Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: In Need of Evidence
Matteo staggered― he would have nearly fallen to the floor in horror, if not for Ronan and Amelia supporting his arms.

“Matteo! Do you need to go to the hospital?” Amelia asked, panicked. She glanced at Ronan. “He looks awfully pale!”

Before Ronan could reply, Matteo hurriedly held up a hand and shook his head. “No… No hospitals. I’ll be fine. I just need… rest.”

Ronan narrowed his eyes. “I still think you should go to the hospital. You’re looking too pale for my liking, and we need to know if Emmeline drugged you during the dinner. If anything shows up in the test, we can sue her―”

“For what? For adding aphrodisiacs to her fiancé’s private dinner? It would be considered a non-issue,” Matteo said bitterly. “It’ll make me look like a laughing stock, and no one would believe that I ingested it unknowingly. They’d think I was trying to wriggle out of responsibility after―”

Matteo’s stomach turned, and he couldn’t voice out what he feared― that he had indeed slept with Emmeline Hawthorne while under the influence.

Had he actually slept with her? Or did he regain some semblance of lucidity to push her away? He recalled her retreating back, and Amelia’s arrival. But what happened in between?

The cavernous hole in his memory taunted him with its absence.

“But you can’t just let her get away with it!” Amelia exclaimed, aghast. “This is wrong!”

“So what? She would face no consequences for her actions― all she has to do is pretend that she had no knowledge of the ingredients, and our case would fall apart like wet tissue. It wouldn’t be hard since she can’t cook at all. My stepmother would gladly use this incident to oust me for being careless and irresponsible, or she would tie me to Emmeline immediately,” Matteo continued.

“We cannot let anyone know what happened during the dinner. As far as everyone is concerned, Emmeline came over, had a meal and left on her own accord. Is that clear?”

Matteo’s pleading eyes burned a hole in Amelia’s head, and she could only nod in agreement while her body trembled at the injustice. Ronan let out a grumble, but he nodded as well.

“If you don’t want to go to the hospital, then at least let me send the wine and food for testing,” Ronan cajoled. “I know a lab that can be discreet. Once we have some proof, you can at least be more prepared for the future. Carry antidotes with you.”

Matteo paused, thinking it over before he finally nodded, and Amelia gulped. The future? Was Matteo going to have to endure more drugging attempts? Her hands clenched into fists at the thought.

“Come on, help me collect evidence then,” Ronan announced, with a sharp clap of his hands. Matteo winced as the sound ricocheted in his mind like a gunshot. He needed more water. “We can’t afford to waste any more time as it is. Off to work!”

And so, the three of them put on plastic gloves and swarmed all over the dining table, taking whatever they could constitute as a sample. Since Matteo and Ronan seemed to have everything under control, Amelia decided to head to the kitchen instead to search. The sink was filled with dirty dishes, evidence of Emmeline’s failed attempts at cooking a proper meal, but what caught her attention was the dustbin.

Amelia had emptied it just last night, but now it was suspiciously full of paper towels as if someone wanted to hide something underneath it all.

So she began to dig, holding her breath. There were some remains of burnt and raw meat that made her sigh at the apparent wastefulness, but then she caught a suspicious glint of bright blue, tucked in the very corners of the bin, nestled in between two pieces of meat.

Amelia slowly pried it out. It was half of a blue capsule, its contents empty. She narrowed her eyes; to her knowledge, Matteo didn’t take any medication that looked like this.

“Guys, I think I found something,” Amelia announced, and Matteo and Ronan came to her. She held out the empty half of the capsule in her hand. “Matteo, do you recognize this?”

Matteo frowned. “No. They are not my vitamins.”

“Where did you find this?” Ronan asked excitedly, holding out a ziplock bag for Amelia to put the pill into. “This is brilliant, we can narrow down the substance quickly with this! Can you find the other half?”

“I found this in the dustbin, but I couldn’t find the other half,” Amelia shook her head. “Did you see anything similar in the dining room?”

“No,” Ronan said. “It must be with Emmeline then. And if she had any sense, she would have tossed it away now.”

Amelia bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Her dislike for Emmeline was slowly evolving into hatred. How could she attempt to drug Matteo, when she was already engaged to him? What sort of person would do that to a person she claimed to love?

“Thank you, Amelia, for finding this,” Matteo said. “This means a lot.”

Amelia’s face heated at the sincerity in his voice.

“I’ll send this to the lab first thing tomorrow,” Ronan declared, clearing his throat to break the strange atmosphere. “Amelia, do you still want to move out tonight, or shall I help you with it tomorrow?”

“What? You’re moving out?” Matteo demanded, his eyes widening in shock.

“Yes,” Amelia said apologetically. “After everything that has happened… I need some space. It’s just not right for the both of us to stay in the same house any longer.”

Now, Matteo seemed stricken, and Amelia felt her heart waver when she met his helpless gaze. But she had to remain firm. This was for the best.

“You know what, I’ll help you move tomorrow,” Ronan decided, since Amelia and Matteo seemed to be attempting to communicate via telepathy instead of using their vocal chords like the vast majority of human beings. “It’s been a long day, and I’m sure we could all use a rest. I definitely need some.”

“You’re right,” Amelia agreed. “Tomorrow it is then. I can’t wait!” It would be nice to have some space away from the drama that had engulfed her life.

“Tomorrow it is,” Matteo echoed, his voice hollow.

Ronan bid them farewell, and that left Amelia and Matteo, alone in the apartment.

“I’ll be going to bed,” Matteo said curtly, and he went into his room without a second glance, the door slamming shut.

“Alright,” Amelia said bemusedly to his closed door. “Good night then.”

There was no reply.

However, the both of them did not realize that this would be the last time in a long while that they would get a good night’s sleep, for in the wee hours of the morning, Lady Vanity had boasted a new headline.

‘EMMELINE HAWTHORNE’S NUDES LEAKED! IS MATTEO MONTGOMERY’S MISTRESS RESPONSIBLE?’