When I Was a Wallflower (Leo and Amelie)
Chapter 229

"Yes, I am Liz," the young woman spoke up sweetly, but her voice sounded robotic.

Amelie was at a loss for words.

Steven could not recognize Liz until now because she covered almost her entire face with her hair all day long. Also, she did not like appearing before others when she lived with the Dillons, so they would not meet each other for a few days at once. It had been so long since then that he had long forgotten about her.

After observing her for a while, he sighed and withdrew his gaze. "It's no wonder she's out on the streets."

He never had any positive feelings about Liz's dad, his apprentice.

"It's obvious now. Gary saw that she had gone mad and discarded her."

Gary McBride was Steven's apprentice. One day, he came to Steven's door and told him how pitiful he was. After hearing Gary's story, Steven could not bear to see him suffer and agreed to let him be his apprentice.

He pretended to be an honest person, addressing Steven as his master and saying he would take care of Steven after he got old. However, he secretly stole Steven's glue-making formula and decided to sell it at a high price.

The glue-making process was the most important in making shoes, for it was what paid the bills. Therefore, selling the formula was equivalent to ruining Steven's career.

At that time, Steven relied on his skills in shoemaking to feed his family. Naturally, he would not let such a thing happen. After Gary's intentions were exposed, he sent the traitor away. Yet, he even stole a huge amount of money when he left!

It was until they went to file a police report that they discovered the name, Gary McBride, was fake.

If Liz had not appeared, Steven would have forgotten about that incident since it happened so long ago.

When Amelie thought of these, she could not help but sigh softly. Then, the two brought Liz inside and let her sit on the old cloth couch.

Amelie asked her, "Where's your dad?"

Liz's eyes looked dazed, and it took her a while before coughing out a laugh and replied, "My sister is the most important. Daddy isn't a good person. I followed Daddy, and Mommy married a rich man. My sister followed Mommy and the rich man."

After asking Liz many questions, she kept repeating these illogical sentences, so the Dillons could not get much information from her and stopped asking.

Since Gary was a fake name and Liz was not in a sound mind, the Dillons had no idea where to send her. Therefore, Amelie stuck to her original plan and sent her to a shelter.

As there were not any in Quinn Town, Amelie brought her back to Halport and settled her at a shelter there.

After the personnel checked Liz, she asked Amelie, "One of her eyes is blind, and she has traces of abuse on her. Do you know what she's been through?"

Amelie gazed into Liz's eyes in surprise. She noticed her eyes looked dazed and thought it was due to her mental state. So, it was because she's blind in one eye?

"I don't know." It took her a while to answer.

The worker sighed and shook her head. "People from the black market typically prefer healthy but mentally ill kids because their families don't care or want them, so there's no risk in kidnapping these kids. After caring for the kids for a few years, they would have these kids' organs harvested for whoever needed them. It seems like she's one of the lucky ones because she only lost her cornea." Although Liz only had her cornea removed, such an experience must have been terrifying. Then, Amelie subconsciously touched her eye, which had lost most of its cornea too.

That day onward, Amelie's life was back to being peaceful, except when Leo kept coming over with the excuse of visiting Bria. Luckily, his visits were not frequent, so Amelie could accept that exception. Two weeks later, she went to Starlight Media. Although she no longer relied on that company to earn money, she still had to participate in making important decisions.

When she arrived at Starlight Media and was ready to walk up the long, artistic stairs inside the building, she heard someone call her name. She turned around and saw it was Matthew, who was standing not far from her and dressed like an elite with his neat suit, beaming at her.

"Matthew." Since they bumped into each other, she had no choice but to greet him.

He kept his bright smile. "I thought I saw you."

Amelie smiled and heard him continue, "Miss White and I just happened to talk about you the last time we met. Since you're single, how about giving me a chance, Elie?" Previously, he retreated his pursuit because he thought she had a boyfriend, yet after hearing from Julia that Amelie was single, he felt his heart beating wildly for her again.

Amelie did not answer him but touched her aching forehead. Julia, that idiot. Does she think I don't have enough on my plate?

"I'm sorry, but I don't have plans on getting married."

"Well, you never know. Things might change. Perhaps you're just terrified of getting married again after your last attempt. After all, everybody is different, and I'm not the same kind of person as your ex," Matthew spoke quickly, desperately trying to persuade her. "Although my conditions aren't as good as your ex-husband's, it's not a problem for me to give you and Bria a comfortable life." She remained silent.

"As you can see, Starlight Media and I are working together, and Miss White is very interested in our project, so you have to believe me when I say that."

Of course, Amelie believed him because she was the one who authorized the project. However, she did not need another man in her life as she enjoyed her life with Bria and Steven. She had grown tired of living with a large family that required her to be attentive to all sorts of relationships. Now, she preferred a simple life.

Before she could speak, he grabbed her hand. "Elie, please give me a chance. I'll use the rest of my life to prove to you that I can bring you and Bria happiness. If you think that's not enough, I can even give you all of my assets!"

She was too stunned to respond. I don't need any money because I have countless of them, but if I say that, would it...

Just as she was thinking of how to dissuade Matthew, she heard a cough coming from behind her. Who's this guy? This is such a broad hallway, but why does he have to come over here? Also, he's coughing like I'm in his way.

While thinking of that, she moved slightly toward Matthew to make room, but the person behind her did not move. Why is that person still standing there? Is he watching us?

Amelie could not figure out why that person was stationary. She was already feeling awkward with Matthew grabbing her hand, but now, they had an audience. Without any other choice, she looked over to the person behind her.

When she turned around, she was met with a pair of cold eyes. Leo!

Her heart began thumping frantically as she felt like today was her unlucky day. Leo had bumped into her in such an awkward state!

Meanwhile, the man did not move and glued his gaze on her so brazenly that it surprised Matthew.

"Who is "

"Good morning, Mr. Alston." Amelie barely managed to smile when she greeted him.

On the other hand, Leo wore an expressionless face and was as serious looking as ever. There was even a slight trace of hostility in him as if someone owed him money.

With him standing there like an audience, Matthew could not continue with his confession and let go of Amelie's hand. The moment he let go, Leo silently walked past her.

This man... What is he doing? Did he stand there just to enjoy the show? She was speechless.

"What's his relationship with you?" asked Matthew, as Leo's visage was on the tip of his tongue.

Since Amelie had no intention of telling others about the matters between her and Leo, nor did she feel like there was a need to mention them, she simply replied, "A client." "Oh," Matthew responded. "By the way, I haven't asked about your job."

"A social media influencer."

She had a lot of careers, so she just told him a random one.

When Matthew heard that she was an influencer, he replied with an 'oh', and his face dimmed. "My folks back home don't like influencers. If it's possible, you should have a change of career. I can help you get whatever job you want. If you want to continue with your current one, t-that works too."

Amelie was the person Matthew could not let go of. Therefore, even if her career would affect how his family judged her, he was willing to accept her wholly.

Meanwhile, she looked at him speechlessly. Why are we back on this topic again?

She had repeatedly told him her standpoint and now felt her throat dry, so she no longer wanted to continue this conversation and said, "I have something to do. Let's continue this conversation in the future." Hearing that she was about to leave, Matthew stuffed his name card into her hand. "If you're free, please call me. No matter what trouble you're facing, I'm one call away." While he said that, he retreated while repeatedly gesturing that she call him.

In the meantime, Amelie held the name card and thought about how as stubborn as a mule he was. Well, at least he's an honest one.

As she thought about it, she continued to walk up the stairs. When she arrived at the top and turned a corner, she saw the man that left earlier.

Leo was leaning against the railing at the end of Starlight Media's corridor while smoking a cigarette. The position he was standing in was able to monitor everything that happened at the curved staircase.