Emily's outfit above.

I did not decide to donate five hundred thousand dollars just because of Simone.

Camilla asked me to donate more money than what Simone donated but I told her that if I'm going to donate money to a charity, it has to be for a good cause so I went up online and googled the charities that Shayla mentioned in the previous meeting. I was touched when I read about kids that had cystic fibrosis.

I mean, I watched 'Five Feet Apart'. I know how serious cystic fibrosis is but seeing the reality of it just broke something in me. Diabetes is no stranger to me. It killed one of my uncles so that's why donating the money felt so easy. I didn't bother to google HOPE because I know that it covered a lot of things and secondly, it ruined my life.

"That's incredibly great, Amelia. Are you sure it's not too much? We usually all come together and pay for the fundraiser." Shayla says.

I shake my head. "No it's not. As long as it's for a good cause."

She nods, still looking surprised. "Sisters." She whispers and everyone starts applauding me.

Fucking great. I fake a smile and look around the table. Everyone is clapping, even Simone. What a hypocrite!

"So how would you like it to be?" Shayla asks.

I look at her. "The fundraiser is your idea, Shayla. It will be exactly how you want it to be. I'm not going to mess up your plans."

I see relief in her eyes as she smiles. "Alright."

I smile again then take my cup and sip my drink.

"Wow, that's a big ring." One of the ladies comments. My wedding ring is a total eye catcher because it's big and very unique.

"Yeah."

"One of the privileges of being married to Adam Black, isn't it?" The woman asks with a smile.

"I guess." I reply.

"It's beautiful." Someone else, I think her name is Bonnie says.

"Thank you."

"So how was the Channel show you went to Simone?" Wanda Harris, who is one of the 'mean girls' asks.

Simone smiles, touching her diamond necklace. "Oh, it so was great. I sat next to Madonna and Emily Blunt to my left ."

"Wow." Someone says and for the next thirty minutes, I had to listen to Simone talk about Paris.

"This is what she was afraid of." I hear an unfamiliar as I'm about to enter the backseat of my car.

Cooper is sitting at front while Tom is driving.

I turn around and see one of the sisters that I just dined with. "Excuse me?"

She smiles in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I'm Anne." She extends her hand.

I fix my hair then shake hands with her."Hey, I'm Amelia."

"I know." She says then adds, "I'm talking about Simone. She was afraid that you would come and take charge of the club."

"But I'm not taking charge."

She rolls her eyes. "Please, you took charge the moment you announced your contribution."

I shrug. "That wasn't my intention."

She nods then softly clears her throat. "I'm sorry that everyone has been so cold towards you. Simone wasn't happy when she heard that you were joining the club so she kind of manipulated all of them."

See I was having doubts about Simone spreading the rumours but hearing this just confirmed everything.

Simone really wasn't okay with me joining the club. Anne wasn't in the previous meeting because Shayla introduced everyone.

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask softly. For all I know, she might also be another bitch.

"Simone and I don't see eye to eye so it's an 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' kind of thing." She says then adds, "Besides that, you and I both have connections with the council and that makes us strong." She winks.

The council? She's definitely not a Smith and I don't think she's a Black either. She is maybe cousins with one of my friends.

In the council, every family has a representative. My dad represents the Smiths but that doesn't make him the only Smith that is part of the council. All of my aunts and uncles are also members and that is how it is with the rest of the families.

So there are a lot of people that are connected to the council. It's impossible to know each and every one of them.

"I'm sorry, What was your last name again?" I ask Anne, pretending as if I have forgotten.

"It's Thompson." She answers with a smile.

"You're related to Ian?"

"I'm married to his brother." She answers.

Not what I was expecting.

"Oh, wow."

She grins. "I know. Just don't bother yourself with Simone or her followers, okay? I, myself rarely attend these meetings."

"Alright, thank you."

She lightly touches my shoulder. "Have a nice a nice evening."

****

"Do you want to come over to my house later?" Emily asks me the next day at the end of our Architectural Design class.

I look up at her. "Um-"

"Or do you have plans with Camilla, your new best friend?" She cuts me off in a snarky tone.

My eyes widen in surprise. "Emily! Are you jealous of Camilla?"

She rolls her eyes and sits on my desk. "I'm not jealous of her. It's just that lately you and Nicole have been hanging out with her. It's like I don't even exist anymore. The only time I see you is in class."

"Because you're always with Colton." I remind

her.

"The only reason that I hang out with Colton is because he's alone most of the time. He stayed here because of me, I can't just abandon him."

"I understand."

"Also, I'm the only one that hangs out with him. You are his friend too but you only talk to him on the phone. You've never even been to his new house."

I sigh as I realise how right she is. Emily is my first friend in the world. I was friends with her even before I became friends with Nicole. Her quiet personality often makes her seem like the underdog but she isn't.

I feel so bad for not being there for her lately.

"You're my best friend, Em. I love you so much and I love Colton. I'm sorry that I haven't been a good friend lately."

"Come here." She says then hugs me. I hug her back tightly.

After I pull away, I give her an apologetic smile.

"Tyler invited me out for dinner today and I promised him that I will go. Why don't we mess during the weekend?"

"I'm good with that." She smiles.

I kiss her cheek and we walk out of the class together but we part ways because I have to go to the dean's office. I don't know why the dean wants to see me in the middle of the week.

His secretary leads me to his office. She enters without knocking and informs him that I'm here. "Ms Smith." He says as I enter.

I decided not to change my last name here because it's the only place that I truly feel like myself and I don't need to be constantly reminded that I'm married.

"Hello, Dr Meyer."

He points at the chair facing him and his desk. "Please have a seat."

I nod then take the seat.

"I spoke with your husband." He says.

Huh! Talk about not wanting to be reminded of my marriage.

"Oh, really?" I fake enthusiasm.

"Yes. He came to me and we discussed the test that you missed. I called Humphrey and he explained that you did not take an excuse for skipping his classes." Dr Meyer says.

"I did not."

He shakes his head. "You can't just leave the school for two weeks without taking an excuse. You've missed a lot of important classes."

"I know." I mumble.

"You are one of our brightest students here. Your professors see so much in you. I see so much in you but I also know that you have a lot of distractions. Without them, your GPA might just be a complete four-point."

As if that is possible.

"It's Architecture. With all due respect, Dr Meyer, Nobody gets a four in Architecture."

"We have a sophomore that's got a four, Ms Smith. I believe that you can too."

"I have so much going on in my life." I explain. I already try hard enough to achieve the grade that I have now. I can't have the pressure of getting a perfect one.

He taps his hand on the desk.

"Distractions like I said but even with those, you still managed to be the best Architecture student in your year. You are an incredibly talented lady and I believe you are meant to be a great woman."

"Thank you."

He smiles. "As for Humphrey, I did try my best to convince him to allow you to retake the test but he didn't agree."

My heart crashes. "What? No!"

"I told your husband that the only way that we could get Humphrey to allow you is to play dirty. Threaten to take his job and shake him a little but Mr Black objected that idea."

Of course he did. Fucking Adam Black with his righteousness!

"Damn it." I mutter. I'm not happy but tbh I also would not want Humphrey to be threatened.

"He and I decided that I would call you here and explain everything to you."

"I understand. Thank you so much."

****

"Here."

My mother looks slim in her navy YSL dress. Her blonde hair is curled and falling off her shoulders beautifully. She looks elegant as she always have, her nude heels making her taller.

I collect photo frames from my mum and as I look at the first photo, my heart drops.

"How old was I?" I whisper.

"Six. Adam was nine."

We are hugging each other in the photo. My six year old is smiling with my teeth open and Adam is smiling as well but his smile is softer.

A tear slips from eye. "I remember."

Mum looks at me in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. He left."

(Flashback)

"Adam!" Amelia exclaimed as she and her mum walked Adam to his car.

"What?"

"Are you my boyfriend?" She grinned at him, making him to widen his eyes.

"No, I'm not." He answers.

"Yes, you are." She giggled.

"No. You're too young to have boyfriend." He looked at her with a smile.

"I want you to be my boyfriend."

Adam shook his head. "No, we're just friends and I'm leaving anyway."

"Will come tomorrow?" Amelia asked with so much hope.

"No, I'm never coming here again."

Amelia's eyes widened. "Why?"

"Because this will be my last day in Bluefall. I'm not coming back here."

"You won't come and see me?" She frowned.

"No but you can come and visit me in London." He told her.

"No!"

Adam frowns. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I don't want you to go."

"I have to."

"Mummy, can I go with Adam?"

Elle looks at her. "No, you can't honey but we can go visit him anytime you want."

"Ready?" Wesley asked Adam and he nodded.

"No!" Amelia started crying.

"Adam has to go, honey." Her mother told her.

"But I don't want him to."

"Come here." Elle picked her up.

"I will go with him. Let me go." She started kicking her feet and crying harder.

"I'm sorry, Amelia." Adam says then goes into the car.

As the car starts moving, Amelia screams became louder.

(End of Flashback)

"Why did he leave?"

Last night as I sat down thinking, all these flashes of Adam and I kept coming to my mind. It made me so confused so I decided to come talk to my mum.

"He just hated it here." She answers.

I look at her with a frown. "He said he would never come back but he did."

"Nine years later when Diana's mother died. He was very close to her."

Nine years later? That was when he was eighteen.

When we were in Miami, Adam told me about the time he went home and asked Eva to go with him and she refused but he failed to mention that his grandmother had died then.

Even though she wasn't in love with him, she could have followed him for emotional support. He hadn't been home in nine years and his grandmother had died.

"When did he move back permanently?" I ask my mother. If hated it here so much, why did he come back? Is it because he was heartbroken?

"So after death, he came again to introduce his girlfriend to his family. Then he returned. We didn't see him again until three years later, when he decided to move back permanently."

Curiosity shook me more. "Why did he suddenly move back? To start his company?"

"He moved back after the Walkers passed away. Those people practically raised him. He loved them more than his biological parents. Their death crashed him, he was so hurt and out of control so Peter insisted that he came back home."

I feel sadness in my heart. Adam has gone through a lot and I know that this is my mum summarising the story. I have so many questions.

"Why didn't we visit him?" I ask the first one on my mind. He and I were so close. Why did that stop all of a sudden.

"You forgot about him."

"How?" I ask feeling very confused.

"You were very sad after he left, very sad and I got worried because you stopped talking to everyone and then one day, you threw away all your pictures together and the special headband that he gave you."

I smile. "Awww, he gave me a headband?"

"Yes. After that day, you stopped being sad and went back to normal happy Amelia. When your school closed for holidays, I asked if you wanted to go to London and visit him but then you frowned at me and asked, 'who's Adam?'"

My eyes widen. "No."

Holy shit!

"I thought you were messing with me at first but you weren't so I got really scared and took you to the psychologist to see if you lost your memories. He said that you didn't. That if kids get hurt, they either hold on to the pain and remember it for the rest of their lives or they try to completely forget about it and it becomes a permanent memory losses."

Oh my God! Wow.

"It was really hard for me to tell Adam but when I did, he was really brave and said that it was for the best." Mum continues sadly.

"But why does Adam hates Bluefall that much? Why did hate staying with his parents?"

"It's not my place to answer those questions, honey. I'm sure Adam will tell you when he's ready."

I scoff. "I don't think so."

"Marriage is really hard honey but it's also something very beautiful."

"Adam and I are not in a real marriage, mum. Don't forget that." I point.

She hugs me by the side. "I know but I promise that things will get better."

I lean into her touch. With the way things are going right now, I don't think so. Adam and I keep walking in circles. We have a very complicated relationship.

****

As I'm about to walk into the restaurant, I see a very familiar person.

"Ethan! Hi!" I shout then walk over to him. "How are you? You've been missing my calls and messages. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm just so busy with work." He shrugs.

I arch an eyebrow. Something is definitely going on but I don't push it. "Oh okay."

"So are you satisfied with what you found out?" He asks in a bitter tone.

"What do you mean?"

"The little digging that you asked your friend to do on me." He replies.

Digging? What the hell?

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"It's fine, Amelia. I get it. Rich people like you aren't friends with just anyone but fuck! If you wanted to know something, you should have just asked me."

"I really don't know what you're talking about, Ethan. I didn't ask any one to do anything."

He looks at me in disbelief then shakes his head.

"I gotta go. See you around." He walks away.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Tyler says as I join he, Jacob and Nicole inside the restaurant.

"I just saw Ethan."

"Is he supposed to be dead?" Jacob jokes and I glare at him.

"He said that I asked my friend to dig him up but I didn't." I tell them.

"Cam probably did it behind your back. You should ask her." Nicole says.

I look at her then nod. "Yeah, let me text her."

As I'm a about to take out my phone, Jacob clears his throat. "Don't." He says.

"Why?" Nicole asks and I also give him a look.

"Because I'm the one that asked about Ethan."

"What?" I raise my voice.

"Remember at the anniversary party when you guys saw me winking at Adam and asked what was going on?"

I nod. "Yes."

"When I heard that he said that he was okay with you having a boyfriend, I couldn't believe it so I told him about Ethan. He was cool about it but he asked if I could ask around about him and I did."

"How?"

"I paid one of his friends." He answers.

Oh my God.

"What is wrong with you?" I yell but not too loud.

"You're married to Adam now, Amelia. You can't just go in a relationship with a stranger." Tyler says.

"I told you that it isn't like that with Ethan. He is just my friend."

"Yes but-"

"I'm leaving." I announce then stand up from my seat.

"Milly." Tyler says in a gentle voice but I ignore him.

****

"Adam! What is wrong with you?" I barge into his living room.

"Stop yelling." He pauses the tv and glares at me.

"Why did you ask Jacob to do a background check on Ethan?"

"I had to."

"No! It was none of your business!" I exclaim, feeling more angry.

"You are my wife. Everything you do is my business."

I let out a scoff.

"Oh really? Mr 'This isn't a real marriage'?"

"I don't fucking have time for this." He mutters.

"You're unbelievable! You never have time to talk to me but you have the time to look into the guy I'm hanging out with and sign me up into stupid clubs?"

"I'm not in the mood to argue with you. Go throw your tantrums somewhere else."

"You're such a fucking dick! I hate you."

That's when he finally snaps.

"And you are so fucking childish! You live in a fucking dream world, you can't be realistic for one fucking minute in your life. If you think I'm going to seat there and watch you hang out with an employee of mine without checking up on that then you're fucking crazy."

What the heck is he saying?

"Since when did Ethan became your employee? He works at-" I pause.

"BI, I'm the head of the graphic design department there."

BI?

My eyes widen. BI!

Black Industries? Damn.

"Ethan doesn't know that you're my husband. I never told him." I mutter, hoping that that's true.

Adam rolls his eyes. "Don't be delusional, Amelia. He definitely knows who you are."

"No, he doesn't. He just moved here. You know, the only person that's crazy is you with your control freak tendencies. You can't survive without one detail about me. You just have to know everything, don't you?"

Adam looks away from my eyes. He doesn't deny what I said because it's the truth.

I huff then storm out.

****

I roll over for the thousandth time. I turn off the lamp and look at the Rolex wall clock in my bedroom. It's almost three am yet I can't sleep.

This week has been so stressful because of the ball, joining the Blossom Sisters, planning the fundraiser and I have my finals coming up.

But that is why I can't sleep.

I keep thinking of my fight with Adam. I curse then get off my bed. I put on my slippers then go to his room.

When I don't see him inside, I went down to his office and see him sitting behind his desk.

"Hi, working at this time?"