Chapter 292
Amelia wasn't the kind of beauty that stunned at first glance. Her charm was of a gentler sort, revealing itself slowly. With her delicate features, slender waist, and captivating air, her beauty grew on you with every encounter.
After having sex with her a while longer, I didn't dare continue, afraid of overexerting her.
I checked the time, it was not yet 6:20.
"Tell me everything that happened after last night," she said, her voice husky.
This morning, the thought of Jenny brought a dull ache to my chest, but the sharp sting of betrayal had subsided. Some lessons were learned the hard way. Not everyone was meant to be, and I was tired of twisting myself into knots for someone who didn't appreciate it. If she wanted to jump into the fire, that was her choice.
My thoughts drifted to Katherine. She had been at the restaurant last night too. How was she holding up? What if she found out about Amelia and me?
A wave of anxiety washed over me.
"Was what you told Joseph true?" Amelia asked, her gaze searching mine. "Are you really involved with Ms. Smith?"
"What do you think?" I countered, meeting her gaze.
"I don't believe it," she said, her voice firm. "But stay away from her, John. The chairman wouldn't be pleased if he found out."
"What do you mean?" I asked, my pulse quickening. 'Could Nicole be right? Was there something more to Jenny and Steven's relationship?'
A surge of anger coursed through me. I felt like a fool.
"This is an open secret, John," Amelia said, her voice low. "But it's not something you want to be caught discussing. Ms. Smith is the chairman's cousin."
"Cousin?" I scoffed. "A very close cousin, I imagine."
"No, John. She's his actual cousin," Amelia insisted. "Why else do you think she was appointed director of the marketing department?"
But that didn't make sense. Jenny's family had been dirt poor. If Steven was her cousin, she wouldn't have needed to marry Joseph in the first place.
"Even if that's true, it doesn't excuse her behavior," I argued. "She shouldn't be mixing business with pleasure. Skyliho Group and Skyliart Group are competitors."
"You don't know the half of it, John," Amelia said, rolling over to face me. "When I started at Skyliho Group, it was a small company with barely a dozen employees. Ms. Smith joined two years later, and the company's performance skyrocketed. Now look at us. We're one of the top ten media companies in Sevan City."
"We all know that Ms. Smith is the driving force behind our success, but no one dares to say it out loud. Do you know why?"
"Tell me," I urged, my curiosity piqued.
"Because she poached most of our clients from Skyliart Group," she revealed.
I drew in a sharp breath. So that was it. This was bigger than I had realized.
But why would Linda target Jenny if they were family?
There was something else at play here, something I couldn't quite grasp.
"We didn't know she was married to the owner of Skyliart Group back then," Amelia continued. "We only found out later, when the news of her abuse came out. That bastard even chased her down and attacked her. Mr. Walton used her, John. But he also protected her."
I thought back to Jenny asking me to contact Charles. Had she already been cut off from Skyliart Group's resources at that point? Was he planning to discard her after using her?
A shiver ran down my spine. I was getting closer to the truth, and it was uglier than I had imagined.
Jenny was a liability. She wasn't bringing in any new business, and her ties to Skyliart Group made her a security risk.
But they were family. They couldn't just fire her outright. So they resorted to these underhanded tactics instead.
No wonder Linda was so eager to keep me on her good side. No wonder Steven had warned me off.
I slammed my fist against the mattress, a wave of anger washing over me. They had all played me for a fool.
"What's wrong?" Amelia asked, her brow furrowed with concern.
"I just feel like an idiot," I muttered, my voice thick with frustration.
Amelia understood. "Just stay away from her, John. It's a good thing you're in the general office now. You won't have to interact with her as much."
I nodded, the weight of her words sinking in. Amelia had opened my eyes to a side of Skyliho Group I never knew existed.
We finished showering and got dressed. As I drove Amelia to work in her car, we maintained a professional distance, our earlier intimacy a distant memory.
Back in the office, however, we fell back into our familiar routine, our bodies pressed close together.
"You know," Amelia said, a thoughtful look on her face. "I'm starting to feel grateful to Ms. Smith."
She straddled my lap, her fingers delicately feeding me pieces of fruit.
I chuckled, my lips curving into a smile. There were some things I wasn't ready to share with her, some battles I needed to fight on my own.
After our intimate breakfast, Amelia headed to Katherine's office, while I pulled out my phone, my heart pounding in my chest.
A message from Katherine flashed on the screen.
[Are you okay?]
Another message appeared a moment later.
[Did you go to Amelia's place?]
I groaned inwardly. This was getting complicated. I decided to wait for Amelia to return before venturing into Katherine's office.
A message from Jenny popped up.
Jenny: [I've transferred some money to your account for your medical expenses. Don't ever contact me again.]
I scoffed, my anger flaring. She was unbelievable.
I opened the message and saw the transfer confirmation.
Fifty thousand dollars? She was out of her mind.
The thought of her leaving with Joseph last night, of them lying in bed together, sent a surge of jealousy through me.
I had been played, and I couldn't let it go unaddressed.
[Thank you, Ms. Smith,] I typed back, my fingers flying across the keyboard.
I added: [I wish you a lifetime of happiness and many children.]
Part of me wanted to let Nicole proceed with her plan. It would get Jenny out of Skyliho Group, and if Steven was her cousin, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.
But then again, Steven wasn't stupid. He must have known about Linda's vendetta against Jenny. And he was no stranger to playing dirty himself.
No, it was better this way. I had benefited greatly from my time with Jenny.
We weren't enemies, but we weren't friends either. We were simply two people whose paths had crossed, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Jenny replied with a smiley face emoji: [Thank you.]
I scoffed, tossing my phone onto the desk. She hadn't responded to any of my messages on my other accounts for three days. She knew. She knew I was Troy.
It was time to cut my losses.
She must be utterly disappointed.
But I would have my revenge. One day, I would make her regret ever crossing me.
A message from Kelsey popped up on my screen.
Kelsey: [John, I miss you so much.]
She sent me explicit photos almost every day now. It was getting harder to resist her advances.
She asked: [Are you free this weekend? I bought a bunch of new outfits I want to show you.]
My blood ran hot.
I closed Kelsey's message and saw one from Mya.
[John, have you forgotten about your girlfriend? You haven't visited me in ages. I'm in a dance competition this afternoon. Want to come?]
'This afternoon? A dance competition?'
I groaned inwardly.
I replied: [I'm at work, Mya. I don't know if I can make it.]
Mya: [It's at Cyber Academy at two. I'd love for you to be there.]
Being an assistant was turning out to be more complicated than I had anticipated.
A message from Marry popped up.
Marry: [John, my mom wants you to come over for dinner tonight.]
I realized with a pang of guilt that I hadn't seen her in over a week.
I replied: [Okay. I'll come over after work.]
Marry was my real girlfriend, the one I should have been making time for all along.
[I visited WY Media Company the other day,] she wrote. [It's doing amazingly well. At this rate, you'll surpass my brother in no time.]
[See you tonight,] I replied.
I sent a quick message to Mia, asking her to pick me up after work.
A message from Lillian popped up.
[It's Friday. Are you coming over tonight?]
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