Amelia's outfit above.

"I don't like this carpet. I want it changed." I tell Randy, my housekeeper.

Yes, my house. I have finally accepted the fact that I'm married and since I might be living here for the rest of my life, I might as well accept it as my house.

The talk with Dr Sloan was what motivated me. She said that I have to accept the past in order to talk about the present.

So I'm not more in denial. I finally accept that Liam and I are over but I obviously still love him though since I started this phase of acceptance, I've been feeling this kind of anger. I love him but at the same time I'm mad at him for leaving and moving forward.

"Would you like to choose a new one yourself?" Randy asks.

I look around. "Yes."

I'm arranging some pictures around the house like my high school graduation pictures, the wedding pictures and some baby pictures. I want the house to feel more homey. I want to start calling it my home.

"Where do you want this, Mrs Black?" One of the maids asks me.

It's an enlarged photo of Adam and I during the wedding and it's framed beautifully.

Awww! We look so happy.

Okay, I'm kidding but we do look like a happy couple, the way we are looking at each other. I don't remember the picture being taken but I know one of the photographers probably ask us to pose that way.

"Put it in the hallway that leads to the stairs."

I'm actually starting to like the house more as I'm rearranging things.

I've always wanted to move out of my parents house and have a house of my own. This is kind of it even though it's in a completely different circumstance.

I take a vase and place it on the table. "Randy?"

He looks at me. "Yes, ma'am."

"Can we have a mirror here, above the table?"

"Sure." He writes everything down and we move to the next room.

We finish organising, rearranging and replacing things after a couple more hours.

I go into the kitchen to check on the chefs and then my mouth literally drops. I blink and blink again to see if what I'm seeing in front of me is real.

Yoshikazu Ono. One of the best sushi chefs in the world! Actually, I think he's the best.

"Surprise!" June and the assistant chef exclaim.

Everyone is looking at me with smiles on their faces.

"Guys, am I dreaming?" I whisper.

"No." June laughs and places her arm around my shoulder.

"Adam said you liked Sushi and luckily for us, Mr Ono is in the country so he invited him over to teach the chefs how to make some." She says.

"Really?" I breath, my eyes tearing up a bit.

"Yes." She replies, tapping my back.

"Hello." Yoshikazu Ono speaks.

God! It still feels like a dream. Why would Adam do this for me though?

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." I grin and shake his hand.

"Likewise, you have a beautiful home." He says in his Japanese accent.

"Thank you, it's a pleasure having you here." I reply.

"Thank you." He nods, smiling.

I leave the kitchen and walk to where the is piano and sit. This is just crazy.

"Mrs Black, are you okay?" One of the maids, Brenda asks. She's 48, the oldest maid in the house. I look at her then notice Talia behind her.

"Seriously, Brenda it's okay to call me Amelia." I tell her.

She smiles. "If that's what you want."

I sigh softly. "I just don't understand why Adam would do something so nice for me."

She laughs and so does Talia.

"What?" I ask.

"Mr Black is the most generous person I've ever met. Taking care of other people is a passion of his." Brenda answers.

"Yes but this is way beyond taking care of me."

"He likes to make others happy. You're so lucky to have him and of course he's lucky as well."

"Thanks." I smile.

"Mr Black pays for my college fees and he also sends money to my family in Venezuela." Talia speaks.

My eyes widen. "Really?"

"He also pays for two of my kids' college and he bought me a house." Brenda also says.

"How long have you guys been working here?" I ask them, feeling interested.

"I think all of us used to work in his old house, nobody was fired when he was moving here. We all came along,"

"Except the old chef." Talia corrects.

"Yes, a new chef was hired the day you guys moved in."

"I've been working for Mr Black for a little over two years." Talia says.

"And I've been working for him since he moved out of he got his first house at nineteen." Brenda also speaks.

I widen my eyes. "Five years? Wow."

"He's a good boy. Easy to work for." She smiles.

"What's up, everyone?" Cooper strolls in through the front door. "Hey, Mrs B." He smiles as he sees me and I roll my eyes.

"We were just telling Mrs Black all the great things that Mr Black has done before you rudely interrupted." Talia tells him.

"That guy is my hero."

I look at him. "Yeah?"

He firmly nods. "When he first tracked me, he came to the trashy area I live. All the houses around there were fucked up in one way or another. When he saw my sister and her baby, I think his heart broke so he looked at Ned and said 'find them a new house'." Cooper says the last a part in a deeper voice.

"He does not sound like that."

"Okay so after he said that, he looked at the neighbourhood and was like 'fuck this!' He decided to renovate the whole fucking neighbourhood! He saved all those people by fixing their homes."

"Wow."

"Yes so at the moment, I decided to pledge my loyalty to him. He didn't know any of those people, he didn't even know me at that time but he wanted to help."

Wow, that's so fucking generous. Adam Black is so generous. What he did to me and all these people is pretty great.

I hear everyone saying how cool or nice he is but I've never really understood why. These people work for him, he can choose to just pay them their salary and treat them however he wants but he chose to treat them with kindness.

And for me, I just told him that sushi is my favourite food. The last thing I expected was to see one of the best sushi chefs in the world cooking with my chefs.

I mean, he didn't have to do that.

"Where is he now?" I ask.

"The library."

I get up and walk to the library and I se the sliding doors open. Adam is standing by one of the book shelves, looking down at a book.

The library is a very nice room in this house. I rarely come here but I love how organised and arranged everything is.

"Hey." I say.

He looks up. "Hey."

I just stand there. Like where do I even start?

I know he's still mad at me about the whole clubbing thing and the fact that I went to the Snipe. Do I say 'sorry' and 'thank you'?

Or thanks for bringing Yoshikazu Ono over?!

So I do what my gut tells me. I walk closer to him and hug him. Yes, I hug him.

"Thank you." I mumble as I dive into him. He smells so good and I really like how tall he is.

He's not hugging me back. His hands are still by his side. I know he's probably thinking that I've gone crazy.

I pull my hands back and look down. What did I just do? Seriously, I can't think straight when I'm around him.

"What was that for?" His voice breaks the peaceful silence.

I look up at his handsome face. His beautiful eyes are staring into mine. "I saw Yoshikazu Ono in the kitchen and I just want to say that I'm really thankful."

"Are you happy?" He asks.

"Yes, very." I smile at him.

He nods and steps back a bit. "You can tell me if you want anything else, okay?" He says in a gentle voice.

I grin wider. He's really sweet. I like this Adam.

"Yeah, okay."

I leave the library, still smiling.

I really want to make peace with Adam. I want to build at least a friendship in this marriage.

I think everything will be better if we get to know each other and become comfortable.

To make peace, I decide to go to the supermarket. Luckily for me, there is one nearby.

****

On my trip to the supermarket, I got chocolates for Adam. I also got Fruit Loops and cooking chocolate because there isn't any in the pantry at the house and I intend to cook with it tomorrow.

I enter my room and change my clothes then go to Adam's. I gently knock and he asks me to come in.

He's lying down on his bed with his laptop in front of him. His lips are pouting as usual but he still looks interested in whatever he's doing on the laptop.

"Hey, can we talk?" I speak and he raises his eyes to meet mine.

"I'm busy." He says.

I roll my eyes. He's such a workaholic. Does he even have friends?

"Alright, I'll come back later." I reply and he nods. "Bye."

"I have a gift for you." I shake the gift bag in my hand before leaving. I can talk to him and apologise later.

"What's that?"

"Chocolate."

He sits up and I notice that he has AirPods on.

"What are you working on?" I ask then walk closer to the bed to get a glimpse of what he's doing and I scoff in disbelief.

"Unbelievable!"

"What?" He asks.

"You're 'busy' watching The Big Bang Theory. Are you serious?"

He nods. "Yeah. Where's my chocolate?"

I give him the bag. "Here. It's a peace offering. I'm sorry for the reckless clubbing and going to the Snipe."

"Okay, thank you."

"So you're not mad at me anymore?"

"I never said I was." He says as he empties the bag by pouring all the chocolates on his bed.

"But you were." I state and wait for him to reply but he ignores me and keeps going through the chocolates.

"Adam!"

"What?" He looks at me.

"Talk to me."

"What do you want me to say?"

"That you accept my apology."

"I accept your apology, Amelia." He says in a very sexy and husky voice.

Love it when he says that!

"Awww, thanks." I smile then continue. "So I was thinking that maybe....you know, you and I can try being friends."

"No!" He quickly objects.

"Why not?" I frown.

"I just don't want to." He says sternly and a cold expression grows on his face.

"But-"

"It's for your own good, trust me." He says and I look in his eyes. There's some kind of emotion in there, dark.

"Adam." I say softly.

"I think we're done here."

"He is just very closed off and doesn't like relationships with people."

His mother's words ring in my head. I really want to get to know him.

He's going to push you away but please try to let him see the gorgeous girl I fell in love with.

Liam's letter. Fuck! That's the last thing I need in my head right now.

"Why are you trying to push me away?"

He ignores me and plays the the tv show he's watching.

I sigh and push my face in my hands. How is this even going to work?

I want to get to know him but I know it's going to take me a lot and it's going to be hard.

I'm tired of fighting with him all the time, I want this marriage to be nice and peaceful.

That's how it's supposed to be.

I know he pushes people away but he should know that he can't push me away, we literally live together.

Maybe he still hated me. Oh my God.

Does he?

I hear him close his laptop shut then he looks at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I mumble. "I'm just gonna go." I stand up and head to my room.

****

After I came back to my room, I did a chemistry assignment then I called Ivory for a chat. We talk for a while and then I hear a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in." I say and I see Adam strolling in.

"Hey, can I call you back later?" I speak into the phone.

"Nope," Ivory replies. "Peter is home and we're going to have some fun tonight, if you know what I'm talking about." She says and I can hear a smile in her voice.

I roll my eyes. "Alright, bye."

"You seemed upset earlier." Adam says as he stands by my dressing mirror.

I run my fingers through my hair. "I was just thinking if this is how it's going to be for the rest of our lives, you know. Like I know that I'm a very stubborn and 'immature' person or whatever but I feel like I'm in a stage in my life where there is a lot of figuring out to do and a lot of growing up."

He looks like he's about to say something but he doesn't. Instead, he walks closer and joins me on the bed, sitting by the side with his leg crossed over another. "Yeah?" He just says.

People honestly think that I have it so easy and my life is all figured out.

I mean, I'm twenty one.

To me that is still young especially in the kind of community that I grew up in. Like other twenty one year olds have like real jobs or have their own houses or apartment but I was practically baby-ed till I turned nineteen.

I know Adam hates that I'm childish or whatever and that really pains me.

"What I'm saying is this is who I am and I know you really hate that so I just.. it just pains me to know that I'm going to be living with someone that hates who I am." I explain further and look down.

"I don't hate you, I never said I did." He states simply.

"But your actions show how much you do. You don't even want to be friends with me. I know that you've been so nice to me and I really appreciate that and right now, I'm trying so hard to move on and grow up but it's just so hard and I can't seem to even start figuring out." I ramble, motioning with my hands.

"I wouldn't have agreed to marry you if I hated you in anyway. This is the way I am with most people, it's who I am but I took vows to protect and cherish you and I meant that." Adam says.

"You did?"

"Yes. Just because I don't want to be friends with you doesn't mean that I hate you. I'm around and if you want anything, I told you to come and tell me." He says.

I really love the way he speaks. I'm not kidding, he has a British accent and it's so fucking sexy.

Knowing Adam, this is probably his way of saying, he's here for me and honestly, I really appreciate that.

"Okay." I give him a small smile.

"Yes, now tell me what you want." He demands, his eyes are looking tired. He is probably feeling sleepy. I am too.

"I want to complete my bucket list." I tell him.

"Then do that."

"I don't want to do it alone." I pout then an idea suddenly pops into my mind. If I spend more time with him, I might get to know him.

"No!" He instantly says. I think that's his favourite word.

"Please, Adam." I say giving him a puppy face.

He gives me a look. "I'm busy."

"Not that busy, we can do them on weekends."

He sighs in annoyance. "Fine but I have to see it first."

I eagerly go to 'notes' on my phone where I wrote the bucket list and pass it to him. I watch him as he carefully reads it. He looks so cute and hot at the same time.

He gives the phone back to me and bites his lower lip. "I'm not doing any of these things but I will go with you."

"Really?" I squeal and he nods.

"Thank you." I saw with a yawn which makes me to blush in embarrassment.

"I don't want to keep fighting and I never want to hurt you in away." Adam says.

I'm glad he and I are on the same page.

"I know and I feel the same way which is why I'm really sorry about the whole club thing. I didn't think that it was going to affect your reputation." I tell him then lie down properly on the bed. I'm so sleepy.

"I don't give a fuck a about my reputation." I hear him say and I frown in confusion.

"Hmmm?"

He shakes his head. "Go to sleep." He tucks my blanket under my chin then he leans forward and kisses my cheek. "Thank you for the chocolates again."

My heart thumps at the feeling of his lips on my cheek and the way he speaks afterwards.

I watch his sexy body as he leaves the room and for the first time, I realise that being married to him might not be so bad after all.

****

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