When I Was a Wallflower (Leo and Amelie)
Chapter 223

Ashton winced and frowned at the pain he felt. "I don't have an issue with punishing her. But... she's with Mr. Oates now, and if Mr. Oates replaces out I was the one who punished her, he might tell my father about it. I'd no longer get any allowance if that happened!" he cried.

Elyse was speechless for a while. Ashton was usually an independent and firm man-he often claimed that he was capable of doing anything that he set his mind to. However, now that he had to actually deal with an issue, he simply turned into a big baby! She was disgusted to hear that Ashton still collected allowance from his father. She was tempted to just shove him off a bridge. He's worse than I am!

"Are you saying you can't even deal with someone like Rose? You're so..." Elyse wanted to say that he was useless, but she held her tongue back at the very last second. I'm already in trouble now, and I'm practically at the bottom of the food chain at this point. He's the only influential friend I have now. I can't afford to offend him-how would I keep myself alive then?

After a while, she was finally able to hold down her contempt toward Ashton and softened her tone as she said, "If you don't wish to go against Rose, it's fine, but I'd like to work under your company. The people at the company I'm working in at the moment are awful, and I don't want to work with them anymore."

"Well..." Ashton was still hesitant. He appeared to be a powerful figure in the public's eyes, but he didn't receive much respect in the Lowe Family. He was the youngest of the three sons in the Lowes, and his elder brothers were extremely capable and skillful. They both held significant roles in the company and received a lot of their father's attention and care.

Ashton, on the other hand, never had an interest in running a company. He was a dreamer who enjoyed envisioning and imagining unrealistic scenarios, yet he was also a man of all words but no action. He hadn't accomplished much in his whole life. His father didn't even bother masking the fact that he was avoiding Ashton, treating him almost as if he was a pest.

"Well, you know how inconsiderate Leo was when I last helped you. He was the reason my father found out about it. My father doesn't have a good impression of you now, so it's practically impossible for me to hire you at the company." He scratched the back of his head helplessly.

He can't do anything at all. What a useless guy! Elyse was fuming-she cursed at Ashton in her heart. "Isn't there anything that you can do?" She couldn't contain her temper for much longer, and she sounded rather agitated. Ashton panicked when he heard the anger in his beloved Elyse's tone, yet he couldn't think of a way to please her. He kept shifting around in his seat as he was anxious.

"Forget it!" She knew he couldn't do much at that point, so she simply hissed those two words at him before she got out of her seat and left the house. The place wasn't John's residential house-it was simply a place he used for his leisure purposes. Elyse continued to recall all the ways she had been wronged as she stormed out of the place. The more I think about it, the angrier I feel! I hate this!

She was even more annoyed when she saw that Ashton had followed her out. "Get lost. I'm going to look for Leo!" She wasn't an idiot-she knew that she only had the privilege of being a demanding and authoritative person because of her relationship with Leo back then. So, she knew that the right decision was to cling to Leo.

"Leo?" An uneasy look surfaced on Ashton's wimpy face after he heard her words. The Lowe Family had a long history with the Alstons, and Ashton and Leo had practically grown up together. The families had always made comparisons between Ashton and Leo as they were growing up, and the comparisons always brought them to the same conclusion-that Leo was the gold standard to be achieved while Ashton was the biggest failure. Even though Ashton rarely voiced out, he often felt a sense of aversion toward Leo.

It was clear that Elyse was trying to shame Ashton by mentioning Leo. He felt like she was rubbing salt in his wound. "He probably doesn't have the time for you. He's probably with Amelie now. I saw a leather file in his office, and I heard that it consisted of all of Amelie's files. I'm not sure what he's doing with that information, but it's rare for Leo to gather information about someone else. He barely does it to other girls!" Ashton couldn't help himself from speaking up.

As expected, his words brought about a weak and pale expression on Elyse's face. Her body even started trembling. If Leo sees the data, he'll replace out that Amelie is Big Eyes! If that gets released, then a lot of things will... Even though Ellen's cover-up story was flawless, there were still a lot of things that could be found if someone tried investigating the matter! Furthermore, Amelie was alive, and if Leo asked her about it...

Large beads of sweat trickled down Elyse's back. He treats me so heartlessly, even when he thinks I'm his savior's sister. If he replaces out the truth about my role in this, and if he replaces out that I have been lying, then my life will be over. He's going to do more than just cancel our engagement! Elyse didn't have the guts to imagine further what the man might do. She might have pulled on her hair and screamed at the top of her lungs if she hadn't felt the need to control herself in front of Ashton.

"Ashton!" She clutched onto his arm once more. She didn't even realize how deep she had dug her nails into his skin. "Please help me. Please, help me to alter the details in the files!" she cried.

"Why do you need to change the files?" Ashton was confused. Elyse took her sunglasses off to reveal the side of her face that had scars on it. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks at that point. The man felt a strong sense of sympathy for the woman, even though she looked like a complete mess at that moment.

"Don't question me—just do what I say! Isn't your family business related to information-providing? I just need you to come up with some false information for Leo before stealing the actual file from him. I'm begging you!" She shook his arms frantically. Ashton had embarrassed himself a few times in front of her earlier, and this time, he finally found something that he was capable of helping out with. "Calm down. I'll do it for you," he uttered as he held onto her hands.

"Hurry up and do it!" Elyse gave him a harsh shove.

...

Leo was in a good mood that night. He had a meal with Amelie and Bria, and this was the first time he felt a sense of kinship in their family of three. Looking back now, I really failed to appreciate all the good times we once had. He couldn't help but think about Amelie while he was on the way back. The smile on his lips remained frozen on his face throughout the whole ride home.

Eugene, who was in the driver's seat, was shocked to see the smile on Leo's face. Eugene hung his mouth wide open. He had always thought of Leo as a stern person, and he had barely ever seen Leo smile since he first met him. What's he smiling about? Is it Bria? Eugene considered the possibility of Leo thinking about Bria, but his gut feeling also told him that Leo's smile didn't seem like the type of smile he would make for his daughter.

Eugene was a father himself, so he knew how he would have a compassionate and loving smile on his face whenever he thought about his kids. The smile on Leo's face... looks more like it's for a woman. But he doesn't have any women around him, Eugene thought. "I want to head back to the office." Leo's voice sounded from the backseat, disrupting Eugene's train of thought.

Leo's voice was icy and hard. The warm smile on his face earlier had been replaced by an icy frown. Eugene shuddered at how quickly Leo could change his expression. "The office, right?" Eugene had been too distracted to pay attention to Leo's words earlier. Furthermore, Leo had finished all of his tasks that day. Why does he want to go back to the office?

Eugene didn't understand what was going on, but he followed his orders and sent Leo to the office anyway. "You can get off work now." Leo took the keys from Eugene while dismissing him from his duties. After that, Leo headed up to his room. He didn't have much work to do, but he wanted to go through the files on Amelie that Victor had left for him.

After so long, this was the first time Leo genuinely felt the urge to know Amelie as a person. He wanted to know all about her childhood and how she grew up. He was somewhat puzzled by certain things, too, and he wanted to figure them out. At that thought, Leo picked up the files from the table and tore the seal open to reveal the papers inside.