Chapter 45: Chapter 46

“Channing? You... you’re at home?” The sudden appearance of Channing startled Shannon. “Shouldn’t Channing be at work during this time? Why was he at home?” Shannon thought.

Celia was also dumbfounded when she saw Channing. “Dad, why have you gotten back?”

“You just said that you were cheated for a few hundred thousand dollars. By who?” Channing came over and stared at Shannon.

He went to visit Amber again today. Only then did he know that she was almost raped. Channing was so angry that his heart ached. To think about it, Amber was really lucky. If Rodney had not noticed that something was not right, who knows what would have happened.

Amber was a person who held dearly to her dignity. If she was really raped, she certainly would not want to live anymore.

Channing was distressed and angry. He thought that all this happened because of himself. If he had not married Shannon, Amber would not have run away from home, nor would she have been kicked out of the Barron family. Channing was extremely remorseful.

He did not have the mood to stay in the office, so he made up an excuse that he was not feeling well and needed to go home to rest. When he got home, there was no one around. Since Channing was feeling down, he just sat in the study room, still blaming himself. Then, he heard the sound of the car engine outside, so he walked out of the study room. But he didn’t expect to hear Shannon and Celia’s conversation.

Although Shannon was shocked, she was able to react quickly enough. “Channing, I’m so sorry!”

“What are you sorry for?” Channing’s voice was cold. It was never his intention to be with Shannon. Shannon and Ashley were friends, and he also treated Shannon as a friend. Never in his wildest dream had he thought that he would be drunk and have sex with Shannon.

After that, Shannon did not hold him responsible for it, and he also forgot about it. He didn’t expect that Shannon would reappear in his life again after more than ten years, and even bring a child with her. Ashley was sure that he had an affair and never forgave him till her death.

Channing didn’t want anything to do with Shannon at all. His original intention was to put Shannon and her daughter in another place, but someone leaked the news and the issue was made known to his superiors. Fortunately, the person who knew it was his old boss, and he took care of the matter out of his care for Channing. Channing was forced to marry Shannon, but he lost his beloved daughter because of this.

Having lived with Shannon for more than ten years, she had been gentle, kind, and understanding. Although she came from a poor family, she was not only good with house chores, but also good with socialising, prioritising him the whole time. Most importantly, Shannon often reminds him of Ashley.

For this reason, he gradually had some feelings for Shannon, but he didn’t expect to see her vulgar side by chance.

Channing was unfamiliar with this version of Shannon, he also hated it. Shannon naturally felt his disgust, so she immediately explained, “Isn’t it your birthday soon? You like antiques, so I wanted to buy you a vase. But who knew that the dishonest go-

between turned out to have taken the money and run away.”

“What did you say?” Channing raised his voice.

“I’m so sorry, Channing! I didn’t mean it.” Shannon lowered her head and looked pitiful.

“Dad, Mum didn’t mean it. She just wanted to give you a surprise.” Celia came just in time to smooth things over.

Channing stared at Shannon for quite a while, then slumped against the sofa. “Nothing has been smooth recently!”

“What happened?” Shannon quickly asked, considerately.

“Amber almost got into trouble. Luckily, Rodney found out that something wasn’t right. Otherwise, it would be terrible,” Channing sighed and told them about the fact that Amber had almost been hurt.

Shannon’s heart was filled with hatred. She had never expected that the person who had interfered with this would be Rodney.

Although she was fuming in her heart, she still pretended to be surprised and distressed. “How is Amber?”

“She was terrified, but she’s fine now.” With a gloomy face, Channing said, “If I catch that Casen Slater, I’ll skin him alive!”

“Yeah, that guy is too vicious. If we catch him, we must teach him a lesson,” Shannon echoed, but she was worried deep down. If Casen Slater was caught and Blake was exposed, would the police find out about her?

“I don’t know what the police are doing. It’s been three days, but they still have zero news about Casen Slater. It’s really pissing me off.” Channing rubbed his forehead.

Shannon was a little relieved. Blake said that those people were all cunning ones with several ID cards. She hoped that Casen Slater would run as far away as possible and never be caught for the rest of his life.

Amber was discharged from the hospital after three days. Although she did not have many serious physical injuries, she was traumatised. She was already hurt in the first place and did not really believe in men. Now that this happened to her, she just increasingly felt that men were unreliable.

Previously, she genuinely wanted to find a father for Mel, but now she has changed her mind. She would work hard to earn money and raise the child on her own. Screw all men.

Elliot didn’t know the inside story. When he saw that Amber hadn’t smiled for a few days, he thought that she was sad because she broke up with Casen Slater. Elliot felt very unhappy in his heart. Assuming that he himself was far better than Casen Slater, he did not understand why Amber couldn’t seem to see the good in him. Recalling Casen’s gentle smiley face, he started to reflect. Was it because he was too fierce that Amber didn’t like him?

...

Thinking of this, Elliot decided to change his attitude. He wanted to be gentle and please Amber. He stopped shouting and making things difficult for her. He also spoke in a gentle tone. Amber was not in the mood to appreciate his sudden change. On the contrary, Walter began to wonder again, “Is there something wrong with Mr. Thomson again?”

Pierce also found out that Amber was hospitalised. He called to ask about her condition. Amber was very upset. She trusted Pierce, so she told him what had happened to her. Pierce was shocked and angry. He wanted to come over right away, but Amber stopped him in the end.

Mel was still young, so he naturally didn’t know what his mother had gone through. When he heard that his mother was ill, he felt very distressed. He comforted Amber on the phone in a childish voice, “Mummy, are you feeling unwell? Did you get sick because you were stressed out about finding Daddy? I don’t want Daddy anymore. Take good care of yourself. When Uncle Pierce is free, I will come with him to see you.”

With the comfort of Pierce and her son, Amber felt much better. The gloominess on her face also lessened. Elliot thought that it was caused by his change of attitude. He was secretly delighted.

Since the Parableutions won the bid for the urban construction project this time, the head office of the company awarded the staff of the South City branch, who participated in the bid, a bonus. The bonus amount was not a small sum, and including the amount that the TV station had paid Amber, it was quite a lot of money.

Amber told Ashton about this, saying that she wanted to use this bonus as the down payment to buy a bigger new house.

Ashton was also very happy. With the money, they can solve the issue of the house. “Amber, after buying a house, let’s bring Mel back.”

“I thought so too, uncle. Let’s go and check out some houses tomorrow. As soon as the house is settled, I will bring Mel back!”

On the next day, Amber and Ashton went to view some houses together. After careful selection, they finally decided on a second-hand house with three bedrooms in a less popular location. The house was well furnished, and the money Amber had received was just enough to cover the down payment.

After signing the contract and clearing the down payment, Amber thought of their sweet family life in the future. She looked forward to it very much and was in a good mood all day. After dinner, she surfed the internet in her room while Ashton watched TV in his. It was past 10 o’clock when her phone rang while she was about to sleep. She answered the call, and Elliot’s blurry voice was heard saying, “Amber Stone... Amber....”

“Mr. Thomson?”

“Don’t call me Mr. Thomson. Why do you keep ignoring what I said?” Elliot’s voice had a hint of anger, and this sentence was spoken particularly clearly.

“Elliot Thomson, it’s already so late. What do you want?” She asked while trying to be patient.

“Can’t I talk to you?”

“Okay! Tell me, I’ll listen.”

“Why don’t you tell me something and I’ll listen?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Amber replied.

“What a killjoy!” Elliot was being unreasonable.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you drink?”

“I’m at the nightclub.... I drank quite a lot just now!” Elliot burped. “Amber Stone, I like you.... Do you know that I like you?”

Amber didn’t say anything. This guy was clearly drunk and spewing nonsense. “I’m very sad.... I’ve never been so sad before.

Amber Stone, do you like me even just a little bit?”

Amber still remained silent, and Elliot laughed at himself. “I knew it. You didn’t like me at all.... Actually, even if you liked me just a little bit, I don’t care if you’re divorced.”

“Elliot Thomson, you’re drunk. You should go home now!”

“I won’t go back... I’ll wait for you here until you like me....” Then, Amber heard a scream from the other end of the line. “Sir...

Sir, are you okay?”

Then, the call ended. Amber was shocked. “Could it be that something happened to Elliot?” she thought. She immediately called Walter, but his phone was turned off. Amber was very worried about Elliot. After considering it for a while, she decided to go and have a look. She then hurriedly went out.

She stopped a taxi at the roadside and went straight to the nightclub.

After getting into the car, she anxiously requested that the driver drive faster. She did not notice that there was a sleek luxury car following behind her at all. Rodney’s gaze was fixed on the taxi in front of him.

That woman ran out of the apartment building in a panic. She ran so fast that she didn’t even see him standing at the entrance.

“I can sense you as long as you’re within 3 miles away from me.” This was what she had told him before. However, today he was standing right there, staring at her intently, but she just ran right past him without noticing him at all. It had to be said that women can lie better than men, and it could be even more irresistible.

Amber hurried into the nightclub and found Elliot’s private room. He was leaning against the sofa with his eyes closed, and there were a few beautiful ladies sitting beside him.

When the ladies saw Amber pushing the door open, they looked wary. Amber couldn’t care less and rushed straight to Elliot.

“Elliot Thomson, are you okay?”

Elliot opened his eyes and saw Amber. Then, he grinned. “You’re here?”

“Are you all right?” Amber looked worried.

“I’m fine, just feeling a little dizzy. If you hadn’t come, I would have been screwed by these women.” It turned out that he could still joke around. Amber realised that she had been fooled. She turned around and wanted to leave. Then, Elliot said, “Amber Stone, come and help me up. Send me home.”

Amber helped Elliot to get into the car. Elliot was really drunk. After getting into the car, he leaned against the back of the seat and just sat still. Amber helped him fasten his seat belt and started the car to leave the nightclub.

After Elliot came back, he bought an apartment in a popular area. Amber had been to the apartment to get some documents, so she had some impressions of it. Seeing that Amber seemed to be quite familiar with the direction, Rodney, who was following them, was unhappy.

“Amber Stone, I didn’t expect you to come,” Elliot, who had his eyes closed, suddenly said.

“How can I not come?” Amber rolled her eyes. He was her boss and her source of income. How would she dare to offend him?

“Amber Stone, there’s actually still a trace of affection for me in your heart. Am I right?”

These words startled Amber. She slowed down the car subconsciously. With his eyes still closed, Elliot murmured, “I’m so handsome, so rich, and so capable. Not many women can escape my temptation. Amber Stone, when did you fall in love with me?”

“Elliot Thomson, are you dreaming?” Amber was amused. This man was extremely arrogant.

“Amber Stone! I’m sure you like me, but you just don’t understand it.”

“I don’t like you at all, not even a tiny bit,” Amber emphasised.

“You women are just hypocritical! Is it so embarrassing to say that you like me?” Elliot seemed to be addicted. Amber ignored him and sped up the car. Soon, the car stopped at Elliot’s apartment.