Chapter 8

Amelia stared at a space all night long. The loss of her child haunted her, and sleeping was difficult.

There was no call from anyone. Not even her mother. No one cared what was happening to her, or how she felt. She just lost a child but her mother doesn't care. There was not even maternal support from her mother back in the hospital.

Sitting there, her stomach grumbled in protest. She hasn't tasted anything since yesterday morning after the loss of her child.

Amelia chose to live and for that choice, she decided to pick herself up from the floor and plead with her host for something to eat.

"You should have this," a voice spoke up behind her before she would stand up, scaring the hell out of her.

Her head spun around immediately and the fear in her eyes changed to gratitude when she saw Cullen standing right feet behind her with two coffee mugs in his hand.

She took in a soft gulp, star-struck by his physical features. The man before her eyes was tall, already dressed in a fine gray suit, white shirt, and a black tie. His business hugged his body perfectly well, showing an outline of how muscular he was.

Not to go down that lane, but with his unruly dark ink-colored hair, strong and well-defined jawline, added with intense, bright blue eyes, she has to confess that he looks like a re-animated sex doll. His lean but muscular body made his broad shoulders more attractive. He had sexy, yet innocent lips.

Amelia immediately bowed her head to the floor when her thoughts got the best of her. She became sober again, and her eyes stung.

Cullen's long legs walked towards her, and he stretched a mug of coffee to her. Amelia accepted the coffee with shaky hands, trying her hardest not to look disorganized with her thoughts.

"How did you sleep?" Cullen asked after she accepted the coffee from him. He looked around his garage, glad she made it through the night without trying to harm herself.

Amelia forced out a small smile. She brought the coffee to her lips and took a sip from it. She needed it.

However, she couldn't resist it in the next second. She had difficulty hiding the glee in her eyes as she drank the coffee.

Cullen caught sight of her expression from the corner of his eyes. He took note of her wedding ring and looked away, almost immediately.

Amelia took her time to look around the garage as she gulped in the coffee. The garage was simple and spacious. But the cars it contained made it so mighty.

Her mind went back to Daniel, her husband. She wondered what he might be doing right now. She wondered what would happen if he no longer saw her around to land his fists on. Who would he transfer his aggression too?

The once-sweet coffee immediately became bitter. She took the mug away from her lips with trembling hands and moist eyes.

Remembering the man beside her, she tried her best not to show her tears as she stood up. She dropped the mug away from her and stood up with haste.

Cullen looked at the back of the woman who was once seated. He looked at the mug on the floor, took his much away from his lips, and frowned slightly, "You did not finish your coffee, why?"

Amelia paused. She stiffly turned to Cullen, fixing her eyes on the floor. "It's nothing. Thank you for accepting me for a night. Thank you so much but I have to go," she said in one breath, fighting back her tears.

Her legs trembled too, showing how weak she was. Her body demanded rest and Amelia knew it. However, she refused to give in.

Cullen's snow-blue eyes tightened, "You should rest more," he said coldly. The eye bags under her eyes looked monstrous.

Amelia timidly raised her face to look at him. She nervously played with her fingers. "That's what I'm about to do. I want to go back home to rest," her voice came out so small and soft.

Cullen said nothing. He just stared at her. Last night, after fixing some workloads, he searched for details about her. What he saw amused him to the core.

She was the wife of his business rival, and the known wife to the loving CEO. However, if his rival was so loving as the media paints him, what do the bruises on his wife's arms mean?

The information made him smile. He can bring down that arrogant bastard with this woman if his guesses about her being abused are right.

Also, this wasn't their first time crossing paths. The glee in her eyes looked so familiar last night and after digging out more about her, the events that entwined their paths became clear.

When she mentioned his name last night, he thought she knew him from her husband. Well, that wasn't the case. How could he forget that particular night, just like last night?

Come to think of it, she owes him her life, thrice. He has saved her more than once. How about using that to trap her? Knowing what hurts her and using it to manipulate her would be a great step to crumbling Daniel Theodore, right?

However, first things first. He has to earn her trust and get her to share things with him. He can see that anger in her eyes so maybe, he can use that anger against her.

Nodding softly at his thought, his stoic face softened, and he said, "You can stay here until you find an apartment for yourself, or I get you one,"

"I_"

"Shush," Cullen cut her off, "I'm not a fool, I saw the bruise on your skin and I can tell who did that. I'm not letting you go anywhere until I'm sure you will be alright,"

Amelia's emotions turned disorganized at his words. Her tears left her eyes hearing him. Finally, someone cared.

Seeing the effect his words had on her, Cullen looked away from her. Well, he did save her from jumping off the cliff with a good intention but now, she turns out to become a blessing at his door.

He won't let her go without making good use of her. So… let the game begin!