Chapter 154 The Scent on Her Body
As it turned out, Amelia really hadn't moved. She was just sitting there breathing normally, yet Samuel felt the air grow tight around him.
Because he could smell the faint fragrance coming from Amelia.
Unlike the perfume smell on other girls, Amelia always had a very fresh, comforting scent about her.
He had noticed it when he first met her , and back then, he thought it might be some kind of perfume Amelia wore.
Because he found it pleasant, he even had Jeremy search for this perfume.
After searching around, he finally found it by chance when he passed by an herbal shop.
It was the scent of moonbell vine.
Moonbell vine was known primarily for its calming properties.
No wonder he felt such inner peace when he caught her scent.
But before, when he only admired her, he felt peaceful. Now, when he smelled it, his heart surged with emotion, stirring at its very core.
Samuel felt he couldn't keep breathing in this scent.
Otherwise, he would do things even he couldn't control.
So Samuel cracked open the car window on his side slightly. The wind diluted much of Amelia's scent inside the car.
Only then did his state of mind slowly settle.
After a moment of silence, he spoke: "The scent on you—is it moonbell vine?"
Amelia looked at Samuel in surprise.
"You can tell?"
Samuel said, "I had some insomnia a couple of days ago, and Jeremy went to an herbal shop to buy me some calming incense. The main ingredient was moonbell vine."
Amelia understood.
She nodded and said, "No wonder. You guessed right, it is the scent of moonbell vine."
Samuel then asked, "Moonbell vine is medicine for calming the nerves. Do you often have insomnia too?"
"No." Amelia said, "I sleep pretty well, but sometimes... my mood isn't great, so I used herbs to make my own moonbell vine shampoo."
As she spoke, she lifted one shoulder to smell it, saying: "The scent should be very faint. You have a really sharp sense of smell to pick up on it."
"I was born with stronger senses than most people."
This wasn't Samuel bragging—it was true.
Not just his sense of smell, but his vision was also a bit better than average.
Even his peripheral vision had a wider field of view than others'.
His memory went without saying. Though not quite photographic, what took others an hour to memorize, he could memorize in twenty minutes.
"If we have children, they should inherit both our excellent genes."
Amelia frowned and looked over at him.
Her meaning was clear: they weren't even married, so why talk about children?
Samuel coughed awkwardly and said, "I think your shampoo smells really nice. Could you share some with me?"
"We'll see."
After Amelia finished speaking, seeing Samuel's eyelids droop, she added, "It's not that I'm stingy. The stuff is really troublesome to make, and I don't have much left. Next time I make some, I'll have someone deliver it to you."
Samuel immediately brightened up.
"Then I'll wait for it. Don't worry, I won't take it for free. I'll send you a generous gift in return."
Amelia didn't respond.
She agreed not because she wanted any gift in return, but because Samuel had indeed helped her many times.
Such a small request, and it wasn't anything expensive—she'd just give it to him.
Besides, he said he had insomnia, and moonbell vine really helped with that.
The car drove smoothly along.
There weren't many cars on the night road, but the forty-minute journey took a full hour.
"Thank you for driving me home. If there's any news about Julie, please let me know."
Samuel nodded: "Okay."
Amelia then pulled open the car door and got out.
As soon as she got out, she saw Natalie standing at the door, looking very worried.
Only when she could make out it was her daughter in the moonlight did Natalie's tense nerves relax, and she quickly walked forward.
"Amelia, it's already eleven o'clock. I saw your room was still empty, so I waited for you at the door."
Amelia took Natalie's hand.
"I'm fine, Mom. I just got held up with something on the way."
Natalie was about to ask more when they heard the sound of a car door opening and closing.
Both mother and daughter looked over to see Samuel striding toward them.
"Mrs. Richardson."
"Samuel? You're the one who brought Amelia home?"
Samuel nodded, with an apologetic tone: "I asked Amelia out to hang out. We said we'd just have fun for a bit and then I'd bring her back, but halfway through, I got a call from a friend who had just returned to the country, so we went to a second place. It won't happen again, Mrs. Richardson. I'll make sure Amelia gets home earlier."
His words carried complete sincerity.
After hearing this, Natalie not only didn't blame Samuel but was actually quite happy.
Happy that the two of them finally seemed to have some romantic spark.
She really liked this potential son-in-law, but unfortunately Amelia didn't.
Now it seemed like it might not be impossible after all.
She smiled and said, "If I'd known it was you taking Amelia out, I wouldn't have worried. Next time, tell me in advance so I don't feel uneasy. You know our family situation—I can't help but worry."
Samuel nodded.
"Yes, it's my fault. I'll definitely let you know in advance next time."
Natalie liked Samuel more and more.
Plus, with Samuel's sincere attitude and having safely brought Amelia home, how could she be angry?
"Alright, enough of that. It's so late, I won't invite you in to sit. You should head back and rest early. Drive carefully on the road."
Samuel smiled.
"Thank you, Mrs. Richardson. I'll be careful."
He then looked at Amelia: "I'm leaving."
Perhaps because the evening breeze was so gentle, Amelia unusually gave a response: "Drive safe."
Samuel's smile widened a bit more.
He was even somewhat grateful to Julie—through this twist of fate, his relationship with Amelia seemed to have gotten a little bit closer.
The car soon drove away.
Natalie withdrew her gaze and looked at Amelia.
Her face was full of smiles, yet she seemed to be struggling with whether or not to ask Amelia about her feelings.
Amelia knew what she wanted to ask.
But she herself didn't know how to answer.
Someone who had been disappointed in love and paid a huge price for it had a conflicted heart.
She both wanted to try again and feared falling again.
But one thing was very clear—Samuel's presence made her not avoid talking about Finn.
"Mom, it's very late. I still haven't treated Liam today. I need to go back, but I don't know if he's asleep yet."
When Natalie heard her mention Liam, she knew she didn't want to talk about Samuel for now.
She went along with it: "Liam is waiting for you."
Amelia nodded, linking arms with Natalie, and they returned to the villa together.
Upstairs, Liam was indeed waiting for her.
Amelia apologized first.
"I'm sorry, Liam, for making you wait so late."
"What are you saying? You don't owe me anything. No matter how late, it's what I should do."
Liam was very reasonable.
Amelia nodded and didn't waste any more time.
Tonight was the sixth needle technique of the Shadow Realm Needling.
As the techniques progressed further, Liam's discomfort would grow stronger.
When the last needle was placed, Liam felt his legs burning, burning so much he wanted to roll around on the bed.
"Liam, can you bear it? If you can't, I can crush mint leaves into juice to help ease it."
Liam clenched his fists and asked, "If we use that, will it affect the treatment?"
"A little, but if you really can't stand it, using a bit is fine."
"Then let's not use it. I can bear it," Liam said through gritted teeth.
Amelia held Liam's hand.
"Okay, I'll stay with you. We'll get through this together."
No pain, no gain.
The treatment process was painful, but the result would be worth it.
She stayed with him until dawn the next day.
The sky was just beginning to lighten when the burning sensation in Liam's legs finally faded, and he fell into a deep sleep.
Amelia stretched and was about to return to her room when she heard the faint sound of voices coming from downstairs.
Amelia listened carefully—it was Uma's voice.
She walked to the top of the stairs and could hear clearly.
Uma was on the phone.
The entire content of her phone call entered Amelia's ears.
But she didn't show any sign of it, quietly returning to her room.
Probably because she'd been up all night, she slept until noon the next day.
Natalie knew she'd had a hard night and didn't wake her, only bringing her a bowl of chicken soup after she got up.
Amelia didn't like overly greasy food, and especially disliked this kind of rich soup.
But since Natalie had made it herself, she couldn't disappoint her, so she forced herself to gulp down a mouthful.
Unexpectedly, the soup had none of the greasy taste she hated and was unusually delicious.
"I could tell you don't like chicken, so I used a lot of spices to cover it. How is it? Can you accept this taste?"
Amelia nodded: "Thank you, Mom. I really love it."
"Then have more. There's still plenty left."
Amelia agreed and slowly ate the chicken soup in her bowl, but her mind was thinking about Uma's phone call last night.
After she finished, Uma happened to pass by in front of her.
Amelia called out to her.
"Uma, I want to go buy some things at the nearby supermarket later. Can you come with me?"
Uma readily agreed: "Of course, Ms. Richardson."
And so it was settled.
At two in the afternoon, after Natalie's nap, Amelia took Uma to the nearby supermarket.
But once at the supermarket, she only bought two bottles of water.
One for herself, one for Uma.
Uma looked puzzled: "Ms. Richardson, aren't you buying anything else?"
Amelia shook her head and said, "I just remembered, the supermarket probably doesn't have what I need. I'll have to trouble you to come with me to the city center."
Uma, of course, had no objection.
So Amelia drove to the city center.
The car finally stopped in front of a clinic.
It was called Spring Renewal Clinic.
Amelia got out with Uma.
A middle-aged man soon came out to greet them, named Charles Green.
He was the witch doctor from the coffee shop that day who had "accidentally" exposed that Yasmin was faking her pregnancy.
People said Charles had exceptional medical skills, that there was no difficult illness he couldn't cure with his nine needles.
Of course, this was somewhat exaggerated, but it was enough to prove his reputation.
Therefore, Uma also recognized him.
But Charles was hard to book—ordinary people couldn't easily get him to make house calls, let alone Uma, a servant.
Yet now, he was politely leading Amelia upstairs.
Even Uma could see that Charles showed Amelia more than ordinary respect.