Shining Bright After Rebirth

136 Whose Claws Are Sharper

The rest of the car ride to the hotel went by in complete silence. Although neither Liam nor Amelie wanted that shirtless incident to affect their

relationship again, simply forgetting it and moving on seemed like a childish yet reasonable idea.

In the end, they decided to act like nothing happened,

and that worked.

As they arrived at the hotel, they noticed that Richard was standing in the lobby and greeting the guests together with his soon-to-be wife. Liam looked at Amelie with a somewhat worried expression on his handsome face but Amelie remained stoic.

"If you don't want to see him right now, we can just go through the restaurant's entrance," her husband made a considerate suggestion to which Amelie responded with a short sigh and a reserved smile. "It's alright. We will only come off as rude if we don't greet him personally. After all, we accepted his invitation, we shouldn't neglect the formalities."

Liam sighed as well. While he loved that his wife

LIO

136

whose Claws Are Sharper

always knew how to look strong to others, he secretly wished she would still be mad at Richard so that he

wouldn't be alone in his resentment towards him.

The moment they entered the lobby, all eyes were fixed on them. Amelie had expected this much and thought she was prepared for that, but a slight feeling of discomfort still grazed her heart as she made her way closer to her ex-husband. Richard locked his dark brown eyes on hers and Amelie winced although just a split second later, her entire body felt unbelievably light-his glare evoked no emotion in her. She felt absolutely nothing.

"Good afternoon," he cleared his throat and forced his lips to form a smile. "I am glad you could make it. I hope the flight was not troublesome."

Amelie nodded and forced a polite smile too. "Thank you for inviting us, Mr. Clark, Congratulations on your wedding."

A brief frown appeared on Richard's face as he heard his ex-wife call him "Mr. Clark" in a cold, detached tone. Forcing another smile onto his lips, he shifted his eyes to Liam and Amelie smirked at his familiar ability 11:50

136 Whose Claws Are Sharper

to remain professional.

Samantha, however, had her emotions written all over her face. She kept her eyebrows pushed together the entire time while glaring at Amelie as if she were her mortal enemy.

Amelie couldn't help but feel strangely disappointed.

think

'Even after all this time, he still hasn't managed to teach her how to hold herself in public. And to that this woman is about to become the face of the Clark family...'

***

the balcony of the hotel room she had to share

already shrouded everything in darkness but the bright lights of the street lamps were enough to unveil the beauty

chest and she had to take a few deep

Whose Claws Are

how much time I spent browsing through brochures and magazines while preparing for my wedding with Richard... It was my dream to get married in this hotel; it was every girl's dream back then, and I was the only one who got close to making it come true. Now,' she sighed and closed her eyes, letting the refreshingly cool wind rustle through her loose hair. 'Richard stomped over my dream by

pants. and a plain white t-shirt. He swept a small white towel over his damp hair, then tossed it onto the chair and hugged his wife from behind, placing

it's too cold," he murmured into her neck and Amelie winced from the tickling sensation made by

and covered his hands with hers, "What about you? You will catch a cold if you stay here while

Liam pouted and

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Claws Are

he continued, wrapping his arms even

his adorable childishness but still pushed him away and back inside the room, frowning playfully, "Get your hair blowdried and get some sleep. Even my friends noticed how tired you look, I want you to have proper rest before the wedding." The corners of Liam's lips dropped as he almost whimpered

next to the

you? Aren't you going to

to be hers, then checked the time on the electric alarm clock on the bedstand next to it, and sighed. She was

a bar and will go to sleep too," she shouted as her husband was already drying

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Claws Are

this felt like

was a

hotel, Amelie quickly scanned the room to see whether she would catch someone she knew having a

Richard.

falling over his eyes, he was

was pale while his eyes were half-closed and Amelie realized it right away-he had already had more than just a few drinks in him and was

the lingering feelings of connection which her heart still refused to dissolve, made her approach the bar and tap him on the shoulder. "Amelie?" The man widened his hazy eyes in shock but then offered

11:50

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Whose Claws

hand for her to join him. Amelie took a seat on the barstool next to him and ran her eyes over his appearance, assessing his

think you should be getting this drunk before

somewhat nervously and snapped hi fingers at the bartender, asking for a

I?" He almost sang those words as he struggled to remain seated on the stool. "Would you like to drink with me, Lily? You remember, don't you? This

her hands into the pockets in search of his cell phone. "Is the lock pattern still the same? I am going to send a text to your assistant

phone was still the same

11:50 -

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Claws Are

instructing the bartender as she was about to leave, "Please make sure this

for a missing groom."

nodded with a grin and Amelie rushed to

now he is acting like he is being forced to do that. There are so many sides