A Matter of Wife and Love by Mila

Amelie and Toby went to the hospital.

Under the cold, harsh light of the hospital, Amelie stood quietly and watched as the doctor tended to Toby’s

wounds.

She saw Toby’s jaw twitching in pain multiple times. Even so, he didn’t make a sound.

A little while later, they both walked out of the hospital. Amelie turned to look at Toby, who was covered in

bandages all over. “Why did you get into a fight?”

Toby averted his eyes and smiled a little embarrassedly. “It’s no big deal. It was just a personal disagreement.”

The more he tried to make light of it, the more Amelie became suspicious. She knew Toby as someone with a gentle

personality who wouldn’t get into fights with anyone. Furthermore, Leo was his friend and business partner. There’s

no reason why they’d get into a fight out of the blue.

However, as Toby wasn’t inclined to explain any further, Amelie didn’t continue pressing him. At the end of the day,

their relationship wasn’t deep enough for either one to pry into the other’s private matters.

“Why don’t I drop you off?” Amelie asked as she walked over to the car. Toby agreed, but he jumped into the

driver’s seat. “I’ll drive.”

After all the commotion tonight, Amelie wasn’t in the mood to stand on ceremony with him, so she only hesitated

briefly before getting into the front passenger seat. A yawn escaped Amelie, and she began to feel a little drowsy.

All of a sudden, Toby leaned over.

Amelie’s gaze cleared a little. She saw him looming in front of her as his arms rested beside her.

Their breaths clashed.

She nervously shrank back into her seat and was about to speak when she heard a click.

“You forgot to wear your seatbelt,” she heard his gentle voice saying.

“Oh,” Amelie said a little belatedly.

Toby didn’t move away at once but looked down at her. “What did you think I was going to do?”

“Nothing.” Amelie brushed her fingers through her hair as she thought to herself, There’s something unusual about

Toby today. Usually, he would maintain proper decorum and a polite distance between them, but he kept

encroaching into her personal space today.

Amelie was just about to push Toby away when he retreated on his own accord and started driving.

Meanwhile, across from where the car was parked, two men walked over.

The coat of the man in front flapped against the wind and exposed his long legs.

Leo came to an abrupt halt. Eugene, who was right behind him, nearly crashed into him and had to rear himself

back a little to prevent doing so.

Eugene noticed that Leo was staring at the parking lot, so he looked over curiously, but all he saw was an empty

parking spot. Eugene scratched his head. What’s he looking at? There’s nothing there.

Leo’s mouth tightened, and he clenched his fists. It had only been for a brief moment, but he had seen the position

Toby and Amelie had been in. Amelie didn’t push Toby away, even though he was so near her. Does she really like

him that much?

Eugene didn’t know what Leo had seen so he had no idea what Leo was thinking about. However, he could sense

the cold air emanating off of Leo and saw the way Leo’s expression hardened. Thus, he dared not say anything and

simply stood behind Leo in silence.

Amelie napped for a while. When she woke up, she was surprised to find that the car had stopped outside her

residence.

It took an hour to drive from Clouson City to Halport. Moreover, she said she was going to drop Toby off at his place.

“You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t bring myself to disturb you,” Toby said warmly.

Amelie looked up and saw Toby looking at her with a soft gaze in his eyes. He had a smile on his face that made his

features look even more gentle.

They were already at Amelie’s doorstep, so there was no point for her to comment on it. “Oh,” she acknowledged.

“How are you going to head home?”

Toby shrugged non-committedly.

“Why don’t you drive my car back?” He did drive me home. I can’t possibly ask him to get a cab.

Toby looked like a mess. It was as if he had been robbed earlier, so few drivers would be willing to stop for him.

Since Toby didn’t object, Amelie handed him the keys and got out of the car.

“Elie.” She had only taken a few steps when she heard Toby’s voice. “I like you. Will you give me a chance to date

you?”

It was such a shock to Amelie that she turned to him with a frozen expression.

He had gotten out of the car and was leaning against the car with a soft, affectionate look in his eyes as he stared

at her.

It wasn’t as if Amelie hadn’t picked up on the fact that Toby harbored feelings for her. However, she didn’t expect

him to say it aloud. The two of us? Together? That’s impossible!

“You don’t need to give me an answer now,” Toby cut in when he noticed that Amelie was about to respond. He

then walked over to her and gazed at her lovely face. “I’m serious about this. I hope you will give it some serious

thought too.” Then, he clasped her on the shoulder briefly before walking back to the car.

Amelie stood in front of the car for quite some time. In the end, she turned and left without didn’t say anything.

Even after she walked off, Toby didn’t drive off. He sat inside the car, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

He took in the air that smelled of her. The more he breathed in, the more he wanted to hold her close and protect

her for the rest of their lives.

As his fingers moved gently across the steering wheel, it looked as if he was comforting the woman he loved.

Toby wanted to heal all the wounds Amelie had gotten from Leo. I’ll do it as her man.

——

Leo returned to Alston Residence.

Melissa was sitting on the leather couch in her nightgown and watching television. She jumped to her feet when she

saw him. “Leo! You’re back at last.”

The joyous smile on her face made it clear she was in a good mood. She had been waiting for Leo.

“Quite a few socialites reached out to the family and passed their information to us. Come and take a look.” Melissa

held out a folder filled to the brim with paper.

It was evident that the socialites had gone to great lengths to prepare these things.

No one was happier about the end of Leo and Elyse’s relationship than Melissa.

She thought that Leo’s method of cutting the ties would affect the Alstons’ reputation, but she ended up with an

unexpected windfall instead.

“I’ve looked through the information. These socialites are all highly educated—they graduated from Ivy League

schools, you know. They carry themselves with poise and conduct themselves with courtesy and sophistication, and

every one of them can make an excellent wife for you.”

Every single one of these socialites was far better than Elyse and Amelie. That was what Melissa was most pleased

about. Because of this, she even skipped her beauty sleep to stay up and wait for Leo.

Naturally, her pride had been stoked as this proved how much of a catch her son was. Otherwise, there wouldn’t

have been these many socialites who came knocking on their door within a few hours after Leo’s announcement.

Leo glanced at the folder, but he didn’t take it. He rubbed his temples and said, “I’m not thinking about getting

married again right now.”

“Even if you’re not thinking about marriage, it doesn’t matter. You can start looking for someone suitable and date

her first.” Melissa wasn’t deterred. She flipped the folder open and picked out a socialite. “This is the one I like. Her

family’s from Seafare. They’re a prestigious family with great connections in both the public and private sectors.

You’ve been thinking about expanding into Seafare, right? She’s the ideal candidate.”

Melissa’s words only made Leo’s frown deepen. His tone became a little colder as he commented, “You’re not

asking me to choose a wife. You’re asking me to choose a business partner.”

“Whom you marry will be your business partner too, of course. That’s the case for everyone,” Melissa replied

matter-of-factly. “If you don’t go after her, then someone else will because she’s the cream of the crop. The strong

should form alliances with the strong. That’s what your father and your grandfather did too.”

“That’s them. I’m me,” Leo declared before heading upstairs.

Melissa was dumbfounded and could only watch as her son walked off in a huff. She sighed in frustration. He finally

divorced Amelie and ended his relationship with Elyse. I thought he’d finally marry a woman that’s his equal—

someone who can help the company and bolster the family reputation. In the end… No! This won’t do! I must think

of something!

Just then, Miss Potts came over and said, “I think I saw a wound on Mr. Leo’s face, Mrs. Alston.” She had tried her

best to hold herself back, but she couldn’t resist mentioning it anyway. She knew that all Melissa could think of was

how to boost Leo’s standing in society to bolster her own reputation, but she cared little, if at all, about Leo himself.

Melissa felt clueless when she heard that Leo was wounded. She had been too caught up in her attempt to

persuade Leo and in too much of a rush to get him to check the socialites’ profiles that she didn’t notice if he was

injured.

Is he injured? Melissa’s reaction to this wasn’t to check on Leo but to open the folder and make a call.

After listening to the conversation Melissa was having, Miss Potts had no choice but to shake her head and leave

feeling rather helpless.