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 with Liam and looked down at the garden stretching all around

everything in darkness but the bright lights of the street lamps were enough to unveil the beauty of such a carefully decorated place. Everything

stung her chest and she had to take a

Claws

and I was the only one who got close to making it come true. Now,' she sighed and closed her eyes, letting the

black loose pajama 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

it's too cold," he murmured into her neck

"What about you? You will catch a cold if you stay here while your hair is

Liam pouted and Amelie

11:50

Whose Claws

his arms even tighter around her waist. "Your warmth

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 in disappointment. He obediently walked towards

next

about you? Aren't you going to

it, and sighed. She was feeling a little

to sleep too," she shouted as her husband was already drying his hair and heard

5/10

Whoso Claws

with Liam like this

was a pleasantly

third floor of the hotel, Amelie quickly scanned the room to see whether she would catch someone she knew having a restless drink of

Richard.

shirt crumpled and his brown hair falling over his eyes, he was leaning over the bar, tapping

right away-he had already had more than just

all, he no longer was her problem when he was drunk like this. And yet, perhaps the lingering feelings of connection which her heart still refused to dissolve, made her approach the bar and tap

11:50

6/10

Whose Claws

seat on the barstool next to him and ran her

getting this drunk before your wedding? And completely

at the bartender, asking for a glass of red wine for his new

am 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,

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 submitting your future wife to such a pathetic display right before her

was right, the lock pattern on Richard's phone was still

11:50 -

7710

Whose Claws Are

a message to Ron and pressed "send", 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 this man

for a missing groom."

Amelie rushed to leave the bar, her thoughts in

marry her and now he is acting like he is being forced to