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

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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...'

***

stepped onto the balcony of the hotel room she had to share

the bright lights of the street lamps were enough to unveil the beauty of such a carefully decorated place. Everything was ready

bitter sense of nostalgia stung her chest and she had to take a few deep breaths to compose her

Whose Claws

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

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 his chin on

this, it's too cold," he murmured into

you?

Liam pouted

11:50

Whose Claws Are

her skin again while he continued, wrapping his arms even tighter around her waist.

blowdried and get some sleep. Even my friends noticed how tired you look, I want

next to

Aren't you going to

to it, and sighed. She was feeling a little restless still and decided that the only way she could calm down her

go to sleep too," she shouted as her husband was already drying

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Liam like this felt

was a pleasantly comfortable

room to see whether she would catch someone she knew

Richard.

hair falling over his eyes, he was leaning over the

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

yet, perhaps the lingering feelings of connection which her heart still refused to dissolve,

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Claws

seat on the

think you should be getting this drunk before your wedding? And completely alone

chuckled somewhat nervously and snapped hi fingers at the bartender, asking for a glass of red wine for his new

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 bar has excellent

his cell phone. "Is the lock pattern still the same? I am going to send a text to your assistant and I suggest that you spend the night in his room instead of

lock pattern on Richard's phone was still the same and she was

11:50 -

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Claws Are

hiding the phone back into the pocket of her ex-husband's jacket, instructing the bartender as she was about to leave, "Please make sure

for a missing groom."

grin and Amelie rushed to leave

like he is being forced to do that. There are so