Chapter 198 Forced to Scorching Flame Peak
While dark clouds loomed over Samuel, Amelia was in an unusually light mood.
She even wondered if she should drive to Rosevale Manor and tell Samuel she was willing to give them a try.
But she quickly rejected the idea.
Deep down, she was a traditional woman who couldn't bring herself to show up at a man's house in the middle of the night.
She'd wait until her two planned tasks were done, then she'd be honest with him about her feelings.
They had all the time in the world—no need to rush.
Amelia's racing heart gradually calmed downas she gradually drove home.
When she got home, Lyric wagged his tail and gave her an enthusiastic welcome.
Amelia wasn't afraid of dogs anymore.
At least not of Lyric.
Lyric had done a great job with the Isaac situation. Amelia had fed him lots of raw beef, and they'd quickly become much closer.
Amelia remembered how she'd deliberately sprayed something on Isaac's face mask when she made it.
Lyric loved that scent—it reminded him of meat. That's why he'd bitten down and ripped off Isaac's mask, completely setting Isaac off.
Amelia patted the dog's head and went upstairs to sleep.
...
Several days passed in a blur. It had been ten days since Maeve's surgery.
Her wound had mostly healed.
But the doctor suggested she stay in the hospital for another week. Maeve refused.
The doctor had no choice but to call Amelia.
"I'm going crazy cooped up in this hospital! The food—you have no idea—they don't use any oil at all! My dog's kibble tastes better than this."
When Amelia came to see Maeve, Maeve kept complaining and persisted on being discharged. As her surgeon, Amelia checked her wound. The cosmetic stitches didn't need to be removed—the body would absorb them on its own.
Seeing that the surgical incision had basically closed up and no longer needed medication, she agreed to discharge her.
She reminded her, "The wound looks healed on the surface, but the muscle layer inside hasn't fully recovered its strength yet. You still need to rest when you get home. No intense exercise, or the wound will tear open again."
Maeve asked anxiously, "When will it be completely healed?"
"Two more weeks for a full recovery."
"So half a month? Then I'll still make it in time."
"In time for what?" Amelia asked.
"The Flame Key Culinary Showdown! It's basically a competition for us Goldenvale socialites. Are you going to enter?"
Amelia shook her head, then nodded. "I'm not entering, but I'll be there."
"To cheer me on?"
"You could say that."
Maeve chattered away, her spirits completely recovered.
She also said, "When I'm better, come with me to the psychiatric hospital to see Isaac. I really want to see what he looks like now."
Amelia agreed.
"Okay."
After seeing Maeve off, it was already getting dark.
Amelia drove home slowly.
She was always in a good mood going home.
Before she had a home, she didn't mind working late because she knew no one was waiting for her.
Now it was different. Natalie would wait for her, and her brothers would too if they were home.
Now there was also a little dog waiting for her.
So whenever she worked late, she'd start missing home.
As her car rounded a corner, the vehicle behind her turned on its high beams and flashed her car several times.
Amelia found it blinding.
The road was narrow. Thinking they wanted to pass, she slowed down and moved slightly to the right.
But instead of overtaking, the car kept flashing its lights at her.
Amelia became defensive immediately.
She called Byron and said, "A car's following me. Track my location."
Byron was startled but immediately agreed.
Only then did Amelia hang up and speed up.
But the car behind stayed close—she couldn't shake it off right away.
Her mind was already planning a route though.
There was a difficult road ahead where she was confident she could lose them.
With that in mind, she stopped heading toward The Richardson Manor and turned onto another road instead.
However, after passing a crossroads, two cars came from the opposite direction and stopped right in front of her.
Amelia quickly hit the brakes, but still crashed into them.
Fortunately, only the headlight was damaged—the airbags didn't even deploy.
But with the road blocked ahead and a car blocking her from behind, she couldn't get away.
If she couldn't leave, she might as well not try.
Amelia sat calmly in her car, blank faced.
Soon a man got out of the car that had been chasing her.
He looked refined and scholarly, but his arm had a large tattoo.
He tapped on her window with that tattooed hand.
Amelia didn't foolishly roll down the window. She just looked at his face.
She seemed to have seen this man before.
"Ms. Richardson, did we scare you?"
Seeing she wouldn't open the window, he didn't get upset. He smiled and raised his voice to speak through the glass. "I'm really sorry. You wouldn't stop, so I had to use this method to make you. Don't worry, we'll get your car fixed. We just need you to come with me somewhere."
Amelia suddenly remembered who this man was.
When she went to the Sullivan Mansion to treat Roman, this man had been standing at the entrance.
She rolled down the window and got straight to the point. "Where does Steven want me to go? Do Bobby and Roman know about this?"
The tattooed man's expression froze on his face.
He remembered only meeting Amelia once from a distance, yet she'd remembered him.
Originally, by not revealing his identity, he had the upper hand. Now that Amelia knew everything, he'd lost that advantage.
The man coughed lightly, hiding the frustration in his eyes, and said, "Since you've recognized me, I'll be direct. Mr. Sullivan is attending a car race today and would like to invite you to watch. Please accept the invitation."
Amelia answered directly, "Fine, let's go then. But I'm driving my own car."
"But your car is damaged."
"Only one headlight is broken. It still runs."
"But—"
"What? Are you big strong men afraid one woman will run away?"
The man thought carefully. If he could block Amelia once, he could do it again. He wasn't afraid she'd escape.
With that thought, he agreed.
"Then follow the car in front. I'll follow behind yours."
"Fine."
Amelia rolled up her window again.
The man made a hand signal to the people ahead.
The two cars blocking the way soon started moving.
Amelia slowly followed behind.
She gripped the steering wheel with one hand and sent Maeve a message with the other.
After doing this, she continued driving.
The cars in front and behind were tense at first, but seeing Amelia had no intention of escaping, they relaxed.
The man called Steven to tell him they'd arrive in about an hour.
The cars headed toward the suburbs and soon reached the border between Goldenvale and Willowvale Heights.
This was a mountain road that had been closed off and used specifically for racing.
Exciting but dangerous.
Flags were planted all along the route, advertising various racing clubs.
The cars drove all the way to the mountaintop.
Many sports cars were parked at the top—all brands, all colors, as if this wasn't a mountaintop but some large auto show.
As soon as Amelia got out of her car, Steven came over with a group of playboys.
Steven had his arm around a girl with a hot figure.
The girl had many earrings in her ears and looked at Amelia with unfriendly eyes.
"I thought you wouldn't come." Steven let go of the girl and spoke to Amelia.
Amelia gave a mocking laugh.
"You think I wanted to come? Just seeing your face makes me sick."
She showed Steven no respect whatsoever.
Steven's face turned dark, and the beaded bracelets on his wrist snapped from the force of his grip.
The surrounding noise suddenly quieted down. No one dared speak.
"Amelia."
Steven stared at her coldly, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"In the city, I give you some leeway. But Scorching Flame Peak is my territory. You still dare talk to me like this?"
Amelia raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You're afraid of me, so you lured me here? Well, your plan's going to fail. No matter where we are, someone like you doesn't deserve to be called my opponent."
"You!"
Steven was furious.
The girl with the earrings suddenly spoke up. "Steven, if she dares talk to you like that, let me teach her a lesson!"
Steven raised his hand and slapped her.
The girl was completely stunned. For a long time she couldn't speak, just tears falling from her wide eyes.
Some people around felt sympathy, some shrank back afraid of being affected.
But most people looked at her with mockery.
The girl stopped crying, her face just turning pale.
Among Steven's girls, she was the most valued after Alice.
After Alice died, she'd replaced her and become Steven's new right hand.
Since then, she'd never been this humiliated.
She'd thought she meant something to Steven.
But today, she saw clearly—she'd thought too highly of herself.
In Steven's eyes, she was just like Alice—a chess piece.
When a chess piece said the wrong thing, of course it got hit.
The girl clenched her fists tightly, her eyes full of resentment.
Steven walked up to Amelia.
He was quite tall, but standing in front of Amelia, his presence couldn't suppress hers.
He frowned and said, "I didn't call you here today to argue. I want to compete with you."
"Why should I compete with you?"
She'd said it before—she didn't even consider Steven a worthy opponent.
The anger in Steven's heart was about to flare up again.
But thinking of his plan, he quickly suppressed it and put on the smile of a refined gentleman.
"I know you look down on me. You've hooked up with Samuel, after all."
Amelia's brow furrowed.
Steven had said many things without getting a reaction, but only when he mentioned Samuel did her expression change slightly.
Steven continued, "But here, Samuel can't save you."
"What do you want?"
"Like I said, it's simple. Just one competition. If you win, I'll let you go and never bother you again. If you lose, you'll willingly spend one night with me. After that night, whoever you're with, I don't care."