‘But he’s not the same Liam anymore. Mom, trust me—every humiliation from the past two years will be repaid tomorrow."
"How?"
"I've arranged for help." But Amelia didn't elaborate, creating suspense instead. "You'll find out soon enough."
Natalie looked helpless, but thinking that Amelia was smart and must have planned everything carefully, she finally nodded.
"Alright!"
With Natalie's agreement, Amelia went to discuss tomorrow's plans with Liam.
"Liam, you arrive a few minutes after me."
"Why?"
"To make a bigger impact."
Liam understood and nodded in agreement.
After discussing some details, Amelia returned to her room.
She called Frank.
"Frank, there's something I need to ask you for help with."
"Go ahead."
Amelia explained what she wanted to ask.
Frank had thought it would be something difficult, but after hearing it, his brow relaxed.
"That's easy, I'll arrange it."
"Thank you, Frank."
"Ms. Richardson, you're too polite. Adrian was just making a fuss today about wanting to come play with you."
"I happen to be free today, I can wait for him at home."
"Then I'll send him over now."
"Okay."
An hour later, Adrian arrived.
Anna had gone out to attend social events for Frank today, so Adrian was brought over by Frank's security guard.
Natalie had known Adrian was coming and prepared lots of children's toys, and even made baked cakes herself.
Adrian had a great time.
Although he wanted to play with the family's Lyric, Amelia wouldn’t let him approach because of his allergy. He could only watch from afar as she trained the dog.
"Lyric, go fetch!"
Amelia threw a frisbee.
Lyric turned and chased it, jumped up, caught the frisbee steadily, and brought it back wagging her tail.
Adrian clapped excitedly.
"So smart!"
As long as you eat well and stay healthy, Amelia said kindly, ’”your immune system will grow stronger, and your allergy will go away."
"If I'm not allergic, can I have a puppy?"
"Of course."
So after Adrian went back, he ate two portions of potatoes.
Anna called to praise Amelia.
"You really have a way with him. Adrian used to be such a picky eater."
It was because of his picky eating that he was smaller than boys his age.
That's why when Amelia first met Adrian, she thought he was only seven or eight years old.
Amelia said, "If you don't mind, you can let Adrian come over often. My mom and I both really like Adrian."
"That would be great." Anna was naturally happy.
After chatting about Adrian for a while, Anna said, "I've been invited to the Young family's engagement party, and I probably can't get out of it."
Though she hadn't been in Goldenvale long, that didn't mean she wasn't well-informed.
Knowing about the conflict between the Richardson and Young families, she explained to Amelia that she didn’t want to attend either. But her position complicated matters: Billy was Frank’s colleague, and while Frank could skip the events, Anna had no choice but to go.
"I'm really sorry." Anna said.
"I understand, you don't need to feel sorry."
"The Young family really went too far in that matter. No matter what, the two families should have sat down and talked it through properly. It's not like you would have tried to take advantage of them, right? It's just despicable."
Bringing up Liam's situation made Anna angry too.
What kind of family does that?
Liam saved Tessa's life, but they immediately broke off the engagement just because Liam's legs were disabled.
Amelia comforted Anna and shared a bit of news with her.
Anna's eyes lit up.
"Liam's legs are really healed?"
Amelia confirmed.
Anna clapped her hands happily.
"That's how it should be! Good people should be rewarded!"
The news hasn’t gotten out yet,’ Amelia said. ‘Tomorrow, Liam and I will attend their engagement party—then everyone will know he’s no longer disabled."
"I'm looking forward to seeing you humiliate the Young family."
"Okay!"
After the call, Adrian tugged at Anna's sleeve.
"Mom, is Amelia going tomorrow too? Can you take me?"
"No." Anna refused directly. "You have to go to school tomorrow."
Adrian's face immediately fell, and he started fussing.
"I want to go, I want to go! I've already been absent for half a month anyway, the teacher is used to me being absent."
In the end, Anna softened and agreed.
But with one condition: "Tomorrow Amelia has important things to do, you can't cause trouble, and don't act too close to her, okay?"
"Why?"
"Because if you're too close to her, people will be jealous of her. If they're jealous, they'll want to hurt her."
Adrian nodded with partial understanding. "I know!"
He could now speak very clearly, and the childishness about him seemed to have disappeared - he was truly a big ten-year-old boy now.
Big boys don't cause trouble.
Maybe he could even help Amelia a little.
...
The next day arrived.
Liam put on the custom suit Amelia had ordered for him.
The suit was picked up by Amelia today.
Besides Liam, there were suits for Mason, Lucas, and Grant too.
But there was one extra set.
Amelia carefully put it away, planning to give it to Samuel tomorrow.
Liam's suit was dark blue, well-tailored to fit his frame perfectly.
When he was in the wheelchair before, Amelia hadn't noticed much, but now that he could move freely, Amelia thought he looked very tall.
He was the tallest among the brothers, except for Felix.
The stable dark blue color made his already slender figure look even more upright, yet not overly somber.
A platinum cufflink peeked out slightly from the sleeve, making him look more refined and unforgettable.
"Amelia, this suit is excellent." Liam said.
Amelia smiled and said, "Liam, if you don't mind, I'll handle all your suits until you start dating."
Before Liam could respond, Grant immediately came over.
"Me too! Amelia, you can't play favorites. You and I are the closest."
"Who says?" Lucas said. "Amelia and I are the closest."
Mason also joked, "Stop arguing, Amelia and I are the best."
The group bantered together.
Natalie laughed softly.
"You're all grown men, still competing for Amelia's attention, shameless."
Grant glanced at Liam and Lucas and said, "Did you hear that? Mom says you're shameless."
"Aren't you the same?"
Grant shrugged and said goodbye to Natalie and the others. "I'm off to work!"
Natalie nodded, her eyes showing relief.
Though Grant still joked around like before, his whole demeanor was much more mature than earlier.
Working at the Crawford Group branch office had helped Grant grow a lot.
He finally seemed like a man.
Of course, it wasn't just Grant who was getting better.
There was also Liam - his legs had recovered, and given time he'd be able to run.
Mason's career was smooth sailing so far.
Lucas didn't need mentioning - from an unknown nobody to a popular star now, he just needed one work to reach top-tier celebrity status.
All these changes were brought by Amelia.
She was the youngest daughter in the family, and also the family's lucky star.
Before leaving, Natalie hugged Amelia.
"Amelia, nothing else matters, only yours and Liam's safety is most important. Remember, you can humiliate them, but don't push them too far. If cornered, I'm afraid they'll harm you. The Young family are not good people."
Amelia nodded. "Okay, I'll remember."
She said goodbye to Natalie, and she and Liam got into two different cars, one after the other.
As Amelia had said, Liam would arrive a step behind her.
The engagement party wasn't being held at the Young Villa.
Instead, it was set at the Noble Horizon Resort at the border between Goldenvale and Mistveil City.
The car drove for two and a half hours to get there.
The main buildings here were constructed of natural wood, with lots of greenery, like living in a forest.
The engagement party was being held by the outdoor pool.
Behind the pool was a stretch of forest.
Amelia had left early, so she arrived fairly early. The mountain mist hadn't completely dispersed yet, and thin fog drifted like gauze over half the hotel.
The lobby design here was also very elegant, with a high circular dome hanging with zen water features that made crisp bell sounds when the wind passed through.
She was guided by a server to her assigned room to rest and wait for the noon engagement party to begin.
Amelia stood on the balcony, looking at the beautiful scenery ahead, her mind racing.
She was carefully thinking through today's arrangements.
Actually, there wasn't much to arrange. Taking down the Young family wasn't something that could be done overnight.
But this really was a nice place.
Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves as the infinity pool stretched toward the forest, its waters blending seamlessly with the greenery under a bright blue sky.
Maybe when she had time in the future, she'd open a resort hotel like this and stay for a while.
The door was knocked on at that moment.
Amelia responded, cautiously opening a small crack. A tall figure pushed in directly and hugged her tightly.
Amelia had already seen who it was, so she didn't struggle or fight back.
Because it was Samuel. He had the same scent of moonbell vine as her.
He seemed unable to hug her enough, not letting go for quite a while.
Amelia pushed at him.
"I'm getting stiff."
Only then did Samuel release her, but reached out to press her waist.
"Is your waist stiff? Lie down on the bed, I'll massage it for you."