Chapter 287: Exposing the Secret
The tapping sound rang out, but the cola didn't change.
Faith's face still wore a look of delight.After a couple of seconds, seeing the cola still unchanged, the smile on face couldn't last.
She awkwardly said to Amelia, "I don't know what happened, the magic trick failed."
Amelia finally couldn't hold backand burst out laughing.
Faith didn't know what she was laughing at and looked at her in confusion.
"Is it that funny?"
Amelia ruffled Faith's bangs and said, "Thisstuffneeds to be chilled for at least two hours to get the effect you want. You only put it in for a few minutes, it won't turn into slush."
Faith's "magic trick" was actually very simple - first chill the cola in the snow, then when enough timehadpassed, open the bottle cap and tap it on the ground, and the cola that was still liquid would slowly turn into slush.
Butthis processtakes time, and Faith was too impatient.
''You knew about this?''
"I did this experiment back in high school."
"Did we go to the same kind of high school? How come I never learned this?"
Amelia was a bit stumped.
This was probably something shehad learnedwhile doing tasks in some parallel world.
So she said vaguely, "We didn't go to the same high school. All right, let's head back, everyone's waiting for us."
Seeing Faith sigh, she buried both bottles of cola back in the snow.
"By the time we finish eating and come back, your magic trick will work. You can't perform it for me, but you can perform it for Byron and Grant. Those two don't know about this."
Faith immediately perked up.
"Then let's go quickly, don't let them see, or it won't be a surprise."
She ran back excitedly.
Amelia shook her head and smiled. Faith was really like a child.
But thinking about it, wasn't she the same way in front of Natalie?
She felt inexplicably embarrassed.
She wasn't like this before.
But she quite liked this change in herself.
She felt like a normal person now.
In the first few years after returning from the parallel world, she felt like she might just be an emotionless robot. Now, the blood flowing in her body seemed to be burn hot again.
"Amelia, come on!"
Faith looked back and saw her still standing there,so she waved her over..
Amelia nodded and walked back to the house hand in hand with Faith.
But she heard Yosef say, "Then I'll head out first. Don't wait for me tonight, just leave the door unlocked."
Amelia walked over just then.
"You're not eating with us?"
"No, I have some personal matters to handle. I'll eat with you guys tomorrow."
"Need any help?"
"No." Yosef's eyes darted away for a moment.
"All right, go ahead then. Be safe."
Yosef made an OK gesture, didn't take any bodyguards, grabbed his car keys and drove off.
Amelia frowned slightly.
Yosef was hiding something from her.
And it seemed this matter had something to do with her too.
Otherwise why would Yosef avoid her eyes just now?
Yosef had never done this before.
But people should allow their friends to have their own secrets. Amelia didn't overthink it, turned around and smiled at them, "Alright, one less freeloader. Now it's just us family."
Everyone laughed.
"So we're still going to that restaurant Faith found online?"
"Sure." Everyone agreed.
Faith led the way.
The resort wasn't big, no need to drive there.
The so-called restaurant was just a small shop that made stews.
They sat around together, waiting for the server to lift the pot lid.
Soon the lid was lifted, and the hot, fragrant smell hit everyone in the face.
"Smells so good!"
Everyone started eating with their utensils.
Amelia was a step behind, because she was still thinking about Yosef's situation.
It wasn't that she minded what Yosef was hiding from her, but she was afraid Yosef might be in danger
So after eating, she called Yosef.
Yosef didn't answer.
Amelia grew more anxious.
The Hays family still had remnants out there, and Evelyn had been caught by Yosef. Amelia was afraid something might happen to him, and she wouldn't be able to explain it to Samuel and the Dobbins family.
The others wanted to stroll around the resort at night. Amelia, worried about Yosef's safety, wasn't in the mood to wander, so she made an excuse to go back first.
She had two bodyguards follow her.
"Let's go back and check first, then come with me to find someone," she instructed.
"Yes."
The three quickly returned to the guesthouse where they were staying.
But from afar, they saw the car Yosef had driven away earlier coming back.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she walked forward a few steps, she saw two overlapping figures on the hood of the car.
A woman in a white fox fur cloak was half-lying on the hood, and Yosef wasleaning over her her, kissing her face.
The snow on the road was thick, with a streetlamp every ten yards, illuminating the resort as bright as day.
So Amelia clearly saw the woman's face.
It was actually Stella.
Yosef's sister-in-law.
Or rather, his former sister-in-law.
Amelia suddenly understood everything.
Before the two noticed her, she turned and left, quietly ordering the two bodyguards to follow.
After walking quite far, Amelia slowed down.
"Don't tell anyone about what happened today," Amelia said.
Both bodyguards were Samuel's men, and his people were never stupid.
They immediately nodded.
"Don't tell Samuel either."
The two exchanged glances but still nodded, saying, "Yes."
They now understood that if they had to choose between Amelia and Samuel, they should choose Amelia, because Samuel himself would choose Amelia.
Being loyal to Amelia would make Samuel happier than being loyal to Samuel himself.
Besides, what just happened wasn't a big deal.
Yosef was a playboy anyway.
What's wrong with kissing Stella?
After all, Stella and Philip were already divorced.
...
When Amelia found Natalie and the others, everyone was taking photos.
"Perfect timing, Amelia's back. Let's all take one together."
Natalie called Amelia over.
Amelia stood next to Natalie.
The flash went off, capturing everyone's smiles in the camera.
After taking the photo, Natalie instructed the bodyguard to print several copies when they got back, so everyone could have one.
She said to Amelia, "You don't understand how precious photos are now, but you will when you're older."
Amelia smiled and held Natalie's hand. Feeling that her palm wasn't cold but warm, she said, "Should we keep walking around? Where did you all go just now?"
Grant jumped in to answer.
They hadn't walked far, because the resort was really beautiful - every place they walked to was an even more beautiful view.
Natalie asked her, "Didn't you say you felt sleepy after eating? Why did you come back?"
Amelia had used that excuse to slip away earlier.
She said without changing her expression, "On the way back, the wind woke me up. I thought since it was still early and I'd be bored alone at the guesthouse, I came back."
"Then let's walk around together some more."
Amelia nodded and said okay.
She deliberately dragged out the time, so the group didn't return until after nine in the evening.
During this time, Amelia kept checking Natalie's hands to make sure she wasn't cold.
Fortunately they stayed warm, so she didn't worry about Natalie getting frozen.
When they returned to the guesthouse, the car Yosef had driven was there, but there were new tire tracks on the ground.
Amelia knew Yosef must have left and come back.
Stella definitely wasn't there anymore.
After entering, it was indeed the case.
Amelia casually greeted Yosef.
Everyone washed up and went to bed.
Amelia was a light sleeper. Halfway through her sleep, she heard the sound of the guesthouse door opening.
She woke up and simply sat up, put on a coat and went out.
She happened to see Yosef smoking in the courtyard.
"Did you just wake up, or couldn't you fall asleep?" Amelia spoke up.
Yosef seemed startled and turned to see it was her, his expression stiffening for a moment.
"Couldn't fall asleep."
He joked, "Usually I sleep with women, and women smell nice. This is my first time sleeping with two men, I'm a bit uncomfortable."
Amelia didn't laugh at all. She looked at him seriously and said, "Yosef, you don't need to pretend in front of me. I know your thing with all those women before was just playing around, fake."
Yosef tilted his head, "You found out - I'm actually a decent man."
Amelia thought about it and decided to be clear with Yosef.
She said directly, "I saw everything. You and Stella."
The smile on Yosef's face became hard to maintain.
"When?"
"After dinner, I came back once and saw you and Stella talking by the car."
Yosef's expression turned awkward.
He hadn't been talking with Stella by the car - he had forcefully kissed her.
Amelia had seen it all.
He threw away his cigarette butt and scratched his head, not knowing what to say to Amelia.
But Amelia said, "If you're willing, talk to me about it. If not, I'll pretend I didn't see anything."
After struggling internally, Yosef finally spoke, "Can we go somewhere else to talk?"
"Sure."
The resort had a small bar.
They found one with a resident singer.
But it was past midnight, the resident singer had already left, and there were only a few scattered tables of customers.
They sat at a table by the window, watching the heavy snow falling outside.
Yosef took a sip of the local eggnog, sighed, and said, "I like her."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"What does Stella say?"
Yosef took another sip of the drink.
The eggnog tasted strange. The owner had strongly recommended it, but he didn't really like it.
He put the bowl down again and slowly said, "She likes me too, I'm sure of it, but she won't be with me."
At this point, he couldn't help but pick up the bowl again.
Though he didn't like it, he drank more than half the bowl in one go.
The eggnog had quite a high alcohol content. Yosef clenched his fist and said, "I don't understand - she clearly likes me too, so why won't she be with me?"
Amelia took the bowl from Yosef's hand and asked the owner to bring water instead.
She said, "Women are different from men. When a man has many lovers, he's called a playboy. When a woman has many lovers, she's called promiscuous. What don't you understand?"
"I won't let anyone talk about her like that."
"People won't say it to your face, but won't they say it behind your back? Even though it's a new era, public opinion can still kill people, especially women. The world isn't fair - you should understand her position."