Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 44

Horace Hawthorne
Amelia thought he would bring her to a run-of-the-mill diner for fries. She was sorely mistaken when she was ushered into a car with tinted windows via the hospital’s back exit and then delivered to a five-star restaurant she once waited tables at for extra cash.

They were brought to a private dining room without any delay, and the food was served a moment later. Amelia stared at him, agog. Did he plan this in advance?

“There’s no need for this…” She protested weakly, but the old man waved her objections away, his movements suddenly looking sharper than before.

“It is necessary because I need privacy. I’m sorry that I have not been entirely honest with you.” The old man wet his lip and sucked in a deep breath.

His entire demeanor had changed― his back was straighter, no longer hunched. There was a knowing glint in his eyes as well and they seemed clear and all-knowing. Amelia had to blink a few times and reorientate herself. This was not at all the same man who brought her to the restaurant.

However, the kindness in his eyes remained as before. As such, Amelia found it difficult to be entirely on guard against him. It felt wrong, almost, to treat genuine kindness with disrespect and fear.

“I know you’re actually not Elaine,” he said.

Amelia’s heart froze. Did this old man bring her all the way here to tell her that? Did he recognize her from the video and think she was a gold-digging bitch as well, and he brought her here to humiliate her further?

Or did he think he stood a chance with her? Her stomach boiled with disgust. The media had portrayed her as a woman who was willing to betray her husband for someone richer― what if this old man thought the same?

“I… What do you know about me?” Amelia asked shakily.

The old man blinked. “Truthfully, nothing. I don’t even know your name, which made finding you very difficult. I thought my description of blonde hair and blue eyes would narrow the search, but it didn’t work.”

He laughed, more at himself than anything, and shook his head. “There are too many who fit the description, and I know nothing about you. I didn’t dare search too deeply as well. My son and his wife will not be too happy about it if they catch wind.” He sighed. “As such, I wanted to look for you myself, but recent happenings in the family required my attention.”

Amelia squinted slightly. “…Why were you looking for me?”

The old man sighed and offered an apologetic smile. “To apologize in person, as you deserved.”

Amelia was struck dumb, blinking owlishly at this turn of events.

“I was too overly insistent on seeing what I wanted to see, and it was only afterward that I realized that I might have been overly presumptuous. My daughter-in-law gave me grief for it, and rightfully so.” He gave a watery sigh, his wrinkled hands shakily dabbing at the corner of his lips with a napkin.

“It was a heavy burden to put on a stranger, and it was mightily unfair to you. I wanted to take this chance to apologize in person, and perhaps ask if you would indulge this old man.”

“What did you wish to ask?” Amelia asked hesitantly.

“You remind me a lot of my missing daughter. Would you mind if we met up occasionally, just for a meal or two?” he asked, and Amelia was struck dumb by the hope in his eyes. “I would… I would like to know you better. It makes me feel like I… I have my daughter back with me.”

Amelia pursed her lips tightly together. There were so many ways this could go horribly wrong that she dared not agree as easily as she would’ve before her divorce from Caleb.

“Of course, I would compensate you adequately for your time,” he added. “All meals would also be paid for.”

“There’s no need for that, I can’t take your money!” Amelia shook her head. No matter how hard up for money she was, it simply felt wrong to earn money from this old grieving father who desperately wanted his daughter back.

A small smile floated across his face. “So does that mean, you agree?”

“I… wouldn’t be opposed to it,” Amelia said.

She made a mental note to check with Matteo again later. There were too many issues with this arrangement, but Amelia didn’t dare to voice it out in fear of sounding presumptuous. After all, the tabloids already had their eyes on her and her supposed philandering, gold-digging ways.

Who knows? Maybe the next article would be about how she was conning this old man of his retirement funds.

“But there’s really no need for such finery,” she said. She didn’t wish to be spotted somewhere so high-end as well― it would only fuel the sugar baby rumors.

“If that is what you wish, I shall oblige,” the man said with a nod. “Now then, I doubt your name is actually ‘Elaine’. What’s your name?”

“I’m Amelia,” Amelia said, looking for traces of recognition in his eyes. But he merely mouthed her name to himself, nodding all the while.

“Amelia… that’s a good name,” the old man said approvingly. A small wistful smile stretched his lips. “My wife would’ve really liked that name in her youth. We would’ve named our second child as such if it weren’t for the fact that he was born a son.”

He chuckled, albeit a little sadly. There was a sliver of disappointment filling the cracks between his smiles. It seemed like with his old age, he bore a lot more secrets.

“You can call me Horace,” he finally said. “Horace Hawthorne.”

Amelia choked on her spit.

This man was the Hawthorne patriarch? The man whose granddaughter’s engagement Amelia was about to torpedo?!

Her face paled immediately, but she still tried to remain optimistic. Maybe there were other Hawthornes in Sol city. Surely she would not have such rotten luck…

“You might have heard of our family. We are very prestigious. Why, my granddaughter Emmeline is getting married soon!” Horace continued enthusiastically, and Amelia felt her will to live evaporate.

Yep. She was that unlucky.